4 final trade predictions for the St. Louis Cardinals on deadline day

#2 - JoJo Romero is traded for a haul that matches or exceeds what the Cardinals got for Ryan Helsley

Yup, you read that correctly.

I think the Cardinals could get a similar, if not better return, for JoJo Romero than what they got for Helsley.

In 40 appearances for the Cardinals this year, Romero has a 2.12 ERA and 2.89 FIP, striking out 24.1% of the batters he faces. In 27 appearances since May 1st, Romero has given up just one earned run, posting a 0.38 ERA, the second-best ERA among all relievers over that stretch and best among left-handed relievers.

Look at the National League playoff contenders. The Dodgers (Ohtani, Freeman, Rushing, Outman), Phillies (Schwarber, Harper, Marsh, Kepler, Stott), Cubs (Tucker, Crow-Armstrong, Busch), Mets (Soto, Nimmo, McNeil, Baty), Padres (Merrill, Arraez, Cronenworth, Sheets), and Brewers (Yelich, Frelick, Turang) all rely heavily on left-handed production form their lineups, with the Dodgers, Phillies, Cubs, Mets, and Padres specifically boasting star level talent. If a team wants to get through the National League playoffs and make it to the World Series, they need arms to shut those guys down.

Romero is the perfect fit to do that.

On the season, lefties are slashing just .192/.271/.250 off of Romero, and he's allowed just 10 total hits, three doubles, no home runs, and one earned run to the 62 lefties he's faced this year. Sounds like a weapon to me!

Romero also has one more year of club control beyond this year, which we know teams typically value quite a bit. Contenders wouldn't be just acquiring Romero for the stretch run; they'd have him in 2026 as well on a bargain deal.

Sure, the Cardinals could say that they'd love to keep him around, but with the prices being paid for rental relievers and the ridiculous haul the Phillies gave up for Jhoan Duran, who has two years of control beyond this year, Romero's name should very much be in play for contenders who want him.

We have no idea what kind of offers the Cardinals may get for Romero, but assuming a team comes in and makes a strong push, how could the Cardinals refuse? I expect someone to blow them away with an offer before the deadline passes and Romero joins a contender for the remainder of 2025 and the 2026 season.