6 fresh trade ideas for the St. Louis Cardinals during trade deadline week

The trade deadline is August 1st, and there are fresh ideas on how the Cardinals can make deals to the club for 2024

New York Yankees v St. Louis Cardinals
New York Yankees v St. Louis Cardinals | Dilip Vishwanat/GettyImages
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Cardinals take a risk on an injured Dodgers stater

Cardinals acquire: RHP Dustin May and RHP Ryan Pepiot

Dodgers Acquire: LHP Jordan Montgomery and SS Paul DeJong

This deal was inspired by my intrigue in the Springs idea. Dustin May has some of the best stuff in all of baseball but just went down with another season-ending elbow injury.

Yes, that is extremely concerning. This is why I find him a fascinating "upside play" for the Cardinals. I think Montgomery is going to fetch more on the market than most people anticipate, but that talent will likely either have a high upside and be far away from the Major Leagues, or the talent will be big league ready but have a low ceiling.

I think both kinds of returns are valuable for St. Louis, but how valuable would an arm like May be to St. Louis if he could bounce back from this latest setback? May is just 25 years old still and had posted a 4-1 record with a 2.63 ERA in 48 innings this year before hitting the injured list. The talent is obvious. The risk is parting with an impending free agent.

I'm not sure I could see St. Louis doing a straight swap, and I don't think I would like that. But throwing Paul DeJong into the deal to fill the Dodgers' shortstop need as well and netting one of their better pitching prospects in Ryan Pepiot would be worth the risk in my book.

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