Three trade deadline deals that together make the Cardinals a postseason threat

Here we go! The St. Louis Cardinals are 47-42, have a firm grasp of the second Wild Card, and are now 32-18 in their last 50 games, good for a .640% win percentage. You don’t have to believe in the Cardinals as some kind of World Series contender, but they are without a doubt buying at this year’s trade deadline and looking to make a run in October.

It’s been well documented at this point the three areas the Cardinals would be interested in upgrading in – finding another starter, fortifying their bullpen, and potentially adding a right-handed bat to their lineup (likely in a platoon role). All of that makes sense. The rotation has been encouraging this year but still needs upgrades for October. The bullpen has been excellent, but the frequency the Cardinals go to it requires more arms. And while the lineup is heating up again, their inability to hit left-handed pitching is a major problem.

We’ve put out a lot of content on this site about what kinds of players the Cardinals could target to fit certain needs on their roster, but we really haven’t put together a mock outline of how the Cardinals can address each of their needs in a way that plays off of each other.

For example, if the Cardinals go out and add an impact starter who can be a true number two or number three in the postseason, it is unlikely that make that big of a swing for a reliever or bat. The same can be said for each of those other needs. How the Cardinals choose to address one need will have an influence on the others.

With just over three weeks to go until the July 30th trade deadline, I took my first stab at creating some trade packages the Cardinals could potentially put together in order to upgrade their roster and be a real threat in October.