6 relievers the Cardinals need to target on the trade market

Declan Cronin, Marlins

Declan Cronin is probably the name that people will be least familiar with on this list, but he is someone who Jeff Passan recently brought up as a trade candidate for the Miami Marlins. Like the White Sox, the Marlins look like a team that will be offloading a lot of names come July, and the 26-year-old out of Holy Cross is one who won't make headlines but could make a strong impact for a contender.

Cronin's metrics this year are really interesting. On the surface, that 1.21 ERA in 29.2 innings tells you what fans really want to know, he prevents runs at a high level. He ranks among the best in baseball in pitching run value, fastball run value, and breaking ball run value, and his xERA is well above average as well.

Cronin is a sinker-slider guy, throwing those two pitches 42.8% and 54.5% of the time respectively. Both pitches have been highly effective this year, producing sub-.250 batting averages and slugging percentages against them. The slider has a nasty 34.8% whiff% and 29.9% K% due to its well above-average vertical movement.

If the Cardinals were to acquire him from Miami, he'd have a lot of team control, so while I don't imagine he'll cost a significant package to acquire, it would take some convincing to get him off the Marlins hands since they really have no reason to move him other than to capitalize on his value. Cronin does not have a long track record but it would be an excellent long-term play for St. Louis should they go that direction.