The St. Louis Cardinals and Colorado Rockies Trade That Almost Was

It was one of the most talked about trades during the offseason. The St. Louis Cardinals needed a shortstop and Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, when healthy, is an MVP-caliber infielder.
Feb 26, 2014; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (2) poses during photo day at Salt River Fields. Image Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
Fans talked about the Cardinals trying to trade for Tulo but nobody knew exactly if the Cardinals would make an offer and, if so, who would the team be willing to give up.

Because of his health, many fans were not too fond of taking on Tulo’s contract as he was owed $134 million during the next seven seasons–including a $4 million buyout for the 2021 club option. Given how many other players that the team had already locked up long-term, it would have been a risk. A risk that some, it seems, did want to take. One of which turned out to be Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak.

We now know who the Cardinals offered, much thanks to FOXSports.com senior baseball writer and MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal.

"The Cardinals offered right-hander Shelby Miller, first baseman Matt Adams and shortstop Pete Kozma for Tulowitzki before signing free-agent shortstop Jhonny Peralta last offseason, according to a source."

The consensus during the early part of November was that Matt Adams would be involved in any kind of deal for a shortstop. The left-handed first baseman fit the needs for the Rockies, who saw longtime first baseman Todd Helton retire at the end of the year.

We’ll never know what could have been.