A Cardinals-Tigers trade to bring former polarizing pitcher back to St. Louis

As of Thursday, Baseball Reference gives the St. Louis Cardinals just a 4.8 percent chance to make the postseason this year, good for the worst odds in the entire NL Central, over 15 percent less likely than the Pirates.

With a veteran roster like St. Louis has, this leaves them with a few options. They could roll over, enter a full-scale rebuild, and give up on the season. Or they could continue to fight, understand there's 100 games left and make a few trades to boost their odds of making the postseason.

I imagine that the Cardinals won't be eager to enter this rebuild. They're more likely to go down fighting than just rolling over and dying, especially considering how brutally awful a majority of the National League has been this season.

They can begin their push towards the playoffs by making a trade for the former Cardinal, Jack Flaherty.

A Cardinals-Tigers trade to bring Jack Flaherty back to St. Louis for a playoff push

Flaherty began his career in St. Louis, starting 118 games across seven years with the Cardinals. He's had a solid track record of being an above average MLB pitcher and he's shown his true talent this year in 72.2 dominant innings with the Tigers.

The righty is on an expiring deal, but if he's traded back to St. Louis, he may not be hesitant to resign with the Cardinals if they offer him an extension.

To acquire Flaherty, the Cardinals would have to part ways with one of their top pitching prospects, Gordon Graceffo. Graceffo has spent the last two seasons in Triple-A and he's shown some serious promise in his final stop before the big leagues.

Graceffo's mid 90's fastball has reached as high as 99 MPH, but it's not even his best offering. The righty's best pitch is his mid 80's slider that he commands pretty well. If he can improve his overall command, he has a real shot at being in a big league rotation in the next year.

Levenson is a bat first outfielder that hasn't really met expectations so far in the Cardinals system. He still has solid potential as an offensive outfielder, enough potential for the Tigers to view him as a valuable asset.

For the Cardinals, they could be willing to part ways with these two prospects if it means their playoff odds increase for this season. Flaherty has thrown well this year, and he would complement Sonny Gray at the top of the Cardinals rotation.