Don’t Count On Mute St. Louis Cardinals At 2014 Winter Meetings

St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak is telling members of the media to expect him to be quiet at the 2014 Winter Meetings this week in San Diego.

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To that, I say:  Whatever!

The team has a handful of needs they still need to address so I seriously don’t they will be quiet. Maybe quiet in the sense that they, as usual, won’t discuss deals they are working on publicly. This is how Mo works. Who knew he was working on the Jason Heyward for Shelby Miller deal?

The team is still looking for:

* Help for Matt Adams at first base. Adams is good when he is on but he struggled some in 2014 and had some nagging injuries. So some help for him would be great. A right handed first baseman. There aren’t too many options on the free agency list. We may see a trade or two for this option.

* Bench help. They have people but not a lot of proven people. The Cardinals have gotten Ty Kelly and Dean Anna, they have Tony Cruz and outfielders Peter Bourjos, Jon Jay, Randal Grichuk and or Stephen Piscotty.  They have options. But you saw this team last season, the more options the better.

* Bullpen help. I like the addition of Jordan Walden. Seth Maness and Trevor Rosenthal are good. They have options. But again. Did you see this team in the playoffs? Depth matters. I just want to see someone to cancel out the need for Randy Choate. What? You do too and you know it.

* A starting pitcher. I’m not counting so much on Jon Lester or Max Scherzer. Even though I, and most of Cardinal Nation, would love to see him in a Cardinals jersey. I just don’t know! I hope it happens but … I’m thinking the options may fall to a type that includes James Shields, Ervin Santana, Francisco Liriano, Jake Peavy or Phil Coke, Chris Capuano or Josh Johnson or Brandon McCarthy. Most of those options make me queasy. I’d rather have a proven guy than have to depend on Jaime Garcia‘s body or a streaky Carlos Martinez or a Marco Gonzales, who could use some more work. Martinez and Gonzales are pitchers of the future for this organization. Let’s not expose and hurt them right this second please!

Basically? This week should be interesting! I’ve got my popcorn ready!