Wednesday, August 05

Thanks to a season that had, on the whole, been a very pleasant surprise, a debate emerged about what the Cardinals should or shouldn’t do at the Trade Deadline. But July 10-18 essentially settled the debate.

The Cardinals ended up being sellers, trading Dustin May and JoJo Romero to the Brewers and Lars Nootbaar to the Diamondbacks. This was surely always the plan, but the July swoon was clarifying. President of baseball operations Chaim Bloom and his front office’s goal is to build the next great Cardinals team, and that requires, in year one of Bloom’s reign, focusing more on the future than the present.

But the Cardinals’ moves -- and non-moves -- were more nuanced than just “everything must go!” In fact, you can argue they may have been more influenced by this season than seems immediately apparent. Here are five takeaways from the Cardinals’ Deadline decisions.

The short-term pitcher rental plan will likely be repeated

The Cardinals were happy with the return they got from the Diamondbacks for Nootbaar in pitchers Daniel Eagen (now their No. 17 prospect, per MLB Pipeline) and Sandro Santana (No. 22), but the bigger return came from the Brewers for May and Romero. Alexander Frias (No. 4) was one of the best prospects moved at the Deadline and has huge upside, as an 18-year-old who has flashed big-time power potential. Outfielder Josiah Ragsdale (No. 10) is already putting up big numbers at Double-A, so he could be in St. Louis sooner than you think.

While Romero will be a valuable piece for the Brewers when he’s off the IL, the true jewel of the trade is May, whom you’re likely to see start an NLDS game for Milwaukee come October. The return is a clear endorsement of Bloom’s decision to sign May to a one-year deal, rehab his value and flip him at the Deadline, and expect the Cardinals to try a similar strategy this coming offseason. That May is Exhibit A in the Cardinals’ case that they that can get pitchers like him back on track is an excellent sign moving forward as well. The May signing, during a rebuilding season, was an unqualified win for Bloom and the regime.

They’re willing to let the catching situation play out

There was much speculation that the Cardinals, who have a catching surplus throughout their organization, would deal from that strength to clear up a theoretical logjam, especially with catchers being one of the most in-demand positions on the market. But Iván Herrera, Jimmy Crooks and Pedro Pagés are all still here, as are MLB Pipeline No. 12 overall prospect Rainiel Rodriguez and Leo Bernal (No. 6 on the Cardinals list).

This makes a lot of sense. The last two months may be Herrera’s last chance to establish himself as at least a part-time catcher before the Cardinals start thinking about other positions for him. Pagés still has value as a backup and a well-liked pitching staff whisperer and, most intriguingly, the Cardinals clearly still believe in Crooks’ underlying metrics despite some wobbly numbers at the plate this season. (Crooks helpfully homered at Yankee Stadium in the first game after the Deadline, though, then again, who didn’t?)

It’s possible Bernal gets a September callup, but the Cardinals didn’t feel obliged to push him -- or Rodriguez for that matter. The Cardinals still have questions these catchers all need to answer. They’ve given them all more time to do so.

Burleson still has a chance to be a long-term piece

It may have seemed surprising initially to see Alec Burleson included in trade rumors, considering he's having the best season of his career and is still under team control through 2028. But first base is a generally fungible position, one where Herrera could eventually find himself. It’s possible, as good as Burleson has been this year, that this is his ceiling, and the Cardinals might not consider him the starter there on their next great team. (And any team in contention could use Burly’s bat right now.)

But the Cardinals are clearly willing to let the very popular Burleson keep going out there and improving, and maybe even become this organization’s version of Freddie Freeman: A player who kept getting better and better until you suddenly looked up and realized he was a star. Burleson clearly appreciated the faith: In the first game after the Deadline, he hit three homers for the first time in his career.

We may see some prospects in St. Louis soon

The Nootbaar trade clearly opened up a spot for Joshua Báez, who is leading Triple-A in homers and is Pipeline’s No. 3 Cardinals prospect and No. 44 overall. His high chase and strikeout rates are something to watch out for, but, hey, that’s what a couple of months in the big leagues down the stretch is for.

But it might not just be him. No. 8 prospect Quinn Mathews just made his debut, as did No. 25 Luis Gastelum. Is it possible Bernal is next? Hunter Dobbins may be in the rotation moving forward as well. It’s too early for No. 9 Jurrangelo Cijntje -- who isn’t exactly tearing it up in Triple-A anyway -- but with space now freed up on the 40-man roster, the Cardinals have flexibility to give some guys a shot.

Bloom will keep his eyes on the prize

The Cardinals probably were never going to be buyers at the Deadline, even if they’d played better in July than they ultimately did. But because July was so poor, Bloom was able to keep his focus on the future, bringing in talent and, tellingly, not sacrificing any of the young players he has on hand, even ones who have stalled. (Rumors that they might trade, say, Nolan Gorman proved to be unfounded as well.)

The goal remains to have as many young pieces as possible, and with Frias, Ragsdale, Eagan and Santana, the Cardinals have added four players to an MLB Pipeline Top 30 that was already pretty impressive. This will not be the Cardinals’ year, but it was never going to be the year. Even before the Deadline, the Cardinals were in good position moving forward. They’re in even better position now.

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