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Now that we’ve gotten 11 days into July, we can credibly say we’re approaching the July 31 Major League Baseball trading deadline. That makes this a perfect time to put on the metaphorical bow tie and assume the responsibilities of Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak as he prepares to steer the franchise through the trade deadline for the final time.

The big chair remains his for a few more months. This season is still a Mozeliak production. The results will go on his career dossier.

That said, don’t turn this into a “legacy� conversation. That’s more fallacy than legacy. Mozeliak’s total tenure with the organization spans 30 years — one trade deadline isn’t forever altering anyone’s perception.

So there’s only one question that any baseball fan has for a front office at this time of year: buy or sell?

This will be thoroughly unsatisfactory to most Cardinals fans, but the Cardinals can’t fully be buyers or sellers.

Their players best suited for the trade market will also be the ones most likely to tank the club’s season if they depart for greener pastures.

At this point, with the playoffs still within reach, it’s too late for the Cardinals to change directions and make the rest of this season about 2026 and beyond.

Two caveats.

One: If you’re able to line up a trade that allows you to deal from an area of organizational strength (perhaps one of the catching prospects) and get major league-caliber starting pitching with years of control left remaining, do the deal.

Two: If you find someone willing to take Erick Fedde off your hands, agree and hang up the phone before they change their mind.

Realistically, any club scouring the Cardinals roster for pitchers capable of helping in a regular-season playoff push likely lands on two-time All-Star closer Ryan Helsley, veteran reliever Phil Maton and veteran left-handed starter-turned-reliever Steven Matz (all come with the added bonus of not carrying any long-term contractual commitment).

Theoretically, you could throw veteran starter Sonny Gray into that mix. He’d provide a shot in the arm to a rotation in need, but he’s also got another year remaining on his deal before the club option year in 2027. Oh yeah, and Gray doesn’t have to go anywhere because he’s got the right to veto any trade.

So why not pull the trigger and get the most you can for Helsley, Maton and Matz?

If you take Helsley, Maton and Matz out of the current bullpen, you might bolster the farm system, but this season effectively ends right then.

Entering Thursday, the Cardinals had gone 24-17 in games decided by two runs or fewer. They’d gone 40-1 in games when they’ve lead through seven innings.

And who have the Cardinals repeatedly leaned on to get them through tight games? You guessed it.

In late and close situations Helsley (17 appearances), Maton (14 appearances) and Matz (10 appearances) are three of the club’s five most-used pitchers along with left-hander JoJo Romero (17 appearances) and Kyle Leahy (16 appearances).

Maton, who boasts a strikeout rate of 11.65 per nine innings, entered the day tied for the sixth-most holds in the majors (18).

Of Matz’s 24 relief appearances, he pitched more than one inning in 17 of those outings. Matz has provided flexibility — pitching in high leverage and/or providing length — and often saved the Cardinals from having to use multiple relievers and hamstringing the bullpen for subsequent games.

Not only have Helsley, Maton and Matz been three of the most effective and valuable relievers, but their presence — along with Romero — has allowed the Cardinals to cycle through inexperienced and unproven relievers such as Riley O’Brien, Gordon Graceffo, Matt Svanson, Chris Roycroft, Roddery Munoz, Andre Granillo and Leahy in lower-leverage situations.

That’s setting aside any role a veteran like Maton might have as far as showing the newcomers the way.

“I knew we were getting a guy that knew how to get outs,� Marmol said. “I knew we were getting a guy that can lead well. He has done 10 times more than I expected when it comes to that clubhouse and the way he can talk to other pitchers and give them, in very simple ways, his thoughts on usage or how he prepares for opposition or how he looks at a lineup, how he looks at navigating tough at-bats, opposite handedness.

“He’s really good, and it’s awesome to have a player that’s calm enough and secure in who he is enough to see the rest of the game and not just worry about himself.�

Asking Romero, Leahy and the rest of the group to carry the burden without the safety net of Helsley, Maton and Matz means you’re treating the final two months of this season like the final two months of 2023.

You remember. The evaluation period. Giving opportunity. Seeing what they’ve got. Gathering important data points for future decisions.

And, of course, losing. ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ went 24-31 down the stretch in 2023.

If it were just an academic exercise or a computer program, then sure, you could simply write off the final couple of months of games this season as a necessary evil. In that case, it’d just be numbers. Math is math no matter what.

However, at some point in the real world, the Cardinals need to win. That is if they truly believe in fostering a winning culture, developing a winning team and not just running a major league skills camp.

If you think guys like Brendan Donovan, Masyn Winn, Alec Burleson, Ivan Herrera, Victor Scott, Matthew Liberatore, Andre Pallante and the rest of the core group have a chance to be part of winning teams, contending teams, then at some point they need to play meaningful games. You can’t keep kicking the can down the road.

If the focus at this deadline is solely on adding whatever you can to the organization, then it comes at the cost of wasting another year of the current core group’s time in the big leagues.