Cardinals 'Going to Trade People' but Not 'Waving the White Flag,' John Mozeliak Says

The St. Louis Cardinals intend to be active around the MLB trade deadline. Beyond that, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak can't tell you much more.

"Right now, I can tell you, we're going to trade people, you just don't know if it's going to be household names or guys who are more likely to not be here next year," he told Martin Kilcoyne of Fox-2 in St. Louis.

"It's easy to talk about what we may or may not do at the moment, but we're not going to just give away players. We want to get some value in return. We want to get some value that helps us in 2024. And that's really going to be our focus as we enter the trading period."

The Cardinals are last in the National League Central at 38-52. They trail the first-place Cincinnati Reds by 11.5 games and are 11 games back of the final wild-card spot.

Mozeliak said any trades wouldn't necessarily represent "waving the white flag" but added the team's focus with the deals would be toward the 2024 season.

FanGraphs gives St. Louis a 6.4 percent chance of making the playoffs, and the outlook is even bleaker at Baseball Prospectus (4.5 percent). Being a seller at the deadline is the sensible call when there's almost no realistic path to the postseason.

Based on both Mozeliak's comments and the Cardinals' payroll situation, fans shouldn't expect a total fire sale, though.

Nolan Arenado is under contract through 2027, and the pair of Miles Mikolas and Willson Contreras are committed to multiyear deals they signed this past offseason. Paul Goldschmidt can hit the open market in 2025, but surely he won't be moved less than a year after being crowned the National League MVP.

Mozeliak stopped short of definitively saying anybody on the roster is untouchable in trades but told Martin the Cardinals "hope we can keep our core together and supplement it properly." That arguably reinforces the odds of Goldschmidt sticking around.

It could be a different story for Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty since both are headed for free agency in the winter. Contending teams are always willing to give up something of value for pitching help, even when it's for a half-season rental. Montgomery and Flaherty are two of the best arms likely to be on the trade market.

Jordan Hicks and Paul DeJong may be equally expendable in Mozeliak's eyes. Hicks is another upcoming free agent, while DeJong has club options for 2024 and 2025.

Tyler O'Neill could be in that group as well depending on the status of his troublesome back. He only has one remaining year of arbitration eligibility.

Regardless of who's going out, it's abundantly clear the Cardinals are open for business.