St. Louis Cardinals Not Active At Deadline: Here’s Why


Of all teams dreaming of World Series crowns, the St. Louis Cardinals stand an excellent chance to bring home the coveted title. Owning the top ERA and number of quality starts certainly helps, but what’s more impressive is the hitting. How would an 18th-ranked, run-producing team impress Cards fans? By capitalizing on scoring opportunities, then counting on Trevor Rosenthal to nail down the ninth. It’s worked all season, which is why the 60-34 Cardinals need nothing more than Gatorade to easily win the National League Central, and possibly own October.

Carlos Martinez, Lance Lynn, and Michael Wacha provide consistent pitching where other teams fail. That’s not including John Lackey, a career 3.97 ground ball pitcher who’s pitching a full run under his average this year. Forgetting about Adam Wainwright was difficult for many, but playing without him hasn’t been difficult as the Matheny-led crew has proven. Couple the starting rotation with Seth Maness in middle relief, you’ll see why spending money for top guns isn’t being entertained. (Fun fact: Adam Wainwright gave up 19 runs in return to action, getting battered by an armada of 8-year olds.)

Hitting may seem problematic down the stretch, but there’s an August deadline for waiver claims. St. Louis standing pat and trusting the hitting they’ve been blessed with would be intelligent, although asking Mark Reynolds and guys of age to step up production may be fruitful, too. Jhonny Peralta is leading the Cardinals offensive charge (.299, 14,48), but Kolten Wong is the only St. Louis player other than Peralta with double digit homers (10). Four others currently sit at nine, although they’re definitely pulling hits in mass numbers.

Unlike the Pirates, Yankees, Cubs, and Angels, the St. Louis Cardinals have balance across the board. Other teams mentioned have ‘ok’ hitting or ‘sufficient’ pitching, which won’t last too far into October. John Mozeliak, who quarterbacks the front office, has probably kicked around some trade ideas, but having just called up Stephen Piscotty means he’s confident minor leaguers are developing nicely. The team doesn’t lack the wherewithal to buy into the trade deadline hype — they’re just that good.

It would be an almost dramatic surprise if St. Louis Cardinals executives made moves to enter an already-locked-down divisional battle. Should an epic fail happen between now and August’s deadline for making waiver claims, there’s always other methods of obtaining talent from teams heading into the basement.

We’ll have all the Cardinals news, along with Baltimore trade deadline theatrics and more, right here at Inquisitr Sports.

[Photo by Jon Durr / Getty Images Sport]

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