COLUMN: MLB All-Star a week of memories for some, what-ifs for St. Louis

It’s the moments of civic pride that make the MLB All-Star events so special, even when the rest of the sports’ All-Star Games are eroding.

Miami Marlins fans got to not only feel good about the present but also the future too when their infield prospect Nasim Nunez was named 2023 Futures Game MVP on Saturday.

All of Southeast Missouri spent Sunday through Tuesday waiting for Jackson High School graduate Caden Bogenpohl’s name to be called in the MLB Draft. Four players from Missouri and three from Missouri State (Bogenpohl’s college destination) were selected, and Christian Brothers College shortstop Nazzan Zanetello was taken in the first round by the Boston Red Sox.

Then came the All-Star Game, a game that is boosted by being inconsequential. 30 fan bases had at least one player to root for and hope that it would be their day. After 30 years, the Colorado Rockies finally saw one of their representatives rise to the occasion and steal the show.

Catcher Elias Diaz, who was added to the National League roster because somebody from the last place Rockies had to be there, hit the go-ahead 2-run home run in the eighth inning to lead the NL to a 3-2 victory, its first win since 2012. For a franchise that saw legends such as Larry Walker, Todd Helton, and Nolan Arenado don the purple pinstripes, it was Diaz who became their first-ever All-Star MVP.

Speaking of Arenado, the best third baseman of the game was the Cardinals’ lone All-Star, which rarely happens. This July is unlike any other July in recent history for Cardinals Nation, a fan base that is used to treating it as a month of celebrating All-Stars, comfortably checking out the standings, and fantasizing about trade deadline scenarios that would improve the club amid a postseason chase.

Instead, they watched a bevy of former Cardinals prospects, who are thriving with their new teams, during the MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday in Seattle. The Cardinals entered the All-Star break dead last in the standings with no chance of making the playoffs, despite winning the National League Central last year and having virtually the same roster sans two aging legends.

These last two days made Cardinals fans ask themselves “What if.” What if the Cardinals didn’t make the trades they made since 2018 where prospects went east and west to bring in stars such as Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, and Marcell Ozuna? What if they didn’t trade Lane Thomas — who is batting .300 with 14 home runs — to Washington in 2021 for the remains of Jon Lester?

Randy Arozarena, who was runner-up in the Home Run Derby on Monday, was sent to Tampa Bay in 2020 as part of a package to bring in pitching prospect Matthew Liberatore, who was taken out of the first inning in his most recent start and sent back down to Triple-A Memphis. Arozarena since spearheaded the Rays’ return to the World Series in 2020 and this year is the catalyst behind Mexico’s semifinal run in the World Baseball Classic and the Rays’ rise to the top of the American League.

Zac Gallen started the All-Star Game for the National League and is the ace of the upstart Arizona Diamondbacks, who are riding youth to enter the break tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers (the New York Yankees of the West) for first place in the National League West. The Cardinals sent Gallen and Sandy Alcantara to Miami for outfielder Marcell Ozuna, who was coming off a career year in which he was hitting 37 home runs, 124 RBI, and batting .312 with a .924 OPS. While he was solid in his two years in St. Louis, Ozuna never matched his production with the Marlins. Meanwhile, not only is Gallen an ace, and flipped to Arizona for MLB The Show 23 cover man Jazz Chisholm, but Alcantara won the NL Cy Young Award last year for the Marlins.

Cardinals fans will likely not regret the talent expended to bring in Goldschmidt and Arenado, but in a world where the Cardinals didn’t make any trades since 2017, would you rather the current lineup or a rotation with Alcantara and Gallen to go with the few competent pitchers currently in place?

Maybe Arozarena and Thomas and even Adolis Garcia still make it through the crowded St. Louis outfield and have to go somewhere else to find their footing. After all, the Cardinals have over 10 players in the active roster with outfield experience, yet can’t find a permanent position for Nolan Gorman.

It’s all just hypothetical. Maybe the Cardinals would’ve returned to the World Series sooner with their own talent. Maybe they would’ve been in the same position they are now and still probably need to consider trading Arenado, who opted in this past offseason, or Goldschmidt, who has one year left in his contract.

Hope everyone enjoyed watching the All-Star Game because the rest of July is going to be a wild ride. And not in a good way.