Trade interest for 2 Cardinals outfielders gives club opportunity to buy or sell

As the MLB Trade Deadline has heated up and contenders around the league are making moves, the St. Louis Cardinals have remained inactive up until this point. According to recent reports around the team though, two of their outfielders are drawing interest around the league.

According to two separate reports from Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (subscription required) and Katie Woo of The Athletic (subscription required) have both reported that at least a few teams are interested in trading for Tommy Edman at the deadline and that Dylan Carlson is a likely trade candidate as well. Both Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Jon Heyman of The New York Post have also reported teams have interest in Edman as well.

Carlson's name being thrown out there should be no surprise to Cardinals fans, but Edman's inclusion is newer information in the grand scheme of things. Teams have always been interested in Edman so that part isn't all that shocking. What makes things different time is that if you read the tea leaves, a potential move involving Edman makes more sense now than it ever has.

Frankly, Edman and Carlson both present the Cardinals with two different types of returns. First, the Cardinals could use either or both players to pursue immediate upgrades to their roster as they bolster the club for a postseason push. But with their struggles as of late and the National League Wild Card race as crowded as it has ever been, they could go with a second option - sell either piece to build up their assets.

While I believe the latter is in play, I feel pretty confident in saying they are prioritizing adding pieces to this roster as things stand, rather than making moves that have more to do with 2025 and beyond.

Both Edman and Carlson represent very different values in this market. At this point, I'd imagine the Cardinals would be happy to get a quality reliever in return for Carlson, but they may have to settle for a Paul DeJong-Matt Svanson-type deal with how much Carlson's stock has plummeted. Edman will carry more value in a deal, but the wrist injury that has kept him out all year so far will surely hurt the potential return.

Edman is under club control through 2025, so that does incentive both buyers and teams who are interested in being competitive in the near future to look into him. Edman's defensive versatility and well-above-average production against left-handed pitching will be coveted by many. Carlson is under control through 2026, and I'd envision sellers like the White Sox or Marlins to have interest over true contenders.

While the market for a significant starting pitcher has seemed to dry up fast, Edman is a name I'll be watching that could help the Cardinals pull off a creative deal - circa 2022 when they acquired Jordan Montgomery for Harrison Bader. Edman has more value than Bader did at that time in my opinion, so maybe there is a club out there like the Blue Jays, Dodgers, or Rays who would make a unique swap that no one can foresee right now.