Grading every team’s World Series chances after the trade deadline
By Brad Weiss
St. Louis Cardinals
It has been a pretty sad season for the St. Louis Cardinals, who do not look like they will be able to catch both the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central. However, they are still playing better than .500 baseball, and in the National League, that means they are very much alive in the Wild Card race.
When I say sad, it is meant to be for their former manager, Mike Matheny, who was fired by the team during the middle of July. Matheny was the manager of the team for nearly seven seasons, but it was clear that his run as the man in charge needed to come to an end this season.
During the trade deadline, the Cardinals were a team that really had no big moves to speak of. The only player of note that was moved by the team was Tommy Pham, who the team shipped to the Tampa Bay Rays to make move for some of the solid young outfield prospects in the Cardinals system.
Matt Carpenter has gotten hot for the team as of late, blasting home runs at an incredible clip. In addition, big addition from the offseason Marcel Ozuna is starting to make his presence felt in this lineup, and they do still have the best catcher in baseball in Yaider Molina. This lineup is solid, but they need to get the pitching down the stretch.
Playing for the Wild Card is not a bad thing this late in the season, and to do so after seeing your manager fired is quite an accomplishment. This team will likely not be a World Series contender, but they are going to give teams fits the rest of the way.