5 best moves made by the late St. Louis Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty

When the news of Walt Jocketty's passing spread across the baseball world on Saturday, April 26th, fans, writers, and the general public mourned his passing. Stories were shared, memories were spoken, and emotions were poured out.

The long-time baseball executive was instrumental in the success of franchises like the Oakland Athletics, St. Louis Cardinals, and Cincinnati Reds. Jocketty was one of the best executives of his time, and his fingerprints were all over the three franchises he oversaw.

For the St. Louis Cardinals, few other executives can claim to have been as instrumental for the Cardinals as he was.

Jocketty was a master at making trades and acquiring team-altering players. Few other general managers were as successful at winning transactions as Walt Jocketty was. Signing Larry Walker in 2004 and trading for Will Clark in 2000 were impactful moves by themselves, but these moves barely scratch the surface when it comes to Jocketty's moves.

This begs the question: What are the most impactful moves Walt Jocketty made for the St. Louis Cardinals? Let's try and answer this question.

Honorable mentions: Signing Chris Carpenter (2002), signing Larry Walker (2004), and trading for Will Clark (2000).

These are the five most impactful moves that Walt Jocketty made while general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals.

5. Trading for Mark McGwire (1997)

Mark McGwire reinvigorated a fan base and franchise that was dry. The Cardinals made the postseason only once during the 1990s, and they finished under .500 in half of the seasons during the decade. It was a rough time to be a fan of the Cardinals, to say the least.

However, for one glorious season in the late 90s, everything was fun for the Cardinals.

Mark McGwire's home run chase in 1998 was must-watch baseball, and Jocketty's acquisition of him in the prior year was one of the best moves of his career. The combination of these two men and their efforts in 1998 will go down in Major League Baseball history.

Jocketty traded T.J. Mathews, Erik Ludwick, and Blake Stein to the A's for the power-hitting first baseman. As a result of his time with Oakland prior to St. Louis, Jocketty was quite familiar with McGwire's game.

Mark McGwire's acquisition is the lowest on this list due to the lack of lasting effectiveness of the move. McGwire played his final five seasons of his career with the Cardinals, but the club made it to the postseason only twice during McGwire's time in St. Louis. Big Mac slashed .270/.427/.683 with the Cardinals, and his final season with the Cardinals was the worst of his career.

Jocketty bringing in Mark McGwire provided a spark for St. Louis baseball that hadn't been felt in a decade. It was one of the first moves of the general manager's tenure, and it was a great start to his career in St. Louis. Without Mark McGwire on the roster in the 1990s, it would have gone down in history as the most boring and disappointing decade in franchise history. We Cardinal fans now have some fond memories of the late 90s courtesy of Mark McGwire and Walt Jocketty.