One of the biggest needs this offseason for the St. Louis Cardinals has been the bullpen. The Cards are looking for a proven closer, and have made a step forward after acquiring Luke Gregerson. But is he the answer? Personally I think they have a couple more moves left this offseason.
A couple great options have already signed including Pat Neshek, Juan Nicasio, and Brandon Morrow. Even with those arms off the market, the Cardinals have multiple options either via trade or free agency. Let’s take a look.
1. Greg Holland – I’m a big fan of Greg Holland. I have been since his time with KC. He owns a career ERA of 2.60 and has at least 32 saves in the last 4 seasons (missed 2016 with Tommy John Surgery). Although his ERA was higher the past couple seasons, I think his ceiling is very high. In 2017 he had a bad month that really spiked his ERA, but he was an All-Star and bounced back well after Tommy John.
2. Wade Davis- Davis is a former starter who burst on to the scene in 2014 where he held a ridiculous 1.00 ERA. Since then he has been an elite reliever spending time with KC and Chicago. He would most certainly become the go to man in the 9th for the Cardinals.
3. Alex Colome- Probably the name most attached to the Cardinals right now is Tampa Bay reliever Alex Colome, and for good reason. It has been rumored that the Cardinals were interested in Colome as well as Archer and Longoria (now with the Giants). If they managed to get a deal for Colome and Archer, the Cardinals are big contenders in the Nationals League.
There are certainly more guys out there, but I feel that these three guys are the best of the best as far as a closer goes. All three guys have closing experience and have dynamic stuff. I love the idea of adding Colome and Archer from Tampa, but it might cost too much in prospects given the amount of cost control we would have for them. I do think Holland would be a cheaper choice than Davis, but Davis is also coming off of better seasons than Holland.
What do you guys think? Let us know who the Cards should go after to improve the bullpen.
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J
