How the Cardinals can hold the trade market hostage for maximum leverage

As trades begin to fly off the board over the last few days, it's natural for fans of the St. Louis Cardinals to get a bit antsy as they wait to see what deals the club will make.

Yes, we'd all love for the band-aid to already be ripped off, but as this is where the trade deadline is both an art and a science, and if the Cardinals play their cards right, they can maximize their return for each of their prized relievers.

The St. Louis Cardinals could hold the trade market hostage on Thursday and bring back maximum value for their highly sought-after relievers.

If you look at any reporting surrounding the teams looking to buy at this year's trade deadline, pretty much every contender is looking to add bullpen help. The Dodgers, Phillies, Mariners, Rangers, Yankees, Astros, Tigers, Red Sox, Mets, and Blue Jays are all looking to aggressively add "high-leverage arms," while the Cubs, Reds, Giants, and possibly Rays are looking to add bullpen help as well.

That's 10 different teams looking for difference makers in the back of their bullpen (and some of those teams want to add multiple of those high-leverage arms), with an additional four-ish teams who want bullpen help of any kind. Well, let's take a moment to list out all of the bullpen arms who are possibly available at this deadline.

Cardinals: Ryan Helsley, JoJo Romero,* Phil Maton, and Steven Matz
Twins: Jhoan Duran,* Griffin Jax*
Guardians: Cade Smith*
Pirates: David Bednar,* Dennis Santana*
Rays: Pete Fairbanks*
Nationals: Kyle Finnegan
Braves: Raisel Iglesias, Pierce Johnson*
Rockies: Seth Halvorsen,* Jake Bird

Note: Names with an asterisk have club control beyond 2025

Obviously, there may be a few other names who could be traded, but this makes up the arms that are most likely to be dealt between now and the 6 pm EDT trade deadline on Thursday. There are varying levels of production and closing experience among that group, but it is a fairly large list of names.

Even so, as we looked at before, there are 10-14 teams in the market for bullpen help, and many of those teams want to add more than one arm. While there is supply, the demand is certainly higher, especially more so than the number of true difference-making bullpen arms that are currently available.

This is why many within the industry expect the bullpen market floodgates to open within hours of the deadline, not days. Each team has its own internal preference for which arms they can grab, and so until someone makes the first move, things are going to remain at a standstill. But once one reliever goes off the board, well, expect many names to fly quickly.

Here's where the Cardinals come into play and how they can specifically hold the market hostage. Outside of the Twins and maybe the Pirates, there isn't another team with as much leverage on the reliever market as the Cardinals have. The club has four relievers that fit the bill that clubs are looking for, and all other sellers have just one or two. As buyers put their boards together and order their preferences, it's likely that four Cardinals fall within their top 10, and up to three could even be in their top five.

That doesn't mean the Cardinals are guaranteed to do well with their trades. They could overplay their hand and see clubs pivot to other options, and then have to settle for a worse deal later on. But if they push the envelope just enough before it bursts open, they could squeeze maximum value from these desperate contenders looking to put themselves over the top.

Yes, teams know the Cardinals need to sell, but the Cardinals also know that the Phillies, Dodgers, Padres, Cubs, Astros, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Tigers, Mariners, Rangers, Giants, and Reds are all, to varying degrees, in desperate positions as well. Many of those teams could make the argument that their window to win a World Series is as good this year as it will ever be, and there is pressure to push their chips in and win it all. The Phillies, Padres, Yankees, Astros, Blue Jays, Rangers, and even Dodgers all have aging rosters with World Series or bust expectations, and the Cubs have Kyle Tucker in a walk year. The Red Sox, Tigers, Mariners, Giants, and Reds could all say their windows are continuing to open, but you just never truly know if you'll be in this position again in 2026 or beyond.

With some of those older teams, a potential lockout coming is a very real concern. Can the Phillies, Dodgers, Yankees, Padres, Astros, Blue Jays, Rangers, or even Cubs really afford to not go for it this year when the 2027 season may not even happen?

Again, if the Cardinals play their cards right, this could cash in their trade chips for a lucrative sell-off. They just better not get caught bluffing, though, or else they could be left holding onto their assets or losing value on them quickly.