One Last-Minute Trade the Cardinals Need to Make to Win the World Series

Teams across the MLB are scrambling to complete deals now that the trade deadline is just over 24 hours away. The St. Louis Cardinals are a team that fans should expect to be active as they hope to capitalize on their +4000 odds (No. 10) to win the 2022 World Series on FanDuel Sportsbook.

The starting rotation is something that the Cardinals must improve to challenge for a title this fall.

Keeping that in mind, one last-minute trade that St. Louis should pull off is one that'd acquire the right-handed Frankie Montas of the Oakland Athletics.

Cardinals Trade Rumors

Despite being one of the better teams in the Majors, the Cardinals' starters have combined for a 3.98 ERA, ranking only ninth in the National League. It certainly doesn't help that starting pitcher Alex Reyes has yet to make his 2022 debut, while Steven Matz constantly finds himself back on the injured list.

Trading for someone of Montas' caliber would take a lot of pressure off of St. Louis' starters. The 29-year-old righty has taken to the mound 19 times for the A's this season, going 4-9 while pitching to a 3.18 ERA — the second-best mark of his career — and a 1.137 WHIP.

The Frankie Montas trade market is focused on the Blue Jays, Yankees, and Cardinals, sources say.

Montas, who has thrown 8 innings since returning from the IL earlier this month, is not scheduled to pitch again before Tuesday's 6 pm ET deadline. @MLB @MLBNetwork @Sportsnet
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 31, 2022

What makes Montas even more of an attractive option is that he's under team control in 2023 as well. The Cardinals want to compete as long as possible with their core, so being able to use Montas as more than a one-off rental is something attractive to general manager Mike Girsch.

The Athletics are in a full-on rebound mode and the Cardinals have plenty of prospects to help them build for the future. Shortstop Masyn Winn and right-handed pitcher Gordon Graceffo should be MLB players within the next few years, while infielder/outfielder Alec Burleson is a name that's been thrown around in trade rumors.

The good news is that Cardinals fans won't have to wait too long to find out if Montas will help their team chase a World Series title. This year's MLB trade deadline takes place on Tuesday, Aug. 2 at 6 p.m. ET.

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Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.