With so few sellers and so many buyers, the Cardinals will have to pony up to win trades.

In the economy, supply and demand are the law of the land. As supply goes down, price goes up. As demand rises, so too do prices. When the supply is low but the demand is high, prices reach all-time heights.

That is indeed the case at this year’s Major League Baseball trade deadline. As of July 20th, the amount of true sellers can be counted on one hand. Teams such as the Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs, and Toronto Blue Jays are teetering between buying and selling. The Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Athletics, Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, and Miami Marlins are the only guaranteed sellers.

The third wild card spot has added some uncertainty to the trade deadline. The six division leaders will be guaranteed buyers, but that leaves 19 teams muddled in the middle of the pack. The St. Louis Cardinals are bunched within that group, though they have some more certainty in their postseason fortunes. These fringe competitors will be scrambling in the final week leading up to the deadline to gain some clarity on the outlook for their season.

With so many potential buyers and so few potential sellers, the cost of doing business will be astronomical. Trade deadline deals typically favor the sellers over the buyers, but that disequilibrium will be amplified this year. Teams who want high-level talent — or talent at all — via trade will overpay this year; that’s a guarantee.

The Kansas City Royals kicked off the reliever trade market a couple of weeks ago when they acquired Hunter Harvey from the Washington Nationals. The Royals had to give up their #4 overall prospect, albeit from one of the weakest farm systems, and the 39th pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. This is a steep price for a reliever with only 1.5 years of control.