5 under-the-radar trade acquisitions for the St. Louis Cardinals at the deadline

RHP Merrill Kelly

Yes, I'm suggesting that the Cardinals acquire a 36-year-old starting pitcher at the trade deadline in a year where they were wanting to give runway to young players.

A trade for Merrill Kelly encompasses all of the challenges of the 2025 season. The Cardinals are wanting to remain competitive and field the best roster, but they're also wanting to give young players a chance to prove their worth. Acquiring Merrill Kelly via trade would accomplish the competitive aspect of the year, but it would hinder the development aspect.

Nick Selbe and Will Laws of Sports Illustrated recently linked the Cardinals to Kelly, and this notion has its merits.

Kelly is a legitimate top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher. He has a 3.49 ERA this year, and he's added a bit of a strikeout punch to his repertoire with a 9.2 K/9 rate, the second-highest figure of his career. He's not walking batters (75th percentile in walk rate), he doesn't give up many home runs, and he excels at getting batters to chase this year.

Merrill Kelly has opted to use his four-seamer more often this year while sacrificing his cutter usage, and that's boded well for him. Hitters are hitting just .239 against his fastball and .153 against his cutter. Kelly's changeup is his best pitch, and it has a plus-eight run value according to Baseball Savant.

Trading for Merrill Kelly will firmly entrench the Cardinals' willingness to make it to the postseason this year, and it may come at the sacrifice of some of the club's preferred prospects. There's a world where the Cardinals can stock up some minor-league depth this year via trades of Erick Fedde and a reliever — don't think I'm saying Fedde will net the same package of talent the Cardinals will give up to get Kelly — and then trade some of their own prospects to get Merrill Kelly.

Kelly is on contract for $7 million this year, so the Cardinals wouldn't be paying a substantial amount of money for his services over the next few months. He's an affordable high-end starting pitcher who could pair nicely with Sonny Gray and Matthew Liberatore at the top of a playoff rotation.

In order for this trade to work, the Diamondbacks must be confident that 2025 isn't their year, something they may be hesitant to do after their World Series run just two years ago. With four weeks to go until the trade deadline, the Diamondbacks will likely wait until the last week to decide their fate.