St. Louis Cardinals: Looking back at our 2021 bold predictions

Paul DeJong will win the Silver Slugger

It’s been a tough season for Paul DeJong. He’s posting career lows in games played, batting average and slugging percentage. He’s right at his season high for strikeouts, too. And with Fernando Tatis Jr., Brandon Crawford and Jazz Chisholm having standout years at short, the competition for a Silver Slugger is mighty tough.

When healthy, Edmundo Sosa has captured the starting spot with his infectious energy. He’s found ways to contribute in all aspects of the game almost every night that he is in the lineup. And as Sosa has been a sparkplug, DeJong has looked frustrated.

The Cardinals need a confident Paul DeJong to complete their team. Even off the bench, he can provide some power and is a calm, veteran presence that deserves to be well-respected. We will see this offseason how DeJong fits into the Cardinal’s future, but for now, all we can do is root for the former all-star to turn things around.

Cardinals and Cubs make a surprise trade

The Cubs were sellers at the deadline, and the Cardinals did make some surprising trades. However, they did not deal together. The last time the two rivals made a trade? 2007, when the Cardinals sent the Cubs John Nelson.

It’s been almost thirty years since a major-league deal was made. Todd Zeile was dealt to the Cubs in June 1996. Before that, it was the Bruce Sutter deal in 1980.

The most famous deal, of course, was the Lou Brock trade in 1964. It’s understandable why Chicago is hesitant to deal with the Cardinals

The reason this prediction wasn’t a complete miss is because the Cardinals traded for Jon Lester. This is a man who bought the entire city of Chicago a beer as a going away present. While he may not have come directly from Chicago, Jon Lester was definitely a Cub before he arrived in St. Louis

Prediction Scores: 1 out of 17 wins in a row