Cardinals Writer Declares It's Time For Team To Sell

The time has come to focus on the future in St. Louis.

Feb 26, 2021; Jupiter, Florida, USA; A general view of the St. Louis Cardinals logo on the stadium at Roger Dean Stadium during spring training workouts. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images | Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals are struggling lately. After sweeping the Cleveland Guardians at the end of June, they have only won one series since.

Now, they are at risk of being swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks and falling further out of the playoff race. With their loss on Saturday, they fell to 51-48, which sunk them to fourth place in the National League Central and 8 1/2 games back of first place.

In all likelihood, St. Louis will sell at the trade deadline. Josh Jacobs of Redbird Rants recently declared that it's time for the Cardinals to face the truth and prepare for a fire sale.

"If you told me before the season that the Cardinals would be 51-48 on July 20th and sitting three games back of the third Wild Card, I would have chalked that up as a really impressive start to their season, considering the expectations I had for them after their frozen offseason that saw them shed payroll and do virtually nothing to upgrade the roster. But over the last month of baseball, the positive light we started to view has really dimmed," Jacobs wrote.

Expectations were low for St. Louis entering 2025. They have vastly outperformed those expectations.

However, they are slipping in the standings and are trending towards selling. They have four pitchers on expiring contracts, three of which will garner trade interest.

Teams are already showing interest in Steven Matz, Ryan Helsley and Phil Maton. The time has come for the Cardinals to focus on the future rather than making a run this season.

More MLB: Cardinals Will Have To Make Franchise-Altering Choice Soon