ST. LOUIS — Barring a miracle, the St. Louis Cardinals will most likely miss the playoffs for the first in five years, and they could finish with a record under .500 for the first time since 2007.
Even more shocking, the 2023 Cardinals team was out of contention by mid-July. They started the season 10-24, had a historically awful June finishing the month 8-15, and now are sitting in last place in the National League Central division along with the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 41-53 record.
This means that the Cardinals will be sellers at the deadline. And team president John Mozeliak came out and admitted the team is looking to rebuild quickly and contend again in 2024.
When asked about the midseason rebuild, Mozeliak said, “Well, it’s definitely different. I don't know if I would use the phrase, ‘not trying to compete.’ I mean, obviously, if there are people that are getting moved out of here, that's just going to create more opportunity for someone else. I feel like with where this club's at right now. We just know it's not working intact, and so we do know we have to make some changes.”
According to Mozeliak, Paul Goldschmidt, and Nolan Arenado will not be part of those changes, so don’t expect them to go anywhere.
On Tuesday’s episode of the Locked On Cardinals podcast, host JD Hafron discussed someone who could be traded at the deadline; outfielder Dylan Carlson.
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Heading into Spring Training, Hafron believed the Cardinals' outfield would be Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Carlson, and Lars Nootbaar. He didn’t like the centerfield competition saying, “I wasn’t a huge fan of them all competing for it. I kind of liked Tyler O’Neill, who won gold Gloves in left field to sit in left field. I thought Carlson should be in center and Nootbaar in right.”
But this season has not gone well for the team in many aspects, and the outfield is one of the problems. All three of those guys, O’Neill, Carlson, and Nootbaar, have been hurt this year—Nootbaar’s first injury happened in game one of the season. He’s since injured his back and has come back from that. The Cardinals started the season with five outfielders, including rookie Jordan Walker and Alec Burleson, so they had people to fill in when the injuries occurred.
Plus, Carlson didn’t get a lot of opportunities in April or May and has played in 58 of the team’s games. Then he injured his ankle on May 14 and didn’t return until early June. O’Neill is scheduled to return on Tuesday, meaning Carlson will now be the odd man out in the outfield again and relegated to the bench.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol told Carlson the news after Monday’s win over the Marlins, and the outfielder fought back tears when talking to reporters. “I feel like I can really help this team, but opportunities have been scattered, and it hurts, honestly. I just try to do what I can to be ready for these guys and ultimately try to help us win.”
So what does this all mean for Dylan Carlson? He and guys like Nolan Gorman, Brendan Donovan, Tommy Edman, Jack Flaherty, Jordan Montgomery, Jordan Hicks, and Tyler O'Neill could be available at the trade deadline as the Cardinals do their soft rebuild.
Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported Carlson was a trade target for the floundering New York Yankees, who are still buyers. Of course, everything is in flux over the next two weeks, and some teams who look like buyers now could become sellers by the time August 1 arrives.
We do know the Cardinals are in sell mode, and Carlson could be one of the players to go. He has batted .243/.350/.376 with five home runs and 21 runs batted in. He doesn’t exactly knock the cover off the ball, but he’s still young (only 24) and could be a helpful piece for a contender.
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