Cardinals Slugger Called 'Expendable' Trade Candidate Piece

The St. Louis Cardinals look like a team that should utilize the upcoming Major League Baseball trade deadline to add pieces, rather than selling off.

That's a statement that would've surprised people on Opening Day. St. Louis entered the season with very low expecttions. Fans and media members alike seemingly wrote the team off before the campaign even kicked off. The Cardinals have changed people's minds, though.

St. Louis entered play on Sunday with a 33-25 record and in second place in the National League Central. If the Cardinals keep up their winning ways from the month of May into June and July then there's no reason why the team shouldn't add and go after a playoff spot.

If the Cardinals end up wanting to add, they do have some pieces that could help bring back some sort of piece, like a bullpen arm.

FanSided's Scott Plaza made a list of seven "expendable" players for the upcoming trade deadline and one name that stood out was slugger Luken Baker.

"The rollercoaster career of Luken Baker with the Cardinals has continued into the 2025 season, with still no clear plan in place for the big first baseman/designated hitter," Plaza said. "The story remains the same for Baker: massive power with solid plate discipline, but defensively limited to first base, and may be better as a platoon bat. With 131 homers and an .834 OPS in 594 career minor league games, Baker has little to prove and is now 28 years old.

"Coming into spring, Baker had no real place on the team, but he put up a great exhibition campaign that made him look like a potential regular DH option while Alec Burleson struggled to hit for power. Baker made the team out of Spring Training and knocked three hits in his first two starts, but found sporadic playing time through April. At the end of the month, he was hitting .192 and was finally demoted back to Memphis in early May. Since being with Memphis, he has been the primary first baseman but has struggled at the plate, hitting .125 but six of his seven hits have gone for extra bases."

There isn't much space for Baker right now on the big league roster. Finding some sort of package with him could be a good way to add a piece without compromising the future.