Cardinals in danger of giving John Mozeliak an excuse for quiet trade deadline

At the MLB All-Star Break, the St. Louis Cardinals were deemed definitive buyers, with president of baseball operations John Mozeliak determining the squad needed some starting pitching help, as well as an outfielder, bare minimum. Mozeliak has since changed his tune to finding 'small wins' rather than taking a big swing to get St. Louis over the hump.

While a mid-tier starting pitcher and fourth outfielder could, conceivably, help the Cardinals reach the playoffs, that should not be their ultimate goal. Sustained growth is what St. Louis ought to be aiming for, thus allowing young players like Jordan Walker, Masyn Winn, Tink Hence and more to thrive in a winning environment. Instead, Mozeliak and the Cards seem fine making the postseason and losing in the Wild Card round.

Perhaps even worse is the way the Cardinals are currently playing. Following a series loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park -- a team competing with St. Louis for that third and final Wild Card spot -- the Cardinals have been defeated in their first two contests against the Washington Nationals. That's four losses in five games, and a team heading in the wrong direction as its front office chooses whether to buy, sell or both.

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John Mozeliak has an excuse for a quiet Cardinals trade deadline

Earlier this week, Mozeliak essentially admitted to reporters that the Cardinals would've been aggressive buyers in 2024, but rather look to improve around the margins.

“Our focus is pretty narrow at this point,” Mozeliak said. “We’re going to continue to try to work towards that. In terms of how our club is playing right now, we feel pretty good about where our team is, and I don’t want to use six days to make a judgment on what we feel in the last two months that we’ve been able to accomplish. There’s a lot of optimism right now in our clubhouse. What we’re trying to do is find ways to get better.”

The optimism is warranted, especially with an influx of young talent on the horizon (and in some cases arrived already). Ideally, Mozeliak will carry that same energy into Tuesday's deadline rather than letting a recent poor stretch define their season.