Cardinals Have Obvious Trade Candidate 37 Games Into 2026

The St. Louis Cardinals should still consider making a move, despite the club's hot start.

Sep 14, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher JoJo Romero (59) throws against the Milwaukee Brewers in the eighth inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals are giving the fanbase reasons to be excited on a nightly basis.

It doesn't matter who St. Louis is facing right now. The Cardinals are on a heater and are taking down anyone. That trend continued on Friday as the young Cardinals faced off against the San Diego Padres and came out on top, 2-1, in the first game of a four-game set. In the seventh inning of Thursday's contest, shortstop Masyn Winn hit a triple to right field and drove in the go-ahead run and it would be enough to come out on top.

Nick Castellanos can’t make the catch, and Masyn Winn triples to score the go-ahead run! pic.twitter.com/mV46Ic8UWL

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 8, 2026

The Cardinals Will Be A Team To Watch

Mar 31, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jojo Romero (59) pitches against the New York Mets during the eighth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

With the win, the Cardinals are now 22-15 on the season and are just 3 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs for first place. The Padres are now 22-15 as well and are in second place in the National League West by just one game behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers know a thing or two about the Cardinals right now as St. Louis took two of three games against Los Angeles earlier in the week. The Cardinals also swept the Pittsburgh Pirates last week and took down the Milwaukee Brewers once as well. The Cardinals are stacking up well against everyone right now.

This Cardinals team is trying to convince the front office to invest, rather than continuing to trade pieces away. While this is the case, Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom already has said that the plan for the club hasn't changed. The 2026 season is about development. How well the Cardinals play certainly will impact the trade deadline a bit, but it still wouldn't be shocking to eventually see a veteran piece or two moved. The most obvious is lefty reliever JoJo Romero. He has a 3.50 ERA in 18 appearances so far this season and has been a key piece, but he will be a free agent after the season.

Even if the Cardinals are still thriving around the trade deadline, trading someone like Romero wouldn't destroy the momentum. There are relief options down in Triple-A, like 24-year-old righty Luis Gastelum.

The Cardinals could easily make a trade and then replace from within and continue on. Even someone like Lars Nootbaar, realistically, could be moved. St. Louis has shown through 37 games that they can have success without him. So, they'd know how to replace him. There are ways for this club to make moves and not give up on the 2026 season. Which is what they should do. The 2026 season has been too good to completely blow it up.