All the wrong moves: What Cardinals rotation could have looked like if front office didn’t blow it

1. Sandy Alcantara

Alcantara may have a 1-5 record to start his 2023 season for the Marlins, but the fact he won the 2022 Cy Young Award will forever irk Cardinals’ fans.

Alcantara was another piece in the Cardinals’ trade with the Marlins to acquire Marcell Ozuna. At the time, the Cardinals desperately needed a power-hitting outfielder. The Cardinals went in hot pursuit to acquire Ozuna. He had some excellent moments with the Cardinals, but fans still recall the moment he climbed the left field wall to nab a hit that landed just in front of his climb. That’s all Cardinals fans seem to remember when bringing up Alcantara and the Cy Young win.

In 2022, the Cardinals desperately needed pitching due to inconsistency with the rotation and bullpen. Having a pitcher put up Cy Young numbers would have helped down their stretch run when they collapsed toward the end of the season and ultimately in the NL Wild Card series.

He pitched 228.2 innings in 2022, accumulating a record of 14-9 with the Marlins. It’s easy to what-if those numbers into how they could have translated to him playing for the Cardinals. But, in 2017, he pitched in eight games for the Cardinals, finishing three games. He gave up nine hits, six walks, and four earned runs, including two home runs. He did have ten strikeouts and similarly struggled in his time with the Marlins before the 2022 season.

Alcantara’s results in 2022 do make you wonder if the Cardinals were not using him properly and gave up on him too soon. It’s easy to second-guess that decision now. But, even if it were a one-time occurrence, the Cardinals having a pitcher throwing Cy Young Award-winning caliber stuff would have been great in 2022 or any season.

Mozeliak will forever struggle to shake off the results of the trade for Marcell Ozuna, and after Alcantara’s Cy Young Award-winning season, it’s understandable.