A good, bad, and ugly look into the Cardinals first half

The Cardinals have had quite the start to the 2023 season. The next few weeks will determine how things go for the rest of this season and the seasons to come.

The best thing that has happened to the Cardinals this season took place after the All-Star game.

In an interview conducted by Fox2Now's Martin Kilcoyne, Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak acknowledged mistakes were made last offseason regarding pitching and the lack of obtaining pitching.

Mozeliak said the Cardinals are not "waving the white flag," but changes must be made, and most of the changes that will occur at the trade deadline will be focused on next season. One key takeaway from the interview was this regarding what the expect with these upcoming decisions:

"“Right now, I can tell you, we’re going to trade people, you just don’t know if it’s going to be household names or guys who are more likely to not be here next year. It’s easy to talk about what we may or may not do at the moment, but we’re not going to just give away players. We want to get some value in return. We want to get some value that helps us in 2024. And that’s really going to be our focus as we enter the trading period.”"

- John Mozeliak, via Kilcoyne interview

Mystery and intrigue per usual from Mozeliak. But you can tell that deals will be made. It won't necessarily be household names. It may just be players who won't be back next season. They won't give away players and want to get value in return.

This is excellent news, but it does create more questions. Who should we consider household names? Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt? Or Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman? The players who won't return next season could include Jack Flaherty, Jordan Montgomery, and Jordan Hicks, given they will be free agents.

So as the second half of the season kick starts this weekend, media and fans alike will be pondering what will happen over the next few weeks leading to the trade deadline. While Mozeliak said the intention with these moves will be toward next season, could it help this season too?

Mozeliak's moves could bring some hope for the remainder of this season by climbing out of last place and creating some drama. It makes one hopeful that the second half of the season will be more entertaining.

In the meantime, here's a look at the good, bad and ugly from the season, so far.