#49 For some teams, the goal leading up to the July 31 trade dea

For some teams, the goal leading up to the July 31 trade deadline will be acquiring players that will help them win in October. They're already pretty much a sured of making the playoffs, and anything short of a World Series title will be disappointing.Those teams are after mega-impact players, like a Max Scherzer, and they can wait for the right player to become available. Theres no real rush.For other teams, though? Winning in October is still the goal, but without a little bit of help or a lot of help getting to the postseason will be challenging. These are the teams that would greatly benefit from trades before July arrives, to get an extra five or six starts from a new rotation addition, or another 100-plus plate appearances from a position player.Lets look at five of those teams today.CardinalsWhy they need help sooner than later: Look, every team has ups and downs through a season. The Cardinals, though, seem to have mastered the whole all-or-nothing approach better than any other team in https://www.atbravesstore.com/atlanta-braves/dale-murphy-jersey the bigs, and that isnt a compliment. At one point, the Cardinals were 22-14 and tied for the best record in baseball; since then, theyre 14-22; that overall .500 record has them tied for third in the NL Central, four games back of the Cubs and Brewers.We are at a little bit of a stre s point right now, Cardinals president of baseball operations .So what do they need? Lets start with rotation help. At least one more starter who isnt a No. 5 type. Adam Wainwright has been the only reliable, fully healthy pitcher this season. Ace Jack Flaherty was excellent in his 11 starts, but hes on the IL with an oblique injury and his return is likely measured in weeks, not days. Carlos Martinez had a nice stretch in late April/early May, but hes been mostly a me s lately. Let https://www.atbravesstore.com/atlanta-braves/kurt-suzuki-jersey s put it this way: Even if you throw out his disastrous start against the Dodgers 10 earned runs in 2/3 of an inning his ERA for June is still 9.64. Yikes. John Gants ERA is solid (3.50), but hes averaging just 14.2 outs per start, a shade under five innings and he has nearly as many walks (44) as strikeouts (46). Thats not what you want. Same basic i sue for Kwang Hyun Kim, who has a 3.64 ERA but just 13.6 outs per start (50 innings in 11 starts). Johan Oviedo has legit stuff, but hes still young and a work in progre s.And the offense has been underwhelming, to say the least. Maybe its time to stop waiting for outfielder Harrison Bader who is 27 and owns a .211 average and 90 OPS+ in his past 200 MLB games, dating back to the start of the 2019 season to develop into a force. The Cardinals are financially committed to Paul DeJong at shortstop, but hes batting just .160 with a .585 OPS in 45 games this year, after hitting just three homers in 45 games last year.YankeesWhy they need help sooner than later:The Yankees entered the year expecting to challenge for 100 wins and the ALs best record. That, well, hasnt happened. At the moment, theyre looking at an uphill climb just to get to the postseason https://www.atbravesstore.com/atlanta-braves/tyler-flowers-jersey , and it seems they wont throw in the towel on 2021 without at least making a push. Theyre in third place in the AL East, a handful of games behind a Rays team that just called up uber-prospect Wander Franco and a Red Sox team that might get Chris Sale back at some point.Theyre 4 1/2 back of the Rays in the race for the second wild-card, too.They could use a lot more consistency in a lineup filled with when healthy home-run hitters, which is why Pirates second baseman Adam Frazier (.322 average, .388 obp, NL-best 23 doubles) is the hot name on the trade rumor market right now in NYC. And because theyre the Yankees and winning a World Series is pretty much the only goal, trading for an elite pitcher (think Max Scherzer or a notch below) should be on the soon-to-do list, too.RELATED: Blue JaysWhy they need help sooner than later: There is so much talent on this roster, led by MVP candidate Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. And they had that stretch where most everything was clicking, running up to a 23-17 record, just a half-game out in the AL East. Since then, though? Its been a whole bunch of meh with the Dunedin/Buffalo Jays a 12-18 record that ranks 13th of the 15 AL teams in that stretch. Thats just unacceptable. Theres the talent not only to rally for a playoff spot theyre 7 back in the East, 6.5 out of the second wild-card spot but even to advance in October. But if getting to the postseason is the goal for this year, the Jays cant wait for the trade deadline, or even the All-Star break, to make a move.Getting George Springer their primary offseason acquisition back into the lineup on a regular basis should be a big boost for the offense. Which means trading for an impact pitcher not a No. 5 type to add to the rotation should be the priority, sooner than later. Problem is, there are not a lot of healthy options available at the moment. Oh, and the bullpen, because every contender needs bullpen help (the Jays more than most, though.The opportunity to add to our bullpen and complement our bullpen is what were focused on right now, . Well continue working on that. As it relates to urgency, we were https://www.atbravesstore.com/atlanta-braves/david-justice-jersey thinking of that and working on it when our bullpen was pitching better.BravesWhy they need help sooner than later: Atlanta needs more offense from its outfielders. Ronald Acua has been playing at an MVP level, but with Marcel Ozuna struggling, then injured and then arrested on a sault and batter charges that are awful the Braves havent gotten nearly enough production from those other two spots.Atlanta came oh-so-close to the World Series last year, and figured to be the favorite to win the NL East this season. But most everything has gone wrong. The Braves are three games under .500 (33-36), five back in the division and 6 1/2 out of the second wild-card spot. Thats a big deficit, but far from impo sible to make up with more than three months remaining in the season. If they dont make a move, and those deficits grow to, lets say, eight back and 11 back, by the All-Star break, thats a much bigger problem.We have the resources to add payroll to the club, . The outlook is much different than it was in the offseason when there was a lot of uncertainty. We started the year, I think, at 25 percent capacity and we moved up incrementally and were up to 100 percent. So were absolutely in https://www.atbravesstore.com/atlanta-braves/john-smoltz-jersey a position and Ive been told that as well, that we can add payroll at the trade deadline.Or, yknow, maybe long before the trade deadline.CubsWhy they need help sooner than later: Yes, the Cubs are tied for first place in the Central, but the rotation doesnt feel much like a division title rotation at the moment, does it? In h