The St. Louis Cardinals opted to sell at the trade deadline, practically waving the white flag on the season. Ahead of the deadline, the Cardinals reportedly shopped any player on their roster with a bit of trade value, but opted out of making any big, surprising moves.
Instead, St. Louis unloaded three expiring relievers from its bullpen in a smart move that sets the team up for the future. Ryan Helsley was traded to the New York Mets for a package of prospects headlined by Jesus Baez. Steven Matz was traded to the Boston Red Sox in a one-for-one deal for prospect Blaze Jordan. Phil Maton was dealt to the Texas Rangers in a deadline buzzer-beater that landed the Cardinals even more prospects.
But this trio of moves emptied the bullpen in St. Louis, meaning the Cardinals were going to need some players to step up down the stretch. Replacing Helsley as the team’s closer quickly became a top priority for St. Louis, and it might have already done it.
Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter recently highlighted new Cardinals closer JoJo Romero following his move to the higher leverage role in St. Louis.
“Romero has taken the reins in the ninth inning after Ryan Helsley and Phil Maton were both traded at the deadline, and he has gone 3-for-3 on save chances in August,” Romero wrote. “He has been rock solid in a setup role since coming over from the Phillies in the deal that sent Edmundo Sosa the other way at the 2022 deadline.”
It’s unclear if Romero will be the Cardinals’ closer of the future, but it doesn’t seem like that will be the case. St. Louis will likely want to turn to a younger option that’s in the farm system right now, though Romero is making it quite hard to move him from the role.
The southpaw is three for three on save opportunities since being given the role. He’s been dominant for the most part after thriving in the setup role for a few years.
As of now, it seems like the easy answer for the Cardinals would be to use Romero, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see them turn to a prospect reliever as a potential option. This would slot Romero back into his natural setup role. Either way, the lefty looks rock solid for St. Louis right now.
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