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So Mo pulled a fast one on all of us and stated today that Michael Wacha and Jaime Garcia will be placed on the 15-DL. I guess Wacha’s “rest” was a little more significant after all. This isn’t the end of the world obviously, but the timing certainly doesn’t help. The redbirds are coming off a home stand where they went 7-3, but still find themselves looking up at the Brewers in the central division with a very important road trip ahead.
The Cardinals will travel out west for three with the Colorado Rockies, four with the Los Angeles Dodgers, followed up with three against the San Francisco Giants, whom of which weren’t to kind to the birds in their last meeting at Busch.
This road trip as a whole is a good test for this team, who so far has had an up and down season. I’ve heard a lot of people calling the team out for poor play during stretches and then forgetting all about it when they go on a win streak like they did against the Nationals. All I can say is, RELAX!
Coming into the season many of the “experts” picked St. Louis to finish as the top dog in the National League. I’ve never been a fan of picking teams before the season starts, especially with baseball. The season is 162 games for a reason; a team is going to go through their fair share of ups and downs. And the Cardinals are a young club, one of the youngest in all of baseball with an average age of 27.8 years. It’s certainly going to be hard for guys to live up to such lofty expectations.
We as a city have been rather fortunate, especially the past decade, with the success of our baseball team. The team is going to go through rough patches, that’s the way it works. So please don’t go calling for irrational trades when the offense is struggling, they’ll come around.
Speaking of trades, chatter has picked up on the possibility of the Tampa Bay Rays moving their lefty ace David Price. Ken Rosnethal and other media outlets have reported that the Cardinals might be interested in attaining Price to join their rotation. With the recent set back of Garcia and Wacha that could become a real possibility.
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No one knows for sure the extent of Wacha’s shoulder injury, but Garcia has been on and off the injury wagon for quite some time now. St. Louis has never really had a quality dominant left-handed pitcher in the rotation so Price could certainly be that guy.
Obviously John Mozeliak has the pieces to get a deal done and could move in a variety of directions. You would have to think either Shelby Miller or Carlos Martinez would be packaged with another player or two in the deal. Stephen Piscotty could be a tradable piece as the Cardinals have a chunk of outfielders in their system. Trading Matt Adams or Allen Craig doesn’t seem like a good idea right now, but it isn’t out of the question.
Mozeliak certainly should be hesitant to deal away players because he’s got a lot of good ones in his cards. It’s a great problem to have, but at some point at least some of these outfielders need to go. I’ve been disappointed so far with Peter Bourjos, but I’m glad Jon Jay has found his stroke and is contributing on a more consistent basis. Though it leaves no room for rookie Oscar Taveras, who if in the majors needs to be in the lineup everyday.
I respect Mike Matheny and what he’s done as the manager of this team so far. He’s got a tough job, especially this year with so many options. The one thing I will criticize him for is in trusting his bullpen. He’s done a better job of late, but he has to trust in all of his guys to get the job done.
I am curious to see in what direction Mozeliak will take this team as the trade deadline appears. One way or another you’d have to think a big move is coming. I’ve got full faith he’ll make a quality move that will better this team down the stretch. As for right now, the offense will come around; we just need to be patient.
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