A Cardinals-Yankees trade to address New York’s biggest weakness

The New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals seem to be trending in opposite directions.

New York leads the American League East by 3.5 games over the Baltimore Orioles, while the Cardinals are two games below the .500 mark and have lost four of their last six games.

The Cardinals seem to be headed toward another sale at the deadline, similarly to last year. But the Yankees are going to need a third baseman at the deadline.

Former MLB star Eric Hosmer predicted that the Yankees could potentially give the Cardinals a call about Nolan Arenado.

"You look at St. Louis at +3500 (odds to win the National League), if they lose a couple games here before the deadline, the Yankees need a third baseman, said Hosmer. "That'll be very interesting to see if something will shake out of that."

Yankees-Cardinals potential Arenado trade

This trade would be a very well-balanced trade for both sides.

New York would finally get the third baseman they need, and Arenado would have a chance to actually play for a winner as opposed to a team that is stuck in the middle.

Arenado in the same lineup as Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo, Juan Soto, and Alex Verdugo would make the Yankees a devastating foe for any of their American League opponents.

As for St. Louis, they need Major League-ready pitching. They have been in on Clayton Beeter in the past, and he would be a major addition to their rotation, especially since they might trade Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson at the deadline if they are sellers.

Danny Watson is an intriguing piece as well. He has a deceptive delivery as a sidearm pitcher. His fastball tops out at about 94 mph, and he also makes use of a mid-80s cutter and 78-82 mph sweeper that can throw hitters off.

He's struggled at Double-A Somerset this season, pitching to a 5.40 ERA, though it is only a small sample size. Watson could potentially see the majors this season, especially if the Cardinals don't see any improvement out of certain pieces in their bullpen. Their pipeline lacks Major League-ready pitching, and Watson could potentially slot into a bullpen role if St. Louis deals Ryan Helsley, JoJo Romero, or Andrew Kittredge.

We'll see what comes of these rumors and if the Yankees are ultimately in on Arenado when the trade deadline comes around.