The St. Louis Cardinals had three All-Stars this season, and according to Curt Bishop on SI, despite the standings, the team should still be looking to move one of the prized horses in the bullpen.
Riley O’Brien has been one of the team’s most reliable options in the later innings this season. Despite the team’s performance, there is still a sizable chance the Cardinals will move on from O’Brien in favor of future pieces.
Deadline Trends Could Make This A No-Brainer
O’Brien has 24 saves this season and a 3.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Those 24 saves are good for 4th in all of baseball, and with three wins this season, O’Brien has contributed to and recorded a win or save in over half the Cardinals’ wins.
Last season, the reliever market exploded at the deadline. The Cardinals took advantage of that last year. They bought back sizable returns for relievers as they began to fade down the stretch of the season.
One of the pieces they got is already impacting the major league roster. Blaze Jordan was acquired at the deadline for Steven Matz. It would make sense that with the trajectory on the right path, but not quite to true contenders yet, the Cardinals brass would opt to make the tough decisions and move their valuable pieces.
‘No Shortcuts’ in St. Louis
The Cardinals are exceeding expectations, once thought to be a bottom feeder this season, as Chaim Bloom took over the reins from John Mozeliak and began implementing his vision to return the Cardinals to the top of the National League Central. The Baby Birds are ahead of schedule, 50-45 in the first half of the season, but, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Bloom expressed, “Shortcuts aren’t going to get where you want to go.”
The other route that the next few weeks can take is that the Cardinals force the hand of Bloom. Making him hold on to the valuable pieces because the players in the clubhouse could make a case, with their play on the field, that they can compete in October. It will take a dominant stretch from the Cardinals to do so, but not out of the realm of possibility, as the team has toppled some of the league’s best already this season.
O’Brien is the most valuable trade chip that the Cardinals have, and Bishop even mentioned it: “Relievers can be volatile”. If the Cardinals were to sell high on a player with team control like O’Brien, who is having the productive season needed to bring in the right return. Given the continued history of relievers coming at a high price at the Trade Deadline. It might be a disservice to the future for Bloom to hold on to him unless the Cardinals come out of the All-Star Break and force him to hold.
Cardinals Must Consider Moving All-Star Top Priority at Deadline