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JoJo Romero took over the role of closer for the St. Louis Cardinals following the trade deadline of Jul. 31, 2025, 6 p.m ET. Before July, Romero had zero blown leads and was one of the Cardinals' best relievers with an ERA of 2.12 before August.
The southpaw Romero has pitched 51 games, the most of any Cardinal pitcher, and ahead of his save on Aug. 10 against the Cubs, Romero had allowed just one earned run. Things have not gone as well for Romero as of late, but he's still be one of the most valuable relievers in all of baseball on the year.
The question begs, why no trade? As reported by Katie Woo of The Athletic, multiple teams showed interest in the pitcher, including the San Diego Padres. Ultimately, no deal came to fruition before the deadline, but it shouldn’t mean that it won’t ever happen. Many fans were frustrated that a deal did not happen at the trade deadline, though, as multiple relievers with club control were moved for high price tags. With how Romero was playing, one would think he would have fetched the Cardinals a fair amount on the market. Two reasons why no trade happened are simple.
Priority and club control
Phil Maton, Ryan Helsley, and Steven Matz were all impending free agents and thus imminent trade candidates. Letting those pitchers walk for nothing at season’s end would have been the wrong choice.
As previously mentioned by mlbtraderumors.com, for one more season, Romero is under club control and could land under a $4 million-$5 million range, his final arbitration campaign. Romero is currently on a salary of $2.26 million per year.
The Redbirds still have the ability to move Romero after season’s end, and Romero’s consistent improvement throughout his time as a Cardinal would be an interesting resume to look at for teams seeking to boost their relief groups. This also allows Chaim Bloom to be the primary decision maker on any trade of Romero, so he can either control what the return is, or hold onto Romero going into the 2026 season.