The Cardinals have too many "untouchables"

The MLB trade deadline just got started.

The Angels saying they won’t trade Shohei Ohtani was the starting gun. There was much speculation that the teams that could trade for him were stuck until they found out what would happen with this unicorn. We can now move forward.

Or can we? If you listen to the rumors the Cardinals will be sitting on the sidelines again. Bob Nightengale said:

They will keep infield cornerstones Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, and outfielders Jordan Walker and Lars Nootbaar, try to build around them this winter and hope that they are back to the Cardinals Way in 2024.

There have been rumors the last couple of days that the Cardinals are trying to extend Jordan Hicks.

There is also the rumor from John Denton that Jack Flahrety will be extended.

The other players that are left are getting so little interest like O’Neal that the Cardinals are thinking about just keeping them because they can’t get enough in return. Katie Woo wrote in The Athletic ($):

His lengthy injury history — especially this year — has significantly lowered the value of O’Neill’s hypothetical trade return. And Mozeliak, who is looking to field a competitive team for 2024, isn’t selling off talent just for the sake of doing so.

If you look at what is written, including this site, you'll read that we can’t possibly trade Edman, Donovan, or Gorman because if we do they will become superstars as soon as they leave.

The Cardinals have a history of overvaluing their players

The Cardinals and their fans have a history of overvaluing our players. We can’t even let our minor leaguers get traded because after all they are ours.

Keeping all these players would be OK if this was a team that supplemented the roster with five-star free agents. They are not that team.

If the Cardinals are afraid to make a trade, or even worse if they don’t want to listen to trades because they like these players so much, they will never improve.

I hear that the fans are going to be so mad if any of their favorite players get traded. I also hear that the fans are going to be so upset if we don’t make any trades to make this team better.

We can’t have it both ways.