Cardinals could offer Dustin May to familiar trade partner

The St. Louis Cardinals finish their first half test with two more tough series against division leaders. A five-game series against the Brewers and a three-game set against the Braves will put an end to the unofficial first half of the year. By the weekend, the Cardinals could either be firmly in a Wild Card spot or looking at a tough uphill battle to the playoffs. No matter where they stand, Chaim Bloom will look to supplement the farm system with some trades, likely including pitcher Dustin May.

Trading from the major league roster, especially while competing, is a tough sell but the right move for this version of the St. Louis Cardinals. The roster has obvious holes without clear long-term answers and as fun as it has been to be above .500 during this rebuild season, the plan should remain looking towards the future. This means that May and relievers like JoJo Romero, Riley O'Brien, and Ryne Stanek could be pitching elsewhere in August and potentially preparing for a postseason run with their new organizations.

Dustin May could be a fit for the Chicago White Sox's unexpected playoff run

Like the Cardinals, the Chicago White Sox have exceeded preseason expectations and find themselves in the thick of postseason contention. Unlike St. Louis, the Palehosers are leading an incredibly weak division and are a clear candidate to add to the roster rather than continue their rebuild. With the trade deadline less than a month away, MLB.com put together an article explaining what each team could do to improve their roster. For the Sox, pitching is their number one priority to supplement their young lineup.

An all-in move for Chicago would be bold, so short-term options that do not require sacrificing long-term assets are more likely. This scenario makes Dustin May look like an interesting option for the Sox, but they may have to outbid some heavy-hitting organizations who have more commitment to the 2026 postseason. That puts Bloom in a power position heading into the deadline but if other arms go off the board earlier than May, he could become a top arm in the Southsiders' rotation for the rest of this year.

The Sox rotation sits in the middle of the league and an arm like May could bump them into the top-10 for the last two months of the season. Along with being a young staff that lacks experience, multiple pitchers in the rotation may be on an innings limit early in their big league careers. May is looking to build off of his career-high 132 innings pitched last year and is on pace to be around the 175 mark for a full season. Former Cardinal Erick Fedde has been used as a bulk reliever for the Sox and adding May to the mix could help take the stress off the rest of the staff.

The White Sox has a middling minor league system that has four top-100 prospects but much of their future talent is sitting in Double-A or below. Like the Cardinals, the Sox are competing for the postseason much earlier than anticipated, so GM Chris Getz is likely to take a cautious approach in this year's trade market to give him some cushion if this season ends up being an outlier. With May on a one-year deal (plus a mutual option), Chicago seems like the ideal landing spot for all parties involved.

Trading May would signal the rebuild is continuing in St. Louis and would create openings in the Cardinals rotation that should be filled with pitchers needing evaluation at the big league level. Likely candidates for this spot are Hunter Dobbins and Brycen Mautz, but Bloom would also do well to get other guys like Quinn Mathews a shot to prove their worth.

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