When St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom made some moves over the offseason, it was widely thought the Cardinals were in for a rebuild. Who would have thought that things would have gone the way they are?
Bloom made two trades with his former employer, the Boston Red Sox. First, he sent right-handed pitcher Sonny Gray to Boston. Then he traded first baseman Willson Contreras. Two trades of key players. Times were changing in St. Louis, right?
Guess again.
In what is turning into one of the more surprising divisions in 2026, the National League Central, the Cardinals are in second place, just five games behind the Milwaukee Brewers. If the season ended today, St. Louis is the top wild-card team in the National League. Go figure.
Despite all of that, the Cardinals are a team that not many believe can make the postseason when all is said and done. Therefore, there could be some trades coming. If Bloom does make some players available, then one of them is someone who would be drawing some surprising interest, according to Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report.
St. Louis Cardinals Have Surprise Trade Candidate in Dusty May
Before suffering numerous injuries, expectations were high for Dusty May. The hard-throwing right-hander was a diamond in the rough for the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, injuries hampered his career, and now he’s turning things around with the Cardinals. In fact, he is turning things around so much that Miller believes the chances are high that he could be moved by the deadline.
“Maybe they just kind of do nothing at the deadline, but selling still looks more likely than buying amid their rebuild. And if they’re selling anything, it’s almost certainly Dustin May and reliever JoJo Romero as darn near the only impending free agents on the roster,” Miller wrote.
The turnaround this year isn’t eye-opening for May, but it’s noticeable. In 12 starts, he’s just 3-6, but his ERA is 4.59 in 66.2 innings pitched with 60 strikeouts to just 19 walks. His WAR is 0.1, which is better than the last three seasons when it’s been negative. Small steps, right?
Dusty May Trade Market Will Be Fascinating To See
May struggled to begin the season, allowing 13 earned runs in two starts. However, he has been better and is raising his trade stock, slowly, for Bloom. The 28-year-old comes with a very manageable $4 million contract.
“The year-to-date ERA isn’t great, but that largely stems from a disastrous start to the year in which he allowed 13 earned runs in his first two outings. Since then, May has a 3.19 ERA with quality starts in seven out of 10 appearances,” wrote Miller.
“What’s more, after striking out just 16 percent of batters faced in his first seven starts, May is up to 28 percent over the past month. And the four-seamer that hovered around 95.5 MPH last season? It has been consistently in the 97.0 range this year.”
There would be contending teams that would call Bloom on May. However, the asking price, which Bloom sometimes can make high, as he did during his time with the Boston Red Sox, could scare off teams. A veteran arm with promise is someone teams would take a flyer on. As always, things could get interesting with Bloom and the Cardinals come the trade deadline.
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