Cardinals Trade Deadline 'Priority' Revealed By Insider

The St. Louis Cardinals had a great day on Thursday.

St. Louis has been ice-cold recently but got a much-needed series sweep against the Chicago White Sox. The Cardinals took all three games from the White Sox this week, including a doubleheader sweep on Thursday. Now, the Cardinals are back to being five games above .500 at 40-35.

The Cardinals are tied with the Milwaukee Brewers for second place in the National League Central and are just 5 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs for the top spot in the division.

St. Louis is about to enter a seven-game gauntlet with three against the Cincinnati Reds and four against the Chicago Cubs that will have significant standings and likely trade deadline implications. We are just over a month away from the trade deadline. These next few weeks are going to be when the club decides what direction it wants to go in with buying or selling.

No matter what happens, The Athletic's Katie Woo shared that the team's "priority" is still the future even if they do add pieces.

"It’s still too early to tell if the Cardinals will buy or sell," Woo said. "We’ll have a better indication of where things stand ahead of the All-Star break, but that is still four weeks away, and a lot can change in the standings between now and then.

"One thing we do know: Regardless of whether the team buys or sells, the priority will remain the future. If the Cardinals add at the deadline, they will do so incrementally. If they sell, it will likely involve players on expiring deals. The Cardinals indeed could shop (Erick Fedde), who is in the final season of his $7.5 million contract, to make room for (Michael McGreevy) in the rotation, but only if they feel comfortable with their pitching depth. Trading Mikolas would be much more difficult, as he’s owed more ($17.5 million this year) and has a full no-trade clause."

There you have it from one of the team's top insiders. Even if the club does buy, don't expect some sort of blockbuster that would cut ties with multiple high-end prospects.