Now, more than ever, the sputtering Cardinals must redouble their commitment to developing impact hitters.
This has been a familiar topic during the Post-Pujols Era. Maybe the Cardinals had such a weapon in Oscar Taveras, who died young.
Maybe they had a big asset with catcher Carson Kelly, but he exited for Arizona in the Paul Goldschmidt trade.
Maybe they had their future slugger in Randy Arozarena, who departed in the much-lamented swap for pitching prospect Mathew Liberatore.
So the Cardinals must proceed carefully while pondering moves ahead of the trade deadline. After building greater potential under scouting czar Randy Flores, they can’t sacrifice their most promising batters to gain stopgap help.