A week and change after the trade deadline, the Cardinals’ approach looks even smarter than it did in the moment.
St. Louis entered the season knowing it was not built to chase a title right away after moving multiple star players in the offseason.
The plan was clear: lean into the rebuild and keep developing young talent throughout the organization. Even so, the way this year has unfolded has gone better than almost anyone could have expected, with players like Jordan Walker and JJ Wetherholt making huge strides.
That kind of progress could have tempted the Cardinals to push harder at the deadline. Instead, they stayed disciplined.
For most of the season, St. Louis hung around the playoff picture, but it still operated with one eye on the future.
The result was a deadline that added to the farm system while also addressing a current need.
The Cardinals shipped out Dustin May, JoJo Romero and Lars Nootbaar in a run of moves that strengthened the organization’s prospect depth. At the same time, they brought in veteran reliever Caleb Ferguson to help shore up the bullpen.
That mix of buying and selling is what made St. Louis one of the few teams that managed to “thread the needle” at the deadline. The Cardinals stayed relevant for this season without abandoning the bigger picture.
“The clubs who committed to selling did quite well for themselves,” an NL executive said, per MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. “A few of those clubs did so without completely taking themselves out of postseason contention.”
That description fits the Cardinals neatly. They are still within five games of a playoff spot with a little over 40 games left, so the season is far from over. But the deadline moves also left them better positioned for what comes next.
“In between clubs like Miami, Washington and St. Louis that are perhaps ahead of schedule on their rebuild did a combination of buying and selling to patch holes and overall improve weak spots,” an NL executive said, per Feinsand. “But they still moved players like Luis García Jr., Lars Nootbaar and Liam Hicks at potentially peak value.”
For president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, the deadline was a strong first test in St. Louis.
The Cardinals added a useful arm, picked up promising talent and kept their long-term direction intact. With a deep group of young players still coming through the system, they look set up to keep moving forward.
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