Place yourself in John Mozeliak’s Converse sneakers for a second.
You can see the self-described sunset of your marathon run as president of baseball operations approaching.
You have a team that, thanks to the expanded playoff picture, would be in if the postseason began today.
One of your biggest stars, Paul Goldschmidt, is a 36-year-old pending free agent. This could be your last shot with him, depending on how things play out from here.
One of your other biggest stars, Nolan Arenado, is a 33-year-old veteran who has made it quite clear he’s desperate to win now, not later.
Your rotation is anchored by aged arms. Your star catcher is 32. Your last season was a last-place disaster that still has plenty skeptical about this team’s second-half chances.
People are also reading…
This is the national narrative, the one painting the Cardinals as big trade-deadline buyers as the July 30 sorting day nears.
You are Mo. You know other front office leaders are wondering where you stand. You could use an arm, a bat, both. Your phone lights up with a text message from a front office peer fishing for intel. The message asks if Jordan Walker is in play. What do you say?
Do you shut it down, or let the talk continue?
It’s not hard to imagine something like this happening in real life in the coming weeks, if it hasn’t happened already.
“They should call the Cardinals and ask what it would take to get Jordan Walker,” wrote Jim Bowden of The Athletic a while back, answering a mailbag question about the Royals’ need for outfield offense.
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Cardinals designated hitter Jordan Walker sits on the bench with a computer tablet after striking out in a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Busch Stadium on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.
Walker’s name is going to keep coming up, and here’s why.
He’s a highly thought of young player who has had some major league success but isn’t currently contributing to the Cardinals’ big league season.
He’s a high-upside, cost-controlled player who, if acquired, could make a selling team feel a lot better about shifting gears toward the future.
He’s a player who falls into the category of players big trade-deadline buyers grit their teeth and deal, hoping the immediately impactful return will overwhelm everything else.
I do expect the Cardinals to be trade-deadline buyers, but I’ll pass on the notion they’re going to go summer blockbuster big, dealing Walker and whoever else scores them an epic haul. The Cardinals love to live in the middle. And like it or not, there are some solid reasons this time around to hedge.
In terms of performance, the Cardinals have been carrying Goldschmidt and Arenado more than the two superstars have been spearheading the team. Both remain on the wrong side of league-average offense as the All-Star break nears. Remember, the Cardinals didn’t move trade-deadline mountains to try to maximize dueling MVP-like seasons Goldschmidt (No. 1) and Arenado (No. 3) had in 2022. Should they really do it now? And if this does become the final season of Goldschmidt in a Cardinals uniform, isn’t Walker’s hopefully solved swing that much more important in 2025?
If you’re going to make the case to maximize the Goldschmidt-Arenado window, the best case could be made two seasons ago, not now. And we know how Mozeliak feels about those so-called windows. He prefers his signature sustained-success outlook ahead.
The other challenge? Some of the names who might have been viewed as potential trade chips have become more important lately. Entering Friday’s game in Washington, the Cardinals were 30-17 since Mother’s Day. They owned the most wins in the National League during that span. Alec Burleson, once a bench bat looking for a set role, has become a key hitter. Michael Siani continues to prove he’s the best defensive option in center. Pedro Pages has gone from depth catcher to clutch-hit provider. Every time Andre Pallante looks like he’s about to lose his grip on that fifth rotation spot, he follows it up with two strong starts.
Meanwhile Walker continues to search for sustained success at Class-AAA Memphis since his late-April demotion. The Cardinals have consistently said they are prioritizing his development more than the major league team’s thirst for improved outfield offense, even when reminded Walker posted an .802 on-base plus slugging percentage in the majors last season after that year’s (much shorter) Memphis tune-up ended.
Walker isn’t forcing the Cardinals’ hands through performance, though. Not steadily. He’s averaged .250 with a .310 on-base percentage and a .392 slugging percentage in more than 200 Class-AAA at-bats this season. Each of those numbers is lower than his major league production (.276/.342/.445) in 2023.
This won’t stop other teams from wanting Walker as the Cardinals look to buy.
He’s a 22-year-old former first-round pick. He’s not a free agent until 2030. Despite his brief demotion in 2023, he had an encouraging debut. He has improved defensively as an outfielder, could always go back to corner infield, or become a full-time designated hitter. We don’t have to run through all the examples, but there multiple versions of another team solving a former Cardinals player’s plateau at the plate.
There will be interest. What will be more interesting is how the Cardinals respond. It could say a lot about this team’s trade-deadline direction, which almost always is the best read on how a front office truly feels about a team and its chances.