The St. Louis Cardinals are off to a strong start this season despite entering a rebuild. They are 21-15 and not too far back of the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central. However, it remains to be seen if they can keep this up. The popular consensus as that by the August 3 trade deadline, St. Louis will be selling pieces off to other contending teams.
They have a couple of players on expiring contracts that could ultimately be offloaded at the deadline. One of the biggest trade chips they have is left-hander JoJo Romero. He has been one of their top relievers since joining the team in 2022.
Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report listed the top trade candidates for each team in Major League Baseball, and Romero was the top one for St. Louis.
“The jury is still out on whether the Cardinals are a legitimate contender. They’re seven games over .500 and red hot as of late, but that was also true in late June last season en route to becoming deadline sellers—and this team sure does seem to be punching above its designed weight class,” Miller wrote. “Should the Red Birds ultimately fade, the obvious top trade chip is Romero. He already has 11 holds, and he’s one of the only impending free agents on this roster.”
JoJo Romero Named Top Cardinals Trade Chip
Romero has appeared in 17 games thus far for the Cardinals. In those appearances, the 29-year-old left-hander is 0-1 with a 3.71 ERA. He has been a very valuable piece at the back end of the Cardinals’ bullpen for several years since being acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies.
But in all likelihood, the Cardinals will still be sellers at the trade deadline, which makes sense given their long-term plans, and Chaim Bloom has made clear that he does not want to deviate from those plans.
The Cardinals have picked a direction, and it would be wise for them to stick with it. That means trading players on expiring contracts, including Romero, who likely will not be back in 2027 anyway, so it makes sense to try and get something for him while they still can, especially since he is a rental piece.
The Cardinals have a few other players on expiring contracts that could also be moved for the right price, so it will be interesting to see how Bloom operates in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline.
What a Trade Could Look Like
Obviously, the whole point of trading Romero is to capitalize on his value while it’s still possible. The Cardinals missed a chance to do this with Ryan Helsley leading up to the 2025 season, and by the time they traded him, his value had gone down.
The Cardinals could bring back an interesting prospect or two for Romero. They need to find some more prospects to strengthen their farm system, and trading Romero would be a good way for them to do just that.
We’ll see if he ends up being one of the pieces they ship out in August.
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