4 deft trade deadline moves by Cardinals' John Mozeliak and 1 dismal one

Trading Tommy Pham in 2018 turned out to be a failure on John Mozeliak's part.

Cardinals trade: Tommy Pham
Tampa Bay Rays trade: Justin Williams, Genesis Cabrera, and Roel Ramirez

Even at the time, this trade felt wrong. It was a surprise to most people, even Tommy Pham himself, around baseball when it happened, and the trade has turned out to be a loss for the Cardinals.

Pham was hitting .248 with 14 home runs and 41 RBIs at the time, and he was one of the best hitters that year for the Cardinals, and he provided strong defense in the outfield. There were some concerns about Pham's vision hampering his ability to hit and field, but he seemed to have put those to the side. His fire on and off the diamond was one of his most redeeming qualities at the time. He had 3 more years of team control as well.

In return, the Cardinals received outfielder Justin Williams, RHP Genesis Cabrera, and LHP Roel Ramirez. Justin Williams saw some time in the majors, but he never panned out to be more than a 5th outfielder/AAAA player. Genesis Cabrera was valuable as a reliever, particularly in 2020 and 2021, but he was eventually traded to Toronto. Ramirez played sparingly for the Cardinals in 2020 and 2021, but he only pitched 1 inning total with a total ERA of 81.

Tommy Pham has continued to provide value to teams like the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres, and Chicago White Sox throughout his travels. Even in hindsight, this trade looks bad for the Cardinals. While prospects like Tyler O'Neill and Harrison Bader were on the rise, Pham's experience, fire, and performance were tough to lose even with three prospects coming back in return.