The Cardinals didn’t make it out of the divisional round of the playoffs this past year losing to the Cubs in five games, despite winning 100 in the regular season.
Injuries decimated the redbird roster throughout the season from the rotation to the every day starting lineup. Simply put, St. Louis was not at all prepared to make a run at the World Series.
Fast-forward to the offseason and what moves have the Cardinals made to make sure that doesn’t happen next season? They signed Mike Leake to a five-year deal to shore up the back end of the rotation and not much else.
Lance Lynn is out for the 2016 campaign leaving a rotation of Adam Wainwright, Michael Wacha, Carlos Martinez, Jaime Garcia, and Mike Leake. On paper that seems like an all around solid staff, assuming they can stay healthy.
Offensively though, many of the disgruntled Cardinal fans haven’t been all that pleased with general manager John Mozeliak’s “lack of effort” to pursue an offensive bat. Jayson Heyward jumped ship to join the rival Cubs on a deal less than the expected $200 million price tag and one would think Ball Park Village went down in flames.
A number of promising free agent bats remain on the market that could certainly help out the Cardinal offense and St. Louis has the money to spend.
But I’m not here to analyze whom the Cardinals should add to their roster, but rather play the other side and say why Mozeliak is going to stay put like he’s said.
As of Thursday January 7 when I started working on this piece Alex Gordon has signed a deal to rejoin the Kansas City Royals for $72 million over four years. Gordon, 31, was a guy who I would have loved to see in a Cardinal uniform, but once he re-signed with Kansas City I took a step back to look at the situation currently unfolding in St. Louis.
Since the start of the offseason Mozeliak has unclogged the logjam in the outfield by letting go of Peter Bourjos and trading Jon Jay to the Padres in exchange for Jedd Gyorko. Both moves happened prior to the Heyward deal otherwise I believe one of them would have remained on the Cardinal roster.
Jay was expendable since the emergence of Randal Grichuk, who likely will take over as the everyday center fielder in 2016. For Bourjos, there’s no way he was going to get enough bats to prove to the coaches he deserved more playing time. Had Bourjos learned to hit earlier on, he certainly would’ve deserved everyday playing time since he’s one of the better defenders in the game.
But when you look at the infield there’s a number of players that could serve as the everyday first baseman. Matt Adams, Gyorko, Stephen Piscotty, and Brandon Moss can all play the position.
If Adams reassumes his role at first base then Piscotty becomes the everyday right fielder. Adams has a career average of .276 and if he can remain healthy and learn to hit the off speed stuff, he’ll remain the starting first baseman with Gyorko working in on the off days.
Moss has to at least get the chance to play at some point and with the log jam that is first base. He can get some at bats starting in right field when Piscotty needs an off day. The Cardinals traded one of their best prospects in Rob Kaminsky to acquire Moss so even if he doesn’t pan out for the redbirds, at the very least he needs to be given a shot.
Then there’s the conundrum of Tommy Pham. Pham probably won’t be in the opening day starting lineup. He’ll rather move into the role Bourjos held as a late game pinch hitter. He isn’t the most eye catching pop bat that Mark Reynolds may have been, but he’s still a guy that deserves to show what he can do given a full season with the big league club.
The Cardinals have always been the team to promote their talent from within. Kolten Wong, Matt Carpenter, Wainwright, Martinez, Yadier Molina and the list could go on and on. All of these guys were products of the Cardinals minor league system.
It’s not Mozeliak’s motive to go out and acquire expensive big name talent. The biggest deals they’ve done in the past decade were for Matt Holliday and Jhonny Peralta.
With that being said, there are a number of intriguing names left on the table including Chris Davis, Yoenis Cespedes, Justin Upton, and Dexter Fowler. Davis is asking for too long of a deal at 29 years of age, so there is no way the Cardinals should pursue the eight years he’s asking for.
Cespedes, Upton, and Fowler are all going to come at a hefty price as well. The San Francisco Giants who’ve been one of the more active teams in free agency added Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija, and as of today Denard Span. The Giants were rumored to be speaking with Fowler, but the extent of their interest now is unknown after signing Span.
So St. Louis could theoretically go after Upton or Cespedes. I think many including myself would be happy with either in right field, but Mozeliak isn’t going to overpay or give a guy a ridiculous opt out like Chicago offered to Heyward. It comes down to the market and who’s offering what. As Spring Training draws closer the longer the pair waits to make a deal the lower the asking price becomes.
Tim McKernan on Twitter
From @JeffPassan: I hear Upton is going to sign for 1 year. If that’s the case, there’s absolutely no downside to doing a 1 year deal.
But at the end of the day the Cardinals have plenty of pieces to work with at first base and in the outfield. Don’t look past Gyorko getting more playing time if he’s hitting well. He’s a versatile defender that can play multiple positions, but also has some pop in his bat. He smacked 16 homeruns a season ago compared to Reynolds 13, so he’s an upgrade in the utility role at a minimum.
If things turn out sour by mid season Mozeliak can opt to make a move at the deadline. Why overpay for a guy right now when we’re not even sure what this team will do offensively with a healthy roster? The Cardinals won 100 games last year with a severely depleted lineup.
Give Adams, Moss, Piscotty, Pham, etc. a chance to be every day players and see what they can do. If it doesn’t work out, then make a move a trade any number of the young arms in the farm system because not every one of those guys is going to have an opportunity to pitch in the Cardinals starting rotation.
The Miller for Heyward trade may have not worked out for the Cardinals, but the front office’s radio silence may not be all that bad either. I know St. Louis needs more power production from its lineup, but with the player log jam sorted out it will give some of these guys more consistent at bats to figure it out. The question is can they stay healthy?
For more Cardinals news and notes follow @NickYahl on Twitter or e-mail me at [email protected]. Let me know your thoughts!
