Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals Can't Afford To Repeat 2024 Trade Deadline Mistakes

The Cardinals need to make the right moves...
Zach Pressnell|
Jun 30, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Erick Fedde (12) and catcher Pedro Pages (43) make their way in from the bullpen to play the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Jun 30, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Erick Fedde (12) and catcher Pedro Pages (43) make their way in from the bullpen to play the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are one of the more intriguing teams to follow during trade season. St. Louis is in a position to contend ahead of the trade deadline, but the team isn't really built to win a World Series.

With that in mind, there's been a lot of speculation about what the Cardinals will do at the trade deadline. Some expect the Cardinals to buy and go all-in because of how impressive their team has been, but others expect them to stick with their rebuild and sell.

St. Louis can't afford to repeat their mistakes from last season. It needs to have a better approach to the trade deadline or this season will be another huge waste.

Last season, the Cardinals opted to trade away versatile infielder Tommy Edman to add Erick Fedde to the rotation. Now, Edman is a positive piece for the Los Angeles Dodgers while Fedde is a struggling pitcher in a bad rotation.

The Cardinals need to show some patience at the deadline this season. Rather than going all-in and chasing a player like Fedde on the market, the Cardinals could sell on their expiring contracts and add some controllable talent.

Ryan Helsley should be traded away in a move that nets the Cardinals a few top prospects. Helsley's contract expires at the end of the season and the Cardinals are unlikely to re-sign him.

St. Louis could look to add controllable talent like Kyle Stowers. Stowers has multiple more years of team control on his deal while playing at an All-Star level right now.

At the end of the day, the Cardinals need to play the long game. If they make another knee-jerk trade like last season, it's going to set the franchise back again.

More MLB: Ex-Cardinals $56 Million Ace Might Not End Up Traded After All

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Zach Pressnell
ZACH PRESSNELL

Zach Pressnell has experience covering all major US sports at both the professional and collegiate levels. He’s produced content for FanSided, Blog Red Machine, The Game Haus, Bethany College Athletics and the Bethany College online newspaper, He graduated from Bethany College (WV) with a degree in Communications and Media Arts, specializing in Sports Journalism. Pressnell was also a four-year member of the baseball team where he earned himself All-PAC recognition as a pitcher (and a cool Tommy John surgery scar). Now, Pressnell specializes in NFL and MLB coverage for Sports Illustrated’s “On SI” network among others. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "St. Louis Cardinals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org

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