It is true that the Cardinals have followed the Branch Rickey precept that it is much better to trade your stars a year too soon than a year too late. And it is also true that they have been perfectly willing to trade their better players, such as Freese, Pham and numerous others in order to balance their team. But they have also firmly held on to those players that they considered to be the core of the team. Pujols remained through the prime of his career, as has Molina, Carpenter and Wainwright. The same held true for Holliday, and almost certainly will with Goldschmidt. There are stars that can be traded, and their are stars that should be kept.
On the Cubs, I believe that core of the current team is Rizzo, Baez, Contreras and Hendricks. The rest, such as Bryant, Schwarber, Caritini and Heyward can and should be moved to better balance the team, as well as procure and provide young players as future replacements.
Managers are like sweat sox. It can be refreshing to change them every once in a while, but if you keep them too long, they will eventually stink.
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