Cardinals can add another awful trade to their history after 2024 start

John Mozeliak has made some good trades for the St. Louis Cardinals in recent memory, mainly the deals that netted the Cardinals Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, but the bad deals are what sticks out to fans of the Redbirds.

The Cardinals traded both Sandy Alcantara and Zac Gallen in the same deal to the Miami Marlins for Marcell Ozuna. While Ozuna was productive, he's had better years both before he became a Cardinal and after. Meanwhile, both Gallen and Alcantara are among the best pitchers in the National League.

They traded Randy Arozarena in a deal that landed them Matthew Liberatore. Arozarena is an All-Star and one of the best postseason performers ever while Liberatore has a career 5.17 ERA. They traded Adolis Garcia to the Rangers for cash considerations. Garcia is a two-time All-Star and was a postseason hero for the World Series-winning Texas Rangers last season.

These three trades are some of the worst in recent history, and there's another one that we might soon have to add to the list.

Tyler O'Neill trade is quickly becoming a nightmare for the Cardinals

The Cardinals had too many outfielders heading into this offseason. That, and his feud with Oli Marmol, led the Cardinals to trade Tyler O'Neill to the Boston Red Sox. In return, the Cardinals got Nick Robertson and Victor Santos. Robertson has five appearances for the Cardinals this season and Santos is not one of their top 30 prospects according to MLB Pipeline.

The Cardinals didn't get much while O'Neill has broken out in Boston. The 28-year-old is slashing .279/.385/.596 with nine home runs and 13 RBI in 29 games played this season. O'Neill's nine home runs have him just three shy of the MLB lead.

To make matters worse, O'Neill's nine home runs are the exact amount that St. Louis' Opening Day No. 2, 3, and 4 hitters have all season. These aren't just ordinary players, they were all seen as stars entering this season. It's been a disaster.

The trio of Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Gorman, and Nolan Arenado combined to hit 78 home runs last season, and that was with Goldschmidt and Arenado having what many classified as down seasons. Now, they've combined to hit the exact same amount as O'Neill has himself this season. The sample size is still rather small, but we're roughly six weeks into the season. The lack of production from the Cardinals' stars is truly appalling.

It's hard to get on Mozeliak too much for trading O'Neill because he couldn't have predicted the glut of outfield injuries and offensive struggles that the Cardinals have dealt with, but O'Neill's breakout the second he gets out of St. Louis certainly looks bad.

The Cardinals have several other issues, including the play of Goldschmidt, Arenado, and Gorman, but having this version of O'Neill would've helped a ton considering they're 15-23 entering play on Saturday with one of the worst offenses in the league.