Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals Still Have One Trade to Make Before Opening Day

The St. Louis Cardinals should give the Boston Red Sox a call.
Patrick McAvoy|
Aug 28, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Chaim Bloom, Chief Baseball Officer of the Boston Red Sox on the field before the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images
Aug 28, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Chaim Bloom, Chief Baseball Officer of the Boston Red Sox on the field before the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images | Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

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St. Louis CardinalsBoston Red Sox

The St. Louis Cardinals arguably should have one more move up their sleeve before Opening Day gets here in March.

St. Louis handled the offseason well and ripped the band-aid off by trading Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray and Brendan Donovan away. On top of the four trades, the Cardinals signed Dustin May and Ryne Stanek and acquired Justin Bruihl. After weeks of chatter, St. Louis also landed a new right-handed bat during Spring Training by signing Ramón Urías.

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The Cardinals are in a great position right now to see what they have with this young roster, but arguably should still be looking to trade JoJo Romero. The veteran reliever is going to be a free agent after the 2026 season comes to a close. There's no guarantee that he's with the team after the season ends. Why not get out ahead and bring value back when his trade value is at its highest point?

The Cardinals should call Boston

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher JoJo Romero
Feb 16, 2026; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher JoJo Romero throws a pitch during spring training workouts at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

Romero had a 2.07 ERA in 65 total appearances in 2025 for St. Louis. Before that, his best ERA in a season was 3.36 in 2024 in 65 outings. It's going to be difficult to replicate that type of season. There are still plenty of teams out there that could use an elite lefty hurler.

For example, the Boston Red Sox reportedly are in the market for a lefty, per Sean McAdam of MassLive.com.

"Over the winter, the team dealt away a handful of lefty relievers, including Brennan Bernardino and Chris Murphy while electing not to re-sign Justin Wilson and Steven Matz," McAdam wrote. "That’s left the Red Sox without a lot of lefty options to pair with mainstays Chapman, Garrett Whitlock, Justin Slaten and Greg Weissert. The Sox intend to have scouts looking at some lefty relievers in rival camps, both in games and in back-field workouts."

St. Louis and Boston have shown that they can get deals done. The Cardinals traded Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray to Boston in separate deals. The Red Sox also were interested in Brendan Donovan. Chaim Bloom has been cooking over the last few months. Arguably, the team is just one move away from being fully ready for the 2026 season.

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Patrick McAvoy
PATRICK MCAVOY

Patrick McAvoy's experiences include local and national sports coverage at the New England Sports Network with a focus on baseball and basketball. Outside of journalism, Patrick also is pursuing an MBA at Brandeis University. After quickly rising as one of the most productive writers on the site, he expanded his reach to write for Baseball Essential, a national baseball site in Sports Illustrated Media Group. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Inside The Cardinals, please reach out to Scott Neville: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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