Home BaseballSt. Louis Cardinals Non-tendered Free Agent Targets

Non-tendered Free Agent Targets

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Wednesday evening, the deadline to offer arbitration to players came and went. This year, this deadline was one to definitely keep an eye on as a Cardinal fan. Since MLB shut down, many teams were vocal about the fact that they were hit hard financially. We already saw a little bit of this earlier in the offseason when teams declined options on players they normally would have exercised. Cardinals likely would have exercised the $12.5M option on Kolten Wong. The Cardinals are one of the teams that rely heavily on fan attendance. With no fans allowed in 2020, the Cardinals lost quite a bit of money, which meant they felt they were better off buying out Wong for $1M. Could the Cardinals cry wolf, in a way, and use that $11.5M savings to help the team elsewhere? The Cardinals weren’t the only team that had to make tough decisions. Here are a list of players that were non-tendered by their team, thus becoming a free agent. These are players I think would interest the Cardinals.

 

Eddie Rosario – The Minnesota Twins waived their 29 year old star left fielder Tuesday. Rosario is a year removed from a 31 home run campaign. While he’s average defensively, the Cardinals could definitely use his bat, especially as an outfielder. The past two seasons, he has garnered MVP votes.

 

David Dahl – This one really surprised me. Dahl, another outfielder, was surprisingly let go by the Colorado Rockies. He has struggled to stay healthy, which could be part of the reason why he was let go. He was abysmal in 2020 but was an all star as recent as 2019. I think there’s still hope that since he’s only 26, he can still develop into an excellent player. 

 

Maikel Franco – Franco is an interesting case. He was a highly regarded prospect coming up in the Phillies organization. Didn’t perform to the high expectations and was non-tendered by the Phillies this time last year. Franco had a mini-resurgence in Kansas City in the Covid-shortened season. He was able to hit for a better average while keeping his power. Cardinals could use his power, but where would they play him? Would they bench Matt Carpenter, who is expected to start at 3B?

 

Kyle Schwarber and Albert Almora – The Cubs let go two of their young outfielders. Almora, I’m really not surprised. He doesn’t offer much except for decent contact and a decent defender in centerfield. I don’t think he is an upgrade over anyone we currently have in the outfield. Kyle Schwarber is an interesting case though. He is a lackluster defender, which is why the Cubs stuck him in left field as he outgrew his natural catcher position. However, he is more of a designated hitter, which, as it stands right now, will not return to the National League (read more about that in my previous article). He definitely has the power that the Cardinals need, but can he make enough contact?

 

Carlos Rodon & Nomar Mazara – The White Sox let go a former number 4 overall pick in Carlos Rodon. Rodon has had a rough going. He hasn’t been able to stay healthy and when he has been healthy, he’s produced poor results. A change of scenery could do him well, but I am leery about him. Nomar Mazara is one I have always been pretty high on. Bill James, the king of sabermetrics, was even high on him in 2019. Prior to the season, James thought he would be a top 5 right fielder in his 4th season with the Texas Rangers. I thought he would really come into his own and produce some big power numbers, especially since he played in a then extreme hitter friendly (old) Globe Life Field. He remained pretty steady with his past performances, which led to him being traded to the White Sox. In Chicago, his power disappeared. Busch is more of a pitcher’s ballpark, so I don’t think he would do well in The Lou. 

 

Hanser Alberto – The Orioles decided to part ways with their second baseman. While not known for his power, he’s more known for making contact. Alberto really came into his own in 2019, his first year with the Orioles. He doesn’t wow you with anything. He can just get the job done. He is a league average defender at second base, but defense at that position has been prioritized less the past few seasons (think Max Muncy & Mike Moustakas). When word started coming out that Alberto might be non-tendered, he was one that I thought the Cardinals should look at. He can be another utility player or he could be your starting second baseman, while sliding Edman to third base and Carpenter to the bench.

 

Archie Bradley – The division rival Reds, just made Bradley one of the top relievers on the free agent market. He has become a lockdown reliever the past few seasons after struggling as a starter. The Diamondbacks saw his live arm and put him in the bullpen, and he took off. Control can be an issue at times but I think he is working to improve that. Last year, he used his sinker less and started using his change up more. I think this contributed to his improved walk rate. One of the strengths of the Cardinals the past 2 seasons has been their bullpen. Adding Bradley would bolster them. Imagine the last few innings being some sort of combination of Bradley, Giovanny Gallegos, & Jordan Hicks. Then you still have guys like Alex Reyes and Ryan Helsley.

 

Other notable players that were non-tendered: Adam Duvall (OF) & Jose Martinez (1B/OF)

 

So who do I really think they should look at? The obvious choices are Eddie Rosario and David Dahl. I think those two would immediately make the Cardinal lineup better. While they don’t necessarily strike fear into the pitcher’s eyes, they would likely be pretty productive hitting around Paul Goldschmidt, Paul deJong, and Dylan Carlson. I also think they should go hard after Archie Bradley. As I mentioned, this would bolster their bullpen. This could give them one of the best bullpens in the league. It will be interesting to see if the Cardinals look at these guys given the financial hardship they are in. The MLB Winter Meetings start up next week (Dec 7-10). Normally, this is where a lot of action happens. As it has done in most of 2020, Covid had other plans for that. The Winter Meetings are going to be held virtually this year. I don’t think we will see as much movement as we would if it was held in person, but it will definitely be something to keep an eye on. 

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