Apr 13, 2023; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery (47) pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
These three St. Louis Cardinals trade deadline deals from last year have turned against them.
The St. Louis Cardinals are looking like buyers this summer. A putrid start dug an early grave for the Cardinals. Questions about the pitching staff, multiple underperformers in the lineup, and a lackluster offseason have all led us to this point.
Not helping much either is what the Cardinals did at last year’s trade deadline. Three trades they made are beginning to do more than just turn heel on them. They’re setting up to destroy the Cardinals for maybe longer than just the 2023 season.
These three trades, while good when they first happened, are beginning to age poorly for St. Louis.
1) Cardinals trade turning against them: Jordan Montgomery for Harrison Bader
The narrative of this trade has changed immensely. The Cardinals acquired starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery from the New York Yankees last summer straight up for Harrison Bader. Bader was injured at the time and impatient Yankees fans were shocked to see the club trade one of their better arms. The failure of Frankie Montas fueled the anger even further.
Montgomery was excellent for the Cardinals in his 11 starts last year. He went 6-3 with a 3.11 ERA. It was everything they could’ve asked for. Meanwhile, Bader did pretty much the same thing he did while in St. Louis. A .217/.245/.283 slash line for the Yankees and no home runs in 49 plate appearances seemed like St. Louis robbed New York.
Maybe not.
Bader is now hitting .267/.295/.511 for the Yankees in his first 95 plate appearances of the season. Injuries are a major concern, but when he is on the field, Baer is mashing. There is a ton of room for improvement. As a center fielder in a weak era of players at the position, Bader’s performance has been more than acceptable.
Montgomery, on the other hand, is trending downward. A 3-7 record and 3.88 ERA might not seem too terrible. It’s certainly not good enough for a guy making almost twice as much as the player he was traded for. The Cardinals believed Montgomery was a solution for any questions they had about their rotation. Instead, he’s raising more of them and looking like he could get dumped this summer if they’re unable to snap out of it.