Cardinals Rebuild Already Facing 'Head-Scratching' Question

The St. Louis Cardinals have had an unexpected season, to say the least.

At the very least, the season has been interesting. After a quiet offseason, St. Louis outperformed expectations to kick off the season. The Cardinals actually were one of the hottest teams in the National League at one point. Things changed, though, at the worst time.

The Cardinals struggled leading up to the All-Star break and eventually went on to sell ahead of the trade deadline. Now, questions are still lingering.

Did the Cardinals make the right decisions early on in 2025?

Mar 27, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak looks on during opening day ceremonies before the game between the Cardinals and the Minnesota Twins at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

ESPN's Bradford Doolittle shared a column highlighting lingering questions for a guide for each organization for the rest of the season following the trade deadline. For the Cardinals, unsurprisingly, Doolittle talked about how the season has been a "head-scratcher."

"No. 18. St. Louis Cardinals," Doolittle said. "Win average: 79.4 (Last: 85.5, 13th). In the playoffs: 2.6 percent (Last: 43.2 percent). Champions: 0.1 percent (Last: 1.0 percent). Hope for a run: There's always another next year The Cardinals' slide, combined with their deadline-related offloading, has them on more of a path to challenge the Pirates for last than the Reds for third. And wasn't that the design all along? It's too bad St. Louis played well early this season, or it might have gone into full reset mode earlier, though all of those no-trade clauses would have made it difficult.

"This is a proud franchise, but this season has been a head-scratcher. If, from the end of last season, the aim of the organization was to maximize its chances of winning in 2025, the Cardinals could have mounted a sustained run. And it's hard to see what would have been lost in the effort."

The Cardinals talked a big game throughout the offseason with trades on the mind but the club ended up pretty much staying pat in large part due to no-trade clauses. The Cardinals did sell ahead of the trade deadline, but again, no-trade clauses came into play. The season has been a surprise for the Cardinals to this point, but there's only so much they can do when no-trade clauses are in play. While this is the case, there's still time left in the season and it's going to be important to see who plays well before Chaim Bloom comes in and makes changes.

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