Manny Machado is undoubtabley one of the best shortstops in the MLB, so there’s a lot of trade interest generating from his name. As of today, he has a .305 AVG, 19 home runs, 55 RBI, .375 OBP, .559 SLG, .935 OPS, 35 walks, 45 strikeouts, and 90 hits. These are incredible stats, so the Orioles have to start taking Machado trades more seriously, especially as July nears closer and closer. Machado is also definitely having a career year, and you can easily see this from his career stats, so this is the perfect time to trade him.

I made an article earlier this year on the Machado trade situation and multiple reasons why, so if you want to know the reasons, check it out here. To summarize, it’s mainly because the Orioles team is absolutely terrible and their future isn’t looking great. Also, Machado is a free agent after this year, so trading him would be great for the team as they can get a prospect or few before he inevitably gets enough money to fill a swimming pool by a good team. There are a lot of candidates to land him, like the Phillies, Cubs, Diamondbacks, and Dodgers, but none need him more than one team. The St. Louis Cardinals.

Why the Cardinals?

The Cardinals are a team that people had good expectations for before the season after trading for the Marlins’ stud outfielder Marcell Ozuna and Blue Jays’ consistent reliever Dominic Leone. They also had Luke Weaver and Alex Reyes, two hyped up prospects, in their rotation, so it was quite obvious they were really trying for a playoff spot for the first time since 2015. Since then, they have disappointed so far. Reyes has been injured for most of the season, their stud shortstop Paul DeJong is injured, the bullpen has been inconsistent, Dexter Fowler is having the worst year of his career, Ozuna isn’t being the stud he was last year, etc. They’ve been very unlucky.

The Cardinals are playing in a division which includes two of the best teams in baseball: the Brewers and the Cubs. Currently, the Cardinals are 4 games back in the division, so having their current roster is likely not going to win them the division, but they are 1 game back from the Wild Card, so that is a very real possibility. With DeJong’s injury and a lot of their infielders underperforming, Machado is a must for the Cardinals at the deadline, especially if they really want a return to the postseason.

Machado’s hitting stats would really help substitute for Kolten Wong’s .190 AVG, 5 home runs, 13 RBI, .291 OBP,  .313 SLG, .604 OPS. Once DeJong returns from the DL, you’ll be able to plop Manny at short, DeJong at third, Jedd Gyorko at second, and José Martínez at first, then you have a decent offense. Keep in mind the one the Cardinals have now, with DeJong injured and Wong starting a lot, is contentding for a Wild Card, so if they catch an advantage against the equally unlucky Nationals, then they could be back in the postseason. The Cardinals are a team of a lot of promise, but they just need that little push to get them going again, and a Machado deal could definitely do this.