7 trade partners that make way too much sense for the Cardinals at the trade deadline

Texas Rangers

Like the Blue Jays, the Texas Rangers have been a major disappointment in 2024, and their World Series title defense looks to be in doubt as they get closer and closer to the deadline.

The Rangers have plenty of talent still and more players in their farm system coming, so they don't need to consider a rebuild, but they would likely be open to making moves as the Cardinals did at the 2023 deadline to capitalize on their impending free agents.

Also like the Blue Jays, the Rangers have three different starting pitchers who the Cardinals would be wise to target as the deadline draws near, and all three of them have the ability to raise the club's ceiling in October.

Nathan Eovaldi has a vesting option of $20 million for 2025, so I could see the Rangers holding onto him for a rebound season next year. But if they wanted to get a nice return for their future, similar to what the Cardinals did with Jordan Montgomery in their exchange last July, Eovaldi would make sense to move on from. He's posted a 3.45 ERA this year with just over a strikeout per inning, and he's proven himself to be a big-game pitcher in October for both the Red Sox and Rangers.

Andrew Heaney is a left-handed starter who is set to hit free agency after the season and has posted a 4.17 ERA in 77.2 innings this year. While he's not a flashy option, he has shown the ability to pitch at a really high level, and he could be in the same vein as a Jose Quintana from 2022 where he leads the club to October and pitches a playoff game even after lackluster numbers to begin the year.

While Eovaldi would be a really strong fit, perhaps the fit that makes the most sense for both sides is the Chesterfield native Max Scherzer, who has had an interest in playing for his hometown team in the past but a deal never came to fruition (mostly because of the Cardinals). Scherzer is a free agent following the season, and while his salary this year is $43 million, the New York Mets are actually paying $30 million of that salary for the Rangers this year, so for the Cardinals' books they only have to account for the remainder of the $13.3 million that the Rangers owed Scherzer this year.

Scherzer missed the beginning of the year with an injury, but in his two starts back from the injury list thus far, has posted a 1.74 ERA. Scherzer is not the perennial Cy Young contender he used to be, but he's someone you could easily trust to pair with Sonny Gray at the top of the Cardinals' rotation and knows how to pitch in the biggest moments in October. It may even result in a new contract with the Cardinals in the offseason.