There’s a lot to love about the 2026 St. Louis Cardinals.
The Cardinals are young and hungry and are never out of a game. When the 2026 season began, the national baseball discourse would’ve had you believe that the Cardinals were bad and were going to be near the bottom of the overall standings in the league. For example, ESPN projected the Cardinals to go 70-92 in 2026, or eight games worse than they were in 2025. This isn’t just them. This was a pretty standard projection at the time among many around the baseball world. But the Cardinals clearly don’t care about projections.
The young Cardinals have done pretty much everything right so far this season. And the front office hasn’t gotten complacent. St. Louis hit a bit of a rut last week and the front office responded by promoting No. 7 overall prospect Jimmy Crooks, outfielder and Spring Training standout Nelson Velázquez, and offseason trade acquisition Hunter Dobbins to give this club some new life.
This club isn’t going away. Through just over two months, the Cardinals are 31-26 on the season and in second place in the National League Central. This is sustainable, like the play of outfielder Jordan Walker and rookie JJ Wetherholt, who have both been excellent.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be changes over the next few months. We very well may see trades. Also, the club showed over the last few days that they aren’t afraid to make changes to the big league roster if necessary, like how they designated Matt Pushard for assignment.
The 2026 MLB trade deadline will arrive on Aug. 3. Here are a few guys who could be gone from the big leauge roster by then.
Nolan Gorman
Let’s start off with a bold one: Nolan Gorman. The Cardinals have been waiting for Gorman’s bat to consistently come around for a few years at this point. While his defense has taken a major step forward, he’s still a .210 hitter with just six homers. If he had 15 homers, the .210 batting average would be easier to stomach. Whether there is some sort of trade or demotion, Gorman’s inside track to a consistent role in the middle of the order could very well come to an end this season. Blaze Jordan is down in the minors tearing it up with Triple-A Memphis at 23 years old. At some point, he’s going to force the conversation.
JoJo Romero
Let’s get a little less bold now. Romero was a trade candidate this past offseason and will be a free agent after the season. If the Cardinals want to get a solid return, trading a reliever with a 2.70 ERA in 26 appearances would do the trick.
Justin Bruihl
Now, this isn’t about a trade but more so just getting Bruihl off the big league roster. He has a 4.85 ERA in 28 appearances so far this season. On the bright side, he has been able to give the Cardinals plenty of appearances. He’s actually leading all Cardinals relievers with his 28 outings. But his 4.85 ERA has been tough. It wouldn’t be shocking in the slightest to see the club make a change and bring someone up from the minors.
Dustin May
Let’s wrap it up with another trade candidate in Dustin May. His last outing on May 27 against the Milwaukee Brewers was awesome, despite the loss. May pitched seven no-hit innings before losing it in the eighth inning. Overall, he has a 4.57 ERA in 11 starts. Over his last nine starts, he has a 3.02 ERA in 53 2/3 innings of work. If someone is looking for a legit arm for a playoff push, May is that guy.
