The Cardinals entered Monday with the trade deadline ticking down and very little noise coming out of St. Louis. After months of rumors, the picture has come into focus: with the club sitting at 55-57 and two games under .500 after a rough second half, a sale looks like the likeliest path.
That would be a sharp turn from the conversation earlier in the year, when the Cardinals’ strong first half created some chatter about adding. Instead, the day opened around the league with movement elsewhere, as the Philadelphia Phillies landed Luis Arraez and the Toronto Blue Jays added Jose Soriano in a trade with the Los Angeles Angels.
For St. Louis, though, the expectation is that the front office under Chaim Bloom will be dealing from the roster rather than chasing upgrades. And if there’s one name that stands out as the most likely to move, it’s Dustin May.
May has made 21 starts for the Cardinals and owns a 4.38 ERA across 109 innings. He also has a mutual option after the season and is likely headed toward free agency.
ESPN’s Buster Olney said there are multiple contenders in the market for pitching, including the Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox. If May is still wearing a Cardinals uniform after Monday night, it would come as a surprise.
Another arm to keep an eye on is Romero. The injury situation complicates things, but the logic is simple: he’s set to be a free agent after the season, which makes now the more sensible time to move him instead of watching him walk away for nothing.
There are also a few position-player names in the mix, even if they aren’t all on the active roster. Gorman is one to watch after Derrick Goold of the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Cardinals will gauge his market value. Jon Morosi of MLB Network also reported that Burleson is among the “most popular controllable” offensive pieces on the market, though it remains unclear whether St.
Louis would actually pull the trigger.
Then there’s Hence, who was the Cardinals’ No. 1 overall prospect just a few years ago before being designated for assignment this week. He may not bring back much, but it would still be a surprise if the Cardinals didn’t try to move him.
In Other News...
Cardinals May Have Found The Deadline Partner Fans Were Waiting On
With the MLB trade deadline drawing closer, the Cardinals suddenly have a plausible match sitting across from them in the Phillies. Philadelphia is shopping for help in several areas, including an outfield bat, a starter and relief arms, and that kind of broad shopping list has a way of putting a team like St. Louis into the conversation if the fit is right.
Recent deals around the league have helped clarify the market, which makes a Cardinals-Phillies swap feel more realistic than it might have a few days ago. Nothing is done yet, but the overlap in needs is enough to keep this one on the radar as both clubs weigh whether the pieces they can move line up with what the other side is trying to add. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Are Tied To Four Deadline Names That Could Change Everything
The trade deadline always brings a little more noise than certainty, and the Cardinals are right in the middle of that familiar swirl. Four names have surfaced as possible fits if St. Louis decides to chase help with an eye on the future: Jackson Holliday, George Kirby, Marcelo Mayer and Reid Detmers. Each comes with a different profile, but the common thread is obvious enough for a club trying to balance present needs with long-term planning.
Holliday stands out as the sort of young talent that can reshape a roster timeline, while Kirby would almost certainly come with a steep acquisition cost if the Cardinals tried to make a serious run at him. Mayer and Detmers give the group more variety, and that is part of what makes this kind of deadline chatter so easy to follow and so hard to read. The Cardinals can dream on the upside, but as always with this time of year, getting from interest to actual movement is where the real uncertainty begins. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Just Made A Tough Call On A Fan Favorite Outfielder
The Cardinals spent the day reshaping their outfield picture with a move that signals both urgency and patience. Lars Nootbaar, long one of the more recognizable faces in the lineup, is on his way out after the club weighed his health concerns against the rise of younger outfield prospects in the organization.
In return, St. Louis added pitching depth, getting right-hander Daniel Eagen and left-handed reliever Sando Santana as part of a package that also includes a third player not yet reported. It is the kind of deal that can look sensible on paper for a team trying to balance present needs with future value, but the final shape of the return still has one more piece to come into focus. [Read more 🡒]