Wouldn't go that far. Cardinals don't have near the talent that the Blues have relative to their respective sports. Similar, but the Cards have more wholes and the depth pieces aren't as good as the Blues.
I disagree. The Cardinals are currently 8th in offensive WAR and also 8th in pitching WAR. I would say the Blues sit somewhere around the 8th best team in the league. I expect the pitching to improve, as Weaver and Flaherty get more comfortable at the MLB level, and Reyes returns from TJ. No doubt the team has been very frustrating to watch at times this year, but it has also been pretty unlucky. The team's +74 run differential is higher than that of the Cubs, and much higher than the Rockies and Brewers.
The lineup is pretty much above average at every position, except for at RF, where Piscotty has been terrible. But I think he has a pretty good personal reason for his struggles, and corner OF is a good place to acquire a big bat anyway for the #3 spot.
De Jong has been a pleasant surprise for sure, especially defensively. But he will need to seriously improve his plate discipline; you cannot sustain success with 14 BB and 106 K in 349 ABs and a .354 BABIP. As of a month ago, he had
the worst non-contact wOBA in baseball. The good news is that he has improved somewhat since he has been called up, but his profile is still terrible (
https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2017/8/7/16105388/cardinals-more-paul-dejong-trouble). Don't get me wrong, I think he has been impressive when you consider the expectations. But he has a lot of work to do lest he become next year's Aledmys Diaz.
I would like to see at least one OF traded due to the surplus: Fowler, Pham, Grichuk, Piscotty, Martinez, Bader, and Pham. Acquiring Stanton would provide the big bat, but there's no telling whether the Marlins will trade him, and if so, they have to eat some of that ridiculous contract.
I'd definitely be a big fan of going after Harper or especially Machado after next year, but it would be hard to hold back this offseason and risk another year of missing the playoffs (assuming it happens again this year) in hopes of signing one of the big FAs after 2018.