The St. Louis Cardinals were buyers at the MLB trade deadline. The team addressed several areas of need including starting pitching, bullpen help and offensive production. Despite doing well at the deadline, the Cardinals must make three additional roster moves to finish strong and reach the playoffs.

St. Louis is 6.5 games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers entering play on Thursday. The team is just 1.5 games out of the National League’s third Wild Card berth. The Cardinals made it clear to the players and the fanbase that they are not giving up on the 2024 season when they upgraded at the trade deadline. The moves breathed life into the organization and helped prepare St. Louis for a second-half push that they hope leads to the postseason.

The Cardinals landed highly-coveted starting pitcher Erick Fedde and veteran outfielder Tommy Pham from the Chicago White Sox in a three-team trade with Chicago and the Los Angeles Dodgers. St. Louis also sent Dylan Carlson to the Tampa Bay Rays for reliever Shawn Armstrong.

Now that the deadline has passed, the Cardinals need to essentially do it over again. The team must add another starting pitcher, a reliever and extra offense. Of course, acquiring impact players post deadline is difficult. Teams looking to upgrade at this point in the season are limited to waivers claims and signing free agents who haven’t found a home in 2024.

While the options available to the Cardinals are limited, there are players who could make a difference for the team. St. Louis should target starter Zack Greinke, relief pitcher Brad Hand and veteran first baseman/designated hitter Brandon Belt.

The Cardinals needed to come away from the trade deadline with a solid, mid-rotation starting pitcher. The team’s rotation, led by three-time All-Star Sonny Gray, has been inconsistent. St. Louis’ starters rank 22nd in ERA (4.44), 13th in quality starts (43), 18th in strikeouts (552), 24th in batting average against (.252), 17th in WHIP (1.28) and 22nd in WPA (-1.01).

Fedde is exactly the type of pitcher the Cardinals were looking to add. The seven-year veteran is 8-5 with a 3.28 ERA, 1.147 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, and an ERA+ of 128 in 23 starts entering play on Thursday. Fedde will have an immediate impact on the Cardinals’ rotation. His 4.9 WAR on the season leads all St. Louis starters – Fedde has 3.4 more WAR than Gray in 2024.

Cardinals relievers have outperformed the starters as the bullpen ranks fifth in ERA (3.60), 11th in WHIP (1.24) and sixth in WPA (4.59). Armstrong is having a bit of a down season with a 5.15 ERA, 1.559 WHIP and an ERA+ of 79. However the Cardinals are hoping he can return to his career averages, which are substantially better than the stats he’s produced in 2024.

Finally, the Cardinals upgraded their offense with the addition of 11-year veteran Tommy Pham, who made his career debut with St. Louis in 2014. The team currently ranks 13th in batting average and 19th in on-base percentage, slugging and OPS.

In eight games with the Cardinals, Pham is slashing .379/.400/.759 with a 1.159 OPS and an OPS+ of 215. Obviously his reunion with St. Louis has lifted Pham’s play. But just as obviously, he will not be able to sustain those numbers. Still, Pham should be a solid depth piece for the offense and a strong veteran presence in the clubhouse.

St. Louis did well for themselves at the trade deadline. But now the team must double down and bring in another starter, reliever and offensive player via free agency.

Zack Greinke could bolster the Cardinals’ rotation

Oct 1, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Zack Greinke (23) warms up during the first inning against the New York Yankees at Kauffman Stadium.
Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

While it’s possible that the future Hall of Famer could simply be done with baseball, Greinke left the door open for a potential return after a disappointing 2023 with the Kansas City Royals. Last year the six-time All-Star had his first below average season by ERA+ since 2005. However, it’s possible a change of scenery would do him well and the playoff atmosphere in St. Louis could bring out the best in him. Greinke is just 21 strikeouts shy of 3,000, which could be enough of an enticement to bring him back to baseball.

Greinke is now 40 and at this stage of his career, he’d be a back-end starter. But he could still be useful and the Cardinals still need rotation depth. A free agent pitcher who could give them five innings per start and help keep pressure off the bullpen would be immensely helpful.

If Greinke’s not interested in joining St. Louis for the second half, perhaps an even older pitcher would answer the call. Rich Hill is a free agent and the 44-year-old lefty could still have a little something remaining in the tank. Hill never threw all that hard, meaning he aged well. Perhaps he could help the Cardinals pitching staff. He threw 146.1 innings just last year in his age-43 season with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Diego Padres.

Unlike Greinke, we know that Hill wants to return to baseball. The veteran plans to throw for interested teams on Friday.

The bullpen needs a Hand

In addition to the rotation, the Cardinals also need to add to their bullpen. Perhaps three-time All-Star Brad Hand could be useful. The 34-year-old reliever had a rough 2023, producing a 5.53 ERA with the Colorado Rockies and the Atlanta Braves. Hand entered free agency at the end of the season and has remained out of action so far this year.

However, he’s just one season removed from a strong 2022 campaign for the Philadelphia Phillies in which he posted a 2.80 ERA in 45 innings with an ERA+ of 143. Hand could still be effective as a lefty specialist and his splits bear this out. For his career, left-handed batters are hitting just .193 with a .574 OPS against Hand. Even during his forgettable 2023 season, lefties only hit .200 with a .584 OPS against the 13-year veteran.

Brandon Belt could be a difference maker

Finally, the Cardinals need to add some offensive depth. Finding a free agent at this stage of the season who could spot-start at first or DH and be counted on in pressure moments is challenging. Fortunately for St. Louis, Brandon Belt is available.

Just last season Belt had 23 doubles and 19 home runs with a .858 OPS and an OPS+ of 136 in 103 games for the Toronto Blue Jays. Clearly the 36-year-old Belt has more to offer a major league club. He also has significant playoff experience with 39 postseason games under his…belt. He’s been part of two World Series victories and batted .308 with the San Francisco Giants when they won the championship in 2014. There was even talk of Belt joining old manager Bruce Bochy and the Texas Rangers for the 2024 season.

After a slow start to the season, the Cardinals have an opportunity to make the playoffs and a deep postseason run. These three post-trade deadline additions could have a significant impact on the team’s success this year.