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

Mark Canha

Mark Canha is turning into the guy who gets moved every deadline to a contender that needs another bat, and maybe this could be the year that St. Louis takes the bait.

Playing for the Detroit Tigers this year, Canha is slashing a measly .225/.331/.338 thus far, so why on earth am I putting him on the list for offensive upgrades?

Ding, ding, ding, you guessed it! He mashes left-handed pitching.

Canha is slashing .267/.384/.433 against lefties this season, and that 129 wRC+ would feed families with how bad the Cardinals have been against lefties this year. Canha cannot play center field at this point in his career, but he can fill in at the corner outfield spots or first base defensively.

The Cardinals can make this work if they really want his bat, but it would require them to move Donovan to second base to create an outfield spot for him or Burleson. I really do not have a problem with that though if they go that route, and he'd also be a weapon off the bench as needed as well.

Again, the price point to acquire here is attractive. Unless you're going big for as clear of a fit as Rooker is, I don't think it's wise for St. Louis to fork out significant value for a platoon bat. Some of the other bats on this list have also provided value defensively or against right-handed pitching, but Canha would be that true, cheap platoon bat who they are asking to just mash against left-handed pitching, and everything else is gravy.