6 impact starting pitchers the Cardinals could trade for at an affordable price

Luis Severino, Mets

Speaking of a starter on an expiring contract, Luis Severino has bounced back in a huge way in 2024 after trading the Yankees pinstripes for the orange and blue colors of the New York Mets.

After an up-and-down career in the Bronx, Severino has posted a 3.12 ERA in 13 starts so far this year, and while he has seen a significant dip in his strikeout percentage compared to his career norm, that's also been paired with an over-50 % groundball rate.

Severino's underlying metrics aren't the flashiest in the world, but he cleary knows how to get the job done. His barrel percentage and groundball percentage both rank in the 89th percentile in all of baseball, and he does boast really good fastball velocity for a guy who does not get a lot of strikeouts. Severino also has had four other seasons in his career where he's posted a 3.39 ERA or lower as a starter, so it's not like we haven't seen this side of him before.

Severino being a true rental helps bring his cost down as well, which should be appealing for St. Louis. Pitching is at a premium in July, so you'll pay more than you'd want to, but we should not be talking about any of the Cardinals' top prospects here in my opinion.

This move would also qualify as the Cardinals adding someone better than a fifth starter to fill out their rotation. With Severino in the fold, someone like Lance Lynn would slide back into that true fifth-starter role, and considering how he's pitched this season, he'd actually be much better than most fifth-starters in the league.