Cardinals have one last trade to make before spring training (but should they?)

Pitchers, catchers, prospects, and early birds from the young position player core have already begun flocking to Jupiter, Florida, to report to the St. Louis Cardinals' spring training facility that is still under construction, but that hasn't stopped Chaim Bloom from making more trades to put his stamp on this rebuild.

Bloom puzzled many fans on Tuesday when he shipped reliever Andre Granillo to the Washington Nationals for fellow right-handed reliever George Soriano. While that move wasn't on anyone's bingo cards as camp got underway, there is a different reliever on the Cardinals roster that has been on the trade block all offseason: JoJo Romero.

The Cardinals' veteran lefty has been the subject of trade rumors for months now, and he would clearly be an upgrade for any team looking to contend in 2026. Romero represents the last clear trade candidate that the Cardinals could move prior to spring training officially beginning, but should they actually move him right now?

JoJo Romero is the final piece the Cardinals could trade before spring training, but they are likely better off waiting until the trade deadline now.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see why Romero was a clear trade candidate this offseason for St. Louis. The lefty is a free agent after the 2026 season and is coming off a year where he posted a 2.07 ERA in 65 appearances, ranking among the very best left-handed relievers in all of baseball and rarely allowing left-handed hitters to do damage against him.

In today's game, having multiple weapons from both sides out of the bullpen is critical to suppressing offenses, and Romero would be a huge get for any bullpen who wants to take their group to the next level.

Now, reliever trades tend to be a bit more complicated to pull off in the regular season. Unless a team has a major hole there, most contenders are not going to be quick to part with prospect capital to acquire a reliever, especially given how volatile the position is. Teams can opt to see what some of their internal options may provide, or target a veteran reliever that is still looking for a job this spring in free agency to bridge the gap for now. If they still have a major need come July, a deadline deal then could materialize.

In a perfect world, I think the Cardinals would love to find the right deal to move Romero right now and not risk him getting injured or having a bad first half of the season, which would kill his trade value. But now that a deal does seem to be unlikely unless the Cardinals want to bring the asking price down, waiting until the deadline may be the move.

If Romero comes even close to repeating the success that he had last year in 2026, he is going to be a hot commodity come the trade deadline. The peak trade value for a reliever tends to be the deadline, as at that point, teams do not have other options to go after, and that reliever could be the difference between them making a deep October run or being bounced early.

As we saw with Ryan Helsley last year, though, that can be a nerve-racking experience waiting to see what a reliever's value will be come July. Helsley's production fell off dramatically from his dominant 2024 campaign last year, but he was still able to net the Cardinals a strong return from the New York Mets. I would be even more nervous about Romero's potential fall-off, but at this point, waiting is likely the best option.

Why is there concern about a drop-off? Well, aside from just the history of relievers being more up and down in their performance and the risk of injury, Romero doesn't strike batters out at a high rate (21.6% in 2025) and is coming off a season where he walked a ton of hitters (11.4%). His saving grace was limiting hard hits and having one of the best groundball rates in the game (57.1%), but we all know groundballs can bounce the wrong way in given seasons.

Romero does get hitters to whiff at an above-average rate, and his slider was deadly last season, but he still doesn't get batters to chase much. He did post a good xERA (3.49) and FIP (3.28), but they do indicate that he may have been outperforming his stuff last season with that 2.07 ERA. Those are all reasons why it would be nice to pull off a trade soon if possible, but those are also numbers that are likely causing other teams to rather wait till the deadline to give the Cardinals a nice offer.

Whatever the Cardinals could get for Romero today, I'm guessing it won't move the needle all that much. If it would, that deal should be done already. But since it likely won't, I think holding Romero until the deadline (or any point in the season when a team gets desperate enough) is the way to go. Worst case? They lost out on an okay prospect that they could get now. Best case? They get a nice return with an intriguing piece or two that can further this rebuild in a meaningful way if Romero pitches well.