Grading the St. Louis Cardinals trade deadline moves

The ‘No” Trade Grade: Incomplete

While the Cardinals remained in the mix throughout the whole process, St. Louis ended up letting Washington know they would not meet their asking price for Juan Soto, eventually leading to a historic package from the Padres being dealt to Washington for Soto.

This trade will remain incomplete for awhile for many reasons. First, one can make a strong case for and against the Soto deal for St. Louis. The Cardinals had enough assets to beat the Padres trade offer, and still maintain a good, but maybe not great, farm system. Adding a generational bat to Goldschmidt and Arenado would have made the Cardinals the most feared lineup in baseball.

On the other hand, not trading for Soto and addressing the pitching needs still improved the club’s chances in 2022 while keeping an extremely bright future, and trade flexibility, for years to come. The club has an incredible mix of veteran stars, young MLB talent, and top prospects that could help St. Louis compete for the World Series for many years.

If and when more superstars hit the trade market, St. Louis is now clearly the best positioned team to make a move. So if Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, or any other stars end up being on the block, St. Louis could acquire them for less than what Soto required, and probably even get a bit of a bargain since no one could compete with their offers.

Currently, St. Louis probably loves their club’s future. But if Soto leads San Diego to a World Series, or even just proves to be a major upgrade while the Cardinals young core disappoints, all eyes would be on John Mozeliak for not pulling the trigger.