3 former Cardinals that are failing with their new teams

There has been plenty of ex-Cardinals that are thriving with their new clubs, but not all of them have had that same fortune.

With the Cardinals contending for division titles and championships in the last couple of decades, it has led to the Cardinals having to let go of certain players to help the team fill immediate needs. Also, with the Cardinals' successful development of prospects, it has forced them to either trade or let guys go to give those younger players the opportunity to get playing time in the big leagues.

Some of the players the Cardinals have let go of over the years have blossomed into perennial All-Stars, guys like Randy Arozarena, Sandy Alcantara, and Zac Gallen. What makes these three stand out is not just their great play but the fact that the Cardinals did not get the same level of success in return. But not every single player has turned out that way.

Often times, the players that the Cardinals let go of tend to be the right calls. Sometimes they let prospects go who end up not becoming contributors for other organzations as well. Sometimes they let go of a peaking player and their down years of their careers are spent somewhere else. And sometimes, we may think in the moment the Cardinals are giving up on a player who will be really good, and they just prove us wrong. Call it good discernment or luck, but it happens more often than you'd think.

Here are three examples of Cardinals who have not found success with their new clubs.

Johan Oviedo

Oviedo was the main piece going to Pittsburgh when the Cardinals acquired pitchers Jose Quintana and Chris Stratton at the trade deadline last season.

He showed some promise with the Cardinals as he was one of several rookies that pitched for St.Louis in the COVID shortened 2020 season. The experiment of trying him as a starter did not go well, in 18 starts total in '20 and '21 he did not record a win. Partially because he struggled with giving up runs (5.08 ERA in 18 starts), and he struggled with throwing strikes (49 walks in 87 innings) it was difficult for Oviedo to get through 5 innings which qualifies you for a win because he could not record quick outs.

Last season Oviedo was put in the bullpen when he was recalled from the minors and his numbers were improved. He would get his first career win, his walks were down and strikeouts were up, more than one per inning before he was traded to Pittsburgh.

When Oviedo got to the Pirates they put him back in the rotation and he was solid in a handful of starts last year. This season however he has gotten off to a slow start. In 9 starts he has a 4.69 ERA which is the highest ERA currently in the Pirates rotation, and he has given up 51 hits in 48 innings. The season is still young so Oviedo should get more chances to turn things around, but he is only 25 years old, and he obviously still has some developing to do. With Quintana no longer a Cardinal their main piece in that trade is gone. Oviedo can decide ultimately who benefits the most from this in-division trade.

Kolten Wong

Wong was a very likable and productive player in his 8 seasons in St. Louis, it was hard to see him go. After being selected by the Cardinals in the first round of the 2011 draft he made a quick jump up to the major leagues and in his time in St. Louis he was a rookie of the year finalist and a 2-time Gold Glove winner. His most notable moment was his walk-off home run in Game 2 of the 2014 NLCS against the Giants.

It felt like Wong wanted to return to the Cardinals when he became a free agent after the 2020 season, but the front office didn't seem as interested in bringing him back. Likely due to the fact that Tommy Edman was next in line to become the second baseman, so Wong became the odd man out. He stayed in the division playing two seasons with the Brewers, and he got a lengthy ovation from the St.Louis faithful in the first game at Busch with fans in the stands post-COVID.

Wong was traded to the Mariners this past offseason for Abraham Toro and Jesse Winker and it has not gotten off to a good start. In his first 32 games with Seattle, he only hitting .177 with a minuscule .208 SLG. In every full season he has played Wong has never hit lower than .240 so you could expect him to heat up as the season goes on, but he is not the only offensive player to see their numbers slip when they head to Seattle. We saw it happen to all-star hitters Adrian Beltre and Robinson Cano, with Wong he is coming from a hitters-friendly ballpark in Milwaukee to one of the hardest places to hit in Seattle. Time will tell if Wong improves at all this season, but I'm sure Cardinal Nation will be rooting him on.