Cardinals Rumors: Here are five names the club may be targeting right now

Target #4 - Liam Hendricks

Liam Hendriks has had his name in the rumor mill this off-season as the White Sox have explored ways to shake up their roster for 2023. With a gaping hole at second base, the White Sox could see Nolan Gorman or Brendan Donovan as ideal targets in a Hendricks trade.

By no means am I advocating for something like that to happen, and with the Cardinals' willingness to part with Ryan Helsley for Danny Jansen earlier this off-season, I really don't know if they'd want to pay up for a closer on the trade market. Gorman and Donovan hold a ton of value too, so it likely would not be as simple as a straight swap.

Why would the Cardinals want Hendriks? Since 2019, Hendricks has a 2.26 ERA and 114 saves in 239 innings of work. He struck out 13.5 batters per nine innings during that stretch as well, which would give the Cardinals an elite trio at the back of their bullpen this coming season.

For all of the talk about the Cardinals' lack of top-end starting pitching, the club could gain a major edge on other team's in baseball by stacking the back end of their bullpen. If St. Louis is serious about a deep postseason run, an elite bullpen is arguably just as important as having those front-line starters. Game 1 of the Wild Card series proved that, after Helsley struggled in the 9th, they continued to ride him as they had already burned Gallegos. If the price is right for the White Sox closer, I am sure the Cardinals would have a lot of interest.