The 2025 season has been an interesting one for the St. Louis Cardinals. They were 14-19 after a loss on May 2, but got hot in May and surged back into contention.
However, they are 3-7 to start the month of June and have lost four consecutive games. How they play leading up to the trade deadline will dictate their strategy.
If they stay in the mix, they could be buyers. Jim Bowden of The Athletic even notes that they could be open to adding.
However, in the event that things continue to go south, Bowden notes that St. Louis won’t engage in a fire sale.
“The Cardinals will be open-minded about adding at the trade deadline, but if things go south in the coming weeks, don’t expect them to turn into traditional sellers,” Bowden wrote.
“Being open to adding doesn’t mean if they get the right offer for closer Ryan Helsley or a starting pitcher like Erick Fedde or Miles Mikolas, they won’t jump on it — they will.”
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The Cardinals have pieces that teams will want if they do fall out of contention. They are 2 1/2 games back in the National League Wild Card race and five back in the NL Central.
However, it appears that a major teardown won’t happen. This doesn’t mean they won’t trade pieces, but it won’t be a fire sale.
The team appears to be focused on building for the future, and that could include them operating as both buyers and sellers, or potentially standing pat.
It will certainly be an interesting deadline for St. Louis. They can get a lot for Helsley, and they do need to add to their minor league system with all of their pitching injuries.
We’ll see how St. Louis operates this summer.
More MLB: Cardinals could be in store for an active trade deadline
