Major League Baseball

MLB Mailbag: What's going on with the Cardinals? Who might be on the trading block?

Updated May. 9, 2023 4:55 p.m. ET

Welcome to another edition of my MLB Mailbag. By now, you should know the deal: You ask, I answer. Let's go!

Who's getting fired in St. Louis before Labor Day? — Anonymous

Right now the Cardinals are like the bus in the movie "Speed" except Keanu Reeves is nowhere in sight. Will anybody in St. Louis get fired? I have no clue and I prefer not to speculate on the job security of people I don’t know personally, but ...

It’s not even Memorial Day and Willson Contreras, St. Louis’ big free-agent signing, has already been ... reassigned to a different department. Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak announced over the weekend that Contreras, who was given a five-year, $87 million deal to follow in Yadier Molina’s footsteps, would be moved off of catcher for the foreseeable future.

"Some of the things we expect, some of the things about the game we’ve become accustomed to, I think he realizes it’s going to require more preparation," Mozeliak told The Athletic. "Now the question is, can that happen? I guess we’ll have to find out."

THIS IS ALL SO WEIRD.

This franchise which, at least on the surface, has operated like a well-oiled machine for the past two decades, has suddenly and completely fumbled the chili. It’s a shocking development. Did this front office not ask around about Contreras’ defensive reputation? Did the Cardinals not play against him in the same division for seven seasons? Did they not realize that replacing Molina was going to be harder than writing a big check? It’s perplexing and there doesn't seem to be any easy way out of this conundrum.

It’s early, but who do you suspect to be on the trading block come July? — Anonymous

There’s a strong chance the upcoming trade deadline is a total snooze fest, with fewer big names dealt and blockbuster swaps than we’ve seen in recent years. In addition to the new expanded playoff format that gives more teams October hope (which was the case last year), here are a few reasons why this summer could be naptime on the trade front:

1. Many of the bad teams have already torn it down.

Six teams’ playoff odds sit under 3%: Washington, Colorado, Cincinnati, Detroit, Kansas City and Oakland. The Nationals, Reds and Athletics all went full teardown last summer, while Kansas City and Detroit have struggled to kickstart their rebuilds and don’t have too many tradable veterans. The Rockies live on their own planet and trade less often than any other MLB organization.

A few relatively interesting names from this already-planning-October-vacations sextet include: Víctor Robles, Tony Kemp, Wil Myers, Aroldis Chapman, C.J. Cron and Michael Lorenzen.

2. The surprise bad teams might be reluctant to pull the plug.

The White Sox and Cardinals, this year’s out-of-nowhere stinker teams, aren’t in a multi-year position where going full sell at the deadline makes sense. Considering how weak the AL and NL Central are, you’d expect that both Chicago and St. Louis plan on contending in 2024, even if they continue to struggle this year.

And so, it’s likely that only impending free agents would be available in trade, unless a club showed up with an overwhelming offer. For Chicago, that’s Lucas Giolito and Yasmani Grandal, though a Tim Anderson club option for 2024 is an intriguing proposition. For St. Louis, that’s Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery. Flaherty has struggled in seven starts this year but was such a force pre-injuries that a team could be enticed. Montgomery, who was acquired last year at the deadline for Harrison Bader, has been outstanding as a Cardinal, tossing 104⅔ innings of 3.18 ERA ball since the deal.

3. The upcoming free agent class is relatively weak.

Let’s get the big one out of the way: Shohei Ohtani is probably not getting traded. The Angels are still in the mix. They could always capsize between now and July 31, but the odds are increasingly low.

The rest of the top of the unrestricted free-agent class — guys like Julio Urías, Josh Hader, Aaron Nola, Matt Chapman, Joey Gallo, Hunter Renfroe, Sonny Gray, Luis Severino and Bader — are all on contending teams and thus unlikely to be dealt.

How many one-run victories do the Marlins have to win without a loss for you to think something fishy has to be going on? — Aaron

I mean, they’re named the Marlins, it’s already a fishy situation.

(Does this joke make me a father?)

Miami is somehow 11-0 in one-run games so far this year. Unfortunately, I think this ridiculous run of good fortune and timely play is completely unsustainable considering the Marlins aren’t even good at the things that help you win one-run games. They have the 23rd-best bullpen ERA in baseball. Their 43 runs scored in the seventh inning or later ranks in the bottom half of the league. They have somehow already outperformed their expected win total by a whopping six games just 36 games into the season.

If they keep this up for another month and enter June with a 22-0 record in one-run games, I think we need an FBI investigation.

What is your opinion on jerseys with no names on the back vs. jerseys with names? Do you think more jerseys should lean one way or the other? — Ben

Regular MLB uniforms that don’t have names on the back: Yankees, Red Sox home, Giants home. There are some City Connect uniforms (Rangers, Red Sox) that don’t, as well.

Why do we have numbers on the back? So fans in the stands sitting far away can tell the players apart. Why do we have names on the back? For television, and because it looks cooler. I think the status quo is fine, but we need more players putting their first names or nicknames on the back full time. Nobody refers to Joc Pederson as "Pederson" so the name on his uniform should just say "Joc." I know they did this with Players Weekend a few years ago, but I want a European Soccer situation where we get more weirdness with uniform nameplates.

The trend this year in City Connect uniforms is black pants. Why? — Anonymous

Important to dress formally in the year of the coronation of a new King of England, ya know. Wouldn’t wanna disrespect the British monarchy.

Jake Mintz, the louder half of @CespedesBBQ is a baseball writer for FOX Sports. He played college baseball, poorly at first, then very well, very briefly. Jake lives in New York City where he coaches Little League and rides his bike, sometimes at the same time. Follow him on Twitter at @Jake_Mintz.

FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience