MLB Rumors: St. Louis Cardinals Could Target Aroldis Chapman In A Trade?

The St. Louis Cardinals are being mentioned in quite a few MLB trade rumors as the trade deadline continues to draw closer. They are surprisingly still in the mix to make the postseason and are in the race for the NL Central division despite the slow start that they had earlier this season.

Looking ahead to the deadline, the Cardinals have a few different needs to try and fix. One of them is the bullpen. They need to bring in another arm if they want to be able to match up with teams like the Chicago Cubs in a postseason series and down the stretch of the regular season.

Parker Hurley of FanSided opined that the Cardinals could look to acquire Aroldis Chapman from the New York Yankees to fix their bullpen issues.

Chapman would be a huge step in the right direction for the Cardinals. He has been one of the most dominant closers in baseball throughout his career and would immediately fix the Cardinals’ bullpen. Closing out games would no longer be a nerve-wracking adventure for St. Louis.

Throughout the course of the 2016 season thus far with the Yankees, Chapman has compiled 2.49 ERA to go along with 17 saves. He has a 6.33 K/BB ratio and certainly would be the type of piece that a team would want to stick around for the long term.

Unfortunately, Chapman only has the rest of this season left on his contract. Any team that wanted to acquire him long-term would have to figure out a way to get a new contract done with him as well. That fact, coupled with the price tag that the Yankees will have on him, makes a trade a very risky move.

St. Louis has the necessary talent to trade for Chapman, but he may not be worth all the talent that it will take for just half a season.

At 28-years-old, Chapman is in the prime of his career and has quite a few years left playing at a high level. If the Cardinals could get a longer deal done with him, acquiring him would be a perfect fit.

Needless to say, it will be interesting to see what the trade deadline holds across Major League Baseball. There are a lot of teams looking to make moves to bolster their postseason chances, while there are also a lot of teams who are out of the playoff race and are looking to rebuild their roster. It certainly seems like there is the potential for a lot of wheeling and dealing at the deadline.

New York certainly sounds motivated to make a move with at least one of their relief pitchers. Andrew Miller is also on the trade block, and he has been linked to the Chicago Cubs heavily. Chapman would be a much more attractive option with a longer contract, although there is a good chance that he will be cheaper to acquire than Miller.

Expect to hear plenty of rumors come out about the Cardinals in the next week or two as the deadline closes in. Chapman will likely be attached to some of them as he sounds like one of their main trade targets.

There is still the possibility that the Cubs will run away with the division regardless of what the Cardinals do at the deadline, but they have to do everything they can to even the playing field.

Do you think that the St. Louis Cardinals should try to acquire Aroldis Chapman from the New York Yankees at the trade deadline? Would he fix their bullpen issues? Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below!

[AP Photo/Chris O’Meara]