When is the MLB Trade Deadline?

For years, every baseball fan treated July 31st as one of the most exciting days of the year. It was practically a national holiday to baseball fans, as that day represented the Major League Baseball trade deadline.

The St. Louis Cardinals are one of the hardest teams to predict this season when it comes to their trade deadline approach. While their record would indicate they should not be adding to the club this year, the lack of talent in the National League Central has kept them in the race.

Under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement though, the MLB trade deadline can be anytime between July 28th and August 3rd, allowing teams to select a date before the season that would work well in their calendars.

When is the MLB Trade Deadline for the 2023 season?

The 2023 MLB Trade Deadline will be Tuesday, August 1st this year. There has not been a time of day announced yet for when deals will have to be completed, but based on past precedent, it's expected to be 6 p.m. EST.

What does that mean for the Cardinals? I asked John Mozeliak about how the club is viewing the deadline last week, and he said they almost never few it as simple as "buying" or "selling". One example of this is the Harrison Bader for Jordan Montgomery trade. They dealt a good Major League talent to acquire another Major League talent. So the Cardinals could very well make some moves that seem like they are "selling" on talent, while other moves may be categorized more as aggressive "buying" type moves.

The deadline being August 1st this year means there is plenty of time for their plans to materialize. If the club can finally right the ship, it would be foolish to categorize them as "sellers" now as they could very well be in the hunt by the end of July. If things continue to spiral though, the same could be said for saying they will be "buyers".