Cardinals: 4 things to keep an eye on as the club preps for the trade deadline

While the St. Louis Cardinals 2023 season has been about as disappointing]g as humanly possible, and the team continues to give us reasons to turn off the television, there are actually a lot of reasons to follow the club closely over their next month of baseball.

While I wish the club was not in this position and we were instead talking about ways for the Cardinals to put themselves in an even better position to compete in October, both fans and the front office will be looking at this club with very different expectations than we are accustomed to.

So what is there to even watch for with a team that has been so disappointing so far? Why wouldn't we just change the channel, turn off our notifications, and check back in with the team in January to see if they have made any moves?

Because July is the beginning of a potentially franchise-altering stretch of baseball for the Cardinals.

No, not in the sense that we may see a full-on rebuild begin at the deadline. Rather, this month may force the Cardinals to make some very difficult decisions that will either right the ship for 2024 and beyond or lead to a sour ending to the John Mozeliak era in St. Louis.

The Cardinals have not been in this kind of position in decades. The last time the club failed to win more than 70 games in a full 162-game season was in 1978. We just haven't seen this organization have to respond to this kind of adversity.

With that in mind, here are 4 things to keep an eye on with the Cardinals over this next month of baseball.