Cardinals rumors: 1 dream trade, 1 savvy play, 1 to avoid altogether

Let’s be frank: The Cardinals should consider themselves lucky to be a trade deadline buyer to begin with. But what moves should they make?

Considering the start to the season for the St. Louis Cardinals, it’s surprising they are even in the conversation as a trade deadline buyer. Yet, the NL Central is as wide open as ever. With that in mind, the Cards have some decisions to make.

St. Louis has a rather large gap at the top of their rotation. Yes, Miles Mikolas has been solid of late, and the Cardinals front office could try to simply fill some holes with free agents to be as they did in recent years, but it won’t necessarily address the root problem.

As recently as a few days ago, John Mozeliak stated that he plans on adding to the club come late July.

“Where our division is headed, it’s going to remain very competitive. We’re going to be looking at ways that can really help this club,” Mozeliak said.

Assuming we take Mozeliak at his word, who should St. Louis consider adding?

Cardinals Rumors: A dream trade for an ace

As mentioned above, the Cardinals need an ace. This is a deficit of their own making, as St. Louis moved off the likes of Sandy Alcantara and Zac Gallen in recent years. Both are among the best pitchers in all of baseball, and could very well be in the NL Cy Young race when the year is up. FanSided’s Miranda Remaklus pointed this out in a recent article:

"“So imagine if the Cardinals had made some different moves. They could have a lot less stress from their uncertainty. They could have some young aces to pair with Flaherty. And they could have a couple more veterans to pair with Wainwright and Mikolas.”"

Those moves may haunt Cards fans for awhile, but perhaps it’ll hurt a little less if they can acquire, say, a Dylan Cease from the Chicago White Sox. The South Siders are expected to be sellers at the deadline this season, as they’ve disappointed the last few years and could use a reboot.

Cease hasn’t pitched to his standard this year, as his ERA is just under five. He’s trending in the right direction, though, and has lowered his ERA this month. Assuming that trend continues, look for the Cardinals and other teams to at least inquire about the 27-year-old, though the price might be too high for even Mozeliak to feel comfortable with.