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If they choose to add, the front office expects to have the OK to spend.

“It depends on what we look like,” president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said Friday at Wrigley Field as the Cardinals opened a pivotal series. “Revenue is part of it. We knew this year would be a little bit of a challenge. Nothing has changed in that regard. I do think ownership, if they saw we were in a spot and it made sense to do something, I think they’d support it.”

Mozeliak said he has not been told to trim payroll — which was an offseason goal the Cardinals did immediately and then attempted to do later with unsuccessful trade talks. The Cardinals knew their revenue from their broadcast deal would be reduced by around 23% in 2025, and they braced themselves for a fall in ticket sales too. The Cardinals’ annual run in the top three for average attendance is over as they’ve slipped to 14th this season, behind Arizona.

Ticket sales have flowed with the performance of the team and ebbed due to some of the weather. Asked if that uncertainty would limit his options at the trade deadline, Mozeliak said he has not taken a “deep dive” into that conversation yet, but he believed ownership would back investing in a contending team.

The Cardinals will take the new few weeks to determine if they are.

“I do feel like when you look at where we are that week leading up, the 72 hours leading up to the trade deadline, that may effect how we make our decisions,” Mozeliak said. “Ultimately, I feel like if we just use today as a point in time, we have been able to create a lot of opportunity for the guys we wanted to see play. And then we’ve also had some consistent starting pitching. We’ve had a lot of churn in the bullpen. It’s been consistent and effective.”

The depth the Cardinals believe they’ve developed may shape the trade deadline if they try to balance helping the current team and navigating a “transition” year.

Two starters, Miles Mikolas and Erick Fedde, will be free agents at season’s end, and three contributing relievers will be as well — closer Ryan Helsley, lefty Steven Matz, and setup man Phil Maton. All three relievers are certain to receive attention from other teams, and Matz will be appealing to several contenders. The Cardinals believe that rookie Michael McGreevy is ready for a spot in the big-league rotation, and they could be moved to trade a pitcher who would clear an opening for McGreevy in the final two months of the regular season.

They could take that two-track approach and attempt to open a spot in the bullpen or rotation while also acquiring some return for a pending free agent.

Sitting in the visitors’ dugout at Wrigley Field, Mozeliak noted how the trade deadline is “usually all about you’ve got to find more pitching, you’ve got to find more pitching.”

The Cardinals have some pitching they could move before it just leaves.

He was asked by the Post-Dispatch how he would weigh the prospects for the future he could get for a pitcher vs. what the pitcher means to this year’s team contending now. Did he owe it to the future to acquire talent or to the present to maintain it?

“Is there something the franchise can benefit from, and should we do something?” Mozeliak said. “It’s also, do we feel comfortable with the depth we have to allow us to still be competitive at the big-league level. Those are the variables on how we think through that.”

Most teams are still gathering intel and plotting their trade deadline approach. The MLB draft has the focus of front offices as it nears on July 13-14. Mozeliak expects the market to reach “more of a fever pitch” after that. The additional wild-card berth into the playoffs means more teams can see a postseason possibility, and that can lead to more teams trying to dabble as a buyer and take advantage as a seller at the deadline. Mozeliak said last year’s move that sent Tommy Edman to LA and brought Fedde to ӣ����Ƶ in a three-team deal would qualify as a now-and-later move.

He will take the time the schedule allows to decide which way this year’s will bend, and if deals dip into what the team could look like in the future Mozeliak said incoming president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom will be involved as part of the deadline “collaboration.”

“It’s bad to approach the next 30 days speaking in absolutes,” Mozeliak said. “Trying to understand what someone may want to give you for something is probably worth hearing or at least listening. You can always say no. The mindset of us going in is to remain open-minded. I hope we have really hard decisions to make come July 31 because that means we’re playing well.”

Herrera, Walker rehab updates

The Cardinals do not expect designated hitter/catcher Ivan Herrera to return from his hamstring injury before the All-Star break. Herrera has intensified his running and increased his baseball activities back at Busch Stadium during the Cardinals’ road trip, and the club’s current goal for him is to start a rehab assignment within the next week to 10 days, Mozeliak said.

Herrera has a slight tear of his hamstring muscle, and it is the second injury he’s had this season to his left leg. That gives the Cardinals pause about pushing his return.

The club also intends to allow Jordan Walker to remain on his rehab assignment as he recovers from an appendicitis and looks to regain his game-speed timing at the plate. Walker missed most of June due to a wrist injury and then the appendicitis concern that put him in the hospital overnight. The Cardinals sent Walker to spend this weekend with Class AA Springfield because specific staff there can help with a swing adjustment he’s making

Mozeliak said he hopes Walker will return within two weeks.