VEB Podcast: Trade Deadline Mega Episode!

So, that happened!

The 2022 trade deadline was one of the craziest in recent memory and the Cardinals were as active as they’ve ever been.

It started with trading Edmundo Sosa to the Phillies for reliever JoJo Romero. That cleared the path for Paul DeJong to travel with the team. And for the possibility that someone like Nolan Gorman would move in a mega deal for the Nats’ Juan Soto.

It was that potential deal that dominated Cardinals chatter even though the primary need on the club was not in the outfield or lineup. It was in the rotation.

On Monday evening the Cards made their first major addition, consummating a rare in-division deal with the Pirates for veteran lefty Jose Quintana and righty reliever Chris Stratton. Heading out was the enigmatic Johan Oviedo, who has never really been able to stick in the rotation but was turning heads out of the bullpen. Along with him went AA infielder Malcolm Nunez, a power-hitting corner infield prospect who was likely blocked behind Paul Goldschmidt, Juan Yepez, Jordan Walker, and Luken Baker.

With their pitcher in hand, all attention turned toward Juan Soto and for a time, it seemed that the Cardinals were the frontrunners to land the superstar outfielder.

It was not to be, though, as the Padres agreed to take Josh Bell along with Soto and expand their deal to include five high-value trade chips. In the end, the Soto trade might go down as the biggest deadline trade in baseball history.

That’s not John Mozeliak’s wheelhouse.

What is his wheelhouse, though, is turning surprisingly expendable parts into quality returns for a position of need. That’s what he did at the last moments of the deadline, moving Gold Glove-winning centerfielder Harrison Bader (while on the IL) to the Yankees for LH starter Jordan Montgomery.

Montgomery is another control-oriented lefty with mid-rotation FIP and ERA potential.

In the end, the Cardinals turned their beleaguered rotation into a strength, cleared the path for Dylan Carlson to play centerfield full time, and opened a door for quite a competition in right field both this season and next season.

It was a huge day!

Such a day requires some huge writing talent to break it all down.

That’s why we gathered most of the VEB writing team — Skyricesq, Gabe, Blake, Heather, and I — to join in a super mega awesome super mega VEB Podcast Trade Deadline episode!

The episode is PACKED with content. We talk about all the roster mechanics, break down every part of each trade, discuss what the Cards missed out on with Juan Soto, and give some thoughts on where that leaves the club in the division!

This is what VEB does best. All in one easy-to-listen or watch format.

As always you can listen and watch right here in the article. Or follow the links to subscribe to the podcast or YouTube channel. However you consume Cardinals media, we have it available for you!

Listen to the Podcast:

Watch the Podcast in video form:

Special thanks to the writing team for taking time out of their schedules to record! We hope to make this a frequent thing. Let us know in the comments if you enjoyed it. Like and subscribe to the various channels. And give us those 5-star ratings so we start showing up in searches. We appreciate the help!

Happy trade deadline, VEB!