Cardinals Reveal Deadline Goal; Hint At Upcoming Offseason

The 2025 Major League Baseball trade deadline is behind us and unsurprisingly the St. Louis Cardinals were one of the most talked about teams in the league.

Although this is the case, the Cardinals completed just three deals. That's more than many teams, but for all of the rumors that were out there, it's a tad surprising that the Cardinals only traded Ryan Helsley, Steven Matz, and Phil Maton away. There was noise out there about guys like Nolan Arenado, Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, Lars Nootbaar, and Nolan Gorman. On top of this, Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras were talked about, but both made it clear they were not going to waive their no-trade clauses and leave the organization.

In the final few hours ahead of the deadline, players under team control (Donovan, Nootbaar, and Gorman) were rumored about on social media, but the Cardinals opted not to trade anyone that was under control because they were not "blown away," per president of baseball operations John Mozeliak.

"We got hit a lot on our left-handed hitters...but we were not motivated to move players that we had under control unless we were, to put it mildly, blown away. And we just weren't," Mozeliak said.

So, what was the strategy for the organization? Mozeliak revealed the team's goal was with the long-term future, as shared by The Athletic's Katie Woo.

"The goal of this trading deadline was about the future," Mozeliak said. "I don’t think it’s necessarily about the immediate future. It’s about the long-term view of the St. Louis Cardinals."

The fact that Mozeliak specifically said that it may not be in reference to the immediate future doesn't bode well for the offseason. Could a teardown be on the way when Chaim Bloom takes over?