The St. Louis Cardinals Should Become Massive Sellers As We Near The Trade Deadline

Bill Greenblatt. Shutterstock Images.

Yesterday was the lowest point for the St. Louis Cardinals in many years. The Cards were beating the Giants 5-3 in the ninth inning with two outs…until Mike Yastrzemski hit a game tying home run off of Giovanny Gallegos to tie it up. In the 10th, the atrocious Steven Matz (more on him later) gave up three runs and that was that. The Cardinals now sit at 27-42 which puts them on pace to lose 99 games this season. 

The Cardinals are one of the most successful franchises in all of sports. The last time they had a losing season? 2007. The last time they lost 90 games? 1990. The last time they lost 100 games? 1908!

I think they should swallow their pride and sell off a bunch of pieces between now and the trade deadline. Some players are more obvious to move than others but they are in a position over the next 45 days to really help themselves for many years. Because of the increased wild card spots as well as an unusual amount of parity in the National League, there are so many more buyers than sellers. 

Bill Greenblatt. Shutterstock Images.

Starting pitchers Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty are both free agents at the end of the year. These are the most obvious guys to move especially considering the Orioles, Dodgers, Yankees and Diamondbacks all could use pitching reinforcements. Is someone desperate enough to take Matz off your hands? Since joining the Cards he's 5-10 with a 5.38 ERA and has been demoted to the bullpen. He's owed $12.5 million next year and the year after. That could free up some space in the offseason.

You could get a shit ton of prospects (and maybe even some major league ready guys) for last year's MVP Paul Goldschmidt. He's 35 years old and only signed through next year. Imagine a reunion with the Diamondbacks? He'd help the Rangers a lot. Fringe playoff teams like the Mariners and Mets could use him too. There's certainly a market for him.

Bill Greenblatt. Shutterstock Images.

They should hold onto Nolan Arenado unless they get a Herschel Walker type offer that they can't walk away from. He signed for four more years and the Cardinals aren't that far away. The NL Central is a joke and if they can reload in the off-season, I know they can be competitive again very soon. I would be shocked if Oli Marmol is managing this team next year. They mere prospect of him in uniform next year should send Cardinal fans into a Hulk-esque rage.

I don't know what you can do with Willson Contreras but there is no way he can be this bad next year. Let Matthew Liberatore keep making starts for the rest of the season and see if he can be a decent starter for 2024. I am guessing some fans are holding out hope that they can still win the weak Central but even if they can leapfrog those other four teams ahead of them, they would get annihilated in the playoffs. This is a real chance to rebuild this team and build another NL Central juggernaut for the next decade.