Carlos Correa isn’t signing with the St. Louis Cardinals, and here’s why

Carlos Correa isn’t signing with the St. Louis Cardinals, and it comes down to the price and their belief in Paul DeJong.

Jon Heyman of MLB Network recently called Carlos Correa a good fit for the St. Louis Cardinals, and he’s right.

Correa, 27, would fill one of the Cardinals’ biggest needs: a shortstop. He’s the best shortstop in baseball and would be a monumental upgrade over Paul DeJong, who has come under fire in recent seasons after struggling and eventually being replaced by Edmundo Sosa in 2021.

But Correa is not signing with the Cardinals. No way. No chance.

The price to sign Correa – $330-350 million – is way above what the Cardinals are willing to pay. They plan to spend the bulk of their available payroll on the bullpen, with Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin and Joe Kelly among the options the team is considering. Signing Correa would mean the Cardinals can’t sign any of those options and would enter the season with a significant weakness in the late innings, something that almost ended their 2021 season before it even started.

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak swore to never let that happen again. Besides, the team is committed to DeJong at shortstop. He is under contract cheap for the next few seasons and if he bounces back to his 25-plus homer self, will be a relative bargain for them and give them flexibility for further moves in the future. The team is optimistic that he will be better in 2022 and DeJong has put in extra work in the winter to hit the ground running in spring training, whenever that may be.

If the Cardinals were going to sign a big bat, a player that makes much more sense for them would be Kyle Schwarber. He’s a left-handed bat, which is something they don’t have many of, and would be a nice complement in the lineup with Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt and Tyler O’Neill. But there has been no indication that the team is interested in Schwarber to this point.

Correa in St. Louis would be a dream scenario for many fans, and even Mozeliak. But he’s not coming to the Cardinals.