Ranking the Cardinals' 6 most valuable trade assets they can sell at the deadline

3. JoJo Romero

This name may surprise a few people, but considering how volatile relievers tend to be, the Cardinals should shop JoJo Romero at the trade deadline and take an offer if they get a good one.

Since becoming a Cardinal back in 2022, Romero has been one of the more dependable relievers in all of baseball, even with some of the rough stretches he has had. Out of the 116 relievers in baseball to throw at least 120 innings since 2023, Romero ranks 44th in ERA and 47th in FIP. If you break that down further to just left-handed relievers, Romero's 3.24 ERA over that stretch actually ranks 13th out of the 34 lefties who qualify, and his 3.46 FIP ranks 12th.

In 2025, Romero has appeared in 36 games for the Cardinals, posting a 2.45 ERA while allowing opposing hitters to hit just .213 against him thus far. Romero doesn't strike out the world, but he knows how to get outs and does not allow home runs. Everyone can use bullpen help, and even more so from the left side when considering some of the big-time left-handed bats teams will have to match up against in the postseason.

While Maton has certainly been the better reliever this year, Romero has an extra year of club control, entering his third and final year of arbitration this offseason. This would make him even more appealing and valuable in a trade for an opposing club, which is exactly why the Cardinals should be looking to shop him.

Would moving Romero bring the Cardinals back some insane return? Probably not, unless the player turns out to outperform whatever the team moving them ever expected, but the possibility of turning Romero and his one and a half years of control remaining into a prospect or two who would have six years of club control makes a lot of sense. That player could be a part of the Cardinals' success in future seasons or even be a piece they use to make a move in the future.

As we saw with Ryan Helsley this year, there is no guarantee that a reliever will continue their success year over year, and I would say that is even more so the case with Romero. See what the market is offering, and if it's worthwhile to Bloom, make the move.