St. Louis Cardinals: Postseason free agents the Cards should target

The St. Louis Cardinals need to make changes this offseason and one place they should look would be to free-agents-to-be who are playing now in the postseason.

Let’s start with the NL-Central hopeful but first-to-be-removed from the postseason, Chicago Cubs. The much-hated NLC rival has a few names projected to hit the free agent market. While it would make the front office vomit in their collective mouths, this should not keep them from kicking the tires on these names.

Daniel Murphy

Daniel Murphy will once again shop for a new home. Murphy was added to the Cubs at the trade deadline in 2018 and helped the club find its way into the postseason. The 34-year-old second baseman/first baseman managed to hit .299 with an OPS of .790.

He earned $17.5M in 2018 and with the qualifying offer hovering around $17.9M, it is unlikely that Murphy would receive the QO since his value is estimated by Spotrac at approximately $15M.

The St. Louis Cardinals have Kolten Wong at second and Matt Carpenter looking to repeat his 2018 August. These two things should keep the Cardinals from kicking the Murphy tires. Unless the front office has serious concerns about Wong’s injuries…

Pitchers

Let’s get this one out of the way immediately: Jaime Garcia. No, please God, no. Moving on…

Next up, Anthony Bass. Bass, a 30-year-old right-handed reliever came from the Texas Rangers to the Cubs in 2018. His Rangers’ ERA was an inflated 14.29 through only two games in 2017. With the help of the Cubs, Bass’ ERA became an impressive 2.94 through 15.3 innings.

Bass received $545K and will likely have many suitors on the free agent market. The St. Louis Cardinals need to be one of these.

Next up, Jesse Chavez. Chavez, a 35-year-old right-handed reliever also came from the Texas Rangers to the Cubs in 2018. Like Bass before him, his Rangers’ ERA was high, but not as high as Bass’, at 3.51 through 30 games. Through 32 games and fewer innings pitched with the Cubs, Chavez now has a 1.15 ERA.

The Cardinals should definitely kick these tires. Chavez earned $1.5M in 2018 and the Cardinals could easily offer up a 1-2 year contract around $2Mish.

Last up, Justin Wilson. Wow, what a blast from the past. I wrote about Wilson a year ago around this same time. Wilson was then with the Detroit Tigers. Want to read my thoughts from a year ago? Click the link below.

To today, then. Wilson threw for the Cubs in 2017 where he posted a 5.09 ERA through 23 games. In 2018, through 71 games, Wilson earned a 3.46 ERA. To his detriment he was paid $4.25M in 2018. To his credit, he is a left-handed pitcher.

To me, with the loss of Tyler Lyons, the Cardinals could and should at the very least kick the tires on Wilson.

Others not interested

The Cubs will also have two over-30 catchers hitting the free agent market. These are Bobby Wilson (36 years old; and can we all agree, who?) and Carlos Corporan (35 years old). Zzzzzzzzzz. The St. Louis Cardinals should pass on these. Period.

The St. Louis Cardinals need to make changes this offseason and one place they should look would be to free-agents-to-be who are playing now in the postseason.

The St. Louis Cardinals sent Stephen Piscotty to the As to get him closer to home which panned out well for both teams and Piscotty. The dude went on a tear and had a great year. While Piscotty isn’t due to free agency, the Cardinals have plenty of other names on the As roster who should interest them.

Pitchers

Let’s jump right to the site of greatest need for the 2019 St. Louis Cardinals: pitchers. The As have three starting pitchers and one relief pitcher. Honestly? All of them should interest the Cardinals.

First up, the relief pitcher, Jeurys Familia. Familia was a great name for the New York Mets from 2012 until he moved to the As in 2018. Some seasons saw a good Familia, others did not. He left the As with a 2.88 ERA through 40 games. Came to the As and posted a 3.45 ERA through 30 games.

Admittedly, the Athletics play in one of the sh*ttiest ballparks in the country but Familia will be only 29 when the 2019 season starts. Familia earned $7.925M in 2018. My guess is that he will net $9M or so through FA but this shouldn’t scare off the Cards.

On the starting front, Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, and Edwin Jackson are set to hit free agency. The Cardinals had a great session with Jackson in the past but his age now should prohibit the birds from taking interest. Anderson will be 31 and Cahill will also be 31.

Cahill is a right-handed starter. He posted an 8.22 ERA with Kansas City in 2017 and a 3.76 ERA with the As in 2018. Could he return to his sub-3.00 days by returning to the National League? He posted sub-3.00 days with the Cubs a few seasons back and maybe an NLC return would see this performance return as well.

Anderson is a lefty and would fit nicely into the St. Louis Cardinals starting rotation. While it isn’t likely that the Cards will be shopping for starting pitching, this doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t. Anderson posted a 4.48 ERA for the As in 2018. His numbers aren’t that great so the Cards could make the money work and let Mike Maddux work some magic.

Fielders

The Athletics have Jed Lowrie and Jonathan Lucroy hitting the market this season. Lowrie, a second baseman, likely has no place with the Cardinals. Lucroy will be looking for a starting role and this won’t happen with the Cardinals. In addition to their desires, both names are in their mid-30s which will keep them away from the Cardinals.

For 2019, the St. Louis Cardinals should kick the tires on the arms from the Athletics and leave the others alone.

The St. Louis Cardinals need to make changes this offseason and one place they should look would be to free-agents-to-be who are playing now in the postseason.

There are plenty of great names on the Colorado Rockies who were unceremoniously removed from postseason play by the Milwaukee Brewers… I will get to the Brewers later. First up, let’s look deeply at the Rockies.

Let’s get this one out of the way right out of the gate: Matt Holliday is not going to return to the St. Louis Cardinals. Sorry, guys, but it just isn’t going to happen. Holliday will retire as a Rocky and likely following the 2018 season.

Another free-agent-to-be D.J. LeMahieu can be crossed off the Cardinals’ wish list as it is likely that the Rockies will lock him up thanks to his prowess and low cost. Our very own Austin talked briefly of the lock-up of LeMahieu. Check his piece out below.

Carlos Gonzales is a likely free agent but will cost a large amount of money and with Dexter Fowler and others blocking the outfield, I doubt that the Cardinals will take interest in this right fielder again (if they ever really had interest before).

Chris Nelson is a to-be free agent third baseman and depending on what the Rockies plan to do with Nolan Arenado, this name might come off the board as insurance for the mile-high team.

This leaves pitchers. In this mix is Adam Ottavino and Santiago Casilla. Both are relievers. Both are right handed. It is very unlikely that the Cardinals would or should have interest in both but I wouldn’t begrudge them if they kicked the tires on at least one.

Casilla appeared in 31.3 innings for the Rockies in 2018 and recorded a 3.16 ERA. He received $6M in 2018 (paid primarily by the Oakland Athletics).

Ottavino, a former farm hand with the St. Louis Cardinals, appeared in 77.7 innings for Colorado and recorded a 2.43 ERA. He received $7M in 2018.

If I were the St. Louis Cardinals, I would offer Ottavino a $17M, 2-year contract and see if he bites. Otherwise I would ignore the other names.

The St. Louis Cardinals need to make changes this offseason and one place they should look would be to free-agents-to-be who are playing now in the postseason.

The Braves were all but eliminated in three games but put up a fight in that third game extending the season for them to one more game. Game four against the Dodgers proved to be just as insurmountable as games one and two. Looking ahead, the Braves have a massive 10 players projected to hit free agency.

Of these ten, only a few should be of interest to the Cardinals. These are Brad Brach (RP), Kurt Suzuki (C), Lucas Duda (1B), and Rene Rivera (C). While the Braves will have starting pitchers Brandon McCarthy and Anibal Sanchez on the market, both are in the middle-30s and are just as high a risk as Adam Wainwright.

Brach is 33 years old, earned $5.165M in 2018, and posted a 3.59 ERA in 62.7 innings with the Braves in 2018. I think a 2-year deal could be had for Brach at $14M. Brach could rebound nicely under the guidance of Maddux.

Duda is also 33, earned $3.8M in 2018, and hit for a .241 average with an OPS of .731. Duda would be blocked to the Cardinals if they decide to keep Matt Adams. If not, then Duda might be a serviceable backup to Carpenter at first. I think the Cards could land him for a 1-year or 2-year deal worth $4.5M AAV.

Suzuki is doing all he can to make a name for himself in his old age. He is 35 and posted a batting average of .271 with an OPS of .776 for the Braves in ’18. The challenge to landing him would be to convince him to take the backup duties to Yadier Molina. At his age, this might not be that negative of a thing.

Suzuki earned $3.85M in 2018. A backup role could cost the Cardinals a 1-year deal of $4.5M but that shouldn’t prohibit them from asking.

Rivera is already in a backup role so moving him to the St. Louis Cardinals as backup to Molina would be an easier plea. Additionally, Rivera is cheaper than Suzuki at $2.8M in 2018. He batted .233 with an OPS of .694 showing that he would be a good backup. At 35 years of age, Rivera could be had for $3.5M.

All of the factors above make me think that the Atlanta Braves might not be the best trade partner for the St. Louis Cardinals following this season. That said, I think the Cards would be wise to hunt a backup replacement for Yadi from Atlanta.

The St. Louis Cardinals need to make changes this offseason and one place they should look would be to free-agents-to-be who are playing now in the postseason.

The St. Louis Cardinals and the Cleveland Indians have made nice trade partners in the past and this could be rekindled in the offseason yet again. Rather than making a swap for players, the Cardinals might target one (or more) of the 13 to-be free agents from the Indians.

Of course the big name in question is Josh Donaldson. Donaldson went to the Indians as a rental that didn’t actually increase their odds of surviving the postseason as the Cleveland front office had hoped. Would he make a good addition to the St. Louis Cardinals?

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If they made this move, the Cards would need to devote a good deal of money. Donaldson earned $28M in 2018 but his value is approximately only $18M. The best guess on him, however, is that he will go to the team who offers him $30M or beyond.

Outside of Donaldson, I would love to see the St. Louis Cardinals take a stab at Oliver Perez, Andrew Miller, and Cody Allen. All are relief pitchers who could dramatically help the Cardinals in 2019 and beyond.

I’d love to see the Cards offer Allen $11M, Perez $2.5M, and Miller $10.5M. I think they could be had for those figures.

Stay tuned for more trade rumors as additional teams are eliminated from postseason play.

Thanks for reading. Come back for more!