ST. LOUIS • It was sometime before July 31 in 2009 and the Cardinals were looking for a cleanup hitter to root behind their perennial MVP Albert Pujols. The front office’s preferred target was Matt Holliday, and an attempt to acquire him from Oakland in June of that summer was unsuccessful. That didn’t end their pursuit. General manager John Mozeliak would later explain how the sides, so rigid in June, could loosen to make a deal come late July.
Deadlines, he explained, always help provoke action.
Well, one is coming this weekend.
Action could follow.