After losing to the Boston Red Sox in the 2013 World Series, if you would have asked me if I saw Allen Craig and Joe Kelly as key pieces in the future of the Cardinals organization, I wouldn’t have hesitated in saying “absolutely.”
A year later, amidst difficult 2014 campaigns, both guys who were drafted and groomed in the Cardinals organization were gone. The two became a package deal for then 35-year-old John Lackey, a move meant to solidify the Redbird rotation for a postseason run.
Sure, both guys were struggling… Craig in a disturbing, free-fall kind of a way.