Final trade deadline predictions for the St. Louis Cardinals

Dylan Carlson is traded to the New York Yankees

Even with the Yankees reportedly in "semi-sell mode" by possibly trading away some of their impending free agents, Dylan Carlson has been a target of theirs and would still make a ton of sense for their club.

Carlson has multiple years of control remaining, turns their outfield defense into one of the best in baseball when healthy, and still has upside with his bat to help their lineup improve for this season and beyond. The Cardinals are not using him in a way that will unlock his potential, so why not let capitalize on his value?

The Cardinals seem content riding with Tyler O'Neill as their third outfielder, which makes a lot of sense. He has very little value right now. As long as they have a reliable fourth option for their outfield like Brendan Donovan, Tommy Edman, or Alec Burleson, they can afford to run with O'Neill out there, especially since they are not contending this year. If he rebuilds his value, they can explore a trade in the offseason, or let him potentially rebound even more in a contract year next year.

The Cardinals have been connected to a number of the Yankees' young arms, such as Clayton Beeter and Randy Vasquez, and the smoke has just been too prevalent not to turn into a deal before the deadline.

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