Baseball Needs Trades. Now.

Written by: Aaron Hooks on 10th June 2009

Baseball Needs Trades. Now. | read this item

As is the case with almost every single baseball team in the Major Leagues at the moment- the Cardinals are trying to figure out just what they are.

Are they a slap hitting team that takes every extra base? Are they a pitching team that is going to rely on the staff to win? Are they better than the best? Worse than the worst? Buyers? Sellers?

Answers are in short supply.

Heading into action Wednesday night, the Birds are in the midst of a 5 game losing streak, 4 of which came at the hands of the struggling Colorado Rockies. They are headed towards .500 when a week ago, 15 over the breakeven point looked realistic. The fans are clamoring for help, especially since 3 runs seems to be the maximum output for the line-up. And GM John Mozeliak is doing his best to try and keep a level head in a very turbulent time.

June generally hasn’t been the time when MLB teams wave the white flag. (Unless you’re Pittsburgh and want to terrorize your fans and players for no obvious reason…) With over half the season remaining, it seems silly to trade your best commodities for future players that may or may not pan out to be stars in this league. And while I agree that trading a known entity would peeve off people in city X for a while- at the end of the day, I don’t think this philosophy is A) smart or B) giving the fans a whole bunch of credit.

Let’s take Washington as an example. The Nats are just dreadful this season and Nick Johnson is all but writing a blog called “NickJohnsonWantsToBeTraded.blogspot.com” at this point. But Washington is holding on hope that they can get back in the race- or something like that. And has thus far not seriously entertained offers for the player.

Situations just like these are popping up all over the game, yet owners seem to be reticent to go against the amulet of baseball history: do not trade thy commodities before July.

But why?

It’s not like the people in Washington really have hope for the 2009 season, right? Us fans know a stinker when we see one. And even if our favorite team is at .500 or a few games over, we can pretty much tell you who is good and who needs to sell while they are ahead, right? It’s just archaic to think that people will stop attending games if you rid yourself of talent to get other talent back. If you like or love baseball, you’re going to go no matter what. If you’re a front runner, you weren’t going to the games until September anyway.

To make a stand these next 3 weeks in June out of principle is just dumb. Especially when teams, like the Cardinals, who have legitimate aspirations of trying to compete in October are in the position to over pay now. Add in the fact, that some contenders that think they need to buy now, won’t in July- it just makes sense to be the first ones to open up your roster to the those who are interested. Reap the benefits of being an early adapter.

It’s not easy. And yes, people will cry and moan and call into local sports radio and post on blogs and all that. But don’t take us for dolts- we know that if you can force action early, you can get action late. Unless you’re Pittsburgh.

Then you’re just shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic, or something.

Topics: Minor Leage Players, Nationals, Nick Johnson, St. Louis Cardinals, Titanic, Trade Deadline, Trades