Cardinals' status as trade deadline buyers has landed them in insane rumor territory

At 41-34 entering the final full week of June, the St. Louis Cardinals are all but certain to be buyers at the trade deadline. It's a rather miraculous feat considering all of the veteran talent they traded away in the offseason, but rebuilds only last as long the record allows.

Despite their impressive record, the Redbirds do have a need for talent pretty much anywhere they can find it. Their offense ranks 15th in runs scored, the rotation ranks 20th in FIP, and the bullpen ranks 19th in ERA. Clearly, it'd be hard to find a trade target that doesn't align with the organization's short-term needs or long-term goals.

However, Jeff Passan of ESPN may have accomplished that very task. While discussing Seiya Suzuki of the Chicago Cubs as one of the hottest names on the trade block, the MLB Insider noted the Cardinals as one of his "best fits."

With all due respect to Passan and his long track record of baseball reporting, that's just an insane connection to make.

Cardinals have no business trying to do trade deadline business with Cubs

Now, in fairness to Passan, the Cubs were reeling a bit more than they are right now when he published the piece. Suzuki to the Cardinals also wasn't the only head-scratching connection he made; he also attached Matt Shaw to the Milwaukee Brewers, going back into the NL Central rivals well.

Nevertheless, it should be clear to all of us why Suzuki just doesn't make sense for the Redbirds to acquire. The Cubs and Cardinals are directly competing for the NL Central title and a Wild Card spot this season, not to mention their long history of animosity. Taking a rental slugger out of the former's hands only to put him with the latter isn't sensible for either side.

Likewise, from a roster perspective, Suzuki just doesn't fit in St. Louis. A full-time right fielder, he'd have to displace Jordan Walker to get into the starting lineup every night. And while he is the better defender, the Cardinals won't do anything to jeopardize the revelatory success Walker has found this year.

Moving him to left field likely isn't in play either, as Lars Nootbaar appears to have that position locked down. Center field would be the most obvious place to stash Suzuki, but he's played nine total innings there in his career (and he's hardly the defender that Nathan Church and Victor Scott II are).

The idea behind adding a right-handed slugger of Suzuki's caliber is promising, but his current situation and positional fit just don't add up for the Cardinals. Other, less-complicated candidates should be even more readily available than the Cubs' star is.

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