Sports

Insider Hints at Cardinals' Trade Deadline Plans

By Ezra Lombardi Athlon Sports

The St. Louis Cardinals have been one of the big surprises of the 2026 season.

Sitting at 37-29 just four games back in the NL Central of the first-place Milwaukee Brewers, the rebuilding club has blown past most reasonable expectations thus far. For a lot of teams around the league, early season success and a record like this would position them to be clear buyers at the August 3rd trade deadline.

But for the Cardinals, it may not be such an obvious decision.

Despite their impressive performance, the organization is in the thick of a retooling period orchestrated by president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom. Now in his third year with the team and second in the current role, Bloom spent much of the offseason stripping the roster of most aging players on bloated contracts.

St. Louis sold off first baseman Willson Contreras, starting pitcher Sonny Gray, second baseman Brendan Donovan, and third basemanNolan Arenado among other moves in an active offseason. These trades signaled a reset, as Bloom netted his organization younger controllable pieces, high upside prospects, and increased financial flexibility.

Given this philosophy, it's hard to imagine the Cardinals treating this season any differently. But as we inch closer to August, there are conflicting notions about how Bloom will approach the trade deadline if his team continues to impress on the field.

In an appearance on the Foul Territory Podcast, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal provided an intriguing update on what he is hearing about the team's plans.

"My understanding of this is that Chaim Bloom is not going to simply ignore the standings," Rosenthal said.

"They will not simply abandon the season... if they are in a position where they have even an outside chance of making the playoffs."

Rosenthal admits that the Cardinals could pivot into selling off veterans if "they believe it is in their best interests," but maintains that if they are in a position to win, they will try to take advantage of it.

He also offers up veteran outfielder Lars Nootbaar as an interesting trade chip that could be used independent of full commitment to buying or selling. Rosenthal calls Nootbaar a "player you build around," but compares his status to Donovan, whom the club traded with two years of control left.

Nootbaar underwent surgery on both heels before the season and just came off the injured list to make his season debut on June 5th. In his first six games, he is slashing .227/.346/.591 but has already pummeled two home runs including a towering 445 foot shot on Thursday.

As Rosenthal indicates, a healthy Nootbaar makes for an intriguing trade option that could net a valuable return for the Cardinals, likely to continue bolstering their pitching staff. Considering their success without him for the first two months of the season, trading Nootbaar would be far from waving the white flag on the season but would stay true to their long-term plans by capitalizing on a valuable asset to address more robust needs.

Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 2:56 PM.

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