Red-Hot Cardinals Should Sign Ex-Red Sox Flamethrower

The St. Louis Cardinals have had a pretty fun season so far.

St. Louis is 27-21 on the campaign so far and is just a game back of the Chicago Cubs for first place in the National League Central. After all of the rumors and speculation of the offseason, St. Louis has finally quieted some of the noise. St. Louis is looking like a team worth investing in, rather than tearing a part.

While this is the case, there is a big change coming this upcoming offseason. The Cardinals are going to turn the reins over to Chaim Bloom as the team's next president of baseball operations. An organizational change of that nature surely will bring turnover throughout other areas of the roster.

Because of that, it shouldn't be expected for the Cardnials to pull off some sort of blockbuster trade this season that impacts that future. If the Cardinals keep winning, they should find ways to add to the franchise without hurting future prospects, though.

One guy who likely wouldn't cost the team much at all but realistically could help is veteran reliever Daniel Bard. He's 39 years old now and isn't with a team. WEEI's Rob Bradford shared back in January that Bard was hoping to sign with a team in April and pitch "not too long after."

"Daniel Bard is going to start throwing off mound in early February and is planning on signing with a team in April with the goal to pitch not too long after," Bradford shared.

Bard was with the Colorado Rockies from 2020 through the 2023 season. Before that, he spent time with the Boston Red Sox to kick off his career. In 2023, he appeared in 50 games and had a 4.56 ERA. What's more interesting, though, is that in 2022 he had a 1.79 ERA in 57 appearances.

He missed the 2024 season due to knee and elbow injuries. If he's healthy now, it wouldn't hurt to hand him a minor league deal. He's a nine-year big league veteran who has had success in the majors. There isn't a such thing as a bad minor league deal. He's someone who would be extremely cheap due to his age and injury comeback and if things didn't work out, the club wouldn't have to call him up.

Some sort of splashy trade addition isn't likely to happen. Adding some cheap veteran with upside is more likely.