"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
-George Orwell, "Animal Farm"
Coming into this offseason, I honestly felt this could be a transformative time for the Cardinals. This was the offseason, I believed, when opportunity, capability, and impending crisis would all combine to forge a new way forward for the club.
The opportunity? Two free agents on the market, both sans draft pick attachment that could harm the future, who represented core talent in its very purest form. Two players, one a pitcher, one an outfielder, who were honest to god cornerstones upon which a great team could be built.