There could be some surprise sellers at the trade deadline this year and the St. Louis Cardinals could pounce on some of the sellers
The St. Louis Cardinals have been floundering recently as they are 9-15 in their last 24 games. Despite that, they are 46-42 and just 2.5 games out of the NL Central lead and one game back of a National League Wild Card spot.
They need to make some improvements at the trade deadline and they most certainly will be a big factor before the trade deadline. But they could take advantage from teams that could be surprise sellers at the deadline, including from teams that have similar records to the Cardinals but are in a more precarious spot for making the playoffs.
Here are three trade targets for the St. Louis Cardinals from surprise sellers.
St. Louis Cardinals trade target: Noah Syndergaard
The Los Angeles Angels were in a great spot to make the playoffs seven weeks ago. They were 27-17 in their first 44 games, just one game back in the AL West and a hold on the first American League Wild Card spot.
In their last 43 games, they are 11-32, dropping them to fourth in the AL West, 19 games behind first place in the West and seven games behind the last AL Wild Card spot. In other words, they should be sellers at the trade deadline and, perhaps, their biggest trade chip could be starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard.
After only pitching in a combined two innings in the last two seasons, Syndergaard has established some value on the trade market since he has been healthy and effective.
In 13 starts, Syndergaard has a 3.84 ERA (103 ERA+) with a 3.83 FIP, a 1.166 WHIP, and an average of two walks per nine innings.
The Cardinals have a desperate need for some starting pitching as their starters have an ERA of 4.03, which is 17th in the sport. They also only have two starting pitchers (Miles Mikolas and Adam Wainwright) with an ERA+ at or better than league average.
Syndergaard is only signed through the end of the seasons so he’d be relatively cheap since he’s a rental.