5 contender-to-contender deals for the Cardinals

This year's Major League Baseball trade deadline is much different than previous years' deadlines. Due to the extreme parity in the league paired with three Wild Card spots and ownership groups wanting to save money while holding onto prospects, the number of true sellers at the deadline hovers around six teams.

This dearth of teams willing to offload players has forced contending teams or teams who could be contenders by Tuesday to get creative with their deals. The Seattle Mariners and New York Mets struck a deal that sent reliever Ryne Stanek to the Mets for a minor-league outfielder. The Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles, potentially two World Series teams, swapped Seranthony Dominguez and Cristian Pache for Austin Hays, and the Boston Red Sox landed James Paxton from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

With the St. Louis Cardinals hovering near the playoffs lately, John Mozeliak may have to shift away from acquiring players from true sellers and toward making trades with teams whom the Cardinals could see in the playoffs. He may even have to trade in division to acquire the necessary pieces for a playoff push.

According to FanGraphs, the Cardinals have a 32.7% chance to make the playoffs; they have a 13.3% chance to win the division and a 19.4% chance to make it via the wild card. Their wild card odds are the 5th best right now, so they have some ground to make up in that department.

If John Mozeliak truly sees the team as a playoff-caliber group, then he will have to make trades that would be uncomfortable in a normal season. It's not often that playoff teams make deals with their potential rivals in October, but that will have to be the case this year. The Cardinals have ample left-handed bats to trade from, and they even have some relievers that may be enticing to other contenders.

Thinking back to 2022, Mozeliak traded away Harrison Bader to the New York Yankees, another team with their eyes set on postseason play. That trade paid dividends for the Cardinals despite the potential for them to face Bader in the playoffs.

Here are five contending teams who match up as good trade partners for the Cardinals.