Name any pitcher in the Cards system who projects as a front of the rotation talent and is signed (or retained) beyond 2023. You have Flaherty, Carlos, Reyes all becoming free agents after that year. Hudson will be after 2024, and he’s good but still needs to improve his control to become that ace level talent. Thompson doesn’t quite meet that level for me. Rondon, Oviedo, etc are nice pitchers but none higher than a #3 for me. That’s why Liberatore.
Like Brian said, no one projected Arozarena to be this good. Someone posted that his max exit velocity jumped 5 mph this year, so he did some work to improve his power. Meanwhile, we know Mo really liked Thomas (who had a better 2019 with St Louis than Arozarena) and O’Neills power and speed is pretty alluring.