5 trades that Cardinals could make today to improve their roster immediately

San Francisco Giants v Miami Marlins
San Francisco Giants v Miami Marlins / Eric Espada/GettyImages
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The Cardinals and Marlins finally swap offense for pitching

The Cardinals trade OF Tyler O'Neill to the Marlins for LHP Jesus Luzardo

The Marlins already swapped pitching for hitting this offseason in the Pablo Lopez-Luis Ararez deal, but their offense still ranks bottom three in runs scored and needs a lot help.

If the Marlins are going to part with another big-league arm, it's going to have to be for a bat that can make a difference in their lineup immediately. I thought about some deals with Juan Yepez or Alec Burleson, but I feel like they'll want more than a guy who can kinda play in the field but is more of a DH.

The Marlins pitching has struggled as a whole to start off the year, ranking 20th in baseball in ERA. A lot of that has to do with slow starts from guys like Sandy Alcantara, Edward Cabrera, and Trevor Rogers, who all figure to be better as the season goes on.

Jesus Luzardo is just 25 years old and has a 3.62 ERA in 27.1 innings of work so far this year. He's under team control through 2027, which makes me think he would be worth a fair amount on the market in a deal. I'm honestly not sure the Marlins would actually trade away pitching until the deadline, but if they wanted to upgrade their offense immediately, the Cardinals make a perfect trade partner.