Cardinals Rumors: St. Louis listed as “perfect fit” for top free agent

The St. Louis Cardinals are operating under financial constraints, but that didn’t stop one insider from connecting them to a big name free agent.

The prevailing thought is that the St. Louis Cardinals will re-sign free-agent catcher Yadier Molina. Yet, as negotiations have not progressed as originally hoped, the team has started to check in on other available options.

The top free-agent catcher, J.T. Realmuto, is likely to command a deal well north of Yasmani Grandal’s four-year, $72 million deal. He is the best catcher in baseball and would boost any team’s lineup. And Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic believes that the Cardinals are a “perfect fit” for Realmuto.

This, of course, does not mean that the Cardinals are pursuing Realmuto. It is likely the team has interest – to be fair, who wouldn’t be interested in Realmuto? – and it is plausible that president of baseball operations John Mozeliak will check in to gauge what the asking price is for Realmuto.

But the fact that Rosenthal believes St. Louis is such a strong fit for Realmuto is notable. He would give the Cardinals a legitimate player to put alongside Paul Goldschmidt in the lineup, something they have lacked since acquiring him from the Arizona Diamondbacks. And while catchers receive more wear and tear compared to other positions, he is only 29 and has shown zero signs of decline (he hit .266/.349/.491 with 11 home runs and 32 RBI in 47 games last season).

That said, it is incredibly unlikely the Cardinals sign Realmuto. The team is operating under financial constraints and will be hard pressed to find the money to sign him when there are other pressing needs on the roster in the rotation, outfield and bullpen. And the Cardinals would need to part with a draft pick to sign Realmuto and with teams placing a high priority on cheap, controllable assets, it is hard to see Mozeliak making such a move.

Realmuto would make the Cardinals a lot better. But unless the Mets dipping out of the running results in his market crashing, and there is no signs that will be the case, it is a borderline pipedream he ends up in St. Louis.