Fansided

MLB rumors: 3 biggest losers from the Juan Soto deal

By David Salituro

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - JULY 23: Right fielder Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals swings during the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on July 23, 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - JULY 23: Right fielder Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals swings during the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on July 23, 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images) /
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TORONTO, ON – JULY 26: Dylan Carlson #3 of the St. Louis Cardinals rounds the bases on his home run against the Toronto Blue Jays in the first inning during their MLB game at the Rogers Centre on July 26, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON – JULY 26: Dylan Carlson #3 of the St. Louis Cardinals rounds the bases on his home run against the Toronto Blue Jays in the first inning during their MLB game at the Rogers Centre on July 26, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images) /

St. Louis Cardinals

John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations for the St. Louis Cardinals, isn’t afraid to make the big deal. In the past four years, he’s traded for Paul Goldschmidt from the Diamondbacks and Nolan Arenado from the Rockies. Both of them sit at the top of the WAR leaderboard this season and are in contention for National League MVP.

Mozeliak had a chance to do it again this trade deadline as the Cardinals, 54-48 and three games behind in the NL Central, attempt to catch up to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cardinals were among the teams in the hunt for Soto right until the end. But, this time, they decided not to pull the trigger.

The Cardinals had the pieces necessary to have made a trade for Soto possible. They own five of the top-100 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline, including the powerful Jordan Walker and left-handed pitcher Matthew Liberatore. Their farm system is one of the deepest in the league, with the type of promising young talent the Nationals were looking for.

The holdup on any potential Cardinals-Nationals deal: outfielder Dylan Carlson. The Cardinals were hesitant to include Carlson in a package that also included their top prospects, according to Jon Morosi. And, suddenly, a potential franchise-altering deal for Soto fell apart.

Carlson, once a top-10 prospect in his own right, is two days older than Soto. He’s appeared in 267 games the last three seasons, hitting 27 home runs with a .253 average and .744 OPS. He’s hit six homers in 296 at-bats in 2022, his OPS 150 points lower than Soto’s. The Cardinals believe Carlson will develop into a star player soon.

But he’s certainly not Soto, and the Cardinals will have to live with Soto going to a team they may meet in a three-game Wild Card series in October.

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