There’s a very specific kind of joy that hits when your biggest division rival finally admits they’re not “retooling” — they’re completely gutting the place. And right now, the St. Louis Cardinals are basically hauling furniture to the curb with a “FREE” sign on it, hoping somebody swings by with a pickup truck and a few mid-level pitching prospects. For Milwaukee Brewers fans, it’s the rare NL Central treat that doesn’t even require a scoreboard.
St. Louis can dance around the word “rebuild” all it wants, but when you trade away veterans like Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras less than a month apart, you’re not “strategically aligning timelines.