Cardinals: Day 3 of Winter Meetings brings first move and catcher rumors

Day 3 changes the narrative on catcher a bit while adding a relief pitcher in free agency

The Winter Meetings are one of the busiest times of the year, with Monday’s updates from San Diego already feeling like old news for the St. Louis Cardinals. The club still remains heavily linked to different catchers, but a new favorite may have emerged. There is still talk of the Cardinals in the shortstop market, the Chicago Cubs made their first splash, and the club made their first signing of the week as well.

Here are all of the things you need to know from Day 3 of the Winter Meetings.

Cardinals are most heavily linked to Willson Contreras and Sean Murphy

I posted a larger breakdown on the Cardinals reported pursuit of Willson Contreras here, but the gist of it is that multiple industry insiders see the Cardinals as getting closer and closer to signing the former Chicago Cubs’ catcher. You can see a list of various sources that have linked the Cardinals to Contreras, but one report I did not even mention in that piece was from Jeff Jones of BND.com

Yet, there still remains strong connection between the Cardinals and Athletics over a Sean Murphy trade. At certain points during the meetings, it has seemed inevitable that Murphy would become a Cardinal, and there is still a strong chance that St. Louis acquires him. John Denton of MLB.com sees the Houston Astros competing with the Cardinals for both of the big name catchers they are linked to.

We will keep you updated as the hours go on if there is any official movement from the Cardinals in regards to catcher, but let’s talk about the newest addition to the Cardinals roster.