CHICAGO -- No sooner did Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak reveal that ownership would likely be on board with spending at the MLB Trade Deadline if the team is a contender did the club go out and look like anything but that in an unsightly loss to the Cubs on Friday. The tradition-rich Cardinals have been playing baseball since 1882, and never had they given up more home runs than they did on Friday, when the Cubs kickstarted the Fourth of July fireworks with eight bottle rockets over Wrigley Field’s ivy-covered walls. And no, the wind wasn’t even blowing out at steamy Wrigley -- something that is usually the kindling to any offensive explosions. Even though the flags on the foul poles laid limp, Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong turned the game into something resembling the Home Run Derby with their combined five long balls. It was a truly disappointing day for a Cardinals club that limped into an off-day the day prior hoping to bounce back with the kind of resolve it has shown all season. Mozeliak will tell anyone who will listen that he always saw this sort of stirring season coming from the Cards -- one filled with 21 come-from-behind victories and a shared belief that they are never out of games. They were out of Friday’s game pretty early, as veteran right-hander Miles Mikolas surrendered a franchise-worst six home runs. Had this loss come in May or June, it likely wouldn’t have stung as badly as it did. The schedule says the Cardinals still have 72 games remaining, but the club is aware that its season hangs in the balance over the coming three weeks. Systematically work their way back into the race for the NL Central and/or a Wild Card slot, and the Cards figure to add resources before Aug. 1, or at least stand pat. However, if they fall out of contention -- they ended Saturday’s game 5 1/2 games back of the Cubs -- the Cards could see valuable parts of their roster sold off to others. |
Mozeliak said he is pulling for “really hard decisions to make” at the Deadline, and he is confident that the DeWitt family will be willing to add talent if the Cards are in the hunt in the days leading up to the July 31st Trade Deadline. “It depends on what we look like,” Mozeliak said from the first-base dugout while decked out in patriotic attire that included a light blue jacket, a red-and-blue striped shirt and red canvas sneakers. “Revenue is part of it. We knew this year would be a little bit of a challenge. Nothing has changed in that regard. But I do think that if ownership saw we were in a spot and it made sense to do something, I think they’d support it.” The fear inside the Cardinals now is that if the recent wobble continues and the Cardinals fall off the pace in the NL Central, key pieces will be traded away and tarnish an otherwise stirring season. Three of the players with expiring contracts -- closer Ryan Helsley, key setup man Phil Maton and flourishing swingman Steven Matz -- are the likeliest to be traded for future assets if the Cards fall out of the hunt for the playoffs. |
Mozeliak, who made it clear he would like to create a spot on the starting staff for Michael McGreevy, admitted he still has a bitter taste in his mouth from 2023 when the Cardinals were sellers at the Deadline for the first time in decades. That team limped to the finish line and ended up 71-91. “You know there are sacrifices when you blow up a club, and some can take years to recover from, and some take months,” Mozeliak said. “That wasn’t fun to watch, but we added a lot of asset value to the franchise.” Rather than seeking long-term assets for incoming president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom -- “That really hasn’t changed any of our thinking yet,” Mozeliak said -- he would rather acquire pieces that might push his final Cards squad into the playoffs. “It’s bad to approach the next 30 days speaking in absolutes,” Mozeliak said of the Cards potentially being labeled as “buyers” or “sellers.” “Trying to understand what someone may want to give you for something is probably worth hearing or at least listening because you can always say no. The mindset is to remain open-minded. I hope we have really hard decisions to make come July 31, because that means we’re playing well.” |
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INJURED HERRERA STILL LIKELY WEEKS AWAY
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One reason the Cardinals have struggled offensively of late -- particularly against left-handed pitching -- has been because of injuries to right-handed hitters Willson Contreras (hand contusion), Nolan Arenado (right index sprain/right shoulder impingement), Iván Herrera (Grade 2 hamstring strain) and Jordan Walker (appendicitis). While the Cards did get Contreras and Arenado back on Friday, they are likely still several days away from returns for Herrera and Walker. The loss of Herrera, who was having a breakout season while slashing .320/.392/.533 with a .925 OPS, eight homers and 36 RBIs in just 150 at-bats, was particularly crippling to the Cards. While the inclination might be to try and rush Herrera back into the lineup, Mozeliak said the severity of his injury doesn’t make that possible. |
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“He’s feeling good, and he’s starting to do more baseball activity, but it’s about that balance of, ‘How far do you push, knowing what you know?,’” said Mozeliak, who doesn’t expect Herrera to return until after the MLB All-Star break. “If you didn’t have that MRI, you might be more aggressive. But I am hopeful that probably in a week or a week and a half, he’ll be out on a rehab [assignment].” As for Walker, the Cardinals initially thought he would be back with the team by now, but the 23-year-old right fielder is still working at Double-A Springfield to try and regain his timing at the plate. |
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