5 ways the Cardinals can acquire a starting pitcher and reliever in the same deal

Trade #5 - Los Angeles Angels

Let me start by saying, I do not want the Cardinals to trade for Tyler Anderson. I already made that abundantly clear in a story recently, as I just do not think he can keep up his performance this year.

If you want my full thoughts on that, click on the story linked above. In short, Anderson just seems to be destined to regress at some point this year, and the fact that he is under contract next year as well is a con to me, not something that makes me want him even more.

Carlos Estevez, on the other hand, would be a worthy addition to this bullpen mix. The right-hander is a free agent following the season and has been excellent for the Angels this season, posing a 2.45 ERA in his 33 appearances. Estevez has a long track record of pitching in high-leverage situations, whether that is closing games or in a setup role. Estevez is also incentivized to finish the year strong to get paid in free agency, so that's never a bad motivation to have on your team.

One appeal of this combo compared to the ones above is that it would come at a significantly smaller price point. Anderson just does not carry close to the value of these other starters in my opinion, and if it honestly cost anything more than this, I'd be even more out than I already am on Anderson. With Estevez being in a contract year as well and not necessarily having crazy stuff, I doubt he will fetch a super strong package.

The Angels get here two MLB-ready or at least close to being ready arms in Adam Kloffenstein and Michael McGreevy as well as infielder Cesar Prieto, who has raised his stock this year with the offensive numbers he is putting up in Triple-A. The Angels need to keep accumulating talent for the future, and the Cardinals can afford to move on from all of those names if we are being honest.

My thoughts on these deals

If I were to rank the combinations in order of who I would want the Cardinals to acquire based on the talent they are getting in return and the package it would take to get them, I would probably rank them like this

1. Eovaldi/Robertson
2. Eflin/Fairbanks
3. Flaherty/Chafin
4. Fedde/Brebbia
5. Anderson/Estevez

It's not essential by any means that the Cardinals grab both a starter and reliever in the same deal. They can easily target one from one team and one from another. But sometimes it is just easy to try and accomplish multiple things at once, and outside of acquiring Anderson, I give my stamp of approval on the rest of them.