3 St. Louis Cardinals failing young stars they should have traded away
By Mark Powell
Sitting last in the National League Central, the 10-20 St. Louis Cardinals need to make some radical changes.
The Cardinals should take a page out of the Chicago White Sox book. The White Sox, essentially off to as poor of a start as said Cards, made 11 roster moves on Tuesday to shake up a group that had grown stale.
Instead, the front office preaches patience, something St. Louis baseball fans have grown all too familiar with. The Cardinals have had plenty of opportunities to improve the past few seasons. Moves to acquire Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado were incredible steps towards a winning core, but it’s simply not enough.
St. Louis, as currently constructed, cannot win the World Series. There are too many holes, namely on the pitching staff. It’s a shame they didn’t make a trade this offseason or last — at least not a major one in the form of an Arenado or Goldschmidt acquisition — to address that need.
But make no mistake — they could have.
Cardinals should have traded Jordan Hicks
Jordan Hicks is back to looking like his old self again, which is a damn good sign should St. Louis turn things around this season. But it’s tough not to look back and think of what could have been. In 2018 and 2019, Hicks was one of the best young, controllable arms in all of baseball. He was under contract for quite some time, and off-limits from a trade perspective.
Looking back, it’s tough not to consider that a loss from the Cards standpoint. As Redbird Rants points out, Hicks is in a contract year and will be on the trade block should St. Louis reach the trade deadline as a clear seller.
"“Hicks is a free agent after the season, so the Cardinals will likely be losing him anyways. His stuff plays though, and relievers, especially high-level ones, garner a lot of value on the open market as teams look to load up their bullpen with flamethrowers. Hick’s stuff will be too tantalizing to pass up for many teams, especially if he’s backing up his stuff with excellent performances.”"
If the Cardinals had dealt Hicks way back when, who knows the kind of talent they could have acquired?