The St. Louis Cardinals entered the second half of the 2026 season with legitimate wild-card aspirations after an encouraging first half that defied expectations following an offseason of deliberate roster shedding under president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom.
That momentum has faded sharply. A 2-6 start to the second half, including an 8-13 record through much of July, has left the club hovering near .500 and roughly two and a half games behind the final National League playoff spots.
While the broader NL landscape remains muddled enough that St. Louis has not been mathematically eliminated from contention, the recent slide has forced a clearer-eyed assessment of whether the franchise is truly ready to compete this year or whether the smarter path involves selling assets to fortify a still-developing core.
In that context, right-handed reliever Riley O’Brien has emerged as a logical candidate to be moved before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, and Chris Landers of FanSided thinks the Cardinals should attempt to move him.
“This is why you never trust relievers. O’Brien was the darling of the Cardinals’ first half, earning an All-Star nod while leading the National League in saves. But he’s slowly come unraveled as the summer has gone on, with a 4.41 ERA and 4.91 FIP since June 1 and 13 walks to just 17 strikeouts in 16.1 innings,” Landers wrote. “St. Louis certainly shouldn’t be looking to give him away for a bag of balls, but if you can get something of real future value for just about any reliever this side of Mason Miller, you’d be better off doing so — especially if you’re still in the early stage of your contention window as the Cardinals are.”
The Cardinals are not obligated to move O’Brien for a minimal return. Relievers of any established big-league pedigree still carry value, particularly in a market where contending clubs scramble for bullpen reinforcements capable of handling high-leverage situations in September and October.
Teams that view O’Brien’s first-half form as sustainable, or that believe a change of scenery and a return to a defined closer role could restore his earlier effectiveness, could offer meaningful future assets in exchange.
For a franchise operating in the early stages of a contention window, extracting genuine prospect value for a pitcher whose long-term reliability remains uncertain represents a rational calculation.
Relievers rarely maintain elite performance across multiple seasons, and the Cardinals already possess other arms who can absorb late-inning responsibilities if the club elects to stand pat or even sell more aggressively.
Bloom’s larger strategic posture will ultimately dictate whether O’Brien is shopped. The organization remains years away from a fully realized contention cycle, and sacrificing controllable young talent or high-upside prospects to chase a marginal playoff berth holds limited appeal.
Moving a reliever whose recent trajectory has trended downward allows the club to convert short-term production into longer-term organizational depth without mortgaging the future.
If the Cardinals continue to slide or simply conclude that their current roster lacks the ceiling to make a serious October run, O’Brien’s name is likely to surface in trade discussions.
Contenders seeking bullpen help will listen, and the Cardinals will listen carefully to the offers that follow. In a position defined by unpredictability, converting present performance into future upside often proves the wiser course.
