Despite multiple moves at MLB trade deadline, Cardinals outfield remains congested

There used to be a time — in the days when all people weren’t instantaneously connected to each other through screens in their pockets — players could let the trade deadline come and pass with scarcely a thought about it.

If someone knew his contract was expiring or had asked out, they might anticipate a trade.

Otherwise, until you were told that the manager needs to see you, it was just another day at the yard.

That’s now ancient history, and more players than ever before are willing to admit how much the day wears on them.

“It’s not like I’m just sitting there waiting for something to come through,” Cardinals rookie Alec Burleson said. “But I’m not trying to avoid it, either. It is what it is.”

“I read most of the same stuff that you guys read too,” outfielder Tyler O’Neill added. “It is what it is. It’s part of the business.”

It is what it is until it’s not, and for Burleson, O’Neill, and the rest of the Cardinals’ position players under contract or team control for next season, it wasn’t. Despite extended conversations with multiple teams about the possibility of swapping controllable outfielders for even more pitching, the Cardinals instead opted only to trade away so-called “rental” players who would otherwise have hit the market in a number of months.

With an outfield picture that’s once again crowded with a number of bodies if not particular certainty, the deadline might have posed an opportunity to achieve clarity. Instead, that can has again been kicked down the road.

Burleson, drafted as a first baseman, has played that position more often in recent weeks as the Cardinals seek days for Paul Goldschmidt to get off his feet. O’Neill, having just returned from the injured list after missing multiple months with a strained back, has boosted his batting average and flashed his considerable power since the middle of July.

Walking on eggshells

Either might have been sent out, as could fellow outfielder Dylan Carlson or perhaps an infielder such as Tommy Edman. All drew interest from around the league to varying degrees, and if the right trade concept had been presented, each might’ve found himself joining their six former teammates who were traded away since July 21.

“I think there was a couple guys walking on some eggshells in here,” O’Neill said. “It’s a tense time, for sure.”

In his case, the challenge for the Cardinals was finding a potential trade partner who would allow them to actualize what they believe is his true value, rather than jumping at the first chance to sell low. After finishing in the top ten of MVP voting in 2021, O’Neill has been chasing those results and the Cardinals have been bewitched by both talent and potential.

The challenge has been staying on the field, and displaying his wide swath of skills all at once. The ability to consistently access a top-tier skill set is what separates a Major Leaguer from someone with potential; the Cardinals believe O’Neill is that, and seemingly received only offers that would value him as a high-risk bounce back opportunity.

More about Burleson

Burleson lands in a different place on the experience spectrum, and while he was sought by multiple teams as an enticing bat whose underlying numbers imply inbound MLB success, it’s a struggle to see a trade which might give the Cardinals fair value for his current skills but also pay off his considerable potential.

With a low strikeout rate, strong exit velocity data, and a pedigree in the minor leagues which establishes him as an offensive weapon, Burleson tracks as a player on the upswing. The Cardinals were disinclined to let teams pay today’s price in an attempt to cash in on tomorrow’s potential.

“Once it got closer and closer, I was just waiting and waiting to see if Oli (Marmol) was going to come get me,” said Burleson, who in the hours ahead of the deadline could be found in the chair at his locker trying not to be conspicuously absorbed in his phone.

“Once it was over,” he added, “I wouldn’t say it was relief. It was just like, OK, we’re here, it’s over, let’s get to work.”

‘I had no idea what was going to happen’

Either or both, as well as Carlson, Edman and the others, could find themselves on the move this winter as the Cardinals continue to act to reshape their rotation. In a search for three starters, no stone will go unturned; playing out this season should not be taken as proof positive that they’ll be here to play out the next. That is the business in its purest sense.

“I had no idea what was going to happen, honestly,” O’Neill said. “I have no idea what goes on in the negotiation rooms and what kind of return they would be looking for. I’m just trying to keep my head down here to take care of my business, have confidence in my routine and just go to work.”

So, too, are his bosses, and that is ultimately the source of the unavoidable tension.

This story was originally published August 4, 2023 at 7:21 AM.