St. Louis Cardinals: Our mock winter meetings, an update

The REAL St. Louis Cardinals will be gearing up for winter meetings that will occur in December. In fact, the game plan probably exists as we speak. In preparation of this, we will participate in FanSided’s own mock winter meeting.

Fans of the St. Louis Cardinals should rejoice as winter approaches. Why? Historically, a great deal of MLB activity occurs around the winter meetings. This could well spell the landing of a big trade (e.g. Giancarlo Stanton) or the signing of a big free agent (e.g. Jason Heyward, Dexter Fowler).

FanSided’s MLB sites are so excited about the pending winter meetings that we have created our own mock meetings. Each site is being represented by the respected FanSided site in some way. Many of the editors of these sites are participating as mock GMs.

Redbird Rants’ own Dr. Michael D. Miles and Tito Rivera will be serving in this mock meeting as the St. Louis Cardinals’ GMs. In preparation, let us look at a few potential names and numbers that might loom largely in decisions.

After publishing the initial article about the mock winter meetings and after asking for suggestions, the following names were submitted via Twitter. Please help us continue our mock search by submitting your ideas via Twitter.

Addison Reed

This former New York Mets closer and now free agent is a name that has circulated by St. Louis Cardinals fans for a while. That said, I have yet to read any real story or rumor linking the team to this name. That doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t take an interest.

In 2017, between Boston and the Mets, Reed pitched 76 innings recording 19 saves, all for the Mets. His 2.57 ERA was earned behind 76 strikeouts. These 1K/IP lead to an impressive 1.122 WHIP and 8.00 strikeout-per-walk.

Reed was paid $7.75M in 2017 and will be looking for an improvement in these numbers behind his impressive NL stats. MLBTR predicts that Reed will land with the Chicago Cubs under a four-year deal valued at $36MM. This $9M AAV would- in all honesty- be a steal. If the Cubs call Reed then so should the St. Louis Cardinals.

We will for sure ask in this arm.

Zach Britton

The powerful Orioles closer is certainly one who many teams will call asking about. Britton, 29 years old (will be 30 years old at the start of the 2018 season), has recorded 37, 36, 47, and 15 saves since 2014.

This arbitration-eligible left-handed pitcher made $11.4M in 2017 and, despite a shortened 2017 season due to an ailing knee, looks to see a pay increase through arbitration. This would be a nice opportunity for the St. Louis Cardinals to step in and offer a trade to the Orioles that would grab Britton and then extend him such that he won’t hit free agency in 2019.

Having said that, however, the St. Louis Cardinals would need to pony-up on the cash (something they have plenty of) as a deal like this could cost dearly. Nevertheless, count on us to ask in on him.

Mychal Givens

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Another reader suggestion is that we ask in on Givens. This nice right-handed pen arm would be a welcomed addition to the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen. Givens is touted as a future closer so adding him with the likes of Sandy Alcantara might make for a beautiful future bullpen.

Thanks to his bright future, the Orioles might be less than excited to trade without a good grab in return. Stay tuned for an update on what they might want. My preliminary thought is that this deal may not be worth the resulting loss in prospects.

To his credit, and adding to my interest, Givens is under team control until 2022 and is arb-eligible in 2019 for the first time. The St. Louis Cardinals would love to grab a rising pen arm under these conditions. Likewise, however, the Orioles will likely want to hold onto this gem.

Alex Colome

Another closer candidate, Colome is very similar to Givens in the fact that his team is likely to hold onto him thanks to his team control through 2020. That said, a decent offer to the Rays could steal away their 47-save closer.

Having earned the league minimum in 2017, Colome is looking to make good money in 2018 through his first appearance under arbitration. This could be the avenue that the St. Louis Cardinals could seek to steal him away. Even under these conditions, the Cards will need to offer something to the Rays to close the deal.

While I think it unlikely, we will ask on him. Stay tuned.

Jake Odorizzi

The St. Louis Cardinals have often been linked to Odorizzi in the past and this- in fact- was one name that I urged the Cardinals grab in past seasons.  Now in his second year of arbitration, Odorizzi is set to become a free agent in 2020.

This 27-year-old with a 2017 10-8 record and 4.14 ERA would likely slot into the rotation at the back end. Noting these numbers, I would caution the actual team into looking at this arm.

Nevertheless, we will ask in the mock setting and see what the mock GMs might ask in return.

Arodys Vizcaino/Kelvin Herrera/Shane Greene

Three more back-of-the-pen names surfaced as suggestions. Two are under decent team control (2020, Vizcaino; 2021, Greene) and one sees free agency faster (2019, Herrera). Two recorded double-digit saves in 2017: Vizcaino (14) and Herrera (26). Greene recorded nine saves so he is yet another closer-in-training.

We will certainly ask in on these names and- in fact- have watched the real St. Louis Cardinals trade with the Braves, Royals, and Tigers in recent years.

Next: 2018 bullpen

We are very excited to kick off the mock winter meetings so stay tuned for what trades/transactions we make. I’ll keep you updated here. Thanks for reading and please keep sending those transaction suggestions to our Twitter account.