The St. Louis Cardinals trade deadline was anything but quiet, but it will be remembered for the deals they couldn't make on account of their own players. John Mozeliak was able to trade away the likes of Ryan Helsley and Phil Maton for prospects, something Chaim Bloom will surely be appreciative of, but it could've been even more fruitful in that department. In fact, Mozeliak has no one to blame but himself for failing to deal the likes of Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras.
A nugget from Bob Nightengale's column on Sunday provided even more insight on the Cards' deadline strategy, which included trading just about any aging asset they could. Even if St. Louis assumed they couldn't deal some of those players thanks to no-trade clauses, it didn't hurt to ask.
"The Cardinals would have loved to move starters Sonny Gray and Miles Mikolas, and first baseman Willson Contreras, too, but all three told the Cardinals they would not waive their no-trade clauses," Nightengale wrote.
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Willson Contreras could've landed the Cardinals a decent haul
It was widely-reported St. Louis wanted to trade Mikolas, but he made it clear in the days leading up to the deadline he didn't want to go anywhere. The same can be said of Gray, who still has plenty of time left on his deal and enjoys playing closer to home. Contreras, however, is a bit of a surprise. Given the lack of impact sluggers on the open market, he could've brought back a haul in return.
Contreras is a three-time All-Star, a World Series champion and has a .789 OPS on the season. The Cardinals have moved him to first base, but he can play catcher – though his defense has declined at that position, which led to the move to first.
Why couldn't the Cardinals trade away their veteran talent?
Despite Mozeliak's failure to trade Contreras, Gray, Mikolas and Nolan Arenado, Nightengale declared his final deadline a victory. "Mozeliak, president of baseball operations for the St. Louis Cardinals, made one last trade with 68 seconds to spare in his final trade deadline with the Cardinals, sending reliever Phil Maton to the Texas Rangers for two minor league pitchers," Nightengale added.
We wouldn't quite go that far. Remember, Mozeliak is the reason many of these players have no-trade clauses in their contracts to begin with, sans Arenado. Mozeliak has tried to trade Arenado several time over, with the star third baseman turning down deals to the Astros and Angels, per reports. Mozeliak was unable to sell those destinations to him, or convince the Cardinals other stars that they'd be better off contending elsewhere despite St. Louis' obvious mindset to subtract from their major-league roster this season and in the years to come in favor of young talent.
Mozeliak did not win his final deadline, and final few years in St. Louis will ultimately go down as a failure to make the most of his resources. That includes Contreras, who he signed to a five-year, $87.5 million contract in the winter of 2023.