As recently as Saturday I was talking about the various St. Louis Cardinals trade rumors—especially the ones about middle infielders like Stephen Drew and Yunel Escobar, which I had basically made up—with a certain ironic detachment. Now it's serious: Rafael Furcal is injured, or at least dealing with back tightness that could very well be an injury, and the Cardinals' top backup at shortstop is Daniel Descalso, who is a second baseman.

This is worrying.

The Cardinals now have until the end of July to chase down an infielder, if they're interested; if they aren't, they'll be hard-pressed to find relief in a farm system where Pete Kozma is the nearest second baseman to the majors, and both Ryan Jackson and Kolten Wong are locked in slumps.

There's still time for this infield to bounce back; Furcal's injury might not be serious, or Daniel Descalso or Tyler Greene might get hot. But at this point I think the Cardinals' need for an infielder is every bit as significant as its perceived need for a starting pitcher, thanks in part to system depth.