Cardinals Among Top 3 Teams 'Most Likely' To Host Trade Deadline Fire Sale

The St. Louis Cardinals are within striking distance of securing a playoff spot but with half of the season remaining, they might be looking to sell before the July 31 trade deadline.

With the 2025 All-Star Game in the books and the trade deadline two weeks away, the Cardinals are 51-46, sitting 6 1/2 games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the National League Central and 1 1/2 games out of an NL Wild Card spot.

Although St. Louis has a legitimate chance this year of returning to the postseason for the first time since 2022, one insider believes that the Cardinals are headed for a trade deadline fire sale.

"As such, market inefficiency all but guarantees there will be some tweeners who admit defeat and embrace a fire sale, despite being just one scorching-hot week away from surging to a wild-card spot," Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller wrote Thursday when outlining his 10 bold predictions for the second half of the 2025 season. "Given their combinations of multi-year payrolls and current standings, the three teams most likely to blow it up are the Baltimore Orioles, Arizona Diamondbacks and St. Louis Cardinals."

The Cardinals were in a similar position in the playoff standings this time last year, regretfully traded homegrown utility man Tommy Edman and failed to earn a postseason ticket.

With Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak preparing to pass the torch to former Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom this upcoming offseason as the franchise looks to rebuild, it might be time for St. Louis to clean house.

This could mean Cardinals' impending free agents Ryan Helsley, Steven Matz and Erick Fedde will be traded before July 31, opening room in the pitching staff for younger talent.

Perhaps beloved 10-time Gold Glove defender Nolan Arenado will finally be traded from St. Louis this summer -- if the Cardinals successfully find a suitor to appease the fan favorite's full no-trade clause.