Cardinals' front office could learn a thing or two from Rays' front office

The St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays recently went head-to-head on the field, and the Cardinals defeated the Rays in the series. While the Cardinals may have won the battle, the Rays' organization is absolutely winning the war.

For years now, the Tampa Bay Rays have continually competed in the brutal American League East despite having a bottom-five payroll in the entire league. Meanwhile, the Cardinals have been struggling to win the weaker National League Central for a few years now despite having a top-12 payroll in baseball.

The spoils of the Rays date back to January 2020 when the Cardinals sent postseason phenom Randy Arozarena to the Rays for former top prospect Matthew Liberatore. Libby has come into his own this year while Arozarena has struggled to get going, but for the last three years, the Rays clearly came out on top in this transaction.

The Cardinals-Rays lore deepened this past deadline when St. Louis acquired Shawn Armstrong, a reliever on an expiring contract who was having a down year this year. In return, the Rays received outfielder Dylan Carlson, a former top-13 prospect in all of baseball who was desperate for a change of scenery.

Erik Neander, the Rays' president of baseball operations, was on MLB Now recently to discuss his team's approach to the season this year. Three key points stand out: Dylan Carlson's newfound success, the Rays selling despite still being in the race, and the benching of a key player after a lack of effort. You'll find the Cardinals can relate to all three points very easily.

Dylan Carlson is slashing .293/.383/.537 since joining the Rays for a 161 OPS+. He's hit three home runs in only 14 games; he didn't hit a single home run with the Cardinals in 59 games this year. Neander spoke about Carlson on MLB Now saying, "He's been great. At 25 years old, there was a lot of talk about the potential benefits that could come with a fresh start. That was part of the reason that we brought him in." The change of scenery has done wonders for Dylan Carlson.

Another area where the Rays differed from the Cardinals despite being in nearly identical spots was at the trade deadline. On July 30th, the trade deadline, the Cardinals and Rays had identical records -- 55-52. Neither team was in the playoff picture at the moment. However, the Tampa Bay Rays decided to take advantage of the sellers' market while the Cardinals decided to be buyers and make a push for the postseason.

I won't complain about the Cardinals making a push for the playoffs, but perhaps the most prudent route would have been to follow what the Rays were doing at the time. Neander said on MLB Now that it was a difficult decision to trade away key players at the deadline. He stated that the goal was to remain competitive, especially in 2025, and the moves Neander and his team made at the deadline absolutely set them up for success in the future.

Finally, Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash benched outfielder Jose Siri during the weekend series against the Arizona Diamondbacks after Siri displayed a lack of effort on a double play ball against the Astros in the prior series.

Neander said that the daily lineup falls on Cash, not the front office. Neander also conveyed full trust in his manager. His response to Siri's benching stands in stark contrast to John Mozeliak's response last year when Tyler O'Neill displayed a lack of effort while rounding third base.

"There was a play the other day where (T.J.) Walz was running on the play to second, beat it out, and Jose went down the line in a way that he himself would be the first one to say that's not acceptable. Jose is a great man; he cares. Just that moment got him."

Erik Neander

Last year, Mozeliak took a different approach. Rather than defending his player and complimenting him, Mozeliak buried O'Neill by saying that the Cardinals play baseball "the right way" and that O'Neill didn't meet those standards.

John Mozeliak and the Cardinals' front office could take some notes from the Tampa Bay Rays and their brass. If the organization wants to see sustained success, perhaps looking to the Rays could provide a blueprint.