Under the radar starting pitchers that could be targets for the St. Louis Cardinals

Despite recent success from the Cardinals, starting pitching is still going to need to be addressed sooner rather than later.

When the trade deadline comes around, over the past several seasons it seems to be the same story for the Cardinals, they need starting pitching. We saw Jordan Montgomery and Jose Quintana come to St. Louis at the deadline last season, Jon Lester and J.A. Happ the year before that, and the last 2 World Series-winning Cardinal teams acquired a starting pitcher at the deadline (Jeff Weaver in '06, and Edwin Jackson in '11)

It's almost a sure thing the Cardinals will be active in the starters market in 2023, and there could be lots of options available. What John Mozeliak and the front office are frequent of doing is acquiring a player that flies under a lot of radars but in the end, makes a lot of sense for the team. Rarely do they go after the big fish, but instead they find a player that won't have the same number of bidders, is not as high in demand, but can be just as effective as we saw last season with Montgomery and Quintana.

While the names on this list may not be flash, they may be good alternatives for the Cardinals if they want to avoid giving up a haul for the few, if any, aces that will be available in July.

It's hard to tell if every player seen as trade candidates are available or will be available, but you can always make predictions. There are a few starting pitchers that could be a great fit for the Cardinals that fall under the radar.

Kansas City Royals Brad Keller

Brad Keller has been with the Royals for the past 6 seasons and he has had an inconsistent career so far. Keller had a very solid rookie season in 2018 and was superb in the shortened 2020 year, however in '21 and '22 he had a 5.24 era in 61 games ( 48 starts ). The problem with Keller so far this season is throwing strikes, as of May 16, he leads all of baseball in walks with 40 in 43.1 innings.

He will need to limit free passes to up his potential trade stock, which could rise because he could be an unrestricted free agent after this season if the Royals don't extend him. Some other facts that may not make Keller a fit in St. Louis are he doesn't fill the need of having a swing-and-miss starter. Jack Flaherty could become that guy again, but the Cardinals have been rock bottom in the league in K's the last few seasons and it could be a field the Cardinals will look to help fill.

But what Brad Keller has been in the big leagues is an innings eater, he has averaged 176 innings a season since 2018 which always adds value. He is a long shot right now, especially if he doesn't stop walking a batter an inning. However he will be 28 at the end of this season, still very young and he has shown production in parts of his career, the upside could be something to go after.

Cleveland Guardians Aaron Civale and Cal Quantrill

Civale is an under-the-radar pitcher who is not well-known to some, but he has been a decent pitcher. Over 5 seasons with Cleveland, he has an ERA a touch over 4 and has a reputation for being a strike thrower, as he had only 22 walks in 20 starts last season.

An oblique injury has had him sidelined for the past month and injuries have been a problem for Civale recently. 5 IL stints in the last 3 seasons is not ideal for any player, none of the injuries seem to be too serious but it still waves red flags when he could possibly be traded. He has been effective in his career when healthy, but it would still be a risky move for the Cardinals to make if they go that route.

Cal Quantrill would be a lower risk for the Cardinals, but at a higher price. Quantrill is coming off a 15-win campaign in 2022 with a 113 ERA+. There is no reason to think that Quantrill would be available at this point, but the Guardians are off to a slow start and are in desperate need of a power bat, which could make Cleveland and St. Louis good trade partners.

It sounds possible that the Cardinals could look at trading Tyler O'Neill with the overflow of outfielders the Cardinals currently have, they could move one to help the rotation. The Guardians are currently 29th in the MLB in runs scored and 30th in home runs, how aggressive would they be to get a bat in exchange for one of their arms? And how aggressive will the Cardinals be to get a top-of-the-rotation starter?