DENVER — St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak mentioned he’s getting an elevated variety of cellphone calls because the MLB commerce deadline approaches.
For a Cardinals crew that appeared to be a possible postseason contender within the season’s first half, that is not a optimistic signal in regards to the crew’s route.
St. Louis is simply 3-7 over its final 10 video games, and that features a three-game sweep by the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks to start out the second half of the season. The Cardinals entered Monday’s sequence opener in Denver in opposition to the Colorado Rockies 3.5 video games out of the ultimate Nationwide League wild-card spot and at 51-49 general, sitting in fourth place within the NL Central.
“Clearly, the place we’re within the standings positively impacts our decision-making transferring ahead within the buying and selling deadline. So enjoying these three video games (in Arizona after the All-Star break) and dropping all three will not be useful,” Mozeliak mentioned. “Clearly, we needed to come back out of the break have a optimistic begin to it. We did not.
“In order we replicate on actually what’s finest for the group, there’s the lengthy evaluate. Are there choices that we are able to make that will higher situate the franchise in ’26 and past? So clearly, we’ve quite a lot of gamers that individuals have curiosity in, and we’ve to type by all that earlier than we make a dedication precisely what a state of affairs would appear to be.”
Mozeliak mentioned that the choice about how a lot the Cardinals will promote (and if in any respect) continues to be “fluid” and the franchise is staying “open-minded” about what might occur between now and July 31 at 6 p.m. EST.
“Clearly the weekend was not what we needed to see,” Mozeliak mentioned. “Now we have got to grasp what the longer term seems like.”
That future might embody one with out All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado. Beneath contract by the 2027 season and armed with a no-trade clause, Arenado rejected a trade to the Houston Astros primarily based on the timeline wanted to swing a deal.
Heading into the commerce deadline, Mozeliak mentioned he would have “a very good understanding” of the place Arenado stood on that, planning to speak to the third baseman about his commerce deadline ideas within the coming days.
Mozeliak indicated he would hearken to all provides on Arenado or different members of the roster.
“Clearly placing feelings apart, if one thing have been to make sense that enables us to really feel like we’re bettering for the longer term, then it may be price a dialog,” he mentioned. “I do not know if any of that may exist or that’ll occur, however I do not wish to put ourselves in a state of affairs the place we simply do not wish to discover something.”
