The St. Louis Cardinals trade deadline plans aren't shrouded in mystery. The Cardinals should sell, and not just because they are quickly falling out of the NL Central and NL Wild Card races. St. Louis should sell because they don't have much of a direction. John Mozeliak and the Cards front office has put off a rebuild for far too long. They're lucky enough to have some young stars to build around. With Chaim Bloom taking over, the Cardinals are understandably trying to get younger, while shedding veteran talent.
That means the likes of Miles Mikolas, Ryan Helsley and Nolan Arenado could all join new teams within the next week. Heck, the Cardinals could go a step further if they want to fully commit to a retool. One way or another, it's coming. Bloom will make sure of that.
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Cardinals rumors: John Mozeliak will not go out with a bang
As ESPN's Jeff Passan noted in his recent trade deadline column, it is unlikely the Cardinals make waves this year beyond their expiring assets. By having Mozeliak essentially hand the reigns over to Bloom, St. Louis has put the front office in an impossible spot. Mozeliak doesn't want to hurt Bloom's chances before taking over, the Bloom doesn't want to ruin Mozeliak's legacy. It's a lose-lose.
"Were this not John Mozeliak's swan song as president of baseball operations, perhaps he would be open to sending out one of the Cardinals' young position players, but with Chaim Bloom set to take over after the season, that's likelier to be the sort of thing on his to-do list," Passan wrote. "The Cardinals, as constituted, are a perfectly OK team. They just lack the arms to be good enough in an NL loaded with playoff-caliber teams, and despite a record over .500, they're in acquisition mode for the future, not the present."
Mozeliak has taken huge deadline swings in the past, and it has come back to haunt the team. He will not get that opportunity next Thursday.
Cardinals rumors: What the heck happened with Erick Fedde?
As Josh Jacobs of Redbird Rants said in his scathing column after the Cards finally designated Erick Fedde for assignment, this was a long time coming. If anything, not trading Fedde while they had the chance is just another indictment of Mozeliak's tenure with St. Louis, especially near the end. Mozeliak has consistently been late to the trigger, and doesn't admit his mistakes in a timely manner.
"Fedde should have been traded in the offseason, but the Cardinals decided to hold onto him. He then should have been traded during spring training when Michael McGreevy, Matthew Liberatore, and Steven Matz all emerged as starting pitching options for the club. John Mozeliak refused to do so. The club then should have moved him during the early months of the summer when his production was far better than what the underlying numbers told us, but again, they held onto Fedde," Jacobs wrote.
Cardinals fans and even their own manager grew frustrated with Fedde towards the end of his tenure, but it wasn't just the pitcher's fault he was struggling. Mozeliak had every opportunity to part with Fedde, and failed to do so, creating a toxix clubhouse environment in the process.
Cardinals rumors: A Nolan Arenado trade may be impossible
As Passan said in his column, suitors aren't exactly lining up for Nolan Arenado. The double-digit gold glove winner remains one of the best defensive players at his position in the major leagues. At the plate, though, he has taken a major step back. Arenado is not the hitter he once was and as a result few teams want to take on the remainder of his salary. It doesn't help matters for Mozeliak and Co. that Arenado has a no-trade clause, and hasn't been willing to waive it for most teams.
There is an expectation that Arenado will be more open to a trade by the deadline, especially if the Cardinals are heading towards a rebuild. He has already turned down trades to the Astros and Angels, per reports. If St. Louis is willing to take most of the financial hit and keep Arenado in the loop, there's little reason he should be on the roster come August.