5 bold trade ideas to save the St. Louis Cardinals' season

While it's still too early to panic about the Cardinals, it's not too early to think of ways to right the ship through trades

The St. Louis Cardinals' start to their season has been about as rocky as it could get. If you told me the Cardinals would be 9-13 through the club's first 22 games, I would have thought that they had major injuries to their key players. And yet, the team is mostly healthy and has many signs that show it should be much better than it is.

The offense is elite, and once it even gets league average at hitting with runners in scoring position, it'll take off as it did on Sunday. Their new lineup construction may be the spark they needed to get the offense right again.

While the pitching has been really bad, I do believe it will rebound here soon. But even so, it's clear the pitching staff needs major upgrades if it's going to compete with the best clubs in baseball come October. Jack Flahety's start to his season has been extremely encouraging, but in today's game, you need at least two elite arms in your rotation to do damage in the postseason. The Cardinals may have one in Flaherty, but they don't have another option.

While it's extremely unlikely the Cardinals make a trade any times soon (as even if they want to, the league just does not make significant moves until July each year), and it's hard to predict which players will actually be available then, I do think we can go ahead and start thinking of creative ways for the Cardinals to upgrade their roster.

These five trades are bold for a reason. They are big swings to improve the club for the 2023 season. You may not love the packages, and that's okay, but the point is to think big and think bold in reshaping this roster for chance to contend and go on a deep playoff run.

Here are five bold trades to save the Cardinals' season.