The St. Louis Cardinals pulled off yet another comeback win on Thursday against the Athletics. It was their major league leading 12th of the year. This has led to a lot of speculation about the trade deadline, which is still months away. They are rebuilding, so it remains to be seen what they will ultimately do.
Their roster is set up to be a seller at the deadline, especially with several players on expiring contracts. But that may not be their only path forward.
Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report proposed what he thinks every team should do at the trade deadline, and had the Cardinals as a potential buyer for some pitching.
“While the Cardinals have exceeded expectations in becoming a tentative deadline buyer, most of that surprise success has come from the lineup—Jordan Walker’s breakthrough, JJ Wetherholt’s NL ROY-caliber start, Nathan Church’s unforeseen production, etc.,” Miller wrote.
“On the pitching side of things, though, starter Michael McGreevy and closer Riley O’Brien are just about the only arms operating at an above-replacement level, which is why the Red Birds have lagged so far behind the Braves, Brewers and Dodgers in terms of run prevention. Adding a controllable arm or two (for the rotation or bullpen) would be huge for a team that is a bit ahead of schedule.”
Cardinals Need Pitching
Because the Cardinals roster is set up better to sell, it’s going to be hard for them to do any buying unless they can thread the needle and make moves in both directions. Once again, president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom does not want to deviate from his plan, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“The Cardinals are going to guard their farm system and their depth of young players,” Goold wrote. “They do not have much appetite for dealing from the talent they’ve collected to replenish the minors this early in the rebuild process. Bloom and his staff have been clear on how much they value homegrown players and how those in-house talents will be the building blocks of the contending core they’re trying to identify.”
Some fringe buying might make sense as long as it serves the long-term goal Bloom has talked about. As Miller notes, a controllable piece for the starting rotation or bullpen would make sense because it would help them in the present and not sacrifice the future. It just remains to be seen how they will do that if that is their approach.
Who is Available?
This is where things get a little bit difficult. Joe Ryan and Tarik Skubal are going to be the top starters available. Ryan is not a free agent until 2028, so in terms of control, he would make more sense, but both pitchers are going to cost a lot of prospects, and the Cardinals aren’t in a position to sell the farm. Therefore, they are likely not options that the Cardinals will be pursuing.
If they’re going to add, a rental piece that won’t cost much would likely make more sense, but because they need to young talent, the best possible way to add controllable pitching is by selling and pursuing prospects.
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