Cardinals promote former top prospect, cut ties with veteran outfielder

The St. Louis Cardinals sit at the .500 mark after splitting a four-game series with the San Diego Padres. However, they remain six games back in the National League Wild Card race.

Their playoff hopes are all but lost at this point, and on Friday they made a few roster moves to signal that they're waving the white flag on 2024.

"The Cardinals have DFA'd Tommy Pham a day after placing him on Waivers," Katie Woo of The Athletic tweeted. "Jordan Walker is up, will be available today against New York."

Pham was acquired from the Chicago White Sox in the same three-way deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers that sent Erick Fedde to St. Louis. He hit a pinch-hit grand slam in his first at-bat back with the Cardinals.

He was brought in to serve as a platoon bat and help combat the team's struggles against left-handed pitching. However, the reunion was short lived. St. Louis was hoping Pham would help guide them to the postseason, but that has not come to pass.

The Cards placed Pham on waivers on Thursday.

Walker has spent most of the season down in Triple-A Memphis after a strong rookie campaign. He's back for his third stint in the Major Leagues this year.

It's clear that the Cardinals are ultimately throwing in the towel and giving up on 2024. Their pitching additions didn't hold up, and their offense let them down all season long. The best they can do at this point is hope to play the role of spoiler against contending teams.

We'll see how Walker fares in his next stint in the majors, but it's obvious that St. Louis is waving the white flag.

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