Why Cardinals Should Have Dealt Iván Herrera At The Trade Deadline

The Major League Baseball trade deadline has come and gone, and the St. Louis Cardinals made the smart decision to sell off some of their players to improve their farm system.

With how well the Cardinals have performed this season, it was unclear whether the team would buy or sell at the deadline, but a slow start to the second half of the year all but guaranteed they would continue to prioritize rebuilding over short-term gains.

St. Louis traded away some veterans, including Dustin May, Lars Nootbaar and JoJo Romero, yet the team decided to hold on to All-Star catcher Iván Herrera. The 26-year-old catcher and designated hitter has played well this season, slashing .240/.357/.373 with 12 home runs and 46 runs batted in, and was named an All-Star for the first time in his career.

Herrera has been a big part of St. Louis' offense this year

St. Louis Cardinals catche Iván Herrera — Aug 1, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Iván Herrera (48) celebrates hitting a double against the Toronto Blue Jays during the sixth inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Despite Herrera having a successful season, it's somewhat interesting that the Cardinals did not elect to trade the five-year veteran catcher, especially with Jimmy Crooks and Pedro Pagés both available on the roster and with top prospects Rainiel Rodriguez and Leo Bernal climbing through St. Louis' farm system. In a season where catchers were highly coveted at the trade deadline, Herrera would have brought in a great haul for St. Louis, especially since he has years left under team control.

"There was much speculation that the Cardinals, who have a catching surplus throughout their organization, would deal from that strength to clear up a theoretical logjam, especially with catchers being one of the most in-demand positions on the market," MLB.com's Will Leitch wrote on Wednesday. "This makes a lot of sense. The last two months may be Herrera’s last chance to establish himself as at least a part-time catcher before the Cardinals start thinking about other positions for him.

"Pagés still has value as a backup and a well-liked pitching staff whisperer and, most intriguingly, the Cardinals clearly still believe in Crooks’ underlying metrics despite some wobbly numbers at the plate this season. The Cardinals still have questions these catchers all need to answer. They’ve given them all more time to do so."

Though Herrera has excelled offensively, he's only played 42 games at catcher this season and has appeared at catcher in fewer than half of his games across the last three seasons. There's no guarantee that Herrera will remain a catcher, so it would have been a good move to trade the All-Star when his value and demand for catchers were so high.

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