STL Cardinals Rumors: John Mozeliak contradicts himself about 2023 offseason
One of the big questions about the St. Louis Cardinals offseason was the lack of addressing starting pitching. It seemed to be an obvious need for the club, yet they made no move of consequence in that department, apparently content to ride it out with the five-man rotation of Adam Wainwright, Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas, Jordan Montgomery, and Steven Matz.
President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said as much about the situation in January, per Katie Woo of The Athletic, as he said, "A lot of people had us connected to the shortstop market, the starting pitching market, and candidly, we weren't all that active in it."
Seems pretty cut-and-dry that they made a conscious decision to not be in the starting pitching market.
Fast-forward from January to May, though, and Mozeliak seems to be singing a different tune. Appearing on BK & Ferrario on 101ESPN, he was asked again about what he felt now about the team's approach to pitching in the offseason and Mozeliak's answer completely contradicted his January comments:
"I can say this; there were a lot of starting pitcher we were engaged with in the offseason and I can tell you that almost all of them are either on the IL now or are not pitching well."
He also added that the "engagement" was to supplement the Cardinals' five guys and "build in some protection".
Unless he's debating the semantics between being "active" and "engaged" these are two completely different approaches. Subsequently, it reads like he's trying to save a bit of face by saying the Cards are lucky that their pursuits didn't work out because they wouldn't be helping the cause anyway.
Where the truth in what St. Louis and Mozeliak were doing this offseason in the pitching market lies is hard to tell. But his latest comments are far from flattering given his previous statements on the matter.
STL Cardinals Rumors: Tyler O'Neill trade still being explored
When outfielder Tyler O'Neill was benched by Oli Marmol earlier in the season, the potential for the Cardinals, a club rich with young outfield talent, to end up trading away the 27-year-old heated up. That seemed to have died down but, according to one team insider, that's still a possibility on the table.
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch was asked by a reader if St. Louis would still consider moving the outfielder and the team insider had this to say:
"The Cardinals will entertain trading Tyler O'Neill for starting pitching, and that is not related to the shoulder or anything other than the Cardinals have an outfield situation right now that they like and O'Neill is on the IL."
As mentioned, O'Neill has been on the IL since May 5 with a lower back strain that has been quite pesky. In fact, his return timetable is still unknown and he's yet to set a date for a rehab assignment.
With that said, Goold noted that the Cardinals are "wary of another [Randy] Arozerana situation" wherein they trade away a young player, specifically in the outfield, without giving him the proper playing time or opportunities only for him to blossom elsewhere.
Despite that wariness, it does seem that the 27-year-old outfield, hitting just .228 with a .620 OPS prior to his injury this season, could be a fantastic trade chip if the Cards are able to fight back into divisional contention and look to upgrade at the deadline. With Lars Nootbaar, Alec Burleson, Dylan Carlson, Jordan Walker, and Juan Yepez all in the organization, they have options to turn to without O'Neill.
What they could potentially deal O'Neill for, however, remains to be seen.
STL Cardinals Rumors: What's the plan now with Matthew Liberatore?
Left-handed pitcher Matthew Liberatore has been the No. 4 prospect in the Cardinals system for the past two seasons, but his debut in MLB a year ago did not go to plan. He made nine appearances and seven starts with St. Louis, accruing a 5.97 ERA and 1.73 WHIP along with a dismal 28/18 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 34.2 innings.
The Cards preached and practiced patience with Liberatore entering the 2023 season, though. And after dominating early in Triple-A, he made his season debut for St. Louis on Wednesday night, going toe-to-toe with Brewers ace Corbin Burnes. The 23-year-old southpaw won that battle with a gem of a performance, allowing no runs on three hits, three walks and striking out six.
For a pitching staff that hasn't gotten what they've needed from starters this season, Liberatore provided a real glimmer of hope. So after that impressive debut this year, what is the plan for the young hurler?
Cardinals manager Oli Marmol spoke on that on Thursday ahead of Game 1 against the Dodgers, offering a strange answer given Liberatore's performance, saying that he might get a start in the short-term, but could also be used out of the bullpen soon and get another start down the line.
Not only does that sound non-committal and like a non-answer when there isn't a real plan, it also doesn't make a bit of sense.
Though there have been some recent bounce-back performances from the likes of Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery, the fact of the matter is that none of St. Louis' main five starters have an ERA under 4.20 this season and only two (Montgomery and Miles Mikolas) are under 5.20.
Liberatore, however, obviously provided a spark to win a series against a divisional opponent, but he's more than earned a spot in the rotation with his work in Triple-A, especially in relation to how bad the starting pitching has been for the Cards. So to seemingly dismiss that feels like a massive mistake, particularly for a team still eight games under .500 and trying to turn things around.
