3 pitchers the Cardinals should target at the trade deadline

The Cardinals should make a move at the trade deadline for another starting pitcher to help their playoff chances.

At this point in the season, the Cardinals aren’t where they want to be with their expectations. Still, it’s not the worst spot to be in heading into the trade deadline on July 30.

St. Louis has managed to hang around with a record of 36-36, sitting 3.5 games back of the Cubs for first place in the NL Central. The Cardinals currently have a bottom-10 offense in nearly every offense category in the majors, so there’s no question they will be looking for some help in that department next month. However, there is some reason to believe some of the stars on this team can carry turn around the offensive woes we’ve seen thus far.

If the Cardinals decide to go all-in, they should look towards fixing their starting rotation which has the 13th-highest ERA (4.31) among all starting rotations in the majors.

3. Jose Berrios, Minnesota Twins

The Twins have strongly underperformed this season. As a team that’s 12 games back of first place, it’s looking more likely Minnesota looks to trade off some assets in the next few weeks. One of the most sought after arms on their team and in the league will be right-hander Jose Berrios.

The 27-year-old currently owns a 3.56 ERA, 1.092 WHIP, and 9.4 K/9 across 83.1 innings this season. Berrios features a nasty pitch arsenal, and he’s been one of MLB’s best in his career in terms of inducing soft contact, per Baseball Savant.

Berrios is owed $6.1 million this season, and he has one more year of arbitration before becoming a free agent in 2023. He won’t be cheap, but the investment is worth consideration for any contending team.