While the St. Louis Cardinals were active at the trade deadline, much of the attention has shifted to the moves they couldn’t make—largely due to their own doing. John Mozeliak managed to move relievers like Ryan Helsley and Phil Maton in exchange for prospects, a move Chaim Bloom is likely to appreciate. Still, the Cardinals’ deadline could’ve been more productive had they been able to offload some of their more high-profile veterans like Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras.
According to Bob Nightengale, the Cardinals were eager to deal aging players but were hampered by no-trade clauses that the front office had originally agreed to. Nightengale wrote that the team hoped to move starters Sonny Gray and Miles Mikolas, along with Contreras, but all three players refused to waive their no-trade rights.
Willson Contreras, in particular, was seen as a missed opportunity. Despite being a three-time All-Star and World Series winner with a .789 OPS this season, he stayed put. His transition to first base—prompted by declining defensive skills at catcher—didn’t diminish his trade value, especially in a market light on power bats.
Even though Mozeliak made a final-hour trade, sending Phil Maton to Texas for two minor leaguers, the overall deadline performance was underwhelming. Many of the players he couldn’t move were only immovable because of no-trade clauses he himself negotiated. In Arenado’s case, the front office tried multiple times to trade him, but the star third baseman turned down deals to teams like the Astros and Angels.
Ultimately, Mozeliak’s last trade deadline was far from a win. His inability to maximize the Cardinals’ assets—including Contreras, whom he signed to a five-year, $87.5 million deal in 2023—will likely define the latter part of his tenure in St. Louis.
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