Cardinals 'Open-Minded' With Trade Deadline Decisions Coming

How will the St. Louis Cardinals handle the upcoming Major League Baseball trade deadline?

This is the question of the moment for St. Louis. Well, this is a topic that actually has been covered at length all season to this point for St. Louis but in different ways. For the first month of the season or so, all of the buzz was about who the team would trade away.

The Cardinals were hot in May and the perception around the organization has changed. Now, things aren't as clear.

The Athletic's Jim Bowden did shed some light on the team's thinking on Thursday, though. Bowden shared a column of 20 things that he is hearing. One of the things Bowden said is that St. Louis will be "open-minded" about adding.

"The Cardinals will be open-minded about adding at the trade deadline, but if things go south in the coming weeks, don’t expect them to turn into traditional sellers," Bowden said. "They are committed to building for the long term so expect every move they make between now and the deadline to reflect that approach. Being open to adding doesn’t mean if they get the right offer for closer Ryan Helsley or a starting pitcher like Erick Fedde or Miles Mikolas, they won’t jump on it — they will. All three will be free agents after this season."

It sounds like things are pretty up in the air, but this is a statement in itself. Entering the season, it seemed like a near-guarantee St. Louis would sell. Now, things could change.