The Cardinals’ trade deadline rumors make Jordan Walker expendable.
The St. Louis Cardinals have stunned the MLB this season, and their trade deadline intentions have evolved in unexpected ways.
The whole baseball world was taken aback when superstar third baseman Nolan Arenado began the 2025 season with the St. Louis Cardinals, a team that had been anticipated to wipe house and start over after successive poor seasons. However, a rebuild that once seemed unavoidable has suddenly become non-existent, thanks to the Cardinals’ success in the NL Central this season.
The Cardinals were only two games behind the Chicago Cubs in first place in the NL Central entering Monday, with a record of 30-23, good enough to secure an NL Wild Card slot. With each passing day, it looks that St. Louis may be in the postseason picture for the long term, which has significantly altered their trade deadline intentions.
Instead of selling before the deadline, the Cardinals will instead search for upgrades that might help them make a postseason run. Arenado will no longer be involved in trade negotiations, but a previous top prospect may be.
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Jordan Walker is the ideal trade bait for the Cardinals.
Despite the Cardinals’ success, outfielder Jordan Walker has once again underperformed expectations. The Cardinals hoped for a breakout season from the former No. 4 overall prospect, indicating his potential as a future franchise player.
Walker, on the other hand, is only batting.212 with three home runs and 20 RBI. These troubles come after a poor 2024 season, so St. Louis isn’t giving up on Walker just because he played 44 games this year.
Walker is still young enough and has enough upside that trading him could provide the Cardinals with the necessary upgrades at the deadline. It’s too early to say what those needs will be, but Walker is anticipated to be mentioned in at least one of the deals St. Louis makes before the deadline.
Scouts know Walker has power in his 6-foot-6, 250-pound frame; he just needs to find it. With his underwhelming performances at the plate over the last two seasons, St. Louis is unlikely to be able to obtain top prospects or household names in exchange for him, but there will be a team willing to part with a piece that can help the Cardinals because they believe Walker’s potential can be realized elsewhere. St. Louis will have to decide whether that trade-off is worth it.
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