After an offseason of making the fewest moves across Major League Baseball, the St. Louis Cardinals are still having a solid season. Coming out of the All-Star break, the Cardinals are just 1.5 games back of a National League Wild Card spot. However, the NL is extremely tough this season, and being 6-7 games above .500 may not even get you into the playoffs.
St. Louis is 6.5 games back in the NL Central as well, but currently sits at 51-46, which is still really good for a club that made virtually no moves this offseason. Many believe that the Cardinals, with a tough second-half schedule, will slow down because of their lack of offensive prowess and starting pitching depth.
Bleacher Report Believes Cardinals Will Be Sellers
Because of the reasons listed, in a recent “Bold Predictions” piece by Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller, the St. Louis Cardinals were listed as a team that will make the most of a seller’s market.
Here is what Miller had to say about the Cardinals’ potential deadline plans and players that could be moved:
“The bold/iffy one is St. Louis, sitting five games above .500 but limping into the All-Star break with eight losses in 12 games. We were expecting a bit of a Cardinals fire sale to take place during the offseason, but they could command a lot of prospect capital later this month with the likes of Sonny Gray, Nolan Arenado, Erick Fedde, Ryan Helsley, Steven Matz, Miles Mikolas and Phil Maton among their long list of trade candidates. Gray, in particular, could be the beau of the deadline ball, even with the not-so-minor detail of his $35 million salary in 2026.”
Cardinals Deadline Outlook
Sonny Gray would certainly be the hottest commodity of the players on the St. Louis Cardinals roster, but he would also come at the steepest price. Nolan Arenado was the subject of trade rumors earlier in the season, but those have simmered down. Two-time All-Star Ryan Helsley is an interesting name. He would certainly get a lot of attention from contending clubs who are looking for a rental bullpen piece. Helsley has a 3.27 ERA in 33 innings this year to go along with 19 saves. He led MLB with 49 saves a season ago and is set to be a free agent after this season.
Starting pitching is also extremely important at this time of year, and St. Louis has a couple of names in Erick Fedde and Miles Mikolas that could be depth starters for a contending team. Steven Matz has also revitalized his career in a bullpen role, but can also start games as well. Matz has a 3.35 ERA this season in 51 innings.
If a team were to try and acquire either Arenado, Gray, or Helsley, the Cardinals would get a hefty amount of capital in return and could kickstart them into next season.
Again, though, St. Louis is just a game back in the NL Wild Card standings, and may not fully want to give up just yet. They could still just make a deal or two to ship off a couple players, and that wouldn’t necessarily mean they are in full “firesale” mode.
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