5 wild blockbuster moves the Cardinals should consider at the trade deadline

Let me be clear, I don't think the St. Louis Cardinals are going to do anything wild or worthy of the term "blockbuster" at this year's trade deadline. That doesn't mean I don't think they could make "big" moves, but I highly doubt they will be making a huge swing this July.

To be frank, I don't think that is necessarily the wrong approach with this team. Most big splashes they could try to make would deplete their farm system and still leave them behind the best contenders in baseball in terms of World Series odds. I am by no means advocating for their biggest moves to be for guys like Tyler Anderson or Kevin Pillar, but I don't blame them for staying out of the Garrett Crochet sweepstakes, for example.

Still, the more and more I've thought about it, the more I have at least been intrigued by the idea of some potential bigger swings the Cardinals front office could make. I've been playing around with different trade scenarios involving some teams who have pieces the Cardinals would love to have, but at a massive cost. Again, while I doubt the Cardinals make a move of that magnitude over the next week, I think it's at least interesting to talk about what kinds of deals would make sense for them to consider.

Consider this a fun exercise about those "what if" scenarios we feel confident won't happen, yet if the Cardinals decided to be aggressive, it could make a lot of sense for them. For the following five deals, here are the parameters I worked with that made the deals make sense, even at the extreme costs they would require:

1. The deal has to hurt. If you're drawing up a blockbuster deal for the Cardinals and you feel completely comfortable with the pieces you're giving away, it is probably far from what it would actually take to pull off such a deal.
2. The deal has to address one or more of the Cardinals' current needs - front-line starting pitcher, bullpen help, or a right-handed bat for the lineup.
3. The player(s) the Cardinals are acquiring need to have some control beyond 2025. I do not see the Cardinals considering a blockbuster move where they move significant young talent in order to acquire someone who could be gone in a year and a half. There are great players that fit that mold like Nathan Eovaldi, Zach Eflin, and others, but those are not blockbuster deals by any means. But the kind of blockbuster player that does rule out is someone like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. - a fun idea, but I don't see the Cardinals signing him long-term, so why would they give up a haul for the short time they'd have him?

Consider this exercise a list of deals I think the front office should at least pause and talk about for a while. It doesn't mean they should do any or all of these deals, but these are the kinds of packages that you at least have to have a meeting about, and probably multiple follow-ups. They are the kinds of moves that, while risky, could transform the team for both now and the future.

With that being said, here are five blockbuster trade ideas that the Cardinals should consider at this year's trade deadline.