St. Louis Cardinals: Finding the missing man, or waiting for him

The St. Louis Cardinals are playing the boring waiting game along with the San Francisco Giants for Giancarlo Stanton.

The St. Louis Cardinals have made their “best” offer to the current superstar, Giancarlo Stanton. According to reports, so have the Giants. Now the waiting game begins. I hate waiting games.

Side note: please excuse any maudlin tone that exists in this piece as I’m dealing with a personal, family emergency that is now seven days in the making. Our 16-year-old son walked off his school’s campus one week ago today at 9:58am and has been missing ever since.

More of the personal: when our son went missing, the school failed to notify us and since have failed to be of any real help, apologize for losing our child, and have been of little help.

Back to the St. Louis Cardinals. As I said above, I hate waiting games. And honestly, at this point, should the Cardinals walk away?

Bouncing back into my personal life, my son has pushed us and pushed us and threatened and the list can go on and on and on. Believe me, there are times when I am ready to walk away but I am his parent. Shouldn’t I continue to give the “best” deal that I can to him in hopes that he- a soon-to-be 18-year-old- will choose me?

Here’s what we suppose the St. Louis Cardinals offered: more money in terms of the amount of contract accepted and better prospects than any other competitor would or could. The St. Louis Cardinals have a deep farm system and can afford to send several names away since they are locked by MLB talent.

Additionally, we know that the Marlins want to shed payroll (and we all know they NEED to do so). My gut tells me that any team willing to take on the majority (if not all) of Stanton’s contract could well win the prize.

More from Redbird Rants

• Cardinals Rumors: 3 pros and cons of signing Carlos Rodon
• What’s next for the St. Louis Cardinals after Contreras signing?
• Report: Cardinals Emerge As Mystery Team for Carlos Rodon
• Cardinals: Trade targets after signing Willson Contreras
• Reflecting on the 2013 Cardinals’ top 30 prospects

There are those in the Twittersphere who contend that a team willing to pay almost all of Stanton’s contract should have done so when he was released on waivers in 2017. I believe that Stanton would have been pulled back regardless and none of the clubs contending for him now had nor have interest in paying the whole boat.

Simply stated: if the St. Louis Cardinals were willing to take on the whole boat, then perhaps the Marlin’s asking price in terms of names is just too high to stomach if the whole boat is assumed (like how I’m doing a nautical metaphor since we are dealing with the fish?).

The St. Louis Cardinals have been rumored to have offered Sandy Alcantara as the centerpiece of the deal to the Marlins in exchange for Stanton. Alcantara is young, has a firey arm, and has yet to solidify as a starter or closer but could well fit into either mold.

Here’s a quick look at Sandy’s numbers in his very young career:

In addition to the great numbers, Alcantara is inexpensive which seems to be the major thing that the Marlins are seeking.

So let me jump to the chase here… I hate waiting and I’m growing excessively tired of waiting on a Stanton decision (and tired of waiting on finding my son). The time has come for Stanton to decide. Never you mind the ugly elephant in the room that is Mike Matheny and the unlikelihood that Stanton would want to play for him but I digress (and will write about this aspect later).

Next: Mock winter meetings update

What do you think? Are you okay waiting for this drama to play out? Who else would you wait for if not Stanton?