St. Louis Cardinals: NLCS player targets for the Cardinals

In part two of a look at potential players for the St. Louis Cardinals to target who are in the playoffs, we turn our attention to the teams in the NLCS.

The St. Louis Cardinals should spend a great deal of time this offseason attacking free agents. Both the Dodgers and Brewers have a slew of to-be free agents. To be specific, the Dodgers have 12 players who will hit free agency and the Brewers have 10 players who will be free agents.

To help us examine these players, let me group them via position.

Free agent starting pitchers

The Milwaukee Brewers will witness Gio Gonzalez hitting the free agent market following their departure from the 2018 postseason. Gonzalez came to the Brewers on August 31, 2018 just in time to be included on the postseason rosters.

Gonzalez had watched his pitching numbers rise in his final years with Washington which lead the Nationals to send Gonzales packing. That said, Gio has seen a resurgence of sorts in Milwaukee. Since joining Milwaukee, the left-handed hurler has recorded a 2.13 ERA through five games at the end of the season.

Listen, I really want to see the St. Louis Cardinals make a push to sign Gonzalez this offseason. I think he can be had if the Brewers don’t bring him back. That, I believe, will be the one thing standing in the way of a Cards-Gonzalez marriage and is one that will likely keep Gio out of St. Louis.

The Dodgers will have Hyun-Jin Ryu hitting the free agent market after the postseason of 2018. Like Gonazales before him, Ryu would be a great addition to the St. Louis Cardinals and I would love to see them make a push for him.

That said, Ryu’s five years of service have all been with the Dodgers and I think it will be unlikely that he finds a new home. Regardless, a left-handed pitcher who made $7.833M in 2018 should make him affordable and not just to the Cardinals.

Free agent relief pitchers

The Dodgers have eight relief pitchers hitting free agency this offseason. Of them only Ryan Madson should interest the St. Louis Cardinals.

Madson was likely on the Cardinals’ radar already and should be as he was a powerful arm at the back of the Washington bullpen before he was sent to the Dodgers on August 31, 2018. Madson made just shy of $8M in 2018 and will likely garner $10M in free agency.

The St. Louis Cardinals need to bid on Madson. Period.

On the other side of the coin, Milwaukee has only three relief pitchers hitting the free agent market. Of these, none of them should interest the St. Louis Cardinals. The relief pitchers from the Brewers are nearing baseball-retirement ages of mid-to-upper 30s. Pass.

 Free agent fielders

Let me warn the St. Louis Cardinals to take care when/if dipping toes in the fielding free agents from the Brewers as the youngest of these is Eric Sogard at 33. In other words: pass, pass, pass.

On the Dodgers side of things, however, the St. Louis Cardinals should bid on all of the free agent names. These include Manny Machado, Yasmani Grandal (albeit he will not likely want to take backup role), and Brian Dozier.

Machado is likely going to return to LA, Grandal is likely going to as well and with more money, leaving Dozier to be had. I think the St. Louis Cardinals should pass on Dozier if they intend on keeping Gyroko.

Here’s a comparison of Dozier to Gyorko at the plate. Gyorko’s slash line from 2018: .262/.346/.416. Dozier’s slash line from 2018: .215/.305/.391. And just for giggles, these are Kolton Wong’s numbers: .249/.332/.388. In other words, pass on Dozier.

In part two of a look at potential players for the St. Louis Cardinals to target who are in the playoffs, we turn our attention to the teams in the NLCS.

Where free agents might have left much to be desired, both the Dodgers and the Brewers have players who will be in the final years of their respective contracts and these are the ones the St. Louis Cardinals should put on their radar for trade before or during the 2019 season.

To help us examine these players, let me group them via position.

Pitchers

The following Dodgers will be playing 2019 as the final year on their current contracts:

• Rich Hill, $18.67M
• Alex Wood, arbitration in 2019
• Tony Cingrani, arbitration in 2019
• Josh Fields, arbitration in 2019

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Of these, the St. Louis Cardinals would be wise to keep an eye on Wood and Cingrani; for different reasons, however. Wood could be a great young starter for the St. Louis Cardinals should they need starting help in 2019. Cingrani, a left-handed reliever, should be someone the Cardinals attempt to grab before the start of 2019.

The following Brewers will be playing 2019 as the final year on their current contracts:

• Joakim Soria, $10M team option with $1M buyout
• Jhoulys Chacin, $6.75M
• Matt Albers, $2.5M
• Jordan Lyles, $3.5M team option with $250k buyout

Of these, the St. Louis Cardinals would be wise to consider Albers and Soria above the others. While Chacin has had some good luck of late, he wasn’t always such a great pitcher so it might not be the best investment of money (that could change, of course, as he works through the postseason) and although Lyles is inexpensive, the Cards have enough like him.

Fielders

The following Brewers will be playing 2019 as the final year on their current contracts:

• Stephen Vogt, C, arbitration in 2019
• Jonathan Schoop, 2B, arbitration in 2019

Both of these names should be of interest to the St. Louis Cardinals. Vogt will be returning from season-ending surgery that saw him finish 2018 early by going on the 60-day DL. Should Vogt return to positive form and should Francisco Pena not pan out as Yadier Molina‘s backup, then the Cardinals should work to snatch Vogt.

Schoop would make an incredible middle infield for the St. Louis Cardinals. For more on him, check the related link below. In both cases, I think it will be very difficult for the Cardinals to get either name since the Brewers would likely be less-than-willing to make an in-division trade.

The following Dodgers will be playing 2019 as the final year on their current contracts:

• Matt Kemp, LF, $21.75M
• Yasiel Puig, RF, arbitration in 2019
• David Freese, 3B, $6M team option with $500k buyout
• Chase Utley, 2B, $1M

Look, it is highly likely that 2019 will be the final year of Kemp and Utley. Utley for sure, and Kemp may- MAY- want to try to play again past 2019 but the years are catching up with these two perennial players. The St. Louis Cardinals would be wise to stay clear of these names.

Puig was batted around once in the Cardinals circles. Depending on the figure he pulls in arbitration this could be an interesting name. The person blocking him is Dexter Fowler. Both have much to gain from 2019. I look for the Cardinals to stand pat on Fowler which would take them out of the Puig race if one even opens.

David Freese is the one the Cardinals need to go get. For more on him, click the related link below. For my money, I think that Mozeliak will be calling Los Angeles as soon as the season is finished as he already had interest in Freese when David was with Pittsburgh. I say do it, Cardinals.

In part two of a look at potential players for the St. Louis Cardinals to target who are in the playoffs, we turn our attention to the teams in the NLCS.

Okay, we can all agree that the St. Louis Cardinals need to improve this offseason but few names on the previous slides fit that bill. We know that the Cardinals don’t really need help in the starting pitching corp, could use an impact bat, and definitely need help in the bullpen.

To recap the previous slides, should the St. Louis Cardinals dive into the starting pitcher realm, I would be pleased if they went in on Gio Gonzales or Ryu with the Dodgers since both are left-handed and since the Cards are lacking a left-handed starter.

Should the Cardinals dive into impact bats, there just aren’t any in the two NLCS foes. That said, and while he isn’t an impact bat necessarily, a reunion with David Freese is 100 percent in order. I will honestly be disappointed if this offseason passes and Freese isn’t joining the rank and file of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Without question the Cardinals will work to improve the bullpen this offseason. Ryan Madson should fall near the bullseye on the radar of the Cards’ front office. His lacking performance with LA should help the cost and the club would be remiss if it fails to bid. It might lose, but at least it will show others that they are serious to improve.

Lastly, the time has come for the Cardinals to make a push for Schoop. Wong should be back to his old self in 2019 but just in case he isn’t, then the time is now to grab another young bat for the middle infield.

And… okay… the time has come to put money and eggs in the basket of Manny Machado (or Josh Donaldson or Bryce Harper). That’s the impact bat this club needs.

Thanks for reading and be sure to check back in with us next week for part three wherein I’ll take a look at the free agents and final-year players in the ALCS.