Cardinals’ Deadline Plans Could Shift If Wild Card Position Holds

The St. Louis Cardinals may not end up cutting ties with veteran pieces after all this summer.

Jul 27, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom talks with the media before a game against the Cleveland Guardians at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom has done a good job in his first season leading the franchise so far.

The Cardinals are in second place in the National League Central. One thing about Bloom that should be praised is the fact that he's clearly not afraid to make a change if necessary. Over the last week, the Cardinals have demoted both Victor Scott II and Nolan Gorman because they were not delivering in the majors. The big leagues are about results and the Cardinals didn't just simply sit by and wait for them to turn their seasons around.

Instead, the Cardinals activated Nathan Church off the Injured List and promoted Blaze Jordan to come up and help in the big leagues after a red-hot run in Triple-A. The Cardinals are always evaluating and changing things up, if there are better options out there.

This strategy is going to be interesting when it comes to the trade deadline. It has been known coming into the season that it would be a reset and all of that. But the Cardinals are significantly outperforming expectations. While it would be surprising to see the Cardinals buy, they are proving right now that they aren't afraid to make hard decisions. On Friday, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal joined "Foul Territory" and said that his "understanding" is that Bloom isn't just going to punt on the season and make a trade to make a trade this summer if the standings stay the way they are.

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Jun 10, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Jordan Walker (18) runs out an RBI single against the New York Mets during the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

"My understanding of this is that Chaim Bloom is not going to simply ignore the standings and say, 'You know what, I don't care that we're in a Wild Card spot. The top Wild Card spot. Nah, we're just going to keep going and trading veterans.' No," Rosenthal said. "They may do that if they believe it's ultimately in their best interest, but they will not if they are still in this kind of position at the deadline.

"Remember, we're talking six or seven weeks away. They will not simply abandon the season. And I don't expect the White Sox to do that. I don't even expect the Nationals to do that if they are in a position where they have an even outside chance of making the playoffs."

"My understanding is that Chaim Bloom won't simply ignore the standings."@Ken_Rosenthal speculates on how the Cardinals could approach the trade deadline... pic.twitter.com/E2K8hD1oHf

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) June 12, 2026

At this point, this would arguably be the right call. The Cardinals are playing winning baseball. If they can keep this up, the Cardinals should at least delay cutting ties with more veteran pieces until after the season.

If the season ended today, this is a playoff team we're looking at. And not just that, the Cardinals would have the top National League Wild Card spot. This team is different. The Cardinals have clearly not been afraid to make a change so far this season, as shown by Scott and Gorman. The expectation coming into the season was that veterans would be dealt in the summer. It wouldn't hurt to reevaluate.