Cardinals Best Deadline Move Was One They Didn't Make

The St. Louis Cardinals had a lot of difficult decisions to make ahead of the 2026 Major League Baseball trade deadline.

The goal of the 2026 season has been development. While the Cardinals played above expectations in the first half, the second half of the season hasn't been as kind to the organization, which made a sale make sense.

The Cardinals traded Dustin May, JoJo Romero and Lars Nootbaar away. That's a lot of talent out the door, but it was the right call. Chaim Bloom and the Cardinals' front office did a good job bringing talent back to town, especially No. 4 prospect Alexander Frias and No. 10 prospect Josiah Ragsdale.

While the sale itself was good, St. Louis' discipline to not deal away all of their valuable pieces also was important. For example, keeping Alec Burleson arguably was the right move.

Burleson is just 27 years old and won a Silver Slugger Award last year and has been even better this season. In 2025, Burleson slashed .290/.343/.459 with an .801 OPS, 18 homers and 69 RBIs in 139 games played. This season, he's slashing .287/.351/.480 with an .831 OPS, 18 home runs, 77 RBIs, and 28 doubles in 114 games played. In 2025, Burleson finished the season with 1.9 wins above replacement. He's already at 2.3 wins above replacement with a few months to go.

The Cardinals Made The Right Call

Aug 3, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson (41) watches his two run home run, his second two run home run of the game against the New York Yankees during the fourth inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Burleson is under team control for two more seasons as well. In the first half of the season, the young Cardinals showed that they are better than many gave them credit for. With a young team, there are always going to be growing pains and some inconsistency. For that reason, it's not shocking that the second half of the season hasn't been as good for the club. But with more experience, this club is going to get even better and it's important to have veterans around as well.

St. Louis realistically should take another big step forward in 2027 and having Burleson on the field will only help the club continue as it tries to get back to contention. Plus, again, he's just 27 years old. This is a guy that somehow is still underrated around the league, but should be a core piece for the organization moving forward. There are few first basemen in baseball having a better offensive season overall than him.

Burleson quickly showed why he should be a core piece after the trade deadline by bashing three homers against the New York Yankees.

WHAT YANKEES COMEBACK?!

Burleson hits his THIRD homer of the night 🤯#STLCards pic.twitter.com/KRj1gbK6Lh
— STL Sports Central (@STLSprtsCntrl) August 4, 2026

Burleson is one of the best overall first basemen in the game. Sure, he could've brought back a big return to St. Louis is Bloom opted to flip him. But the Cardinals made the right choice not moving him. He's someone who fits this core with Jordan Walker and JJ Wetherholt, among others, and can help get this team back to the playoffs in the near future.

Add us as a preferred source on Google