5 surprising players the Cardinals should shop at the MLB trade deadline

LHP JoJo Romero

We've all heard about Phil Maton, Ryan Helsley, and Steven Matz as relievers the Cardinals could trade, but I would like to propose another reliever: JoJo Romero.

The Cardinals acquired JoJo Romero in a deadline deal back in 2022 when they sent infielder Edmundo Sosa to the Philadelphia Phillies. Since the Cardinals acquired him, Romero has thrown 141.1 innings with a 3.27 ERA and a 3.55 FIP. He's struck out 139 batters in that span for an 8.9 K/9 ratio. While Romero hasn't been dominant with stuff, he's been able to limit the damage for the last three years.

This year, Romero has been quietly pitching well. He has a 2.37 ERA, a 3.26 FIP, and he's struck out 8.3 batters per nine innings. He's been healthy and solid throughout the year in leverage situations. Romero is generating outs primarily via the ground ball, as he has a 92nd percentile ground ball rate of 55.4%. His strikeout rate is about league average, and opponents are hitting just .226 against him.

Romero's primary deficit is his propensity to walk batters. He has a walk rate of 11.7% which places him in the ninth percentile in the league.

JoJo struggled out of the gate this year with a 6.10 ERA through April, but he's since settled in nicely. He's allowed only one run across his last 24 outings. He has yet to walk a batter in the month of July, and he's struck out ten batters in only 5.2 innings. Since May, JoJo has a 0.43 ERA.

Romero isn't a free agent until after the 2026 season, so whoever trades for him will get the southpaw for two postseason runs. The Cardinals may be competitive next year, but they probably won't be serious contenders barring some offseason spending. The Cardinals don't have much left-handed relief in their pipeline, but finding bargain-bin relievers in the offseason isn't a difficult thing to do. See Phil Maton for a prime example.

JoJo Romero may not be the sexiest reliever on the market this year, but he's made marked improvements to his game while with the Cardinals. He could net them a surprisingly strong package at the deadline should they opt to shop him.