Former Cardinals outfielder enacts symbolic revenge on his old squad

The St. Louis Cardinals' outfield has been in a state of flux over much of the past decade, as several highly touted prospects have failed to live up to their potential. The Cardinals headed to Seattle in their last gasps for playoff contention, and in their game on Sept. 9, the Cardinals became an unwilling spectator to what could have been.

Randy Arozarena made the Cardinals pay by homering off of the player he was dealt for.

Arozarena has performed well since the Cardinals traded him to the Tampa Bay Rays in the deal for Matthew Liberatore, and he once again showed St. Louis what they missed out on when trading him by socking an elevated fastball from Liberatore out to left field for a three-run homer.

Cardinals fans blasted the trade as an all-time failure by President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak after Arozarena hit well in the shortened 2020 season and then went ballistic in the postseason. Liberatore was pitching in the minor leagues at the time, and the calls for Mozeliak's head grew even louder when Liberatore struggled in his stints in the rotation after being called up to the Cardinals.

2025 has been a breakout of sorts for Liberatore and has led some to rethink the ultimate outcome of the Arozarena trade. In his first 16 starts on the season, Liberatore held a 3.70 ERA and was a rotation stalwart. However, the career-high workload looks to have caught up with the southpaw, as he scuffled to a 5.08 ERA in the 10 games prior to his latest start and faced a consistent decrease in fastball velocity in the later innings of his starts.

Liberatore's struggles in the second half have tempered the hopes of fans who thought he might be able to become a No. 2 starter in future Cardinals rotations, and his latest outing where he served up the meatball to Arozarena was not reassuring, as Liberatore had been having issues with his location throughout the appearance.

The Cardinals desperately need a power bat in the middle of their lineup, a role Arozarena would have filled admirably, as he displayed with his mammoth moonblast. Liberatore may have worked himself into a back-end rotation arm for the Cardinals in 2026, but in their latest reunion, Arozarena made sure to remind the Cardinals who the true alpha dog was in that trade.