The trade deadline has come and gone and the annual tradition of grading each team’s moves or lack thereof is complete.
The championship-desperate Padres are “winners” for selling off nearly their entire farm system for a series of moves headlined by Juan Soto.
The retooling Cubs are “losers” for not moving Willson Contreras and Ian Happ when they could have maximized returns before free agency.
The Cardinals are, not surprisingly, somewhere in the upper middle.
Soto didn’t come walking through that door, but the Cardinals pitching – their biggest weakness – was improved through swaps for starters Jose Quintana and Jordan Montgomery. The bullpen could be improved by the addition of Chris Stratton, if the Cardinals are correct about the tweaks to his pitch mix they think will help. The bullpen will certainly be improved by Andre Pallante shifting back into it now that the Cardinals have added two starters.
The costs for the additions, once the surprise of seeing fan-favorite (and injured) center field Harrison Bader depart for the Big Apple, seem unremarkable at the moment. The Cardinals' prized prospects are still protected. I'd give it a B-plus grade. The Cardinals fell into the upper middle of trade-deadline grades, right about where they often find themselves, caught somewhere between liking where they are but wanting to get better, but also fretting over the difference in cost between hoping they get better and guaranteeing they will.
IN A BETTER SPOT . . .
Jose Quintana: He’s gone from pitching for the 41-win Pirates to a division opponent that has a chance to win the division. He’s pumped. He bet on himself with a bounce-back deal and this is his reward. He’s always liked the idea of pitching in St. Louis and was excited when his agent heard from the Cardinals this offseason. An offer never came. Now he has his chance.
Dylan Carlson: During Soto Mania as the Cardinals played the Nationals on the road, the Cardinals informed the 23-year-old outfielder they were not looking to move him. Now he’s the starting center fielder after the Bader trade. Perhaps for seasons to come. The thought of including Carlson in a Soto deal never made much sense here, considering it would mean removing the one healthy, performing centerfielder from a team hoping to benefit from the Soto splash. Carlson wasn’t the make-or-break player in that non-deal, the Cardinals have insisted, but facts like that get lost in fan narratives. There is a new kind of pressure on Carlson moving forward, and he seems up to the challenge.
Lars Nootbaar and others in the outfield mix: Nootbaar has a chance to secure something close to an every-day starting job with Carlson playing center and Bader in pinstripes. If Tyler O’Neill can stay healthy, the third outfield spot will fluctuate unless someone pins it down. Can Noot do it? Corey Dickerson is slugging .625 since June. Brendan Donovan and Juan Yepez (when healthy) could factor in there. The Cardinals have viewed Class-AAA outfielder Alec Burleson as ready to hit at the major league level for a while now. His path to promotion could get easier now. Nootbaar could limit the competition.
Malcom Nunez: His road to the majors just got shorter. He was the headliner in the Quintana deal, and the Pirates will want to make sure he's the next former Cards minor leaguer to flourish elsewhere. If he does, some of the same fans who wanted to ship out every prospect for Soto will be hammering the Cardinals for trading him. That’s just how this stuff goes.
Edmundo Sosa: Traded for a minor league pitcher to a Phillies team that is currently competing with the Cardinals for a wild-card spot, the utility infielder could have a legitimate shot to become an every-day player for the Phillies. He never fully convinced the Cardinals he was that guy here. And when he pushed ahead of Paul DeJong for playing time last season, his progress was wiped clean at the next spring training. Time to find out if he was undervalued or will face the same fate elsewhere.
IN A TOUGHER SPOT . . .
Jordan Montgomery: His old Yankees team, per FanGraphs projections, had a 100 percent chance to make the postseason, a 95.1 percent chance to win the division and an 11.3 percent chance to win the whole dang thing. His new one has a 53.1 percent chance to make the postseason, a 25.3 percent chance to win the division and a 1.3 percent chance to win the World Series. Reports out of New York said Montgomery was stunned to be traded. You think? His challenge is to shake off the shock and help the Cardinals hoe a harder road than the Yankees. I’d bet he’s motivated. In his first conversation with Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, Montgomery apologized for sounding down about the trade in his initial comments to New York reporters. He stressed he's excited to join the Cardinals. No apology necessary. Marmol is just fine if Montgomery turns the Yankees' slight into motivation to prove them wrong. His first chance comes Saturday in a start against his old team. Go figure.
Andre Pallante: He slides back into the bullpen after the additions of Quintana and Montgomery. Unfair? A bit. Best option? You bet. Pallante is on pace for an innings workload he is unfamiliar with if his current use as a starter continues. More importantly, he was wicked effective in the bullpen before the rotation’s issues thrust him forward into that role. Remember, he had a 1.63 ERA and held opponents to a .671 OPS as a reliever earlier this season. Marmol loved being able to call upon him to put out a fire. Now he can again.
Jake Woodford: He has a 3.05 ERA in the bigs this season and has limited major league opposition to a .660 OPS. And yet, he has been freed from Class-AAA Memphis for just 11 appearances with the Cardinals. His repertoire doesn't seem to fit what the Cardinals are prioritizing with their pitchers these days, enough so that his encouraging results are shrugged off and even ignored. I don't get it. I am as confused as you. I was pretty surprised a team that thinks it can find a better use for Woodford didn't come get him before the trade deadline.
