What Return Should Cardinals Be Looking For At Impending Trade Deadline

All signs point toward the St. Louis Cardinals selling at the trade deadline, but it will be interesting to see what haul they can get.

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It has become all but obvious that the St. Louis Cardinals will be acting as sellers at the impending trade deadline after a dreadful start to the second half of the season.

St. Louis has been surprisingly competitive this season despite trading away multiple star players during the offseason. Still, after losing nine of the team's last 12 games, the Cardinals now sit with a negative record for the first time this season and are three games out of the playoffs.

The Cardinals' struggles cemented their trade deadline decision-making

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Though the trade deadline offers a perfect opportunity to improve its roster, St. Louis' attention needs to remain on the future. The Cardinals have made it known that they are willing to listen to offers on practically all of their players not named Jordan Walker or JJ Wetherholt, but what does a successful return at the deadline look like for the team?

"Despite a surprisingly competitive first half, the Cardinals aren’t looking to deviate from president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom’s long-term outlook, which projects late 2027 or early 2028 as the team’s next competitive window," The Athletic's Will Sammon, Ken Rosenthal and Katie Woo wrote on Wednesday. "The Cardinals are looking to acquire 'meaningful pieces' that align with that timeline, a source said."

With late 2027 or early 2028 as their projected window to be competitive, the Cardinals' definition of "meaningful pieces" has only one meaning: young talent under team control for the foreseeable future.

"The Cardinals will most likely target upper-level prospects in returns. St. Louis has done a considerable job in bulking up what was once scarce pitching depth in Triple-A," Sammon, Rosenthal and Woo wrote. "But there aren’t specific positions in the farm system the Cardinals are looking to bolster. Instead, Bloom’s focus remains on building up a young homegrown core that can fully compete for division titles by 2028."

The Cardinals have been building up their minor league pitching depth since the offseason, with multiple hurlers like Quinn Matthews nearing their big-league debuts. With one of the deepest catching pools in the league as well, St. Louis has valuable trade chips and is set up well for the future.

If the Cardinals don't have specific positions they are looking to bolster, they should focus on acquiring as many top prospects as they can. Given another season or two, St. Louis' young core could become one of the strongest in baseball, but to accomplish that, the team needs to be patient and stay the course on its rebuild.