With The MLB Trade Deadline Approaching, Don’t Expect St. Louis To Deal Star Players

By Jordan Long

The St. Louis Cardinals started the season as one of the favorites to win the National League Central Division.  They currently sit at 41-53, 11 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for 1^st place in the division. They could be sellers at the MLB trade deadline which is on August 1st.

St. Louis knows it has been a rough season.  They thought they would be a World Series contender because of their offense.  St. Louis was going to rely on Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, and Wilson Contreras as the heart of the lineup.  These players were going to do damage to smack base hits and score runs.

The offense isn’t the problem. St. Louis is hitting .257, 11th in baseball.  When it comes to home runs, they have a total of 128, 7^th in MLB .  Looking at that, St. Louis should be a contending team.

            Their problem has been pitching and the main reason why the team is struggling.  Their team ERA is 4.56, 25th in baseball.  Starting pitching has struggled to keep St. Louis in games with an ERA of 4.73 26^th in baseball. Manager Oliver Marmol waits too long to switch pitchers.  When he goes to the bullpen, they can’t keep teams from scoring with an ERA of 4.49, 25^th in baseball.   

            With the trade deadline approaching, there are questions about if St. Louis will deal Nolan Arenado or Paul Goldschmidt who both have no-trade clauses in their contract.  Letting them go would give them a chance to be part of a winning team.  According to CBSsports.com, President of Baseball Operations for the St. Louis Cardinals, John Mozeliak said, “I don’t have any intentions of trading anybody like them. If you’re willing to listen on anything, you have to understand (anything’s possible), but I doubt that would happen.” 

            The truth is, sure these big names may be dealt.  It would only happen if it would help the future of St. Louis. It doesn’t seem likely they will be traded.  Arenado won’t reach free agency until 2028.  The average for the rest of his contract is around $32.5 million per year.  Goldschmidt has one year left before hitting free agency following the 2024 season. His salary is $26 million, a lot of money for any team to take on.

            St. Louis will most likely be taking calls like any MLB team.  It will be up to them if they want to trade any of their star players even though it seems unlikely.  They want to show this year is a fluke.  St. Louis will be active but don’t expect a big name from their roster to be dealt.  Then again, anything is possible.