Another major outlet lauds clowns Cardinals for terrible offseason

The national media is starting to notice the St. Louis Cardinals' inactivity in 2004-205 MLB offseason. On Friday, Jim Bowden of The Athletic named John Mozeliak one of the six "biggest losers" of this year's MLB offseason. Mozeliak's failure to trade veteran third baseman Nolan Arenado has stalled the youth movement the Cardinals gave lip service to.

Bowden is no longer the only national pundit taking notice of the Cardinals' lack of activity, as ESPN's David Schoenfield gave the Cardinals' offseason grade an F. Like Bowden, Schoenfield blasted the Cardinals' inability to trade Arenado as the major reason while simultaneously noting that the Cardinals made no significant moves.  

Cardinals terrible offseason grades from national outlets is well deserved

While Arenado's no-trade clause is a serious roadblock to making a deal, as the Houston Astros discovered around last month, it should not preclude any trade to jump-start the youth movement. The Boston Red Sox were rumored to be of interest to the eight-time All-Star, but no deal is imminent. Now, the Cardinals are playing the waiting game as the baseball world awaits Alex Bregman's future home for next season. 

Once Bregman puts pen to paper his new contract, the market for MLB teams needing a new third baseman should open up.

Adding to the frustration is that other NL Central rivals are making moves. The Chicago Cubs traded for Kyle Tucker and signed Colin Rea, and they are now in the mix for Tanner Scott. Milwaukee traded Devin Williams to the Yankees for Nestor Cortes and minor leaguer Caleb Durbin. Cincinnati swung a deal for Brady Singer in exchange for Jonathan India and Joey Wiemer.

While keeping Arenado for the 2025 season is not the end of the world for the Cardinals, it would significantly delay the youth movement or roster "reset" the Cardinals want to accomplish. The Cardinals' rivals remain active in trying to enhance their ball clubs, while the Cardinals are not.