The Cardinals came into the series with the Brewers having lost four games in a row and seven of their last 10. They also were a paltry four games over the .500 mark as opposed to eight games, which is where they were after they won on Saturday against the Dodgers.
This is still better than anybody expected. I think most of us expected the Cardinals to be four or five games under .500 right about now when the season began. However, they still aren’t a great team, and I’m not convinced that they should be buyers at the trade deadline.
Is it too early to determine, that? Of course. But I love speculating, even weeks in advance. I hate to be a party pooper here, but I’m going to use this time to double down on an opinion I’ve held since the end of last season.
No. The Cardinals should not be buyers this year at the deadline. They should be sellers instead. I know I’ve harped on this several times already over the past two years, but I think now is a good time to stress the point again.
The Cardinals were just swept by the Blue Jays at home. Toronto gave them a major reality check. Sure, they could win this series against the Brewers, and perhaps my opinion could change again, as it tends to do. But I’m afraid that what we saw against the Blue Jays was an indication of what this team really is.
They played great in May, but it was just one month, and that torrid pace typically isn’t sustainable. In addition, the Cardinals won’t make that big splash this year at the deadline. They don’t have the prospects to do that. They also aren’t just one or two pieces away from being a World Series contender. It’s going to take a lot more than that.
This year, they need to stay true to their reset plans. They need prospects to restock the farm system, and the best way to do that is by trading veterans like Ryan Helsley and Erick Fedde.
Now, yesterday morning in The Athletic, Jim Bowden said that even if the Cardinals continue to struggle, we shouldn’t expect a big fire sale. I think that’s fine. It doesn’t need to be a total teardown. But certain pieces of high value need to be traded away.
Like it or not, this is more than likely not a playoff team. Even though they’re close in the Wild Card race, the Giants, Padres and Phillies are all better teams than the Cardinals. They’re also now five games back of the Cubs in the NL Central.
Being just a few games over .500 isn’t enough to justify buying at the deadline in my opinion, especially when in order to be a true contender, they’ll need to buy big.
This year just isn’t the year for that. I enjoyed the winning and hope for more. But people need to understand where the Cardinals currently are as an organization. This year isn’t their only window to contend. Instead, it should be about creating that next window starting in 2026.
Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols aren’t here anymore. Those days are gone. That doesn’t mean the Cardinals can’t be good again, but trying to go for it this year just doesn’t make sense. The Cardinals still aren’t that team that they were when those guys were still here. The supply of devil magic has run thin.
Unless they go on another crazy win streak, I won’t be convinced that selling isn’t the right course of action this year. The time has come to pick a lane, and that is the best lane to pick this year.