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Re-tooling the St. Louis Cardinals Roster for 2020

By Dane Aerne-Moore

BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 23: General manager John Mozeliak on the field before Game One of the 2013 World Series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on October 23, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 23: General manager John Mozeliak on the field before Game One of the 2013 World Series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on October 23, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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ST LOUIS, MO – JULY 14: Adam Wainwright #50 of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches during the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Busch Stadium on July 14, 2019 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO – JULY 14: Adam Wainwright #50 of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches during the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Busch Stadium on July 14, 2019 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images) /

Many of you are probably thinking, who would play the rest of the year? With these trades, playing time opens up all over the field. My ideal starting position players would be Yadier Molina, Paul Goldschmidt, Tommy Edman, Paul DeJong, Yairo Munoz, Tyler O’Neill, Harrison Bader, and Dylan Carlson. For those of you who don’t know Carlson’s name, look him up. He’s the real deal. The idea here is to give your younger guys playing time down the stretch and see what they are really made of. Especially with O’Neill, who seems to only get about four or five starts at a time.

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The rotation would go, Marcus Stroman, Jack Flaherty, Dakota Hudson, Daniel Ponce de Leon, and Adam Wainwright. I believe that it is a safe assumption that Wainwright will retire at the end of the year. He’s 38 and had a wonderful career. That leaves an open rotation spot to be claimed by any of the aforementioned trade acquisitions or current minor leaguers.

The bullpen, however, would be patchwork, besides Giles closing. The bright side of this is that it only takes an offseason to rebuild a bullpen, and we would now have plenty of prospects to get it done.

The St. Louis Cardinals would simply be re-tooling, not rebuilding.

They would have a young, fresh, energetic team going into 2020, along with a robust farm system to account for any needed bullpen trades. This farm system would gain the #61 and #71 MLB prospects, along with a plethora of young talent. Oh, don’t forget about Stroman and Giles. Giles and Hicks would go on to form one of the best 1-2 bullpen combinations in baseball.

Next. Matt Carpenter mercifully goes to the IL. dark

A rebuilt farm system and a refreshed lineup seem to be exactly what the Cardinals have needed for about a year now. Sadly, I am not in charge to make these trades myself. One can only hope John Mozeliak reads this himself and takes the hint.

Cowritten by Andrew Meng, a good friend and fellow nerd

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