Richie Palacios one of the few bright spots of Cardinals season, a clear steal

The St. Louis Cardinals expect to compete, year-in and year-out. Unfortunately, they had to face a tough reality leading up to the trade deadline this season: Competing was not in the hand of cards this year.

Several factors played into that reality. One was the fact that the leftover element of the previous era, Adam Wainwright, wasn't quite cutting it. Another was that additions from the offseason didn't pan out as expected and/or took longer to get in sync than expected, mainly, Willson Contreras subbing in for longtime catcher Yadier Molina caused growing pains for the battery on a near-nightly basis to start the year.

A transition from the era of yesteryear to whatever is next was tougher than advertised.

It's been a tough year for St. Louis, but their ability to face the reality before the trade deadline rather than after allowed them to make upgrades to the roster for the future while liquidating expiring pieces. One such trade that sent out Jordan Montgomery to the Rangers brought back Richie Palacios, who has already proven to be an excellent add.

Compared to other teams in similar situations, the Cardinals did alright. Look at the Los Angeles Angels, who sold the farm in order to push their chips to the center, only to regret it a week later. There's something noble about doing whatever you can to compete, but it's also important to be wise. The Cardinals were prescient, it would appear, by nabbing a solid young player in Palacios.

Palacios has played in just 18 games with the Cardinals, but is slashing .298/.327/.596. He's bagged 28 bases this season, just four fewer than he did with the Guardians last year in 54 games.

The plate discipline is remarkable, too, with him striking out just six times in 50 plate appearances, a really great rate for such a young player. Paul Goldschmidt's first 18 games with the Cardinals featured 26 strikeouts, for comparison's sake.

Hopefully, moves like this ensure the Cardinals bad 2023 is a one-year retool, not a multi-year rebuild.

Cardinals expected to get after Aaron Nola in free agency

The St. Louis Cardinals need to retool their starting rotation this offseason, that much is clear. Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty were both traded ahead of the deadline. Adam Wainwright is set to retire. That leaves the rotation with Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz. Matthew Liberatore started a slew of games this year, but his role is in question entirely, though a strong spring training could earn him a spot in the rotation.

That leaves at least two, but likely three spots in the starting rotation for the Cardinals to consider. They'll likely look to free agency for most of them, and Aaron Nola is one that the Cardinals appear willing to spend on, perhaps even confident enough in to overspend on.

Derrick Goold reports that the Cardinals are gearing up for a big push to sign Nola. Goold reports that the Cardinals know their push to sign him is likely going to place them in a bidding war for the QB.

Nola is entering his 10th year next season, all with Philly thus far. While he's made just one All-Star team, he's been a steady and reliable pitcher, exactly what the Cardinals need. It could be tough to sign him away from the Phillies after he's spent his entire career there, the last two campaigns featuring fun runs at the playoffs.

Tyler O'Neill heads to IL, time with Cardinals heading for likely end

Tyler O'Neill appeared in 477 of a possible 972 Cardinals big league games from 2018 through 2023, a number that is sure to have solidified now that O'Neill has landed on the injured list. In a few years, his time with the Cardinals will bring up two words, "what if?"

What if his progress wasn't stifled by injuries?

What if the Cardinals were able to trade him before 2023 to help keep other aspects of their roster fortified?

Now, with O'Neill on the IL due to a right foot sprain, don't expect to see him play another game with the Cardinals this year. Perhaps, too, it'll be the end of his time with the Cardinals, period.

While O'Neill is under team control next season with an arbitration year, one has to think that as the Cardinals enter a pivotal, era-shifting offseason, there's a good chance they cut ties with O'Neill, in part because they have more reliable outfielders already on the roster.

Likely, they'll extend their trade deadline conversations around him and try to find a trade partner for him. The path to him getting back on the Cardinals roster is that his injury history dissuades teams from making offers. At this point, though, the Cardinals may be willing to offer him up for a relatively low bid.

As for what it means for O'Neill if that proves true, it's hard to say. His career has unfortunately been defined more by injuries than his incredible 2021 season at the plate where he slashed .286/.352/.560. After a 148 OPS+ that season, he fell to an average 100 and 95 in the two seasons after. That, in addition to his lack of availability, appears to have sealed his fate.

Surely, some team will see the potential in him getting back to that place and take a flier on him, but he won't quite get the earnings one might have envisioned for him coming off that season.