The St. Louis Cardinals find themselves in an unusual position as the 2026 MLB trade deadline approaches. Although this season was expected to be part of a rebuilding process, the club remains firmly in the playoff hunt.
With a 32-28 record and sitting just 5.5 games behind first place in the NL Central, it seems unlikely the Cardinals would become sellers. However, despite their surprising success, St. Louis should still be open to listening to trade proposals for certain players if the right opportunities arise.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan believes that a few players, like Dustin May, Riley O’Brien, and Lars Nootbaar, could be had this year. But, Passan named left-handed reliever Jojo Romero as the one player that “almost certainly” will be traded this season, and for good reason.
Cardinals ‘almost certainly’ will trade Jojo Romero
“Jojo Romero will almost certainly move,” Passan writes, “as every team could use left-handed relief help.”
Romero is a left-handed reliever, something that many teams around Major League Baseball covet every year at the trade deadline. This year will be no different.
Trading away Romero would make a lot of sense. He’s going to be a free agent after this season, so the Cardinals, unless they re-sign him in the offseason, are going to lose him after 2026 anyways.
Just like they did last year with Ryan Helsley, trading Romero this season is a no-brainer for the Cardinals and Chaim Bloom.
He has a 3.54 ERA this season in 28 outings with 28 strikeouts and 11 walks allowed. While he’s not been as good as he was last year, his production this season is still good enough to fetch a decent return at the deadline.
Even if the Cardinals are still in the postseason hunt by the deadline, Romero is someone the team should still consider trading away.
The Cardinals are not a World Series contender in 2026, as this is still a rebuilding year. Even though they’re having a successful season so far, Passan believes Romero is “almost certainly” going to be traded, and it would be the right decision from Bloom.
