The St. Louis Cardinals have never been able to fully unlock Jordan Walker's potential.
And with the Cards scuffling as the MLB trade deadline approaches, Walker's name has been thrown around in rumors.
It doesn't sound like a deal is imminent, though.
The Athletic's Katie Woo spoke on the Cardinals Territory podcast about Walker's future.
"You will hear his name being floated around in possible trade propositions," Woo said. "Well, I don't think that is out of the question come the offseason I would be very surprised if a trade of Jordan Walker happens this July, mainly because of what we already talked about. Unless John Mozeliak and Chaim Bloom work together on this trade, it doesn't make a lot of sense for an outgoing president of baseball operations to trade a player with ample years of control, a former first-round pick ahead of a new front office taking over.
"You never know what Chaim Bloom and his front office, which we don't even know what that looks like yet, might think of Jordan Walker. So, is it tantalizing to think moving Jordan Walker could net you a big player? Yes, because I think that it could. Is that where the Cardinals are in their restructure? Probably not."
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On the 2025 season, Walker is batting .214 and has only hit three home runs in 58 games.
He's a long way removed from his promising rookie season in 2023, when he batted .276 with 16 homers.
Last year was just a .201 average with limited pop, and it has been more of the same this season.
Walker was a first-round pick in 2020, and he's still just 23 years old.
The 6-foot-6 slugger hasn't even reached arbitration yet, so the Cardinals still have at least a few years left with him.
Maybe Walker is in need of a fresh start, but it also doesn't behoove St. Louis to rush on dealing away the former top prospect. The Cardinals might as well let Walker play out the rest of the season and try to solve some of his problems at the plate. And if he can't do that, maybe a move gets made in the offseason.
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