Cardinals’ collapse against Cubs could drastically alter trade plans

Overreacting to a bad loss is common, but the St Louis Cardinals blowing a 6-1 lead against the Chicago Cubs could drastically change trade plans.

You should never overreact to a bad loss, especially during a 162-game baseball season. Tough losses happen. But the St. Louis Cardinals’ defeat against the Chicago Cubs, where they entered the ninth inning with a 6-1 lead, only for All-Star closer Alex Reyes to blow the lead, will go down as their toughest loss in what has been a disappointing season.

Quite frankly, it will be hard not to overreact to such a defeat.

It was BAD. Luis Garcia allowed three runs while failing to record an out. Reyes entered to clean up the mess Garcia created, but he did not have his usual command. He allowed three runs while recording only one out, only for Giovanny Gallegos to replace him and complete an inning that might have drastically changed the Cardinals’ season.

It’s up to the Cardinals to not let this loss snowball and create a bigger mess. The good news, however, is they have good veteran leaders in Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright and Nolan Arenado, among others, who should be able to prevent that. But with less than 10 days to go until the trade deadline, losing what was a very winnable game could impact their trade plans.

The Cardinals are positioned to be slight buyers at the deadline, with the most glaring need being rotation help. But the rest of the series against the Cubs is increasingly important and becomes must-win games for the front office to feel comfortable buying in any fashion, whether it’s large upgrades or incremental additions.

The odds have long been in favor of it being incremental upgrades, with mid-to-bottom of the rotation type additions being the most likely. But on Wednesday, after the Cardinals’ worst loss of the season, those plans may be close to finalized. It’s up to them in the next couple games to change the front offices mind.