3 ideal deadline trades Cardinals can make to thread needle between buying, selling

If the St. Louis Cardinals remain in the race come the end of July, they'll still need to strongly consider moving highly valued pieces from their roster, but could also consider some small, supplemental moves to help them continue to compete through the final two months of the season.

Barring a major run here between now and the August 3rd MLB Trade Deadline, it would be a bit foolish to put real assets toward moves to improve this year's roster, and it would be equally unwise not to see what they could get for a Lars Nootbaar, Dustin May, or other valuable pieces on their roster. This is an excellent opportunity for the Cardinals to add even more value to their farm system and stockpile assets to accelerate this rebuild.

But I do think it's unfair to say that, if the Cardinals are truly in contention, they can't consider swinging a small deal or two - and emphasis on small - that costs them little value and helps bolster a young club's chances at competing this year. While it's far too early to predict real trade returns, here are three frameworks for trades they could consider at this year's deadline to thread the needle between both selling and buying.

Ideal Deadline Trade #1 - Send Lars Nootbaar to the highest bidder

While shipping out Nootbaar would certainly hurt, considering how good he's been since coming off the injured list, doing so would create space for Joshua Baez to make his MLB debut, who could end up filling Nootbaar's void in a meaningful way.

Baez, 23, has been hitting out of his mind this season, and especially as of late. In 72 games with Memphis, Baez has a .265/.332/.601 slash line with 26 home runs and 65 RBI. The Cardinals want to see him continue to cut down on strikeouts, chase, overall swing and miss (especially within the strike zone), and get his walk rate up to show he's ready to face big league pitching. He's seen improvements in almost all of those areas as the last month of baseball has wrapped up.

Nootbaar, 28, has just one year of control after the 2026 season and does not fit the Cardinals'timeline for long-term contention. He has come back and played better than ever after his double heel surgery this offseason, slashing .294/.395/.471, good for a 142 wRC+ in 20 games entering play on Tuesday. If he keeps this up, he should be one of the best bats, if not the best bat, available at this year's deadline, and he comes with another year of control on a very team-friendly salary.

Teams like the Phillies, Guardians, Diamondbacks, Padres, Braves, Rays, Marlins, and more could be very interested in adding Nootbaar to their lineup, and the Cardinals could get creative with the type of talent they target in a deal. Multiple of those teams have cost-controlled starting pitching that would certainly be of interest to St. Louis, as well as varying levels of farm talent.

I'm circling the Braves as the most interesting fit to me here, as Atlanta has one of the breakout farm systems of the 2026 season and has every reason to be aggressive at this year's deadline.

Ideal Deadline Trade #2 - Capitalize on Dustin May's career year for prospect capital

Admittedly, May would be the most difficult of the pair to replace in all likelihood, given how good he has been so far for the Cardinals, but like Baez, the Cardinals do have some intriguing options down in Memphis who can at least fill his rotation spot, with one of the arms having the upside to produce in a real way if things go right.

We've already seen Hunter Dobbins and Brycen Mautz get their shots with the club this year in various roles, so one of those two could fit into the rotation if the Cardinals deal May. Quinn Mathews may present the most upside though, as he's struck out 83 batters in 66 innings of work to the tune of a 3.95 ERA for Memphis. And over his last six starts, Mathews has a 2.08 ERA, really just needing to cut down a bit on his walk rate before he looks about as sharp as possible for a player who hasn't debuted.

And now that breakout prospect Mason Molina has been promoted to Triple-A, it's much easier to imagine a scenario where St. Louis adds one or more of those arms to their big league roster without having to worry about depth.

May has been really, really good for the Cardinals since his two rough outings to begin the year, so hopefully his ailing back that caused him to have his last start skipped doesn't impact his performance too much.

Pretty much every contender could have an interest in acquiring May, and in doing so, could gift the Cardinals with some valuable prospect capital to bolster the farm system.

Ideal Deadline Trade #3 - Take a shot on a low-cost reliever they think they can maximize

Like George Soriano back in spring training, the Cardinals can take a look at their list of relievers around the game of baseball who they see potential in, and see if they can acquire one for a bargain price at this year's deadline.

Whether they are a rental reliever who isn't one of the top arms on the market, or like Soriano, out of options and either on a rebuilding team or not performing well, the Cardinals can try to work their magic and see if they can find a helpful arm for their relief core during the stretch run.

And when I talk about swinging a deal for a reliever here, I'm looking at a world where the Cardinals flip a prospect like Cesar Prieto, Chase Davis, Won-Bin Cho, Nate Dohm, or other prospects who the Cardinals are unlikely to miss if they are moved. Heck, even someone like Thomas Saggese or Victor Scott II could make sense to move. If they have a name on their 40-man roster that probably won't be here next year, it certainly wouldn't hurt to see if they could bring in a small win-now piece.

The Cardinals should certainly listen to all offers on anyone in their bullpen mix right now, but if they don't get great offers, I don't actually mind them holding onto expiring assets like Stanek or Romero if they aren't turning down an interesting prospect while doing so. Both arms have struggled enough this year that I'm not sure there are actually going to be great offers out there for them, and "holding" those arms is helping the team compete.

I would put both O'Brien and Soriano in that same boat as well, because if the offers aren't quality enough, the Cardinals have more years of control here, so they can wait to sell high later or rely on them for future campaigns.

These ideal deals are certainly heavier on the sell side of things, but if done right, they can really thread the needle of gaining a lot of future value while still not tanking the team's chances of making a run to the postseason this year. Messaging is of the utmost importance for the front office come this July, as helping the fanbase see how this is the right move long-term will be important for keeping the goodwill they have built as of late.

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