5 St. Louis Cardinals most likely to be dealt at trade deadline

The St. Louis Cardinals will be buyers at the trade deadline, which means they will have to trade someone away. Let’s look at the five guys most likely to be dealt at the deadline.

The St. Louis Cardinals are a very good baseball team, but as the trade deadline approaches, it’s clear they need some upgrades. Pitching has been identified as the biggest need for this team, but no one would complain if they brought in another bat, either.

We’ve taken a look at various starters on the market. From Pablo Lopez to Luis Castillo to Martin Perez, there are multiple quality names out there to be acquired. However, none of these top arms will come for free. Luckily, the Cardinals have a deep 40-man roster and minor league system.

How much value does Paul DeJong have? Would the Cardinals part with a proven big leaguer like Harrison Bader? How about top prospects Jordan Walker or Mason Winn? Juan Yepez, Brendan Donovan, Matthew Liberatore, and Zack Thompson have all debuted this season– surely teams are interested in these rookies, too.

Each of these talented players – along with many others – are going to be mentioned in various trade rumors. But realistically, the Cardinals will hang onto the majority of them. Only a few members of the organization will be switching teams in a trade.

Let’s take a look at the five Cardinals most likely to be traded at this year’s deadline. Spoiler alert: unless Shohei Ohtani or Juan Soto is a surprise target, these five will be enough to headline whatever deal John Mozeliak ends up making.