The St. Louis Cardinals seemingly cannot catch a break.
Dating back to an early-season spat between manager Oli Marmol and Tyler O’Neill, the team has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.
On Thursday, that trend continued.
Not too long after the team relegated Willson Contreras to designated hitter duties, a former Cardinals pitcher shed more light on the dysfunction within the organization.
Arizona Diamondbacks ace Zac Gallen was once a part of the Cardinals organization.
He was traded to the Miami Marlins in December of 2017 when the Cardinals acquired Marcell Ozuna.
On Thursday, the star right-hander shared an intriguing story about his time with the organization and how it ultimately ended.
"On the way home, they traded me … You know the Cardinals, you know they got their certain ways about how they go about some things."@zacgallen23 talks about the potential reason he was traded from St. Louis. pic.twitter.com/kHSCMCw4T9
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) May 11, 2023
Gallen revealed that after he had finished the season with the team’s Triple-A affiliate, the Cardinals had scheduled winter camps in October, November, and December.
The right-hander did not attend the October or November camps, but made an appearance at the December camp.
Gallen recalled feeling uncomfortable about the way the Cardinals conducted their business.
At the December camp, several people within the organization told him he didn’t need to show up.
When he was headed back home for the winter, he learned that he had been traded.
Gallen in turn believes that not showing up to winter camps is what got him traded.
On one hand, an argument could be made that Gallen should have been there because he was part of the organization.
However, this was long before minor leaguers had unionized, and Gallen was not being paid to be there.
Ultimately, it shows that the Cardinals were, and still are, following a set pattern of how to do things, and still have not adapted.
Gallen was simply following his own routine, which he believes may have been frowned upon.
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