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5 former Cardinals players who have been outstanding this season
The Cardinals have a long history of letting talented players leave the franchise. Here are five former players who are excelling in 2024.
The St. Louis Cardinals have a long-documented history of making regrettable moves and letting promising talent go to other organizations far too often. While some of that criticism is unwarranted, many former Cardinals are seeing great success elsewhere this season, leading many to question the organization's ability to develop talent and wonder what could've been. Here are five former Cardinals players who have been outstanding elsewhere this season.
Tyler O'Neill has been outstanding this season
When John Mozeliak traded Tyler O'Neill to the Boston Red Sox, he joked that O'Neill would probably end up getting MVP consideration now that he'd moved yet another promising outfielder to an American League team. Sure, O'Neill has had two injured list stints during his first three months with the Red Sox, but he's also performed as an MVP-caliber type of player when healthy. Check out this Dealin' the Cards video for the full story on O'Neill's time in St. Louis and beyond.
O'Neill may no longer be a Gold Glove-caliber left fielder, but with a slash line of .254/.352/.534 with a 144 OPS+, he's sure to get some down-ballot MVP consideration if the season ended today. His tantalizing power tool is again on full display as he's slugged 15 homers in just 52 games. He's barreling the ball as much as ever, and his numbers are second only to his 2021 season in which he finished 8th in NL MVP voting.
If O'Neill can stay healthy for the rest of the season, he'll be a critical piece in Boston's hopes of chasing a playoff spot. And, should the Red Sox sneak in, O'Neill could be the third former Cardinals outfielder to win ALCS MVP since 2020. The script may just write itself.
Jack Flaherty has been outstanding this season
After being traded to the Baltimore Orioles at the 2023 trade deadline, Jack Flaherty was dreadful with his new club, being relegated to the bullpen for the Postseason run. But, after signing a one-year prove-it deal with the Detroit Tigers, Flaherty seems to have captured some of his old magic as a promising young starter for the Cardinals.
He showed his old club "the art of pitching" after tossing 6.2 innings and striking out a career-high 14 batters. He opened the game by fanning the first seven batters he faced, and though his outing was spoiled by a blown save by another former Cardinal Shelby Miller, he showed the Cardinals what they were missing out on.
Flaherty has All-Star potential this season, as he's struck out 108 batters in 83.1 innings pitched with a 2.92 ERA. Should the Tigers fall further out of contention in the AL Central and Wildcard standings, he'd be a trade candidate at the deadline yet again. Perhaps a reunion with St. Louis could be in the cards, but it's unlikely, as he was part of the clubhouse trouble that saw Willson Contreras temporarily removed from catching duties at the start of 2023.
Regardless, Flaherty might've built himself into a much more lucrative contract than the one he signed with Detroit. If he can keep it up, the former Cy Young Award candidate may find himself in a position to land a multi-year deal after years of frustration and injury with the Cardinals.
It was a smart move by the Cardinals to let Flaherty go at the trade deadline last year, as they received a great prospect package for half a season of underperformance in Baltimore. However, Flaherty's re-emergence as a top-end starting pitcher is sure to sting for a team that hasn't developed reliable starting pitching in recent years.
Jordan Hicks has been outstanding this season
Unlike Jack Flaherty, the Cardinals did have a chance to extend Jordan Hicks rather than trade him at last year's deadline. Still, St. Louis opted to deal the fireballing reliever to the Toronto Blue Jays rather than keep him around. One of the main reasons was that Jordan Hicks wanted an opportunity to start games rather than pitch out of the bullpen.
With the initial starter experiment going poorly, the two parties could not come to an agreement. The Cardinals did get a few promising starting pitching prospects in Adam Kloffenstein and Sem Robberse, but it might've been better to keep and extend a proven commodity in Hicks.
The San Francisco Giants, however, were willing to take a risk on Jordan Hicks as their starting rotation had much more depth than the Cardinals, inking the right-hander to a 4 year, $44 million contract. If the starter experiment failed once again, there'd be no problem. After all, Hicks' proven ability to pitch multiple high-leverage innings as a reliever was worth paying for alone.
Hicks, however, did pan out as a starting pitcher this season and has been great for the Giants. With a completely different style of pitching, abandoning the triple-digit velocity, Hicks has recorded a 3.24 ERA. He's had some trouble with efficiency, which the Cardinals took advantage of in their three-game sweep of the Giants this past weekend, but Hicks has been a great ground-ball pitcher. At an $11 million per year bargain, the Cardinals will surely regret not allowing Hicks an opportunity to start and letting another talented starter getaway.
Marcell Ozuna has been outstanding this season
Marcell Ozuna's time in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform was complicated. He was a key part of the 2019 Postseason run, but he largely underperformed what was expected after being acquired from the Miami Marlins. Moreover, the two pitching pieces sent to Miami, Sandy Alcantara and Zac Gallen, were a huge miss from John Mozeliak.
However, once he left St. Louis, he immediately burst onto the scene in Atlanta, leading the league in homers during the pandemic-shortened season. He's had some struggles both on and off the field, but he's had a huge resurgence that started in 2023.
If not for the arrival of Shohei Ohtani in the National League, Marcell Ozuna's resurgence would've garnered much more attention. Ozuna from the Braves has been nothing short of spectacular, clubbing 21 homers with a .314/.390/.596 slashline for a 174 OPS+. The former Cardinals outfielder turned DH has been the second-best bat in the National League by a considerable margin.
While much of the Braves lineup has been disappointing this year with injury and underperformance, Ozuna has carried the weight, leading the league with 65 RBI. Of course, with this great offensive performance, the Cardinals would benefit from Ozuna's bat in the lineup, especially with the massive pitching package they sent to Miami. However, it's not all lost, as letting Ozuna walk in free agency did grant them the ability to draft Alec Burleson, their best hitter so far this year.
While he'll almost certainly lose out to Shohei Ohtani for the starting job at DH for the National League All-Star team, fans will certainly get a glimpse of him at the Midsummer Classic in Arlington in just a few weeks.
James Naile has been outstanding this season (well, kind of)
After a lackluster stint with the Cardinals in 2022 and 2023, James Naile's contract was sold to the Kia Tigers of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO). At age 30, Naile would likely not find much playing time with the Major League club as he'd been designated for assignment and then outrighted to Triple-A at the start of 2023. Now, in the Asian leagues where many players such as Miles Mikolas and Erick Fedde go to reinvent themselves, the 31-year-old might've done just that.
In a completely different baseball culture and a slightly different baseball than MLB with smaller and higher seams, Naile needed to make an adjustment to find success. In his first month, he did just that, winning April Player of the Month and leading the league with a 1.09 ERA. He's struggled slightly more recently, but his 2.26 ERA is still elite for the Korean league. He's on pace for similar numbers as current White Sox starter and 2023 KBO MVP Erick Fedde, but it remains to be seen if he can keep it up and win the award.
Unlike others on this list, James Naile's success story is not a cautionary tale of the Cardinals letting top-tier talent get away. They've done that many times in the past, but Naile had no place on the Major League roster. Naile himself requested to be released by the Cardinals and pursue opportunities overseas as a starter, knowing he'd get limited chances, likely wallowing in the Minor Leagues. While Fedde and former Cardinal Kwang-Hyun Kim have found success going from the KBO to MLB, most Korean talent doesn't translate.
Many, such as Miles Mikolas, learn to pitch differently in Asia and return as much improved arms. Perhaps Naile will do the same and return to Major League Baseball as a serviceable starter. If he does, Cardinals fans should be happy for the native St. Louisan rather than lament what could've been in St. Louis.
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