The St. Louis Cardinals have gotten off to a much better start than many anticipated.
Coming into the season, many expected this team to lose a lot this year, resulting in a fire sale at the trade deadline and a long rebuild. Instead, they're competitive, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't sell.
Mack Baltes of Redbird Rants recently urged the Cardinals to sell because they "simply aren't good enough," presumably to win it all this season.
"While the team has performed very well through the beginning of June, the Cardinals simply do not have what it takes to compete with the best teams in baseball in a seven-game series," Baltes wrote. "Although they did recently win a series versus the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers, it’s worth noting that the Dodgers' pitching staff has been tremendously depleted due to injury. The team is missing Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Evan Phillips, and Blake Treinen in this series, as well as others.
"Currently in the National League, the Cardinals would have tremendous difficulty in a playoff series versus the Mets, Phillies, and Dodgers. It remains to be seen how the team will fare against the Chicago Cubs, as the two teams have yet to square off this season."
The beauty in baseball is that any team can beat any team on any given day. That's one of the best things about the sport. But how realistic is it to believe the Cardinals, as they are right now, could beat the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and/or the New York Mets in a seven game series in the postseason?
Considering the Cardinals would need to win two or three postseason series' to make it to the World Series, it's unrealistic to call them true contenders right now.
Selling, but not being too aggressive in the idea, could set the team up for future success without sacrificing the present.
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