Randy Arozarena, Adolis Garcia, Sandy Alcanatara, Zac Gallen, Lane Thomas. These players were all St. Louis Cardinals at some point in their professional careers. And each of them have since been traded to other teams, where they’ve flourished as star big leaguers.
So what does this list of players have to do with the Cardinals’ 2023 trade deadline strategy? Everything, according to one MLB insider.
St. Louis Cardinals rumors: Looking to play it safe at the MLB Trade Deadline?
In a recent article, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required) described the St. Louis front office’s mentality as it braces for some version of a summer sell off after what has been, to this point, an extremely disappointing season.
Rosenthal writes that the Cardinals are likely to play it safe at the deadline, open to dealing rental pieces like pitchers Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty, rather than taking bigger swings like trading one of their controllable outfielders, namely Dylan Carlson.
The reason being?
"“The Cardinals would fear Carlson becoming the next Randy Arozarena, Adolis Garcia or Lane Thomas.”"
Can you blame them? After seeing what each of those respective players has become, it’s understandable that St. Louis would want to employ a sense of caution when it comes to dealing away big league assets like Carlson, Lars Nootbaar or Jordan Walker. However, these past experiences shouldn’t necessarily inform the Cardinals’ incumbent summer strategy.
Perhaps this season should serve as a wake-up call for the organization, which has had the same upper management for over a decade. That maybe the status quo for one of baseball’s most well-run operations is no longer satisfactory with respect to winning in a division that now boasts some of baseball’s best young talent in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. The future resides in those two cities, not in St. Louis.
Regardless, the Cardinals don’t seem up to challenging the status quo … at least not at this summer’s trade deadline. And as long as that “scared” mentality remains the same, St. Louis may be headed for some rare organizational uncertainty and dysfunction.