The Cardinals continue to slip in the standings. Yes, there is still time for a turnaround. The talent is there and the NL Central is very much up for grabs. Even the Wild Card race is up for grabs at the moment, given that there are now three Wild Card spots. Several teams in the race are also struggling a bit.
But the clock is ticking. The Cardinals have once again dug themselves a major hole, one that is going to be difficult to drag themselves out of. In May, it looked like the Cards had finally found their groove again and were back to winning.
But after taking three out of four games from the Dodgers, the Cardinals have begun to struggle again and have gone 6-13 since then. As of Tuesday, the Cardinals were at 27-41, they find themselves at the bottom of the National League, 7.5 games out in the Wild Card race and 8.5 back in the NL Central. Things aren't about to get any easier either. They're currently facing off against a resurgent Giants team and will have to deal with the Astros, Yankees, and Marlins after the London Series.
It's clear that right now, this is not a good team, and if the Cardinals fail to pick up any ground and get themselves back in the race, it's very likely that they'll end up selling at the trade deadline, despite what John Mozeliak says. Here are three potential trade candidates if the Cardinals don't get back into contention.