The 2021 trade deadline has come and gone, and for the first time since 2018, the St. Louis Cardinals have made some moves.
All within the final hour of the trade window, St. Louis went out and picked up left-handers J.A. Happ and Jon Lester from the Twins and Nationals, respectively. These moves are somewhat head scratchers.
The Cardinals traded righty Jon Gant and minor league lefty Evan Sisk to Minnesota in exchange for Happ.
Happ, 38, has had quite a rough season, going 5-6 with a 6.77 ERA over 19 starts with the Twins. He finished sixth in the AL Cy Young award race in 2018, where he split time with the Blue Jays and the Yankees. He struggled in 2019, pitching to a 4.91 ERA, but rebounded in last year’s pandemic-shortened season, going 2-2 with a 3.47 ERA.
Lester is another pitcher who’s struggled over the past few seasons. His free-fall began late in the 2019 season. He’s 3-5 over 16 starts and a 5.02 ERA this season. He hasn’t finished with an ERA below 4 since 2018, though he does bring a strong postseason pedigree to the Cards, having won two World Series with the Red Sox and one with the Cubs. He beat St. Louis in both of his starts in the 2013 series with Boston.
These trades are both certainly head scratchers on paper, but consider this perspective. The Cardinals haven’t gotten after it at the trade deadline in a long time, and President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak did keep his promise about going and getting pitchers from outside the organization. Lester is a proven postseason pitcher, and Happ isn’t far removed from success, given his bounce back campaign last year.
One could argue that St. Louis could have done better, which would be a pretty strong argument given the stats of these guys. But they really needed to plug a hole, and they’ve done just that. These trades could be classified as low-risk, high-reward type moves if they work out. And Jack Flaherty and Miles Mikolas are progressing well in their rehab assignments, so there’s still something to look forward to, especially if these trades pan out.
Cardinals fans, don’t shoot the messenger.
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