LOS ANGELES — With the clock counting down last week to the July 31 trade deadline, few Cardinals had a wider array of possible outcomes than Michael Wacha.
By the time the calls had ended and the text messages between front offices stopped, Wacha could have found himself with a new team, back in the bullpen because of a new addition, or where he was late Monday night at Dodger Stadium: on the mound as the starter the Cardinals turned to when they were unable to acquire one before time ran out. Wacha returned to the rotation for the first time in a month, and a week after he could have been a trade chip or a reliever, he instead was asked to be the team’s stopper.