7 bats the Cardinals could trade for to unlock their stagnant offense

Bryan De La Cruz

The Miami Marlins are one of the clearest sellers we have at this year's trade deadline, but a lot of their pitching talent that teams covet is on the mend. The club already traded infielder Luis Arraez earlier this season, and one has to wonder if a name like Bryan De La Cruz could be on the move as well.

Over the course of his big league career, De La Cruz has been mostly a league-average hitter and has posted just 1.5 fWAR in his 412 games played. He's kind of a bigger name than he is a player at this point, but his strengths could work out really well for this Cardinal team.

While for his career De La Cruz has not been a "splitty" hitter, he's absolutely crushed left-handed pitching this year while being below league-average against right-handers. In 123 at-bats against southpaws this year, De La Cruz is slashing .293/.318/.472, good for a 120 wRC+. That is awesome production that could be added to the Cardinals lineup when a left-handed starter is on the mound or off the bench late in games, and I don't think he'll cost a ton to acquire if the Marlins are open to moving him.

De La Cruz has not played any center field this year but has done so in the past, but it's clear the Marlins have been phasing him out of that. He'd be a below-average defender there if he's ever tasked with those duties, but he can hold his own in the corner outfield spots as needed.

De La Cruz makes a lot of sense at the plate for St. Louis, but I do think the fact that he has some control remaining and doesn't really play center field anymore makes it less likely. If the Cardinals aren't going to swing high for a guy like Rooker, then I'm not sure they'll want to pay for control when the player is a corner outfielder only. Still, he's an interesting name that is worth monitoring.