Potential Cardinals trade target shows everything St. Louis needs to see vs. Cubs

No one could've expected this type of turnaround from the St. Louis Cardinals after a dismal start on the heels of a historically dismal 2023 season. The club was 15-24 in mid-May but has been on a tear since then, coming into Saturday's matinee against the Washington Nationals with a 46-41 record. And with that, the Cards went from a potential fire sale to being likely buyers as a playoff contender.

When it comes to exactly what the Cardinals will buy, the most obvious upgrade that the organization could make would be to add reinforcements to the starting rotation. Sonny Gray has been exactly what the club paid for in free agency but the likes of Lance Lynn and Miles Mikolas have been both frustrating and inconsistent while Kyle Gibson has been the innings-eater veteran the club expected him to be. As for the fifth spot in the rotation, it's been a head-scratching revolving door.

One player on the trade block who has already been connected to the Cardinals to fill that void, however, is Los Angeles Angels southpaw Tyler Anderson. The former Dodger is in the midst of a career year and, with another year on his contract after 2024, he could make a ton of sense to help St. Louis not just this year but next as well.

Anderson, for his part, made sure the Cardinals took notice of what he can bring them in a trade as well as he stared down St. Louis' biggest rival, the Chicago Cubs, on Saturday.

Cardinals trade target Tyler Anderson has feather in his cap after dominating Cubs

The Angels starter took the mound at Wrigley Field on Saturday and just totally eviscerated the Cardinals rivals. Anderson needed only 98 pitches over 8.0 innings to mow down the Cubs one-by-one. All told, the lefty finished his start allow just three hits, no walks, and no runs while striking out 10, lowing his ERA to 2.81 for the season and his WHIP to an impressive 1.18 as well.

Navigating the trade deadline is going to be tricky for the Cardinals. This is a rich farm system with plenty of pieces they want to hold onto -- namely, the likes of Tink Hence, Jordan Walker and others -- but they need to make upgrades as well. As such, it makes far more sense for St. Louis to target a solid veteran such as Anderson at the trade deadline rather than swing for the moon with a guy like Garrett Crochet.

Anderson would fit the bill, especially with what we saw from John Mozeliak this past offseason in free agency. He pursued Gray, Lynn and Gibson because of their veteran prowess and experience. Anderson is a well-traveled veteran in his own right but, outside of Gray, the primary difference is that he's seemingly pitching the best he ever has while also being a bit younger at 34 years old.

He was already one of the most ideal trade targets for the Cardinals. Now, after seeing him shove against the Cubs, that should only make him more enticing for the St. Louis brass.