This contender has emerged as the Cardinals’ ideal trade deadline partner

Now that different dominoes have begun to fall in the trade market and moves have begun to heat up, the St. Louis Cardinals have less than 24 hours to find a partner to dance with. The Philadelphia Phillies look like a clear fit for them to swing a deal with due to the multiple ways these two clubs match up.

The Phillies are in the market for both an outfield bat and a starter at this year's deadline, and like every contender, wouldn't mind adding another bullpen arm as well. They reportedly have interest in Dustin May and scouted his most recent start, and names like JoJo Romero and Ryne Stanek could be of interest as well.

Lars Nootbaar is another name they've kept their eye on, according to The Athletic, and while his down season may complicate a potential deal, the Cardinals are certainly open to offers on their outfielder, should a team want to acquire him.

Jeff Jones, in a recent post on his subscription side Words About Birds, also linked the Cardinals and Phillies together for a deal due to the amount of conversations and circling that has occurred over the last few years, even dating back to the Nolan Arenado saga.

Where there's smoke, there's fire, and while that doesn't guarentee a deal will happen, recent trades sure do seem to pave the way for the Cardinals and Phillies to swing a deadline deal

As other players come off the board, the Cardinals and Phillies look primed to make a trade

Once Tarik Skubal was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the market began to move, with Freddy Peralta heading to the Tampa Bay Rays and Luis Garcia Jr. going to the New York Yankees.

The Rays were a suitor for May but are likely out on him now that they got Peralta, and the Yankees were a clear fit for Nootbaar before the Garcia deal. While both teams could still be interested, they seem less likely to make a deal with St. Louis now.

On the bullpen side of things, there are so many teams who could use arms, but Philadelphia may be toward the top of that list with the number of leads they have blown this year. Some other relievers have already come off the board, but again, there's another fit for St. Louis here.

The two teams could come together on just one of the Cardinals' sellable pieces, or they could also match up on a multi-player deal that sees the Phillies solving multiple needs with one trade. This could allow the Cardinals to acquire a better prospect than they could otherwise, and for a system that is already very deep, shooting for higher upside is not a bad idea at all.

As time continues to tick, the less and less likely it is that the Cardinals can pull off multiple trades, but we will see what happens. The whole market has seemed slow until Sunday, so perhaps the floodgates will open on Monday.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow