Cardinals are waving the white flag, and Dustin May is exhibit A

The Cardinals spent most of the season pretending they might hang around the playoff picture. That charade is over. MLB Trade Rumors dropped the news that St. Louis is actively shopping Dustin May, and if you've been paying attention to how this team's July has gone, it's not exactly a shock.

MLB Trade Rumors

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Cardinals Reportedly Shopping Dustin May t.co/cWlvNAxget

May was always the most obvious chip in this scenario. He signed a one-year deal over the winter worth $12MM in salary plus a $500K buyout on a mutual option, and the plan from day one was pretty transparent: bring in a talented arm coming off Tommy John rehab, let him log innings, then flip him at the deadline for prospects. That's exactly the spot St. Louis finds itself in now.

The stuff has been legit when it's working. May was sitting on a 3.75 ERA and a strikeout rate near 23% through mid-June, the kind of form that makes contenders call. But things have gone sideways since — he's allowed 19 earned runs over his last 22.1 innings, and his ERA has climbed to 4.59. The silver lining for any buyer is his FIP still sits at a much friendlier 3.16, suggesting some of that recent damage is more bad luck than a broken pitcher.

None of that changes the calculus in St. Louis. The Cardinals hovered around.500 for a while but a brutal 9-16 stretch in July buried them at 53-54, and that record made the front office's decision easy. There's no reason to keep an impending free agent on an expiring deal when the standings say sell. Beat reporters have already pegged May as the type of player who could be gone before the deadline hits, and Ryne Stanek's name has been floated right alongside his as St. Louis looks to restock the farm system.

For contenders, May represents exactly the kind of rental arm that can swing a race — a former top prospect with real swing-and-miss stuff who doesn't require a multi-year commitment. The recent rough patch might actually help suitors get a discount before his trade value resets. Watch for teams needing rotation depth to circle back hard in the next few days, because if the reports are right, the Cardinals aren't waiting around.