Following back-to-back series losses out of the All-Star Break, the St. Louis Cardinals are teetering towards being sellers at this year’s trade deadline.

This is probably a good thing for the health of the organization. With Chaim Bloom set to take over the baseball operations side of things at the end of the year, keeping an eye on the future should be the front office’s goal over the next week.

The Cardinals have several appealing trade candidates who are on expiring contracts. Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton, and Steven Matz will all be free agents at the end of the year, and each could help a contender’s bullpen down the stretch and in the postseason. Erick Fedde, who was recently designated for assignment, is also a trade candidate for a team looking for rotation depth.

St. Louis could also trade players who are under contract beyond 2026. Nolan Gorman and John King have been mentioned specifically by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, but Lars Nootbaar, JoJo Romero, and even Nolan Arenado could garner interest at the deadline.

Regardless of who they opt to trade, the Cardinals will be seeking prospect depth in return, similar to what they did in 2023 when they entered a full-sell mode.

Therefore, the Cardinals’ scouting department has been quite busy over the last few weeks keeping tabs on opponents’ prospects. It’s been reported that they have been exploring the prospects of one team in particular.

The St. Louis Cardinals have been rumored to be scouting the New York Yankees farm system lately.

The Yankees are always in “World Series or bust” mode, but that is most true this year. With Aaron Judge only getting older — though he’s still having a career year even for himself — and a roster full of inexperienced youngsters who could use some veteran guidance, the club is looking to make another World Series push following their loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers last year.

It’s only logical that the Cardinals scout the Yankees’ farm, as the two appear to be good trade partners on paper.

With a glut of relievers who could be available via trade, the Cardinals could help fill a need for the Yankees. New York’s relievers rank 21st in ERA (4.07), 24th in home run-to-fly ball ratio (12.1%), and 23rd in walks per nine (3.87 BB/9). Lucky for the Yankees, Steven Matz, Ryan Helsley, and Phil Maton have all done better than those figures individually.

Steven Matz would provide length out of the bullpen for the Yankees, while Maton and Helsley would be valuable high-leverage and late-inning options for Aaron Boone.

According to John Brophy, a freelance MiLB reporter who is based in Tampa, Florida, the Cardinals have been inquiring about Yankees prospects, and one player in particular was mentioned by name: left-handed pitcher Griffin Herring.

Herring, 22, was drafted in the sixth round of the 2024 MLB Draft out of Louisiana State University. He was a key member of LSU’s 2023 national championship team, where he worked 4 2/3 scoreless innings against Wake Forest in an elimination game.

Griffin Herring was used as a reliever in his sophomore year at LSU, and he posted a 1.79 ERA with 67 strikeouts and only 13 walks in 50 1/3 innings. Herring’s repertoire includes a mid-80s sweeper/slider, a fastball that sits in the low-90s, and a changeup that he uses sparingly. It’s a pitch collection that screams reliever.

Despite him appearing to be a reliever, the Yankees have employed him solely as a starting pitcher this year. He’s made 16 starts between Low-A and High-A, and he has a cumulative ERA of just 1.71 in 89.1 innings. He’s struck out 102 batters this year with a .178 batting average against and a 1.03 WHIP. He was the Florida State League Pitcher of the Month in April.

Herring is already 22, and his experience at the college level would lend one to assume that he could rise quickly through the minor leagues. He probably won’t be ready for a debut early in 2026, but a late-season relief promotion isn’t out of the realm of possibilities.

Herring has risen to the Yanks’ eighth-best prospect according to MLB Pipeline, and his stock is booming at the moment. I’m not sure that just a reliever, even one of Ryan Helsley’s caliber, would bring back Herring, but you never know. Keep an eye out for a Cardinals-Yankees trade this deadline.