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

Target #5 - Tyler Glasnow

Tyler Glasnow has become a bit of a fan favorite at Redbird Rants, and I'd like to remind everyone that one of my very first stories for the site back in December 2021 was proposing a Juan Yepez-Tyler Glasnow swap, something most people shot down. Well, well, well. How the turntables. (Thank you, Michael Scott).

While Glasnow's name has not been in rumors outside of speculation, many have pointed out that it is a very "Rays-like move" to deal Glasnow with two years remaining before free agency to maximize his value. With probably the deepest pool of starting pitching in all of baseball, the Rays could afford to deal ton-end pitching for offense and not miss a beat.

After coming back from Tommy John surgery that he had in the summer of 2021, Glasnow's fastball velocity and spin ranked above the 90th percentile in baseball. He looked just as electric as he did before his injury, even earning a start in the playoffs for Tampa Bay after throwing just six regular-season injuries.

Even if the Rays are healthier in 2023, their current lineup has a lot of question marks and could use upgrades in a big way. Some combination of O'Neill, Carlson, Yepez, Gorman, Donovan, Alec Burleson, and Moises Gomez could be appealing to the Rays, and make them give real thought to parting with Glasnow.

The Cardinals would then have a legit ace at the top of their rotation for both 2023 and 2024 and hopefully could extend him for a lot longer. For as much as I love the idea of this though, it feels more likely to be a possablity at the trade deadline or next off-season.

Those are five names I think the Cardinals could have as targets right now, but I wanted to shoot down two names real quick that have come up in fan theories or unfounded rumors.