Cardinals Trade For $18 Million Star Would Solve Team's Biggest Issue

The St. Louis Cardinals are in a tough spot. They're playing too well to initiate a fire sale and blow up the roster. But they're not playing well enough to secure a postseason spot. To make matters worse, the National League is loaded with talent. The NL Wild Card race has so many contenders that it's making it much harder for the Cardinals to crack into the postseason.

With that in mind, St. Louis needs to pick a lane. It can look to blow up the roster, acquire assets for the future, and rebuild given the state of the NL. Or it can get aggressive at the trade deadline, bring in some valuable talent, and look to contend this season.

If the Cardinals want to contend, they need to upgrade the starting rotation. Miles Mikolas and Erick Fedde haven't been competitive pitchers for a month now and their performance continues to trend in the wrong direction.

A trade for Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Merrill Kelly would improve the rotation in St. Louis by quite a bit. Kelly might not be an ace at this point, but the veteran has been one of the more consistent pitchers in the NL this season.

Kelly is expected to be traded following the Diamondbacks' fall from grace in the NL. With the veteran sitting on an expiring contract, he's one of the clearer trade chips in the league.

The Cardinals could likely acquire him for relatively cheap, though they'd likely lose him in free agency this offseason.

Either way, if St. Louis is serious about contending this season, it needs to make a big move to upgrade the starting rotation.