The St. Louis Cardinals must balance long-term interests and near-term contention leading up to the July 31 trade deadline. That's a challenging needle to thread, but the current realities in St. Louis are such that they must do so.

The St. Louis Cardinals made the fewest offseason moves this past Winter,showing that the front office’s commitment to this current roster is not thatstrong. Now, with just 10 days before MLB’s trade deadline,