Cardinals Can't Afford To Repeat 2024 Trade Deadline Mistakes

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.