A lot of talk, rumors, and speculation has occurred with the trade deadline looming just now a day away.  Though I am all for the Cardinals trading to get some help, some of the candidates that most people think the Cardinals should get are not much of an upgrade at all. So here we go, first we will take a look at some of the starters that have been speculated compared to some of the Cardinals starters. Then we will take a look at some other possible areas of need.

Pitcher	W	L	ERA	SO	BB	WAR	Control	Salary
Joe Kelly	1	4	2.96	33	18	0.5	ARB-2019	420K
Josh Johnson	6	7	4.04	109	41	1.9	2014	13.75 MM
Cliff Lee	1	6	3.95	112	23	0.8	2015	21MM
James Shields	8	7	4.52	134	44	-0.7	2013	12MM
Josh Beckett	5	9	4.57	82	29	0.9	2014	15.75 MM
Jason Vargas	11	7	3.76	96	41	1.6	2014	4.75 MM

As you can see, some of these options are not much of an upgrade over our young rookie fifth pitcher. Sure guys like Cliff Lee, Josh Johnson, and James Shields have been big game time pitchers in the past but is it worth taking the risk? But all three of those players would require a huge trade haul involving top prospects and maybe even players like Jon Jay or Allen Craig.  Sure it would be nice to get guys like Johnson or Shields who both have market friendly contracts through the next season or two, but still Kelly is a young and cheap option who has been pretty effective despite his win-loss record.

I think of all of these names the one that seems most intriguing to me is Jason Vargas, he is still young, cheap, effective, and under control for two more seasons. It has also been known that Seattle has been scouting the Cardinals especially looking for Allen Craig, who I think should be untouchable for the Cardinals.  Would you be willing to trade one of your most productive hitters over the past two seasons for some pitching help? Think about this, the Cardinals still have Carpenter, Wainwright, Lynn, Garcia, and Kelly all under contract for next season. Top prospects Miller, Martinez, and Rosenthal are all starters. Plus I have a feeling that either Lohse or Westbrook will be coming back next season. So I personally don’t think that it is worth it to trade for a starter, instead I think that the Cardinals should trade for infield help and a reliever (Huston Street, Brandon League, are a few names that come to mind.)

Another possibility the Cardinals have been floating around is the idea of acquiring a right handed hitting outfielder. Some names that have been tossed about by myself and Ray as well as some beat writers are guys like Justin Upton, Shane Victorino, Hunter Pence, and Peter Bourjos. All of these guys could bring a huge impact, but the playing time might not be worth it to acquire any one of these players unless you just give up on Jon Jay.  Yes the same Jon Jay that the Cardinals traded Ryan Ludwick and Colby Rasmus to give more playing time.

So in my opinion the Cardinals best possible options would be to trade for a reliever and some infield help.  It has just been announced that Rafael Furcal has been dealing with back stiffness, plus the horrible production from second base and mainly Tyler Greene is reason enough that the Cardinals should go after an infielder.  Some names that come to mind are Yunel Escobar of the Blue Jays, Stephen Drew and Aaron Hill of the Diamond Backs.  So that is my thoughts on the trade deadline, who do you think the Cardinals should trade for if anyone, and why? Comment below!