St. Louis Cardinals: The Winter Meetings were no surprise

Across baseball, the 2019 Winter Meetings were full of excitement. For the St. Louis Cardinals though, they were unsurprisingly dull.

None of what may have been predicted for the St. Louis Cardinals came true this week as an uneventful Winter Meetings came and went. We all may have dreamed of Francisco Lindor or Mookie Betts leaving sunny San Diego in Cardinal red, but it was not to be.

When I say the Meetings were uneventful, I do mean it just for the St. Louis Cardinals. In a good (in terms of the health of the sport) break from recent form, more than one $1 BILLION were signed away in the past week. These huge contracts were highlighted by Gerrit Cole’s nine-year/$324M deal with the Yankees, Anthony Rendon’s seven-year, $245M deal with the Angels, and Stephen Strasburg’s identical deal to stay with the Nationals.

It was no surprise that the Cardinals weren’t involved in the talks with any of the big free agents signed this week. What was reported from the Meetings was that the Cardinals were deep in the starting pitching market. Not the top tier, but the middle.

The team has been connected to Hyun-Jin Ryu, Dallas Keuchel, and Madison Bumgarner, all good starters who are going to get more than $100M and who are all on the wrong side of 30. With the starting pitching market moving much faster, it’s not surprising to find the Cardinals dabbling there first, but don’t let the lack of moves annoy you. We knew it was coming.

John Mozeliak himself even said that the team didn’t see the end of the Winter Meetings as any sort of deadline. This is a smart way to be. So far, the Cardinals haven’t truly had a “miss” on any free agent whom they should’ve been interested in. While those players are still out there, why set any ultimatum deadlines? Rushing and pressuring only lead to bad deals.

More from St Louis Cardinals News

• Cardinals Rumors: 3 pros and cons of signing Carlos Rodon
• Cardinals: Here is Willson Contreras’ first message for St. Louis fans
• How do the St. Louis Cardinals stack up with Willson Contreras?
• Cardinals: The insane asking price the Athletics had for Sean Murphy
• St. Louis Cardinals: Ask me anything with Josh Jacobs – 12/8

In years past, the Cardinals have been active post-Winter Meetings in deals that came from conversations that began during the yearly event. December 15th is very different from February 15th. I can guarantee to you, this 25-man roster is not the 25-man roster we will see on February 15th.

If anything, the fact that Mozeliak and Company were talking with any mid-upper tier starting pitchers is a good thing. With Carlos Martinez returning to the rotation and Adam Wainwright back, the Cardinals are well within their bounds to use their current roster to justify inaction in the starting pitching market. It’s good that like us, they don’t fully want to rely on the current staff.

They won’t feel pressured or forced to make any deals they don’t need to, but they are still exploring.

I would bet that some move happens before the end of the 2019 year, but I don’t know what. The Cardinals aren’t showing their cards per usual, just let things play out and we will see what they do.