10 bold predictions for the Cardinals trade deadline and second half of the season

The St. Louis Cardinals are back from the All-Star Break, but unfortunately, are not in the position that many of us thought they would be this year.

If you had asked me what "worst case scenario" for this time was in Spring Training at the All-Star Break, I could have seen them being around .500 or a few games below, but like past trade deadlines, just needing to add some timely arms to propel them to contention. Honestly, I thought they would be looking to add an impact arm to try and compete with the Dodgers, Braves, Mets, and Padres.

Well, technically they are still competing with the Padres and Mets...but for the most disappointing team in baseball.

The second half of the Cardinals' 2023 season is going to look vastly different than past years. Sure, the Cardinals have missed the playoffs in recent memory, but they were never truly declared out of the race this early. St. Louis has dealt off assets at deadlines before, but never names as big as we could see this season

There are going to be a lot of storylines heading into the rest of the season worth watching. It may be tempting to think it's time to turn off the television until next spring, but there are a lot of things of importance still. Moves to be made, young players to watch, position battles to monitor, leadership changes, individual milestones, and more.

While we all want to see the Cardinals in the playoffs every year, there is still a lot of value in following a club that is laying the groundwork for a turnaround next season. In all honesty, this kind of season may be exactly what this organization needed to get things right for the next five years of baseball, and if that is the case, I can bear one season of extreme disappointment.

Here are 10 predictions for the Cardinals second half of baseball