Cardinals' hated division rival wakes up NL Central with blockbuster trade

Unless you count the Pittsburgh Pirates' trade for Brandon Lowe or the St. Louis Cardinals' multi-part fire sale with the Boston Red Sox, the NL Central has been a sleeping giant all offseason.

The Milwaukee Brewers haven't done much besides extending the qualifying offer to Brandon Woodruff (which he accepted). Ditto for the Cincinnati Reds, who re-signed closer Emilio Pagan and struck out in their pursuit of Kyle Schwarber. And, up until recently, the Chicago Cubs were more concerned with rebuilding their bullpen via the scrap heap than actually improving the team.

But that's all changed now that the Cubs have remembered they're a big-market team within a window of contention. They've struck a deal with the Miami Marlins for star pitcher Edward Cabrera.

Edward Cabrera's window with Cubs shouldn't severely impact Cardinals' rebuild.

Cabrera, 27, is controllable via arbitration through the 2028 season. He's a prolific talent, but by the time he's gearing up for free agency, the Cardinals should start emerging from their rebuild.

That's not to say that St. Louis can't return to contention sooner, but with Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras gone and Nolan Arenado almost surely soon to follow, there's a severe lack of established veteran talent on the roster. It'll take some time to recuperate at the top level, particularly if the team leans even harder into the rebuild by trading players like Brendan Donovan and Lars Nootbaar.

Cabrera has notched a 3.52 ERA and 16 strikeouts over 15 1/3 innings against the Cardinals in his career, and it'll obviously be frustrating to watch him dominate some unproven Redbirds lineups during his time on the North Side of Chicago. Particularly if he can stay healthy, which he's struggled with since debuting in the major leagues. (He's only eclipsed 100 innings in a season once in his career.)

Still, the Cubs' competitive window is now, and that rather perfectly lines up with the Cardinals' rebuild. Plus, they had to surrender top prospect Owen Caissie and others just to acquire Cabrera's services. This move could have some serious long-term benefits for St. Louis in the larger NL Central picture now that they're finally committing to an overdue organizational reset.

Of course, the Cubs may not yet be done, and trading Caissie could be their way of gearing up for a big free-agent acquisition like Bo Bichette or Alex Bregman. That could change the divisional landscape for quite some time.

As things stand now, though, the Cardinals should be able to duck the remainder of Cabrera's prime while replenishing the farm system with marquee talent. Let's just hope that, in the meantime, he doesn't guide the Cubs back to the promised land.