3 free-agent targets for St. Louis Cardinals after the lockout

Trevor Story

The Cardinals have been tied to short stop, Trevor Story, for awhile now. Well, if we’re being honest, It’s more appropriate to say that fans have been calling for Trevor Story for awhile now. However, we have solid grounds as to why we should sign him.

The Cardinals were tied to Nolan Arenado as a trade partner for awhile before general manager Mike Girsch pulled the trigger this past January. That trade was the biggest trade the Cardinals had made since trading for Paul Goldschmidt back in the 2018-19 offseason.  However, we are getting slightly off-track with that. So, let’s go ahead and look at the first reason.

The first reason is that the Cardinals traded for Nolan Arenado from the Colorado Rockies. The same team that Trevor Story played for. Not that it means anything to the organizations per say, but I’m sure it would have some weight with Story if Arenado and him were good friends.

The second reason the Cardinals should go after him is because it’s a position of need. Now, the St. Louis Cardinals front office has reiterated themselves multiple times saying that they feel Paul Dejong still has a lot to offer this Cardinals organization. However, that statement feels a little overconfident and a couple years past-due. If anything, based upon the last couple seasons, It’s more likely that Edmundo Sosa get’s the starting short-stop nod.

The question that needs to be asked when talking about that topic is: When you look around the league at some of the most dangerous teams, are you guys really okay with giving a short-stop like Paul Dejong the nod while players like Carlos Correa and/or Trevor Story, are still out there and available?

Personally, I feel as though if they answer they are okay with it, I’m going to lose faith in this front office. Yes, they’ve made some very good moves, but they’ve also made some rather underwhelming signings that don’t ever pan out. So, go big or go home. Because the answer to this teams prayers are right there in free-agency. Now, go make something happen.

Clayton Kershaw

The Cardinals are all but in ‘win-now’ mode. With that, it means you have to take some chances in order to get yourself a true competitor and a guy who can help lead a team into the playoffs. Now, there are a couple names out there that you can target for this type of position, but not many of them come with the high-end pitching like Clayton Kershaw.

Kershaw has been one of the premier pitchers since his second season in the league. I know a lot of Cardinals fans were hoping for another name that stands right alongside Kershaw, and by that I mean Scherzer, but that is no longer an option. Another name that people probably would’ve wanted to add to the rotation is Justin Verlander. While Scherzer and Verlander are no longer options, that doesn’t stand true with Kershaw.

Last season, the Cardinals traded for J.A. Happ and Jon Lester at the trade deadline. Now, maybe this is farfetched but I think we can all agree that we’d take Kershaw over those two. No disrespect to those two because based upon the expectations we had for them, they exceeded. But it’s time to stop going after the players who are three/fours in rotations and start going after aces.

Clayton Kershaw has been the ace for the Los Angeles Dodgers for as long as he’s been in the league and he’s not disappointed. However, the Dodgers have a new wave ready and it’s unlikely they will re-sign him after 14 seasons. However, regardless of them letting him go, it’s not to the lack of Kershaw’s talent more so than age. With young guys like Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, Dustin May, they have the pitching there.

So the Cardinals could be in a position to get Kershaw. Why? Well, while the Cardinals have Adam Wainwright, Jack Flaherty, Steven Matz and Dakota Hudson, they don’t have a guy who can be depended on as a No. 1 in a rotation. Wainwright showed he can be if he repeats last seasons success. Flaherty has shown he can be when he’s on, but he does have multiple games in which it’s simply just hard to even watch.

When you are running a MLB team, you have to prepare for the worst. And right now, there is a lot that could go wrong given their current rotation. If they are able to go out and sign Clayton Kershaw to a two year contract they could at least have some dependability for 20-25 games from him.

Archie Bradley

The Cardinals have a ton of pitching depth when it comes to their ability to find bullpen help, but what they need is someone who can be a buy low, high-upside player. Which, lucky for the Cardinals, there’s one out there.

After putting on a show in 2020 for both the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Cincinnati Reds, Bradley signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. After signing a one year contract for $6,000,000, he is now a unrestricted free agent. Now, although he definitely did not perform quite to the standard that the Phillies were hoping for, it does work in the Cardinals favor.

The Cardinals let one of their most reliable relievers, Luis Garcia, walk in free agency which means they have to replace him. However, knowing the Cardinals, they probably won’t go after one of the bigger names out there. So that leaves it to one of the buy low, high upside guys like: Archie Bradley.

Bradley in his career has pitched in 308 games in which he has posted a 3.89 ERA, collected 30 saves, a 1.36 WHIP, and 465 strikeouts to only 191 walks. No to mention that in his career he has a WAR of 6.3.

Now, it’s unlikely that he’ll make a huge impact for the Cardinals bullpen, but he would help to add MLB depth which was a struggle last season. With Jordan Hicks hopefully coming back, get fresh arms back in the bullpen the stress to be put on his shoulders wouldn’t be anything too stressful either which hopefully would allow the Cardinals to maximize his talents next season.