St. Louis Cardinals: An early look at an approach for the offseason

With the offseason coming up, it is time to see the St. Louis Cardinals’ options for improving a struggling offense and getting them over the hump.

The shortened 2020 MLB season is already starting to come to a close, and the St. Louis Cardinals are currently holding on to a playoff spot for dear life, which is pretty impressive given the brutal schedule they had to endure over the past few weeks.

Though the Cardinals will likely be playing October baseball (unless a meltdown happens against the Milwaukee Brewers), the offseason will be approaching us very quickly. Yes, the Cardinals are playoff contenders for the time being; but if they are serious in wanting to take their team to the next level and not be content with mediocrity like they have been the past few years, this offseason is more important than ever.

As you may know, there are two ways for the Cardinals to acquire talent during the offseason, which is utilizing the trade market as well as signing free agents.

Over the past few years, the Cardinals have spent more time prioritizing trades over free agency, shelling out pieces in their farm system in exchange for sluggers like Paul Goldschmidt and Marcell Ozuna. They have also found success in international pitching, with signing players like Kwang-Hyun Kim and All-Star Miles Mikolas.

According to Spotrac, the Cardinals have $122M tied to the 2021 roster already. The luxury tax threshold for 2021 will sit at $210M, but it could end up lowering due to a deficit of revenue this season from COVID-19. Assuming the threshold stays put, the Cardinals will have about $90M to work with this offseason.

Given the Cardinals’ recent spending history, they likely won’t get anywhere near the threshold, so we are going to assume payroll will either stay right around the $175-180M mark they sat at before the 2020 season began.