For St. Louis Cardinals fans, the 2022 season is remembered as a painful close to a cherished era, marked by a tough Wild Card loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. That defeat left a heavy cloud over the city, especially after years of expecting postseason appearances. Central to the frustration is a costly what-if: the possibility of acquiring superstar Juan Soto. While the San Diego Padres ultimately secured Soto, giving up significant prospects to the Washington Nationals, the Cardinals came up just short in this key trade battle.
Despite the Padres’ aggressive move, there was one player who could arguably have been an even bigger prize than Soto at that deadline, if only circumstances had aligned differently. Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels, a generational talent with two-way skills, was available for trade. Yet the Angels’ owner Arte Moreno held onto Ohtani too long amid a losing trend, missing a critical window to maximize his value. This indecision affected not just Anaheim, but reverberated through the National League title race and the Cardinals’ chance to reshape their future.
Padres’ Offer on Ohtani Could Have Shifted the Power Balance
Instead of leveraging Ohtani for a franchise-altering package, the Angels sacrificed their already fragile farm system in a futile attempt to contend that season and ultimately received only a compensatory draft pick when Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Insider Ken Rosenthal revealed the Padres had a concrete offer for Ohtani that mirrored the Soto deal and included rising star Jackson Merrill.
The potential trade also featured other promising talents such as CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, and James Wood—players with considerable upside making the proposed package appealing. Had the Angels accepted this offer, the Padres would have gained a dominant two-way player, and the Cardinals would likely have emerged as the front-runners to land Juan Soto. This change in dynamics could have dramatically altered the 2022 offseason landscape and beyond.
Hypothetical Cardinals Package Shows Great Promise
Though official details remain private, sport analyst Josh Jacobs suggested a Cardinals offer that would have included top prospects like Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman, Matthew Liberatore, Masyn Winn, Tink Hence, and Dylan Carlson. In retrospect, this group appears to represent immense value for a player of Soto’s caliber. While Walker and Gorman have struggled to meet expectations, and Carlson has faded during later stints with other teams, Liberatore and Winn are still contributing at the Major League level.
The trade, as imagined, would have cost the Cardinals just a few promising players but could have brought in Juan Soto, a generational talent, to anchor their lineup. With Soto joining stars Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado—who finished first and third in MVP voting respectively—the Cardinals would have boasted one of the National League’s deepest offensive rosters, bolstered further by the resurgence of Albert Pujols and emerging talents like Lars Nootbaar and Brendan Donovan.
How the Missteps Shaped the Cardinals’ Fate
Even with Soto added to their lineup, the Cardinals may still have faced challenging postseason battles, including a possible rematch against the Phillies. However, Soto’s presence would have significantly enhanced their chances of overcoming such hurdles. The possibility of facing an Ohtani-led Padres team at full strength also adds an intriguing layer to the narrative, as Ohtani was at the peak of his two-way dominance.
Ultimately, the Angels’ failure to capitalize on Ohtani’s peak trade value had broad consequences. By not securing a transformative return from the Padres, the Angels missed their best chance at rebuilding, the Padres gained an irreplaceable advantage, and the Cardinals were denied what might have been a cornerstone move to restore their championship hopes. The ripple effects from this trade deadline blunder remain a subject of frustration and speculation among fans and analysts alike.