The Cardinals' Mother's Day surge was ultimately the worst thing that could have happened in 2024

Like 2023, the Cardinals got off to a terrible start in 2024. Entering their game against the Brewers on Mother's Day, they were nine games below .500 at 15-24, and it appeared that another 90-loss season was on the horizon.

But all of a sudden, the Cardinals got hot, coming from behind to win that game against Milwaukee and ultimately surging back into contention. On July 10, they entered their doubleheader against the Royals at a season-high six games over .500 and had control of a Wild Card spot.

That surge at least partially filled the fanbase with some renewed hope. It certainly gave the organization hope. And before I get into this, I want to stress that it was very enjoyable to see the Cardinals turn things around, at least for a little bit.

But looking back, that may have ultimately been the worst-case scenario in disguise.

The Cardinals Mother's Day run was the worst-case scenario in 2024

Once again, I must stress that it was great to see the Cardinals winning again. I mean that wholeheartedly. But let's take a look at some of the effects of the surge.

Heading into that Mother's Day game against the Brewers, it looked like the Cardinals were going to sell again at the trade deadline. Even while the Cardinals were winning, I was on board with this idea. It was clear that this team was nowhere near as good as teams like the Dodgers, Phillies, Braves, or even the Padres.

In a perfect world, it's always better to be a buyer than a seller, so that fans can get excited about the rest of the season and a potential postseason run. But as I had been saying at the time, the Cardinals were never going to make the big move that made them a World Series contender.

They desperately needed a No. 2 starter to go alongside Sonny Gray. Nathan Eovaldi or Jack Flaherty would have been perfect to fill that role. But what did the Cardinals do? They went out and traded for Erick Fedde, who didn't help at all, and to make matters worse, they traded Tommy Edman, who went on to become the NLCS MVP with the Dodgers.

Even at his best, Fedde isn't anything more than a back-end rotation starter, and he certainly pitched like one after St. Louis acquired him. Under no circumstances would this addition have given the Cardinals a chance to win a postseason series. Tommy Pham also came back to St. Louis in the deal and was mostly disappointing.

Without the surge, the Cardinals likely wouldn't have made this move and instead would have been sellers. While I'm glad they didn't have another 90-loss season, they missed a great opportunity to load up on prospects and begin the "reset" sooner. Instead, it only delayed the inevitable.

When they were nine games below .500, I came to realize that this was what the Cardinals needed, not another patch job. The Cardinals were honestly more desperate for a reset than to add a No. 2 starter.

While I don't think they needed to go into a full teardown, they could have ultimately made smarter trades that allowed them to set themselves up well for 2025. But here we are entering 2025 with the Cardinals just now beginning this reset period.

Ideally, if the Cardinals were going to trade Edman, they should have packaged him to the Dodgers with Ryan Helsley and brought back a haul of prospects. They were a little thin on pitchers at the time and quite thin on position players.

After last year, most of the fanbase was turned off and had no faith in John Mozeliak to win their trust back. The Fedde trade ultimately soured the fans' opinion of Mozeliak even further. I can't speak for everybody, but I certainly felt this way.

The second reason this was ultimately a bad thing is that it ultimately reinforced the same tired narrative of "just get in and you have a chance." That's something that most of the fanbase is sick and tired of. Just because it worked in 2006 and 2011 doesn't mean it's a good approach.

The Cardinals were not the best team in baseball when they won those titles, and if you're not trying to be the best team in baseball and make the most of your resources, then what are you doing this for?

Gunning for less than 90 wins and hoping to just sneak in as the third Wild Card isn't a viable approach, and in the end, the Cardinals missed the playoffs anyway.

Finally, it likely saved both John Mozeliak and Oli Marmol's jobs. Recall that on Mother's Day, before their comeback win, Mozeliak spoke with Tom Ackerman and said some things that actually made sense.

He expressed confidence in Marmol but said that if they didn't turn things around quick, people were going to be held accountable, including himself. But they finished with 83 wins, 10 games back of first place, and are going into 2025 with Mozeliak still the head of baseball operations and Marmol still the manager.

While I hate to say this, another losing season could have possibly forced the much-needed big changes that the Cardinals have been so desperate for. It's time for new leadership in the front office, and I would much rather have Chaim Bloom leading the charge during this period.

I'm a little less frustrated by the Marmol situation now that the reset period has begun, but had they entered the reset sooner, they could have set themselves up better for 2025. They could have then made the necessary managerial change with former Cardinal Skip Schumaker available. Another losing season would in a perfect world, provide enough of a reason to do so.