Ranking the 5 best starting pitchers the Red Sox should target at the trade deadline

3) Red Sox trade deadline target: Cardinals pitcher Jordan Montgomery

Another pitcher Red Sox fans should be familiar with from his days in the AL East is Jordan Montgomery. The southpaw spent six years with the Yankees before being traded at the deadline last season in a surprising move.

Since becoming a Cardinal, the reliable Montgomery has been at his best. He was always a guy the Yankees could rely on to pitch to a sub-4.00 ERA and give them 150-160 innings. In his 31 starts as a Cardinal he's elevated his game to another level.

Montgomery had a 3.11 ERA in 11 starts with St. Louis last season, and has a 3.37 ERA in 20 starts and 115 innings of work this season for them. Quality pitching has been hard to come by for the Cards this season, but Montgomery has been the guy to give that to them every fifth day.

He doesn't have the best stuff in the world, but he's a guy who throws strikes, doesn't walk anybody, and doesn't give up home runs.

Montgomery doesn't feel like the ace Boston needs, but he's been as reliable of a pitcher as there is in the majors this season. He's allowed more than three runs in an outing just four times and has failed to complete six innings just seven times. The majority of the time he's there giving you six innings and allowing three runs or fewer. That's him giving your team the chance to win virtually every time out which is really all you can ask for.

Like the others, Montgomery is a free agent at season's end, so he won't require too much in a deal. The Cardinals will be moving him, I'd love for Chaim Bloom to make sure Boston is the destination.