ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals made it clear they were looking for left-handed help with the addition of reliever Adalberto Mejía, whom the Cardinals claimed off waivers from the Angels on Tuesday afternoon.

Mej¨ªa will travel to St. Louis from the Dominican Republic over the next day or two. Once he reports -- which the Cardinals hope to be Wednesday, barring any delays -- there will be another transaction to make room for him on the 25-man roster.

Mej¨ªa has a 7.32 ERA in 17 games (19 2/3 innings) this season with the Twins and Angels, who designated him for assignment on Friday. The Angels claimed him off waivers on July 20, and in four games (4 1/3 innings), he allowed one run on four hits. The 26-year-old has been in the Majors since 2016 and has a career 4.55 ERA.

¡°He¡¯s got a pretty big arm,¡± Cardinals general manager Michael Girsch said. ¡°As a bullpen guy, he¡¯s been touching 95 [mph] pretty consistently. He¡¯s got a slider, a curveball, a changeup. We think he can simplify that a little bit in the bullpen, maybe lean more heavily on the curveball. It¡¯s an opportunity to add depth to the left-hand side of our bullpen for now, as we continue to see if we can do something else.¡±

To make room for Mej¨ªa on the 40-man roster, Jedd Gyorko (right wrist/calf strain) was transferred to the 60-day injured list. He was planning on starting his rehab assignment Tuesday night, but instead, Girsch said Gyorko would go to Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday.

Girsch was optimistic Tuesday afternoon that the Cardinals were not done making moves ahead of Wednesday¡¯s 3 p.m. CT Trade Deadline.

¡°I would be disappointed if we weren¡¯t able to find something to help this team by 3 o¡¯clock [Wednesday],¡± Girsch said. ¡°We¡¯re not going to force it just to make something happen.

¡°I¡¯m somewhat optimistic that the market hasn¡¯t opened up yet. The industry hasn¡¯t found the right sales price for all these names out there. Hopefully at some point, we can find that right price and make the moves we¡¯re trying to make.¡±

Adding Mej¨ªa to the big league roster and acquiring Zac Rosscup on Monday from the Dodgers for the Triple-A bullpen are two acquisitions that don¡¯t affect possible future moves, Girsch said.

¡°These are two moves that we know we can make now, they don¡¯t in any way affect if we make a move in the next 24 hours,¡± Girsch said. ¡°If we can make a move to land someone we¡¯re excited about, we will, regardless of what we¡¯ve done with these two players. But at the same time, we didn¡¯t want to pass up on these opportunities and then get to the Trade Deadline and have done nothing. It¡¯s just a way to add some depth to the left side.¡±

The challenge over the next day, Girsch said, is to find acquisitions that could help the Cardinals -- tied atop the National League Central with the Cubs heading into Tuesday's series opener -- improve this season, while keeping prospects intact to help the Cardinals win over the next several years.

¡°What we¡¯re trying to do, and what every contender is trying to do, is weigh the value of wins in 2019 vs. wins in 2021, ¡®22, ¡¯23,¡± Girsch said. ¡°We¡¯re in a good spot that we¡¯re fighting for a division, not just the Wild Card. There¡¯s no magic formula ... it¡¯s somewhat feel.

"Our mission is to field a playoff-caliber team every year. That means you can¡¯t give away 2021, 2022, 2023 blindly in pursuit of 2019. There has to be a rational approach to this. That¡¯s what we¡¯re trying to do. We want to help this team. We want to make a move. We can¡¯t force it to happen.¡±