St. Louis Cardinals: Six free agents the team must pursue if 2020 matters

J.D. Martinez

J.D. Martinez will only be a free agent if he opts out of his current contract with the Boston Red Sox but with Marcell Ozuna likely pricing himself out of where the St. Louis Cardinals will want to pay him, another option that would replace his offense is Martinez.

In 2019 Martinez hit .304 with 36 homers and a .939 OPS. That was as a DH though so needing him to play defense daily would put a hit on his value as he is about the same as Jose Martinez is in the field.

That being said, that offense would more than offset any defensive liability that Martinez causes. He is 32 years old and would need a three-plus-year deal, but he would present a free agent upgrade over Ozuna with the bat in an offense that needs more power.

There is the notion that prospect Dylan Carlson should slide into that left field spot, but with a bat like Martinez’s on the market and a down year from Harrison Bader in center field, Carlson could just as easily carve out a role there.

Yasiel Puig, LF

A slightly cheaper name to go after to fill the hole in left field would be Puig. After being traded from the Dodgers to the Reds to the Indians, Puig ended up having a pretty good year.

While his defense in right field was relatively average for the year, he has played plenty of left field in his career and his 24 homers and .785 OPS would be a good point to build on moving into his age 29 season.

Puig is relatively unspectacular but has some of the fire and grit that this Cardinals team seemed to miss at times this year. He would be relatively cheap and would provide more proven and stable production than some of the younger players the Cardinals have shown.

The Cardinals may not get any of the players on this list, but if they are serious about 2020, they really should. Again, Rendon is my top pick but he will be costly. This team needs a pitcher and some help with batting. There are players out there who can help that. Go get them.