Predictions for the St. Louis Cardinals at the Winter Meetings

What will the Cardinals end up doing at the Winter Meetings this week?

The St. Louis Cardinals hot stove began to heat up in the days leading up to the Winter Meetings, and today marks the beginning of what is usually the most active week of the off-season among all Major League teams.

The number one priority remains finding a new starting catcher, and the rest of the team’s targets will fall into place based on how they choose to address that position. Some of the other needs that President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak has named includes adding another bat, preferably a left-handed one, as well as more pitching depth, although he seemed hesitant to add another starting pitcher at the moment.

The Winter Meetings tend to generate a lot of activity as now teams are all in the same place and can begin pushing the market forward by establishing their needs as well as determining price points on both free agents and the trade market. While the Cardinals have been relatively quite so far this off-season, I do not expect that to remain the case much longer.

These predictions could age poorly rather quickly, but after gathering information the last few weeks from local and national insiders, there does seem to be a bit of a blueprint developing for the Cardinals time in San Diego this week, and I am going to try and predict what they will do when it comes to improving their roster. Here are my predictions for the Cardinals during the Winter Meetings.

The Cardinals’ other targets will become clear

As has been said numerous times, how the Cardinals choose to address the catcher position will have a lot to do with how they address other parts of their roster this off-season. Assuming we get answers on the catcher position, St. Louis will be quick to turn their attention to supplementing their pitching and/or their starting lineup

If the Cardinals end up trading for a catcher, they will have money to spend that could be used to bring in a starting pitcher or bullpen help, which both seem very possible based on reporting around the club and their current roster construction. A trade for a catcher likely means some of their young bats have been dealt, increasingly the likelihood they add a left-handed bat. Whether that is a guy like Cody Bellinger or any of the other left-handed bats that may be good fits.

If St. Louis signs Willson Contreras, I think that pretty much ends their pursuit of any significant free agent bat outside of some potential bench options, especially since they’d still have their young bats on the roster. They could decide then to trade for some pitching help, and maybe add one arm through free agency.

If they sign a different catcher, this is where things get weird, as they could go in a number of directions with the remaining money and prospect capital.

Whatever happens with catcher this week, expect the rest of the off-season picture to open up quickly after for the Cardinals.

Cardinals do not sign a shortstop, but they will be connected to big fish on the trade market

As much as many of us would like to see the Cardinals make a splash and sign a big name shortstop this off-season, it appears like that will not happen for the second off-season in a row. Again, the possibility should not be ruled out, because the Cardinals are checking in and things do change, but I predict that other club’s will make strong offers on each of the top shortstops, offers that the Cardinals will not want to play around with.

In typical Cardinals fashion though, the club should be linked to some of the best names available in the trade market. They explored Juan Soto just a few months ago. They will call on big names and make a move if it seems right to them (see Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Marcell Ozuna, Jason Heyward, and Giancarlo Stanton – who did not waive his no-trade clause, as examples of this). Sure, they did not move on Soto, but that is because it would have taken a historic package of prospects to get a deal done. Just take a moment to revisit the haul Washington got for Soto. To match that package, we are talking a deal that would have involved Jordan Walker with at least 3-5 of Nolan Gorman, Maysn Winn, Dylan Carlson, Tink Hence, and Gordon Graceffo.

But, the Cardinals proved once again they were willing to dance in deep waters and explore a move. Mozeliak knew it was going to cost a lot, and he would not have wasted his time in talks if he knew there was no way they could swing a deal. But in the event it did not cost Walker, and only a few of those names were on the table, Mozeliak was ready.

Bryan Reynolds just requested a trade from the Pirates and would be an excellent fit on the Cardinals roster. I speculated Reynolds and 5 other names a few days ago who could end up on the market this off-season. I firmly expect us to see the Cardinals as serious contenders for not only a catcher in the trade market, but another bat or pitcher as well.

These meetings may provide that direct link, or even a trade, but I do think they will at least plant the seasons for the Cardinals involvement in potentially another major trade.

What are your predictions for the Cardinals’ activity at the Winter Meetings? Comment them below!