Bing Devine was promoted to the Cardinals General Manager in November 1957. Devine had been associated with the Cardinals in one capacity or another since 1938. After a "hitch" in the Navy from 1943-1945, Devine returned to the Cardinals’ organization, spending two seasons running the club in Columbus, Georgia (Single-A South Atlantic League), and seven more in Rochester, New York (Triple-A International League). In Rochester Devine worked not only with many future major-league players, but also with managers Johnny Keane and Harry Walker, both future big-league managers with whom Devine would remain close. After a successful run in Rochester, including two league championships, Devine was promoted to the Cardinals in 1956 as general manager Frank Lane’s assistant.

After the 1957 season Frank Lane resigned as general manager and owner August “Gussie” Busch hired Bing Devine to replace him. Lane had worked out a final deal in which the Cardinals would give up Ken Boyer, who Lane thought was soft, for Richie Ashburn of the Phillies. Devine, as Lane's assistant, nixed the deal, one of the best decisions he made in his career. Boyer went on to earn MVP honors in 1964, win five Gold Glove awards, and retire with the third highest slugging average by a third baseman. For Busch this as the last straw. In 1956 Lane had worked a deal to trade Stan Musial to the Phillies for Robin Roberts, but this was quickly nixed by Busch, for fear of his life. Especially after Lane had changed the Cardinal uniforms the same year.

Bing Devine made his first trade in December 1957, when he dealt three pitchers—only one of whom, reliever Willard Schmidt, had major-league experience—to the Cincinnati Reds for outfielder Joe Taylor and infielder-outfielder Curt Flood. Both acquisitions had limited major-league experience, but each had shown promise—Taylor as a slugger, Flood as a hitter and defensive player. Flood was just 19 at the time of the deal and had not yet played higher than Single-A. He would be slow to develop, but under the mentorship of George Crowe, the companionship of Bob Gibson and the steady hand of Johnny Keane, would turn into a good hitter and a great defensive center fielder.

At the end of his career Curt Flood would earn 7 Gold Glove Awards, and this was in the same time Willie Mays was patrolling centerfield in the National League. Flood would end his career with a.293 batting average and had been selected to three All-Star games.

This was one of Devine’s all-time best trades ranking probably second only to the Brock/Broglio trade in 1964.