Cardinals counterintuitive holiday shopping list could leave a hole in tradition

There should be ballads written about Willson Contreras' brief time with the Cardinals.

From his arrival as the All-Star eager for the challenge of following Yadier Molina, to that weird week when he took fly balls in left field and stopped catching, to the injuries and fractures and ultimately his move to first base, out from behind home plate without skipping a beat at the plate. Contreras brought both joy and fury to the Cardinals' lineup and clubhouse, and at some point his absence will be felt by the teammates who remain.

But he won't be a alone.

In a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball, recorded on Christmas Eve, Post-Dispatch editor Nathan Mills and baseball writer Derrick Goold discuss the Cardinals' counterintuitive shopping list for the holidays and what is missing from it and possibly from the clubhouse during his reboot of an organization. The Cardinals traded a starter (Sonny Gray) only to sign a starter (Dustin May) a few weeks later; they traded a right-handed bat from the middle of the order (Contreras) only to suggest a few hours later that they would now look for a right-handed bat to add to the roster. The Cardinals are swapping All-Stars for pitching depth and then looking to replace those veterans with players on shorter-term deals or with more control and less cost.

What's missing from those moves is the leadership and experience that the Cardinals have long championed as part of their continuity, as part of their identity as a club. And more trades ahead could mean the departure of Brendan Donovan, who personifies the way the Cardinals like to play and be in the clubhouse; JoJo Romreo, the seasoned reliever in the bullpen; and Nolan Arenado, the future Hall of Famer and Gold Glove-cornerstone at third. 

Mills and Goold discuss what happens when a young group of players isn't inheriting expectations but tasked with trying to grow them.

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In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.