Did the St. Louis Cardinals make a mistake with Alex Reyes?

Did the Cardinals make a mistake in letting former top pitching prospect Alex Reyes move on to the Dodgers? 

Reyes was once the top pitching prospect in the Cardinals organization.

After years of struggle with the health of his arm, Reyes’ 2021 season in which he found tremendous success as the team’s closer, only to struggle after his All-Star appearance and shut down for shoulder issues.

During the NL Wild Card game in which the Cardinals played the Dodgers, Reyes was put in the game as it was tied going into the tenth inning. Reyes gave up the game winning, walk-off home run to Chris Taylor.

That off season, Reyes was shut down in order to heal his ailing shoulder. Surgery was performed on his torn labrum. He will still require rehabilitation going into the 2023 season.

The Cardinals subsequently non-tendered Reyes for 2023 making him a free agent. The Dodgers however decided to take a gamble in signing him to a one-year $1.1 million contract.

According to Fansided’s Kevin Henry,  the Dodgers are now rolling the dice on Reyes regaining his form once he is healthy, potentially adding another option for Los Angeles in the back end on a low-risk, high-reward move.

Should the Cardinals have taken a gamble to retain Reyes?

While the anticipation of what could have been with Reyes was high, it seems like the Cardinals did what was best for him and the team in allowing him to move on.

The Cardinals have a number of pitching prospects they hope to bring up in the coming years including Gordon Graceffo and Mike McGreevy. These are young prospects with loads of potential and none of the known injury risk and frustration the team has had with Reyes.

It’s disappointing to see Reyes leave the Cardinals organization after such high expectations. He’s had so much trouble with his arm it could be a nice change of pace for him to have a change in organizations to the Dodgers.

The Dodgers are making a low-cost bet that Reyes heals from this long term issue with his arm and they have another arm down the stretch of the summer. The Cardinals have seen enough to know it’s time to move on for them with many prospects waiting in the wings. The Cardinals have done the right thing in moving on from Reyes. Hopefully a change of scenery will help Reyes in the long run.