St. Louis Cardinals: Chris Davis re-signs with Orioles

Slugging first baseman inks deal with Orioles, confirming St. Louis Cardinals position on adding offense

Like it or not St. Louis Cardinals’ fans, General Manager John Mozeliak seems very content with his offensive options headed into 2016. With Chris Davis re-signing in Baltimore earlier today, another power bat is off the board, and the Cardinals continue to stand by quietly.

The news is a bit surprising, given that just yesterday the O’s reportedly extended an offer to free agent outfielder Yoenis Cespedes. It seemed as though the O’s were moving on from the Chris Davis courting efforts.

It is becoming more and more apparent that Mozeliak is all-in on Run Prevention, at least for the immediate future. That model has been proven to work in producing playoff berths, considering the top six finishers in team ERA last season were all playing baseball games in October.

It also looks like Mozeliak is setting his club up for the potential of having a monster 2018 run at free agency.

Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Josh Donaldson, Andrew McCutchen, AJ Pollock, Dee Gordon, Jose Fernandez, Dallas Keuchel, Matt Harvey, Garrett Richards are all players that are in line to become unrestricted free agents in the 2018 mega-class.

Among the headliners that have opt-out clauses in 2018 are the likes of Clayton Kershaw, David Price, and our old friend Jason Heyward.

Matt Holliday and Adam Wainwright will be coming off the books, and 2018 is the first year that the new $1 billion TV contract sets in for St. Louis.

None of this information will alleviate the concerns we have going into 2016, obviously. But it does reinforce the fact that Mozeliak has a long-term plan in place here, and he isn’t willing to sell out on 2016 when considering what other intriguing possibilities are on the horizon.

I prefer the optimistic outlook on 2016. I like to think that Stephen Piscotty and Randal Grichuk and are on the verge of career years. I like to think that Holliday and Matt Adams are going to come back as good as ever, and Matheny is finally going to find the right work load for Yadier Molina.

If that Cardinal offense comes out and clicks next year, Mo looks like a genius yet again. If it doesn’t work out, he knows exactly where he stands with his young talent, and he knows that he will have the resources to make a monster splash in 2018. Signing Chris Davis to $150 million plus would have put a serious dent into what Mo has to work with in 2018, and beyond that.

Next: Are the Cardinals waiting or Content for 2016?

Mo is giving the guys that he drafted and brought up through his system first shot  at getting the job done in 2016. If they don’t, he is putting together one hell of a contingency plan for after that, and he is ensuring that this organization remains in position to be competitive for many years to come.