Cardinals Writer Calls For Team To Trade $2.26 Million Reliever In Fire Sale

The St. Louis Cardinals are falling out of contention and now appear to have finally picked a lane. All reports indicate that they are leaning towards selling at the trade deadline.

Any players on expiring contracts will likely be traded. That includes Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton and Steven Matz. However, the Cardinals might be willing to go beyond that, as Katie Woo noted that left-hander JoJo Romero is of interest to other contending teams.

Josh Jacobs of FanSided recently outlined what a "dream" Cardinals trade deadline would look like, and he proposed the idea of St. Louis trading Romero while his value is high.

"Since May 1st, Romero has allowed just one earned run, resulting in a mind-boggling 0.38 ERA in 27 games pitched, the second-best mark among all relievers in baseball and best among lefties since then. In fact, his 0.38 ERA is almost a full run better than the second-best left-handed reliever ERA over the last almost three months of baseball," Jacobs wrote.

Romero is not a free agent until after 2026, but if the Cardinals are selling, it would make sense to capitalize on his value while it's high. The 28-year-old left-hander is 3-3 with a 2.12 ERA in 40 appearances in 2025.

St. Louis acquired Romero from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for utility infielder Edmundo Sosa back in 2022. The left-hander has been a stalwart in the Cardinals bullpen since the trade, and could bring back a solid haul of prospects if the Cardinals do decide to trade him.