What is Edmundo Sosa’s future with the St. Louis Cardinals?

Edmundo Sosa has played himself into the starting shortstop role during the second half of the season. But what is his future with the St. Louis Cardinals?

Edmundo Sosa would be a cost efficient option for the Cardinals. After all, he is not arbitration eligible until 2024 and a free agent until 2027.

Using Sosa as the primary shortstop in 2022 would give the Cardinals two advantages:

1) Instead of signing a high-end free agent at short(such as Trevor Story, Corey Seager, Carlos Correa, etc. they could put more focus and money on improving all other areas of the team, such as the rotation, the bullpen, and the bench.

2) The Cardinals could then use Paul DeJong as part of a trade to help improve one of the above areas of need. I know many will think DeJong won’t draw much of an offer, and unloading his contract could be a challenge. However, DeJong would be a solid defensive improvement for many teams and some may believe they could turn his bat around. After all, look how some other former Cardinals have done after leaving for different pastures(Pham, Arozarena, Garcia, Thomas).

Even so, there are couple of red flags to raise up when depending on a player who has had one good year. Keep in mind the stories of Brendan Ryan and Aledmys Diaz after their first year as the primary shortstops for the Cardinals. Both faltered the following year and were traded.

Finally, the free agent shortstop market this off season is a rich one. If the Cardinals want to bring in a player who could be a major improvement to the lineup, this is the year to do it.