St. Louis Cardinals: The quietest of trade deadlines

A day that was supposed to give St. Louis Cardinals fans some clarity seems to have done the exact opposite.

The Trade Deadline has come and passed and the St. Louis Cardinals have failed to make a move.

In a season that has been riddled with disappointment, the trade deadline was expected to be a defining moment for this team. By July 31^st fans were expecting to know if this team was going to buy or sell; even a little bit of both was an option. Unfortunately for Cardinal fans, nothing happened and things are murkier than they were before the deadline approached.

The trade deadline was slow moving with a handful of trades before two o’clock, but once the clock hit two, deals were getting done. None of those deals, however, included the St. Louis Cardinals.

For a team so poorly constructed and facing a log jam at multiple positions, a trade or two made too much sense. For a team with so many questions, today was meant to provide a few answers, but fans will leave today with the same questions they had the day before (maybe more).

No one knows the efforts that John Mozeliak and Mike Girsch went to today to potentially make a move for this team. The price may have been too high to acquire someone, the return may have been too little to sell a piece, but no moves at all seems like a slap in the face to the fans of this team.

After being put through such poor baseball the last two seasons, to leave this team squandering in the middle is unacceptable.

There were two very obvious places this team could have tried to fix today: the dumpster fire of a bullpen and the logjam of outfielders. Neither of these issues were addressed. This team will go forward the same way we have seen all season. For those excited about Harrison Bader and Magneuris Sierra, hold off. Without moving any outfielders, those two do not have a role on this team when everyone is healthy.

As for the bullpen, this no-move is unacceptable. With how many potential pieces were on the market, for there to not be a single move shows fans that the front office is fine with the product we have seen thus far. The front office did not find a single move to improve he team that is under .500 and has been for months.

More from St Louis Cardinals News

• Cardinals: Here is Willson Contreras’ first message for St. Louis fans
• How do the St. Louis Cardinals stack up with Willson Contreras?
• Cardinals: The insane asking price the Athletics had for Sean Murphy
• St. Louis Cardinals: Ask me anything with Josh Jacobs – 12/8
• The St. Louis Cardinals sign catcher Willson Contreras

The team also didn’t try to take advantage of the recent success by Trevor Rosenthal. Relievers who throw more strikeouts than innings are always in demand, but the team held on to Rosenthal, while other relievers brought in multiple prospects to struggling teams. If this team was going to sell at all, Rosenthal made way too much sense to not move him.

Moving on to Lance Lynn, a man who had raised his value as high as he possible could over the last month. Possibly the most consistent pitcher on the market and a free agent at the end of the year, it made too much sense to not move him. The Cardinals will now get nothing for him in the off-season unless they decide to extend a qualifying offer to him.

Were the phones quiet? That seems unlikely.

Was the asking price too high? That is absolutely possible.

What we do know is, a man who doesn’t appear to be in the future plans for this team may walk at the end of the year and the Cardinals may get nothing out of it.

Today, the front office essentially told the fans of the St. Louis Cardinals that they are fine with mediocrity. There were no moves to improve, not as buyers or as sellers. This team stood pat.

Next: Don't miss our podcasts!

An under .500 record and a roster with more log jams than trying to drive in St. Louis during rush hour, this team stood pat. Unacceptable is the word that comes to mind, but it just doesn’t seem strong enough. No matter how it gets spun, the front office let the fans down today, end of story.