Why Cardinals Might Want to Keep Dustin May at Trade Deadline

Dustin May has been a valuable starter for St. Louis.

May 27, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Dustin May (3) is congratulated by his teammates after throwing a no hitter into the eighth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers in the eighth inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images | Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals picked up their fifth consecutive win on Tuesday night, defeating the New York Mets by a final score of 7-0. Right-hander Dustin May led the way for St. Louis, pitching six scoreless innings and earning the win.

It was May's first win since April after having a lot of bad luck with run support in the month of May. He lowered his ERA to 4.21 on the season.

He is a free agent at the end of the year, which makes him an obvious trade candidate at the deadline. However, even if the Cardinals sell, it might be worth keeping May in the rotation and not moving him.

Why Cardinals might want to keep Dustin May

Jun 2, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Dustin May (3) walks off the field after he was removed from the game against the Texas Rangers during the sixth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The first and most obvious reason to keep May is that the Cardinals are playing well, and it wouldn't make sense to sell pieces off if they remain in contention. While May hasn't exactly set the world on fire, he has been serviceable and is still a steady presence in the Cardinals starting rotation.

Beyond that, he is a good veteran presence on a young team, and having a leader for the rotation makes sense for St. Louis. In addition, they don't have a lot of depth in the system in terms of starting pitching.

Richard Fitts is out for the season, and while they still have arms like Liam Doyle and Quinn Mathews emerging and Hunter Dobbins as a solid plug-and-play option, it would still be beneficial for St. Louis to have May in the rotation, even if they sell.

He is the only arm in that rotation with any sort of big-game experience. The rest of the rotation is young and hasn't had a lot of experience in that regard, so if the Cardinals remain in the race, it would make sense to keep the one pitcher that does have experience.

The Cardinals signed May to a one-year, $12.5 million contract last offseason, essentially doing so with the purpose of trading him at the deadline. However, there is merit to keeping the veteran right-hander around.

Another thing to consider is that he has a mutual option for 2027. The chances of the Cardinals being in on Tarik Skubal in the offseason are slim, so simply picking up May's option at the end of the year would give the Cardinals some certainty in their rotation next season without having to go out and make a big splash.