Cardinals trade idea sends fan favorite to Astros despite dealing with an injury originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.The St. Louis Cardinals simply aren't in a position to win it all anytime in the next year or so. It's the harsh reality of where this organization stands, currently in fourth place in the National League Central. The Cardinals have actually had a decent start to the campaign, but this is a better look for the future than it is in the short term.It's tough to say that the Cardinals should go out and trade some of their top players because they have a lot of talent and could possibly make some noise next season if their young guys continue to develop, but if they can get a decent return for guys like Lars Nootbaar, it wouldn't be the wrong decision to move on from him.Thomas Carelli of SI proposed a deal that would send Nootbaar to the Houston Astros in exchange for Jacob Melton and AJ Blubaugh. It's not the worst trade, but I feel like the Cardinals could get more value out there.Nootbaar is injured, and while the Cardinals are looking to a 3-year plan, Nootbaar will not align with it. He had one more year of team control. The Cardinals are playing fine without Nootbaar, with depth to fill his loss.By the time Nootbaar returns (6-8 weeks), the season could be half-lost anyway. The team might as well deal with Nootbaar if an offer comes in.Nootbaar is probably better to hold on to over the next few months. If the Cardinals do plan on sending him out, doing so at the trade deadline would be the better plan.More MLB news:Mets trade pitch would allow New York to move veteran back to regular position by landing young Red Sox sluggerRed Sox trade proposal attempts to fix horrible start in deal with MetsYankees trade proposal would completely shock MLB but save Brian Cashman from offseason mistakePhillies Bryce Harper reportedly in talks with Philadelphia on contract extensionCubs predicted to sign player that most Chicago fans want nothing to do with againFormer Mets fan favorite predicted to sign with AL East team that would impact Yankees