A Cardinals-Marlins trade to create an ace pairing with Sonny Gray

The St. Louis Cardinals have seen a nightmare season quickly turn around in 2024. They're the only team in the NL Central with a record better than 5-5 in their last ten games. They're quickly gaining ground on the first place Brewers and they could look to the trade market as buyers, not sellers, in order to pick up the pace.

One place they need to get younger and deeper is their pitching staff. Their staff is full of veteran arms, all being 33 or older. What they're missing is a young, controllable pitcher that has ace potential. Like Jesus Luzardo.

Ken Rosenthal recently reported that Luzardo is the "single player most likely to be traded" before the trade deadline in August.

A Cardinals-Marlins trade that gives St. Louis another ace beside Sonny Gray

The Cardinals have an ace in Sonny Gray that can go toe to toe with any of the league's best pitchers on any given day. But they need to add more than that. They're lacking a fifth starter right now and their staff isn't getting any younger.

Jesus Luzardo is 26 and under team control through 2026. He would instantly slot in the St. Louis rotation for at least the next two and a half seasons, giving them a hard throwing lefty with game changing abilities. But the price for a controllable ace like Luzardo isn't going to be cheap.

The package for Luzardo would cost the Cardinals their No. 4 ranked prospect, Tekoah Roby, a high floor prospect in Sam Robberse and a lottery ticket, high ceiling prospect in William Sullivan.

Tekoah Roby is the centerpiece of the deal and what the Marlins really want. Roby has an electric arm, plus control and two plus breaking pitches. His ability to stay out of the middle of the zone will be the deciding factor on his ability to excel in the bigs.

Sam Robberse provides the Marlins with a piece that they can bring to Miami this season. Robberse doesn't have an above average fastball, but he has multiple off-speed offerings to play off his fastball as well as decent control. He's looked promising in 10 starts in Triple-A this season.

William Sullivan is a lottery ticket in this trade. He's currently the 30th ranked prospect in the Cardinals system, but he has tremendous raw power. His strikeout rate, over 40 percent in 2024, is concerning and why he's listed as a lottery ticket in this trade.

But the Cardinals would get, at minimum, 2.5 years of Jesus Luzardo, a big leaguer with All-Star and game changing potential. Luzardo could be the piece that continues to bring the Cardinals closer to the Brewers in the NL Central. With the way the Brewers are hitting, Luzardo could be the piece that leapfrogs Milwaukee in the standings.