Cardinals: If St. Louis becomes sellers, these 6 players could be on the trade block

The possibility of the Cardinals becoming sellers is real, and these six players could be on the move if that happens.

The St. Louis Cardinals are 10-20, and let’s be honest, look like an absolute mess of a baseball team right now.

Their 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angles was a perfect example of the problems this team is facing. They started off the game down 4-0 after an awful inning by Steven Matz. The offense was flat in response, unable to muster more than one run on a groundout by Andrew Knizner.

Pitching continues to disappoint, the offense is underachieving when it matters most, and there continue to be questionable decisions with both roster management and in-game adjustments. It’s one thing when you come into the season expecting a hot mess on the field, it’s a whole other thing when it’s a team with high expectations that just is failing in almost every area of the game.

The players care. The coaches do too. The front office does what they think is best for the organization. But it isn’t working right now, no matter how much I want to believe it will. If things don’t turn around fast, this team will find itself in a position I cannot remember it ever truly being in: sellers.

Yeah, I can’t believe I’m typing this, but there’s a real chance that this team is selling this summer at this rate. Again, I really do believe in a week or two the narrative could be very different. The addition of a third Wild Card makes it so much easier for teams to sneak into the playoffs these days. But honestly, it’s no longer “too early” to wonder what the Cardinals’ can do to salvage a lost season, if that is what this is.

Here are six players that could find themselves on the trade block if the Cardinals become sellers this season.

Jordan Montgomery

Before the season, many wondered whether Jordan Montgomery would receive an extension from the club. Instead, they extended Mikolas, effectively ending the potential of Montgomery returning to the club beyond the 2023 season.

Montgomery has been really good so far this year, posting a 3.34 in 35 innings of work. He’s carrying a 2.70 FIP as well, indicating that he can post even better numbers as the season goes on. Any contender looking to bolster their rotation down the stretch would love to have a lefty like Montgomery, who can easily slot into a playoff rotation as their third or fourth starter.

Being a rental, the Cardinals won’t get incredible value from him (unless he really pitches well this summer), but he should be able to net them valuable prospects or pieces for the 2024 club. The club could just hold onto him through the season and offer him a qualifying offer for another draft pick, but I think they’d rather cash in on his trade value if they are “out of the race” by the deadline.

Jack Flaherty

Statically, Jack Flaherty has not been as good as Montgomery, but he’s shown flashes of a guy who could go toe to toe with some of the best pitchers in baseball once again. Flaherty is a gamer, and he is regaining that strikeout stuff that made him so good during his best years.

Like Montgomery, there is a very good chance that Flaherty is gone after the 2024 season. I’m just not sure the Cardinals are going to extend him to the contract that he can get on the open market. Flaherty is only 27, so I can see the club thinking bringing him back would be good for the future of the club, but if they believe that’s a lost cause, grabbing value on the market makes sense if they are in a seller’s mode.

I do think there’s potential that Flaherty could net some very valuable assets on the market with the upside he presents to a team. A team could be interested in getting him in their clubhouse as well and working with him directly to see if he’s the kind of guy they want to bring back on a long-term deal. But the big appeal is the kind of stuff he would bring to their club in October. A team would likely trade for him to be their number two starter at best, but more likely their number three. The pro of getting Flaherty though is that he could turn in an ace-like performance, which could be a huge edge come October.

Tyler O’Neill

Well, this one hurts a lot personally. For me, Tyler O’Neill is turning into the guy that I’ll look back on for years and wonder how on earth he fell so far from his peak. I just don’t understand how a guy can be a top-10 MVP candidate, hitting like one of the best players in baseball, providing elite speed on the basepaths, and Gold Glove defense in left field. His expected numbers say he should be so much better, and yet, here we are with O’Neill.

I guarantee you there are teams out there who look at O’Neill and would love to get him in their lineup. Unless O’Neill turns it around soon, his value has depleted a lot. Whatever the Cardinals would get for O’Neill now would likely be underwhelming at best, and he may end up turning it on with another club and making Cardinals’ fans frustrated with another outfielder who got away.

I think O’Neill may be the one player that could be dealt with sooner rather than later, even if the Cardinals don’t operate like sellers for a while. There is just such a logjam in the outfield right now, that letting O’Neill go and moving on may be best for both parties. I say recently I think the Cardinals need to give O’Neill a few weeks to consistently be in the lineup and prove whether or not he belongs, and I still believe that.

Great defense, elite power potential, good speed, and another year of team control is attractive to any team, so there will be plenty of suitors for O’Neill among contenders come July.

Jordan Hicks

Just a few weeks ago, most of us were done with Jordan Hicks. He blew up every single time he got on the mound and looked unplayable. In his last 5 games, Hicks has given up zero earned runs in 5.2 innings while striking out 14 batters. Hicks looks like a completely changed man now and should be a great asset on the market for bullpen-needy teams.

Hicks is a free agent after the season, so the Cardinals will likely be losing him anyways. His stuff plays though, and relievers, especially high-level ones, garner a lot of value on the open market as teams look to load up their bullpen with flamethrowers. Hick’s stuff will be too tantalizing to pass up for many teams, especially if he’s backing up his stuff with excellent performances.

There are some other relievers on the roster who could be pawned off if the Cardinals decide to sell, like Giovanny Gallegos or even Ryan Helsley, but since I doubt they’d be looking to go into a full on rebuild, I think they’d hold onto those arms. Hicks is the best bullpen arm they have that would be worth selling off if they are just looking to retool for next year.

Paul DeJong

All offseason, fans were unsure how the Cardinals could enter another season with Paul DeJong on their roster. Unsurprisingly, they did so again, and he’s been awesome in the very short sample size he’s had so far.

DeJong has a 1.024 OPS with 2 HR in his first 26 at-bats this season. DeJong was catching fire in Triple-A Memphis as well before rejoining the Cardinals, and many think the adjustments he made at the plate this offseason are finally paying dividends.

DeJong’s contract has two club options following the 2023 season at $12 million and $15 million each, so teams could take on DeJong for the stretch run as a quality shortstop or backup infielder for their roster, and if he plays well enough, they could decide to bring him back on those options. If not, they let him hit free agency and it’s no skin off their back.

The Cardinals could decide to eat some of his contract to help with some of that, but with how he’s playing so far this year, they may not really need to do that. And the Cardinals can actually expect a little bit of value in return for DeJong as well.

Before this ends though, let me address why certain players are not on my sell list.

Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado will not be traded

I would be shocked, and I mean floored, if either of these guys were even entertained in trade talks for a second. I don’t think the Cardinals are going to go into a rebuild, so keeping Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado is essential for the quality of the 2024 team.

Arenado just opted into his contract with the club and is the future leader of the clubhouse with Adam Wainwright retiring this year. Arenado is locked up through the 2027 season, so there is no reason to sell on him now when he can be a cornerstone for years to come.

Goldschmidt only has one year left on his deal, but I just struggled to see a scenario where the Cardinals trade him. They are going to want him on their 2024 team and would likely want to retain him beyond that as well. Goldschmidt is a future Hall of Famer, still hitting like an All-Star level bat, and is someone the club won’t want to flippantly give up on.

So no, I’m already hesitant to even consider this team as potential sellers, but I am in no way going to entertain trading two future Hall of Famers who are still highly productive players (I know Arenado has struggled this year but I do not believe that will last).