Cardinals: 3 insider insights as St. Louis approach the Winter Meetings

Three big insights entering the Winter Meetings for the Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals have been fairly quite so far this off-season, but as the have internally evaluated both the free agent and trade market so far, it appears things are now heating up right as the Winter Meetings are upon us.

Over the last few days, different national and local insiders have dropped key information about what the Cardinals are up to in regards to the catching market, a potential shake out in the outfield, and where the Cardinals stand with their pitching. Lot’s of interesting things to note and could make for a busy Winter Meetings for St. Louis.

Cardinals are targeting their new catcher via trade

Insider Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic was on Scoops with Danny Mac and seemed very confident that the Cardinals with solve their need at catcher with either Sean Murphy or one of the Blue Jays catchers. 

"Well the Cardinals appear focused more on a trade for one of the catchers that are out there, either Sean Murphy or one of the three Blue Jays catchers. Now, there is no reason why a trade can’t be made next week too, but there is a big intense focus on free agents now, so I do wonder whether the trade market will be somewhat stalled because of that. But it seems to me that those pursuits, those particular situations, Murphy and the Blue Jays catchers, they are almost independent of the free agent market. There is not really a great catcher out there, Willson Contreras the biggest name, but he is not a great defensive catcher. So, I could definitely see a deal happening with them. But I could also see it the other way too, taking till mid-December or late December."

This should be great news for Cardinals fans, as Murphy and the three Toronto catchers – Alejandro Kirk, Danny Jansen, and Gabriel Moreno, all present four of the very best catching options available this off-season. We presented some trade proposals for these catchers recently.

Murphy ranked 2nd in fWAR last season among catchers, only behind J.T. Realmuto. Murphy is not a household name due to being a bit hidden on a terrible Oakland team, but Murphy is controllable through the 2025 season and has a strong argument as a top 3 catcher in the game today.

Kirk was an American League All-Star last year and won the Sliver Slugger award but lacks a bit defensively. Jansen has shown incredible power at the plate but has not gotten an everyday catching role. Moreno is one of the best prospects in baseball and could be the long-term answer for St. Louis behind the plate.

While there have been rumors circulating that the Cardinals met with Willson Contreras last week, there has been no reports confirming said meeting, so I would take Rosenthal’s insight as a much more credible look at where St. Louis is leaning.