Even a rare John Mozeliak win could be a loss for Cardinals down the line

The St. Louis Cardinals had an eventful offseason, signing three starting pitchers in free agency to improve what was one of the worst rotations in the league in 2023. All three of those signings have panned out well so far, as Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn, and Kyle Gibson have all exceeded expectations.

It was relatively quiet for much of the offseason on the trade front despite a plethora of rumors. Mozeliak shipped Tyler O'Neill off to Boston and that deal has looked like a disaster for the Cards so far as O'Neill has swung a hot bat.

A lesser-profile deal St. Louis made saw them land Andrew Kittredge from the Tampa Bay Rays. That deal has aged better for the Cardinals, but it could still be another bad deal down the line.

Andrew Kittredge trade could go from good to bad in a hurry for Cardinals

The Cardinals have gotten everything that they could've hoped for from Kittredge so far. He has a 1.20 ERA in 15 appearances, allowing just two earned runs in 15 innings of work. He has been an outstanding late-game arm for Oli Marmol to turn to alongside JoJo Romero setting up for Ryan Helsley. As good as he's been, what the Cardinals gave up to get him might be better.

Richie Palacios went the other way in the deal, and he's gotten off to a scorching start to his Rays career. Palacios is slashing .295/.421/.449 with three home runs and six RBI in 28 games thus far. He even leads the AL in OBP for hitters with at least 90 plate appearances.

It's easy to see why the Cardinals were willing to go through with this deal. Palacios wouldn't have had the chance to play much behind a crowded outfield had St. Louis' outfielders stayed healthy. Kittredge filled more of a need and to his credit, has been awesome. However, hindsight is 20/20. In hindsight, the deal doesn't look nearly as good.

The Cardinals have had all sorts of problems in the outfield as injuries and underperforming players have been issues, and Palacios would've been a great bat to have. That, and the fact that he doesn't even hit arbitration until after the 2026 campaign makes him a really difficult player to give up. Kittredge has been great in 2024, but this is his only year under contract. They gave up six years of a player who looks like a starting-caliber outfielder in exchange for one year of an older reliever.

The deal can be looked at as somewhat of a win-win for now, but with how good Palacios looks, there's a chance this will eventually become just the latest bad trade made by Mozeliak.