Three Trade Candidates If The Cardinals Don't Climb Back Into Contention

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.

These three Cardinals should be on the trade block if they fail to get back into contention

Jack Flaherty

Jack Flaherty has been okay this season. After a rough start, he seems to have bounced back and now finds himself in a position to either help the Cardinals drag themselves out of this mess or potentially be traded to another team. That being said, there are plenty of teams that could use some starting pitching. The Cardinals are one of them, but if they're out of contention, then there's really no reason to add anything major.

This is where Flaherty comes in. He owns a 4.15 ERA on the season but has been lights out since allowing 10 runs against the Angels. Teams like the Angels, Dodgers, and Red Sox could use some extra pitching, and Flaherty could get the Cardinals a decent haul from one of those teams.

Paul Goldschmidt

I wrote a piece about the possibility of trading Paul Goldschmidt a few days ago. Not surprisingly, I received a bunch of criticism for it.

I must stress that I don't think this is the direction the Cardinals will go, nor do I think it's the direction they should go. But as I said in my previous article, it may be a possibility if the Cardinals continue to slip in the standings. Goldschmidt is going to be 36 later this year and his contract expires at the end of the 2024 season. If the Cardinals are out of it, it might be worth seeing what they can get in exchange for Goldschmidt.

More than likely, the Cardinals would be able to bring back a massive haul in exchange for Goldschmidt, one that includes Major League-ready talent.