St. Louis Cardinals: Busy offseason ahead for the Cards

No one thought the St. Louis Cardinals would see the 2018 postseason but things have dramatically changed. So too must the offseason plans.

The St. Louis Cardinals have shown that they are the team to beat in 2018 for courage and turn-around. Notice that I did not say that the Cardinals are the shoe-in winners of the NL-Central nor the postseason. On the contrary, I feel that the St. Louis Cardinals will make the postseason but I don’t look for them to win all.

That said, this sudden turn-around, coupled with the winning atmosphere returning to the St. Louis Cardinals, will surely change the plans for the offseason. Will the Cards dive into the market of the big names or are there other ways to skin this cat?

Let’s take a look at a few names the St. Louis Cardinals should immediately put on their radar.

Big fish

The St. Louis Cardinals have been rumored and connect to a few big fish who will be free agents at the end of the 2018 season. These include Manny Machado and Bryce Harper. But should they? Should the Cardinals have any interest?

Starting with Machado, the St. Louis Cardinals were said to be one of the teams who were kicking the tires on Macahado when the Dodgers spent the big money to grab the rental this season. Coming to the National League makes a great deal of sense for Machado to show what he can do as his free agency approaches.

Now that Machado is showing that he can play in a division not named the American League, the entire MLB will come calling (as though they wouldn’t have anyway). With this in mind, I look for his ticket price to climb and climb and climb.

To me, the only reason the St. Louis Cardinals should join the bidding fray would be to run up the cost and prevent their competition in the NLC from snagging a good hitter. Aside from that, I don’t believe that the 2019 (and beyond) St. Louis Cardinals need Machado.

Having said that, I wouldn’t fault the club for grabbing him either. Can you imagine a lineup that includes Marcell Ozuna, Matt Carpenter, and Machado?

An additional struggle in getting Machado would be where to play Paul DeJong if Machado were to call St. Louis home. While it seems easy to move DeJong to third, this would offset others like Jedd Gyorko and I’m not convinced that Machado is that much of an improvement over either of these names (at least not to the dollar figure required).

Looking at Harper, I really don’t want the St. Louis Cardinals to even entertain the idea of shopping for this all-star outfielder. The Cardinals have a logjam already in the outfield and one could even argue that Adolis Garcia may- in fact- have a higher ceiling than does Harper. May…

Harper, like Machado, will demand a high penny. Despite a frustrating 2018, Harper’s perennial prowess will have every single MLB team clamoring to bring him home. His name alone is one around which a team can build and one around which a team can revitalize.

With this aspect in mind, I wouldn’t be surprised to see one of the coastal teams snag him to help them find their way back into the spotlight. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Tampa or Oakland or San Francisco grab him.  Honestly, I also wouldn’t put it past the Marlins to grab him and rebuild completely around him.

Short end of the stick is that I only hope that the St. Louis Cardinals play in these sandboxes to raise the cost for their competition.

Free agents to be

The St. Louis Cardinals could and should turn their attention to at least one name on the soon-to-be free agent lists: Nolan Arenado. Yes, another short stop who would present the same challenges as Machado, but one who would be much less expensive and fit better with the defensive alignment of the Cardinals.

If the St. Louis Cardinals were to grab Arenado, then DeJong would naturally slide to third displacing Gyorko. This assumes that Gyorko remains with the club beyond 2018. He too could be of great interest to a team this offseason as a one-year rental who could turn into a long-term grab.

Speaking of this thinking, this brings me right back to Arenado. Should the Cardinals make a trade with Colorado in the offseason, Arenado would be a one-year rental but I would look for the Cards to make an extension happen almost immediately.

Would Arenado want to come to the Cardinals? Just read this tweet and you tell me:

With this thinking firmly pressed in my brain, I think the St. Louis Cardinals could land the trade with Colorado thanks to the strength of the MLB bench and thanks to the strong farm system. It would, indeed, take a great offer from the Cardinals to get Nolan but if there is any team who has the bodies to accomplish it, then the Cardinals are the ones to do it.

I would think that Gyorko could go in the opposite direction along with either a few infield prospects or perhaps even a land-locked catching prospect (cough, cough, Carson Kelly, cough, cough).

Conclusion

Simply put, I urge that the St. Louis Cardinals stay away from big-dollar, big fish this coming offseason and instead turn their attention to rentals with long-term aspirations in mind. True, the St. Louis Cardinals will not be the only ones bidding on such names, but the Cards likely have the stronger package(s) to propose.

With this in mind, please go get Arenado, Mozeliak. Please.

Who else should the Cardinals target? Stick with us as we reveal our thoughts as we edge ever closer to the end of the 2018 season.