The 2023 St. Louis Cardinals struggled to the point where John Mozeliak had no choice but to sell several veterans at the trade deadline. The 2025 Cardinals aren't 2023 bad, but they're likely going to be sellers at this year's trade deadline, meaning several players on expiring contracts (and potentially others) will get dealt.
The Cardinals selling at the deadline isn't the worst thing. Nobody expected much from St. Louis this season, and honestly, an argument can be made that they've exceeded expectations. Where selling gets a bit nerve-wracking is that John Mozeliak, the same executive who orchestrated the 2023 sell-off, will be running the ship.
Mozeliak has obviously done some great things during his Cardinals tenure, but that 2023 trade deadline did not go particularly well for St. Louis. Do the Cardinals really want the same guy in charge of a sell-off at this year's trade deadline after witnessing 2023?
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the Discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.
Cardinals fans have reason to fear the worst following 2023 trade deadline failures
Mozeliak traded five veterans of note at the 2023 trade deadline, and it's starting to look like he didn't get much in return in any of the deals. Tekoah Roby, one of the key players acquired in St. Louis' biggest trade in that year's deadline, needing Tommy John Surgery only makes that deal look worse.
RHP Tekoah Roby, the #STLCards #6 prospect, will likely not pitch until 2027 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, @katiejwoo reports
— STL Sports Central (@STLSprtsCntrl) July 28, 2025
The 23-year-old was acquired in St. Louis’ 2023 deadline deal that sent Jordan Montgomery to the Rangers pic.twitter.com/nXB99krk59
Roby was acquired alongside Thomas Saggese and John King in exchange for Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton. It's still early, so the Cardinals can still get something out of Roby when he's healthy, but Saggese has yet to find his big league footing, and while King was productive last season for St. Louis, he's had a miserable 2025 campaign. Sure, Montgomery and Stratton were only in Texas for only a couple of months, but both pitched well for the Rangers, helping lead them to a World Series win. It's entirely possible that the Cardinals won't end up getting a single meaningful player from this package, which would really sting.
The second-biggest trade saw the Cardinals send Jordan Hicks to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Adam Kloffenstein and Sem Robberse. Kloffenstein is already out of the organization, and Robberse has been injured for most of this season.
The only trade that looks like a clear win for St. Louis from the 2023 deadline was the deal that saw Paul DeJong get sent to the Blue Jays for Matt Svanson, a reliever who has pitched well in 17 appearances for St. Louis this season. Svanson is far from a game-changer, but neither was DeJong.
The Cardinals made several deals, and two years later, it's tough to gauge the most valuable player they received. That's not a great look. Now, with guys like Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton and Steven Matz on expiring deals, Cardinals fans can only hope Mozeliak can find a way to do better.
Based on recent history, though, they shouldn't be dreaming too big.