The Cardinals Won the Trade Deadline
The Cardinals didn't get Juan Soto at the trade deadline. Jose Quintana and Jordan Montgomery have been great for the Cardinals. Noah Syndergaard was a good acquisition for Philadelphia. The Phillies needed a reliable mid-rotation starter behind Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler. The Padres have received 0.5 fWAR from Quintanka and Montgomery, while the Cards have gotten 2.6 f WAR. They have also received less from Josh Bell. It's a win for Cardinals, but not for Padres. For the rest of the league, the other players that were traded at deadline have outperformed the others. i
Tyler Mahle is injured and will miss the rest of the season. The Twins traded him for 3 of their top 23 prospects. Frankie Montas has been ineffective for the Yankees. They got him from the Orioles for Jorge Lopez and Lou Trivino. The Cardinals won the trade deadline. It's good for them. For the Twins it's bad. Since the deadline they have gone 20-29 and lie in 3rd place in the AL Central with a sub-.500 record.
The Cardinals won the trade deadline. They got Luis Castillo from the Seattle Mariners. Castillos has been a success story since the move. The Mariners gave up 3 of their top 5 prospects and a 4th one. They also got a 5-year, $108 million contract.
Jake Odorizzi has been terrible with the Braves. He is averaging fewer than 5 innings per start in Atlanta. The Cardinals won the trade deadline. Will Smith found his stuff again and Odarizzo lost it.
Jordan Montgomery has been outstanding for the Cardinals. He has a 3.12 ERA, 3 FIP, and 1.16 xFIP. Montgomery allowed just one run in his first 4 starts. In 6 of his 10 starts with his new team, he’s yielded one or less runs.
Jose Quintana has been the best Cardinals starter for at least 2 weeks. He has improved his performance since the trade deadline. The Cardinals only traded Malcom Nunez and Johan Oviedo to get him. Nunesz can only play first base and third base, but he's been great since going to Pittsburgh. Ovyingo is the only piece of the deal that could burn the Cardinals. They have Ke’Bryan Hayes as a long-term third baseman, and Paul Goldschmidt as first baseman. It's possible that Nnez could be an option at 1B/DH soon.
The Cardinals won the trade deadline. They got two of the three best starters on the market for a blocked prospect, a reliever and an injured centerfielder. The Cardinals did better than the Mariners. The scouting department and coaching staff made the deals work.
Both Montgomery and Quintana have improved since the trade deadline. The Cardinals are willing to tweak their arsenals to squeeze more production out of their players. The changeup has become Quintanas least used pitch in the last two months. He started throwing it again this year after not throwing much earlier in his career.
The Cardinals won the trade deadline. Quintana and Montgomery have revitalized the pitching staff since the deadline and they may need to anchor it during a playoff run. The Cardinals get enough credit for finding undervalued or underproducing assets and turning them into weapons.
