The St. Louis Cardinals had a tough night on Wednesday in what has been an otherwise fun and exciting season. The Cardinals dropped their second straight game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, 9-4, to drop to 42-36 on the season. St. Louis is seven games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the National League Central. Things are getting tighter in the National League Wild Card standings as well. The Cardinals no longer have the No. 1 National League Wild Card spot and now have the No. 2 spot instead. The Philadelphia Phillies have the No. 1 spot and are a game ahead of St. Louis. The Cardinals are tied with the Chicago Cubs for the No. 2 spot.There's little room for error for the Cardinals right now in a tight National League. It's going to be interesting to see how the club handles things between now and the Aug. 3 trade deadline. This is a club that has shown that it can win games, but there are a few big weaknesses right now as well. The bullpen needs some work and the Cardinals have a Matthew Liberatore problem on their hands. He is ice-cold right now and has a 5.56 ERA in 16 starts. That's not going to cut it.So, the Cardinals are going to have to decide whether they want to add pieces, stay the course and subtract, or stay put, which arguably would be the worst option. On Wednesday, Cardinals president of baseball operations, Chaim Bloom, and ownership spoke to the media and one thing that was clear is that St. Louis isn't looking for rentals, as transcribed by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. How Will St. Louis Handle The 2026 MLB Trade Deadline?Jul 27, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom talks with the media before a game against the Cleveland Guardians at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images"We have pretty ambitious goals, and we want to make sure that we have a good plan to get there and we don’t get distracted from the things that need to happen for us to reach those goals,” Bloom said, as transcribed by Goold. “Shortcuts aren’t going to get where you want to go."Ownership added the goal wouldn’t be to add a 'two-month hopeful.'"That's a bit of a view into the club's deadline plans, and rightfully so. The Cardinals aren't in a position to go out and trade for a rental. If the Cardinals are going to add any pieces, it should be someone who can help the team now, and has years of control left. The Cardinals need more pitching. The Cardinals could trade from their surplus of outfielders (like Lars Nootbaar) and try to bring an arm back to town, while opening space for Joshua Báez. Or, the Cardinals could trade from their surplus of catchers if they want to try to add a piece. But, again, Bloom made it clear that there won't be "shortcuts" used. We're not going to see the Cardinals trade a handful of prospects for a rental, like Tarik Skubal. It'll be a much more subdued deadline than that. Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow