Cardinals Could Benefit From Signing $11.5 Million Veteran

The St. Louis Cardinals have seemingly thrown the season away due to the front office's lack of moves over the offseason, but the fans shouldn't look at it as a year down the drain. In fact, this season is crucial for building the future of the franchise as the young players get their chance to shine.

But the Cardinals could look to add a free agent who would be the complete opposite of the young core that's already in St. Louis. David Robertson, formerly of the Texas Rangers, might be closing in on 40 years old, but he would be a solid pickup for the Cardinals for a few different reasons.

First of all, the righty would likely sign for very cheap at this point. Alongside that, the worst case scenario with signing him would be he's a veteran leader in the clubhouse. Even if he signs and struggles on the mound, Robertson could be a very good leader in a relatively young clubhouse.

The Cardinals will likely trade their closer, Ryan Helsley, this season. Helsley's contract expires at the end of the season, so St. Louis will likely move on from him to continue its rebuild. With that in mind, Robertson could be the short-term answer at closer.

But the best-case scenario of signing Robertson would involve trading him alongside Helsley. Relievers are very sought after at the trade deadline, but clearly no team is willing to take a shot on Robertson just yet.

If the Cardinals can sign him and let him shine in St. Louis for a month or two, he could be traded at the deadline in exchange for a top-30 prospect.

This is the team that's still trotting Miles Mikolas out to the mound on every fifth day. Adding Robertson is a low-risk, potentially high-reward move they could make for very little money.