The ideal trade partner for the Cleveland Guardians

Nearly 60 games into the season and everyone is well aware that this Cleveland Guardians team has some flaws. The most notable flaw being a lack of hitting with no immediate internal answers at the moment. As trade rumors start to heat up and teams determine where they stand, ideal trade partners will appear for teams looking to make some changes. One team in particular has stood out as a perfect trade partner for the Guardians. The St. Louis Cardinals.

As noted by Jon Morosi of MLB Network, the Cardinals have some pitching issues. St. Louis currently possesses the worst record in the National League entering Sunday at 25-34. Also mentioned by Morosi is that the Cardinals are tied for the third-fewest quality starts in MLB this season with 13. And finally the most important part of his tweet, Morosi stating that St. Louis must trade hitting for pitching.

This is where the Clevleand Guardians come in.

The Guardians seem to have the complete opposite problem, tons of pitching and no hitting. Cleveland is 10th in ERA (3.84) and fifth in quality starts (27). Meanwhile their performance at the plate has been a complete disappointment this season. Checking in with the third-fewest runs (210), dead last in home runs (35), fourth-worst on-base percentage (.303), tied for second to last in slugging (.351), and second to last in on-base plus slugging (.653).

With Cleveland having arms to move and St. Louis bats, a potential trade between the two sides makes too much sense. Both teams can deal from areas of depth without waving the white flag on the season. The central divisions in both leagues are not out of reach and all it takes is a solid extended run to overtake the division leader. But before any of that can happen they need to begin trade discussions and work out a way to make a deal that instantly benefits both sides, a rare occurence that can actually come to fruition in this scenario. The talks better start soon, because neither team can reallly afford to continue down their current path without making any significant changes.