With the St. Louis Cardinals leaning towards selling a lot of their veterans at the MLB trade deadline in 2025, a few stick out as obvious candidates ot be sold. For the Cardinals, two starters stick out, including one who’s played in the MLB since 2012.
According to Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report, the Cardinals are predicted to cut ties with long-time starter and two-time All-Star in 2018 and 2022, Miles Mikolas.
“Otherwise,” Rymer writes. “Ryan Helsley, Sonny Gray, Erick Fedde, and Miles Mikolas are here, too.”
The Cardinals’ starter is in the final year of a three-year, $55 million extension he signed in 2023. Mikolas will be a free agent after 2025, and with the Cardinals not likely to bring him back in 2026, moving him to another team makes sense.
There will be plenty of teams looking for starting pitching, and Mikolas is a veteran who would be a solid addition for those teams. In 2025, with the Cardinals, Mikolas has had a disappointing season. He’s made 14 starts and has an ERA of 4.35. Mikolas is 4-4 and has accumulated 0.3 WAR.
Across his 14 starts, Mikolas has pitched 72.1 innings and allowed 76 hits, 18 walks, and six home runs. He’s also struck out 45 batters in his 2025 season, which has been another season in a string of disappointing ones.
After his All-Star 2022 season, the Cardinals brought the veteran back, but he has been a below league-average pitcher since then. In 2022, his ERA+ was 118, but in the three seasons since, Mikolas has had an ERA+ of 92, 78, and 94 in 2025.
Overall, while Mikolas has been a disappointing signing in St. Louis, a team would still be interested in him. He’s an innings-eater and would be a nice addition to the back of a rotation down the stretch.
Rymer naming Mikolas as a trade candidate isn’t surprising. It’d be more surprising if he weren’t traded. The Cardinals don’t have the assets to compete in 2025, but if they sell Mikolas, they can work towards competing soon. There are plenty of young talents in St. Louis, and shipping off the veterans is a good step to take in developing the young stars rising through the organization.
