Sizemore’s path to the Cardinals reflected the versatility that would define his career. Born in Gadsden, Alabama, and raised in Detroit, he excelled in baseball, basketball, and football at Pershing High School before earning a scholarship to the University of Michigan. Skeptics said he was too small to reach the major leagues, but Sizemore countered that criticism by learning multiple positions and embracing any role available. That determination helped make him a 15th-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1966.

After starring in the minors, Sizemore won the 1969 National League Rookie of the Year Award with Los Angeles. Injuries slowed him in 1970, but he still hit .306 in 96 games. That winter, the Dodgers traded him to St. Louis in a deal that sent slugger Dick Allen west.

Sizemore reported to St. Louis in 1971 after minor wrist surgery and initially split time between shortstop and second base. It soon became clear that second base was his best fit. Once installed there, he gave the Cardinals dependable defense, steady at-bats, and a smart baseball presence. He hit .264 in his first season with the club while appearing in 135 games, an important accomplishment after injuries had interrupted his previous campaign.

Sizemore again batted .264 in 1972, but his value went far beyond batting average. He excelled in the subtle parts of the game that do not always show in box scores. He moved runners, made consistent contact, and understood how to handle situations. Batting behind leadoff man Lou Brock, he quickly became an ideal No. 2 hitter. Brock frequently reached base and constantly threatened to steal. Sizemore knew how to protect him, take pitches when needed, and help move him into scoring position. Some observers even described him as perhaps the best second-place hitter in the National League.

Sizemore also delivered one of the most dramatic moments of his Cardinals tenure on August 7, 1972. Leading off the bottom of the 13th inning against the New York Mets, he hit a walk-off, inside-the-park home run off reliever Tug McGraw. It was a thrilling ending and a reminder that while Sizemore was not known for power, he had a knack for contributing in unexpected ways.

His finest statistical season came in 1973. After missing a brief stretch early with a hamstring injury, Sizemore returned and stayed healthy the rest of the way. He hit a career-best .282 with 54 RBIs and 69 runs scored while playing 142 games. He also led the National League with 25 sacrifice hits, perfectly illustrating his selfless approach. While many players sought to pad personal numbers, Sizemore willingly gave himself up to move runners and create scoring chances. For the Cardinals, he and Brock formed a highly effective top-of-the-order combination.

That partnership remained crucial in 1974, when Brock produced one of the most famous base-stealing seasons in baseball history, swiping a record 118 bases. Sizemore’s role in that achievement was significant. He often stood deep in the batter’s box to force catchers farther back, buying Brock extra fractions of a second. At times, he would swing late or fake a bunt to distract the defense as Brock broke for second. Brock himself credited Sizemore’s patience and awareness as important factors in his success. Those contributions rarely made headlines, but teammates understood their value.

Former Cardinals pitcher Rich Folkers later praised Sizemore as one of the best No. 2 hitters he had ever seen, noting how often he accepted two-strike counts so Brock could run. It was the kind of baseball intelligence that wins games but often goes unnoticed.

The 1974 Cardinals narrowly missed a division title, finishing just behind the Pittsburgh Pirates. Sizemore hit .250 that year and battled injuries, but he still played 130 games and played strong defense.

By 1975, however, the Cardinals were changing, and Sizemore’s production slipped to .240. Though still respected for his professionalism and versatility, it proved to be his last year with St. Louis. Before the 1976 season, he was traded back to Los Angeles, ending a productive five-year run with the Redbirds.

Sizemore later played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and Boston Red Sox before retiring, but St. Louis remained one of the defining chapters of his career. After baseball, he built a successful second career with Rawlings Sporting Goods and later worked with the Baseball Assistance Team, helping former players in need. In 2019, he was inducted into the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame.

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Javier arrived in St. Louis in May 1960, acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates in a trade that would prove pivotal for both his career and the Cardinals’ future. He stepped into the lineup almost immediately and quickly established himself as the team’s everyday second baseman, a role he would hold for 12 seasons. From the beginning, his speed stood out. He was regarded as one of the fastest players in the game, and he used that quickness to impact games both offensively and defensively.

In 1962, he produced one of his finest seasons, stealing 26 bases and scoring 97 runs while helping drive the Cardinals’ offense from the top of the order. Over time, he developed into a reliable hitter who could bunt, move runners, and deliver in key situations, even if he was not known for power.

It was in the field, however, that Javier truly distinguished himself. Nicknamed “The Phantom,” he earned a reputation as one of the finest defensive second basemen of his era. The nickname reflected his uncanny ability to turn double plays and avoid oncoming baserunners. As longtime Cardinals broadcaster Jack Buck once explained, Javier would release the ball and move out of harm’s way so quickly that runners rarely came close to touching him. He seemed to vanish. Teammates and opponents alike marveled at his timing, footwork, and quick hands, and his range allowed him to reach balls few others could handle.

Javier’s contributions were central to the Cardinals’ rise in the 1960s. In 1964, he helped the team complete a dramatic late-season surge to capture the National League pennant. Although a hip injury limited his role in the World Series against the New York Yankees, the Cardinals claimed the championship, and Javier had played an important role in getting them there.

After battling injuries and inconsistent offensive production in the mid-1960s, Javier rebounded in 1967 with one of the best seasons of his career. He hit .281 with a career-high 14 home runs and was among the league leaders in value, helping propel the Cardinals to 101 wins and another pennant. That resurgence carried into the World Series against the Boston Red Sox, where Javier elevated his play on the game’s biggest stage.

In a series that featured standout performances from stars like Bob Gibson and Lou Brock, Javier was every bit their equal. He batted .360 over the seven games and played superb defense, contributing to nearly every phase of the Cardinals’ success. His defining moment came in Game 7 at Fenway Park. With the Cardinals leading 4–1 in the sixth inning and two runners on base, Boston expected him to bunt. Instead, Javier swung away and connected on a pitch from Jim Lonborg, sending a three-run home run over the Green Monster. The blast extended the lead to 7–1 and effectively secured the championship.

It was a moment that captured Javier’s understated greatness. Known primarily for defense and situational hitting, he delivered one of the most important home runs in franchise history at the most critical time. Some of his teammates believed his overall performance in the series warranted Most Valuable Player honors.

Javier continued to be a steady contributor as the Cardinals returned to the World Series in 1968. Though the team fell to the Detroit Tigers, he again performed well, batting .333 in the series. Throughout his Cardinals career, he maintained a reputation for rising to the occasion, hitting significantly better in postseason play than during the regular season.

By the early 1970s, as the roster evolved and younger players emerged, Javier’s role began to diminish. After the 1971 season, he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds, where he finished his career as a part-time player. Yet his legacy in St. Louis was already firmly established. Over 12 seasons with the Cardinals, he contributed to three National League pennants and two World Series titles, while recording more than 1,400 hits and establishing himself as one of the franchise’s most reliable infielders.

Javier’s career numbers only tell part of the story. His value lay in the details: the perfectly timed double play, the sacrifice bunt that advanced a runner, the quick pivot that avoided a collision, and the unexpected swing that changed a game. He was a player whose contributions often revealed themselves not in headlines, but in victories.

In 2022, the Cardinals honored that legacy by inducting him into their Hall of Fame. It was a fitting recognition for a player who spent years doing the subtle, essential work that championship teams require.

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Given the rumors swirling around the possible availability of Rockies all-star third baseman Nolan Arenado and the breathless scouting reports surrounding Liberatore, the Cardinals could either flip Liberatore to help acquire Arenado or hold onto Liberatore as a key piece of their future rotation. Either way, it seemed that the Cardinals had given up relatively little in comparison.

Then Arozarena became a key power hitter on a World Series team, an American League Rookie of the Year Award winner, and an all-star.

After defecting from Cuba in 2015, Arozarena signed with the Cardinals as an international free agent for $1.25 million. The 22-year-old split his first season with the Cardinals organization in 2017 between High-A Palm Beach and Double-A Springfield, batting a solid but not spectacular .266/.346/.437 with 11 homers and 49 RBIs in 490 plate appearances.

In 2018, Arozarena started the season back in Springfield, where he hit .396 with seven homers and 21 RBIs in just 102 plate appearances. He spent the rest of the season in Triple-A Memphis, where he faced growing pains, batting just .232 the remainder of the year (311 plate appearances).

In 2019, Arozarena broke out as a prospect and first gained the Rays’ attention. The season started ominously, as Arozarena broke his hand in spring training and opened the year on the disabled list. When he returned, he hit .358 in Memphis with an increased walk rate and a decreased strikeout rate, earning an August call-up to the big leagues.

“That injury helped me to prepare myself – to gain strength in other parts of the body,” Arozarena said. “So I think that injury actually helped me to get here.”[1]

Once he got to the majors, however, there weren’t many opportunities as Marcell Ozuna, Harrison Bader, and Dexter Fowler claimed most of the outfield playing time. Arozarena took just 23 plate appearances the remainder of the regular season, going 6-for-20 (.300) with a double and a home run.

Though he made the postseason roster, Arozarena didn’t get much more opportunity in the postseason, going 0-for-3 in the National League Division Series (NLDS) and 0-for-1 in the National League Championship Series (NLCS). In fact, Arozarena’s most notable contribution was sharing manager Mike Shildt’s profanity-laced postgame speech on Instagram after the Cardinals won a decisive Game 5 against the Braves to advance to the NLCS.

Though Arozarena remained unpolished as a professional ballplayer, the Rays saw the potential for an everyday outfielder.

“Our staff saw adjustments that led to more contact and more impact,” Rays general manager Eric Neander said. “Usually there’s give and take between contact and impact, but that Randy improved both in 2019 gave us the confidence to raise him to an everyday profile that contributes on both sides of the ball.”[2]

In Martinez, the Rays saw another opportunity. The 30-year-old made his major-league debut with St. Louis in 2016, then hit .309/.379/.518 with 14 homers and 46 RBIs in 2017. In 152 games in 2018, he hit .305/.364/.457 with 17 homers and 83 RBIs.

In 2019, however, Martinez’s playing time and numbers dipped, as he hit .269/.340/.410 with 10 homers and 42 RBIs in 373 plate appearances. Though his overall numbers declined, Martinez continued to feast on left-handed pitching, batting .329/.397/.600 against southpaws.

“In a pursuit of upgrading our lineup against left-handed pitching, he’s someone that really fits us well,” Neander said. “We believe the numbers that he put up last year are not representative of who he is as a hitter and we believe he is closer to what we saw the two prior years.”[3]

From the Cardinals’ perspective, trading Arozarena and Martinez would clear playing time in the outfield. With Fowler in left field and Bader in center, the Cardinals still had Tyler O’Neill, Lane Thomas, and left-handed prospect Justin Williams competing for playing time in left field. Additionally, the team’s top prospect, switch-hitting outfielder Dylan Carlson, was expected to arrive in the majors in 2020.

Of course, the real prize was the 6-foot-4 Liberatore, whom the Rays drafted 16^th overall in 2018 out of Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, Ariz. Baseball America ranked him the fifth-best left-handed pitching prospect in the game while praising his mid-90s fastball, curveball, and changeup, calling him “as safe a bet as a teen pitching prospect can be.”[4]

At the time of the trade, Liberatore was the No. 3 prospect in the Rays’ system, trailing only Wander Franco and Brendan McKay. He immediately became the Cardinals’ top pitching prospect.[5]

“We are extremely excited to be adding a top pitching prospect in Matthew Liberatore to our organization, and this trade also helps us to create more opportunity in the outfield for players like Tyler O’Neill, Lane Thomas, and others,” Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said in a team statement.[6]

At just 20 years old, Liberatore was still years away from the majors, but fans and the media saw how he could immediately impact the big-league club.

“Liberatore becomes an attractive chip that could go into an Arenado swap or stay to offset the loss of another hurler,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Jeff Gordon wrote. “As colleagues Derrick Goold and Ben Frederickson have explained in detail, completing an Arenado deal would be tricky for a host of reasons. But with Liberatore added to the Cardinals’ assets, it suddenly became more feasible.”[7]

“Most trades are judged by answering two questions. Who did the Cardinals get? Who did the Cardinals give up?” Frederickson wrote. “Thursday night revolved around a third. When will the Cardinals flip Liberatore for Arenado?”[8]

In the Belleville News-Democrat, columnist Scott Wuerz suggested that the Cardinals could package Liberatore and fellow prospect Nolan Gorman to obtain Arenado.

“I really liked Arozarena,” he wrote. “He could fly and seemed like a guy who had the potential to bat at the top of the order and rack up doubles and triples. But Arozarena was too slight to ever be a feared slugger and, like they say, you’ve got to give up something of value to get value in return.”[9]

It would be more than a year before Arenado was traded to St. Louis, and when he was, Liberatore was not part of the package. Instead, the Cardinals sent pitcher Austin Gomber and four prospects to the Rockies to obtain the franchise third baseman.

Liberatore did not pitch in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down minor-league baseball, and when he returned to action in 2021, the Cardinals assigned him to Triple-A Memphis, where he posted a 4.04 ERA in 124 2/3 innings.

In 2022 and 2023, he split time between Memphis and St. Louis, posting a 5.97 ERA in 34 2/3 major-league innings in 2022, then posting a 5.25 ERA in 61 2/3 innings with St. Louis in 2023. In 2024, Liberatore made 54 of his 60 appearances in relief, posting a 4.40 ERA.

Rodriguez played sparingly in the Cardinals’ system, appearing in 30 games in 2021 and playing in just 18 games in the Florida Complex League in 2022.

Using the second-round supplemental pick they received in the trade, the Cardinals drafted Tink Hence, a University of Arkansas commit who signed for $1.12 million.

Meanwhile, Arozarena exploded onto the scene for the Rays in 2020. After missing the Rays’ first 34 games due to a COVID-19 diagnosis, Arozarena became an everyday player for Tampa Bay, hitting .281/.382/.641 with seven homers, 11 RBIs, and four stolen bases in 23 regular-season games.

However, it was during the Rays’ World Series run that he emerged as a star. Facing the Yankees in the American League Division Series, Arozarena went 8-for-19 (.421) with three home runs, then went 9-for-28 (.321) with four homers and six RBIs against the Astros to earn American League Championship Series MVP honors. He continued his torrid hitting against the Dodgers in the World Series, going 8-for-22 (.364) with three homers and four RBIs. Altogether, he slugged 10 home runs in 69 postseason at-bats.

Arozarena proved he wasn’t a fluke in 2021, batting .274/.356/.459 with 20 homers, 69 RBIs, and 20 stolen bases on his way to Rookie of the Year honors. After another strong showing in 2022 (20 homers, 89 RBIs, and 32 stolen bases), he was selected for the 2023 all-star game. Arozarena finished the 2023 season with 23 homers, 83 RBIs, and 22 stolen bases for his third consecutive season of at least 20 homers and 20 stolen bases.

In 2024, Arozarena was batting .211 with 15 homers and 37 RBIs when he was traded to the Mariners for two prospects and a player to be named later. He hit .231/.356/.377 with five homers and 23 RBIs in 54 games with Seattle.

Martinez played in 24 games for the Rays, batting just .239 with two home runs, before they traded him to the Cubs for a player to be named later. He appeared in 10 games for the Cubs before signing as a free agent with the Mets. He spent 2021 in the Mets’ minor-league system before playing in the Mexican League.

With the supplemental first-round pick they received from the Cardinals, the Rays took Alika Williams, a shortstop out of Arizona State University, 37^th overall in the 2020 draft. In June 2023, Tampa Bay traded Williams to the Pirates for relief pitcher Robert Stephenson.

[1] Rick Hummel, “Arozarena’s special wake-up call,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 14, 2019.

[2] John Romano, “Expectations Raised,” Tampa Bay Times, January 11, 2020.

[3] John Romano, “Rays trade a top pitching prospect for offense,” Tampa Bay Times, January 10, 2020.

[4] Derrick Goold, “Cards Make Major Move,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 10, 2020.

[5] John Romano, “Rays trade a top pitching prospect for offense,” Tampa Bay Times, January 10, 2020.

[6] Jeff Jones, “Cardinals trade outfielders for lefty pitching prospect,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 11, 2020.

[7] Jeff Gordon, “Mozeliak managing Cardinals’ assets well,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 15, 2020.

[8] Ben Frederickson, “Hurdles for Arenado deal would be too high,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 10, 2020.

[9] Scott Wuerz, “Will Liberatore be rotation linchpin or valuable trade chip?” Belleville News-Democrat, January 12, 2020.

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