The St. Louis Cardinals were right to hang on to these 3 players

The St. Louis Cardinals, for the first time in a generation, were sellers at the trade deadline this year. The Cardinals did well to unload their expiring contracts after making a handful of moves over the last week to restock the farm system.

There were, however, rumors that St. Louis would consider moving on from some of their cost-controlled players like Brendan Donovan and Tyler O'Neill. After the Tuesday deadline came and went, most of the St. Louis offense was kept together.

Instead, Paul DeJong was removed from the Cardinal offense and eventually shipped to the Toronto Blue Jays, joining former Cardinals teammates Genesis Cabrera and Jordan Hicks in Canada.

With Tommy Edman's arrival off the injured list on Tuesday, DeJong's presence on the team would have created another logjam on the Cardinals' active roster. Instead, it will be Edman who will get the majority of the reps at shortstop.

Of the players that remain, three players deserved to stay in St. Louis and should receive the bulk of the playing time down the stretch to either increase their value to be moved in the offseason or to showcase their skills to the front office to remain in the mix for the next several years.

2. Dylan Carlson

Dylan Carlson's name popped up more than any other Cardinals' position player, and the number of reports about a potential trade for Carlson only escalated as we got closer to the 5 p.m. deadline on Tuesday.

Carlson was not moved, and the logjam in the Cardinals' outfield will continue for the rest of the season. Of all the Cardinal outfielders St. Louis could have moved on from, Carlson should have been off-limits from the start.

The former first-round pick is still just 23 years old and is the best defensive outfielder on the roster and has played better in center field than anyone else on the active roster, including gold glover O'Neill.

After finishing third in the Rookie of The Year voting in 2021, Carlson's numbers have slowly dipped over the last two seasons. He concluded last year with an average of .236 and eight home runs, and in 2023, he is hovering around .230.

The negatives surrounding Carlson are not because of his lack of skill but surrounding injuries that have plagued the outfielder, and when he has been healthy, he has not been given constant starting time in the outfield.

If Carlson can take over the everyday centerfield position for the Cardinals for the rest of the season, you can all but guarantee that his numbers will rise, and he will be able to prove to Cardinal fans why he was kept out of the Juan Soto trade talks from a season ago.

3. Lars Nootbaar

Nootbaar has quietly become one of the Cardinals' best offensive weapons in 2023. He doesn't have flashy power numbers like Gorman, Arenado, or Goldschmidt, but his ability to get on base has been valuable to St. Louis.

When he has been healthy, he has been penciled into the leadoff spot for St. Louis and he has been able to set the table very well for the Cards' big bats. His .379 on-base percentage leads the Cardinals, and his 123 OPS+ makes him one of the most valuable assets on the team.

Nootbaar's name was not brought up a lot in trade talks. The Cardinals made it clear early on in the trade process that they were not interested in moving on from Nootbaar, another smart decision from the front office.

Nootbaar, just 25 years old, has the potential to be a cornerstone of the Cardinals' outfield along with Jordan Walker for the next handful of years. He has a charisma that not many Cardinals players have, and he has captured international stardom.

More than his infectious personality, Nootbaar is a reliable left-handed bat and an above-average defender. When the dust settles, and the outfield log jam is cleared away in St. Louis, an outfield of Nootbaar, Carlson, and Walker will get the Cardinals back in contention.