The St. Louis Cardinals had just won 2-of-3 games against the Chicago Cubs, taking sole possession of first place in the NL Central on Thursday.
But on the broadcast airwaves and all corners of the internet, the Cardinals didn't sound much like a winner.
When the 3 p.m. CST Wednesday trade deadline expired, the Cardinals had not made a big trade their fans had desired. In fact, in the final 24 hours before the deadline, the only move St. Louis made was to ship an injured Jedd Gyorko to the Los Angeles Dodgers before he became a free agent this offseason.
In the meantime, the Cincinnati Reds traded for Trevor Bauer, the Atlanta Braves acquired Mark Melancon and the Houston Astros snagged Zack Greinke at the last minute for this year's blockbuster deadline trade.
Zack Wheeler and Noah Syndergaard stayed put on the New York Mets, as did Madison Bumgarner with the San Francisco Giants and Robbie Ray with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Why didn't the Cardinals trade for any of them?
The answer is quite simple: they wouldn't part with the players those teams would have wanted.
And there were two names that quickly rose to the top: Nolan Gorman and Dylan Carlson.
Under no circumstances should the Cardinals move Gorman, because he has the potential to be the face of the franchise by the end of the 2020s. At 19 years old, the 2018 first-round draft pick has plenty of upside.
Gorman was barely 18 when the Cardinals drafted him, and the left-handed hitting third baseman was considered one of the top slugging prospects in that draft. In just more than a year, Gorman has already been promoted twice in the Cardinals' farm system.
This kid will likely be Carpenter's successor at third base, assuming Carpenter is around by the end of his two-year extension. Gorman needs to be a keeper. Next.
I'm not as familiar with Carlson, but mlb.com lists him as the Cardinals' No. 2 prospect, behind Gorman. And like Gorman, he was also a first-round draft pick.
But what I can tell you is the 20-year-old outfielder was a Double-A all-star earlier this season and leads the Springfield Cardinals with 18 home runs this season. Like Gorman, Carlson has plenty of potential. Keep him. Next.
Wait, that's it. After those two players, there's a huge drop-off in talent in the Cardinals' minor league system. Following the 2019 draft in June, Bleacher Report ranked the Cardinals' farm system No. 25 out of 30 teams.
Remember that Memphis team that won the 2018 Minor League World Series? Well, the Redbirds dropped to 15 games below the .500 mark after Friday's 6-1 loss to El Paso. Also, Memphis had three of St. Louis' opening-day starters in the lineup in that game.
Which brings me to my main point
The Cardinals don't need to bring in more talent. They need the players they already have to play to their full potential.
Since the All-Star break, they have. Following the All-Star Game, the Cardinals were 14-6 going into this weekend's two-game series at Oakland. In three weeks, they went from a .500 ballclub to a division leader. Not bad, but there are still eight more weeks until the postseason.
When the season began, St. Louis had a roster that was capable of making a playoff run. And while the Cardinals didn't make a game-changing deadline deal, they made two crucial acquisitions this past offseason.
They traded for first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, arguably the biggest move in the MLB this past offseason. He struggled in May and June, but he's returning to form in the second half of the season.
They signed Matt Wieters to a minor-league deal and made him the backup catcher. With Yadier Molina's lingering thumb injury, Wieters has been stellar filling in for the Gold Glove catcher.
The Cardinals have made some bad trades in recent years. Ones that quickly come to mind are sending away Marco Gonzales, Luke Voit and Oscar Mercado.
St. Louis badly needs to solidify a No. 5 starting pitcher, but it didn't have the prospects to make a matching offer. Making another bad trade wasn't going to solve the problem.
Simply put, the Cardinals steered clear of making another bad trade. They had a first-place team at the end of July. Now it's time to make that continue into August and September.