Even after trading their closer, Ryan Helsley, as well as Steven Matz and Phil Maton, the Cardinals are still within striking distance in the NL Wild Card race. They get the Rockies to begin the week before a series against the scuffling Yankees, so there’s opportunity this week.

Not bad! Unless, of course, your team is hopelessly out of contention and you harbor dreams of your team’s owner spending this coming winter. In that case, you are probably wondering about the pending class of free agents.

The line between contenders and non-contenders becomes clearer after the annual trade deadline, but there are inevitably still a handful of teams that will reside on the fringe of contention heading into September.