How Cardinals might become buyers at MLB trade deadline in rebuilding year
This might be a very quick rebuild for the St. Louis Cardinals.
How Cardinals might become buyers at MLB trade deadline in rebuilding year originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The St.
Louis Cardinals are one of the more surprising teams in all of Major League Baseball in 2026. Not only are they sporting a winning record, but they're 21-14 and just two games back of the NL Central lead. It's been a great year for the Cardinals thus far, with the standouts being JJ Wetherholt and Jordan Walker, as the young duo looks to be the centerpieces of the Cardinals for a long time.
With how great the seasons gone, as The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal notes, there's a chance that the Cardinals are buyers at the trade deadline in the middle of a rebuilding year. Such a fascinating outcome that has a real chance of happening this year. Cardinals have real chance to be buyers at trade deadline "But, if at the deadline the Cardinals are within range of a playoff spot, they likely will adjust their rebuilding plan without abandoning it," Rosenthal writes.
This is a fascinating scenario for the Cardinals, but how would Chaim Bloom be able to act as a buyer while still rebuilding the team? One of the ways the Cardinals could buy at the deadline while still planning for the future would be to acquire players who are under club control beyond the 2026 season. While some other teams in win-now modes might be able to add a player who will be a free agent after 2026, the Cardinals should explore additions that will be around through at least 2027.