Is the St. Louis Cardinals front office scared to repeat past mistakes?

John Mozeliak’s Free Agency History

The Cardinals are currently in a tough position. After the Los Angeles Dodgers just signed Freddie Freeman to increase the talent in their lineup, the NL race is going to be more than difficult.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are already consistently contending for the World Series and call me crazy, but I don’t think them signing Freeman hurts their chances of making it back to the World Series this season. In fact, I’d consider them front runners.

I’m saying that because when you look at the current favorites for the World Series, it’d be arguable that it’s the Yankees and the Dodgers. Which, if you recall, are two headlining teams that are willing to trade and sign any and every player that will make their roster better. The Cardinals are not one of them.

Some will say that’s good. It protects their prospects and their development so if they pan out, it doesn’t bite them in the butt. However, when you look to create a winning environment, sometimes you have to take a chance to win. The chance that the Cardinals need to take in this case is by hitting the free agency market.

Previous Signings

The Cardinals front office has done very well with trades over the past couple seasons. With the acquisitions of both Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, it’s hard to critique Mozeliak and Girsch when making trades. However, when it comes to free agency, it’s a totally different narrative.

Looking at some of the previous signings by the Cardinals front office, they have signed:

• Dexter Fowler: five years, $82.5 million
• Brett Cecil: four years, $30 million
• Luke Gregerson: two years, $11 million.

Those don’t exactly scream “great contracts.” Now, is it possible that the Cardinals are afraid to make big signings after missing on multiple previous signings.