Cardinals may have identified the first position they need to target this offseason

Over the course of the season, St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom has alluded to what Cardinals fans have picked up on as well — some of their next contending core is already in place, while other positions still need a long-term answer, like center field.

Some of those positions that appear to be locked up are first base (Alec Burleson), second base (JJ Wetherholt), shortstop (Masyn Winn), left field (Joshua Baez), and right field (Jordan Walker), with Ivan Herrera fitting in as a designated hitter or catcher, and names like Leo Bernal, who just debuted for St. Louis, and top prospect Rainiel Rodriguez likely factoring into that catcher mix as well.

In their rotation, the Cardinals have multiple young arms on the Major League roster who will likely be with them for a while, but the front of their rotation may still be making their way up through the system or may need to be acquired later. The same sentiment is true for the bullpen.

So while the pitching staff needs multiple upgrades, and maybe some of those names mentioned above end up playing their way out of the picture, the two positions on the field that the Cardinals really lack a long-term answer for right now are center field and third base. When it comes to the latter, that seems to be the position that they want Jesus Baez to grow into in the next few years, or possibly a place where they let Rainiel Rodriguez get some at-bats long-term.

Center field, on the other hand, is a position that they truly lack a clear option for right now. While there are some prospects who may fill that void in a year or two (more on them later), there is still a lot of projecting to go there, and so while third base is still an open question mark, center field may be the position they look to target first when it comes to adding to their Major League roster.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch alluded to this on 101 ESPN the other day, as during their conversation on Nathan Church vs. Victor Scott II in center field, he simply suggested that the answer could be as simple as "The Cardinals' center fielder of the future is not currently on the roster." While they could mean it's one of their exciting prospects, that also could mean hitting the trade or free-agent market in the near future.

But with where the Cardinals are at in their "build," there is zero need for them to rush a decision here, especially with interesting options on their way.

The Cardinals can be patient with targeting center field due to prospects on their way

Barring Scott or Church hitting a new ceiling that we have not seen yet, the Cardinals don't have a clear long-term option on their roster, but names like Josiah Ragsdale, Tai Peete, Won-Bin Cho, or 2026 first-round pick Trevor Condon could be that guy.

Starting with Condon, he doesn't turn 19 until January and has only played in six Low-A Palm Beach games up until this point. He did just crush his first professional home run the other day, and his upside is very much on display anytime he hits the field. Condon could be their long-term answer in 2-4 years, but there's still enough of a gap in time here where the Cardinals would be wise to look at options.

Ragsdale and Peete are two newcomers to the Cardinals this past year in trades they made. Ragsdale was acquired in the Dustin May/JoJo Romero trade at the deadline, and some in the industry view him as a top-100 prospect in the sport. In 107 games this year, Ragsdale is slashing .307/.429/.570 with 24 home runs, 52 extra-base hits, and 62 RBI while dominating at the Double-A level since being promoted there. Just 22 years old, Ragsdale for sure has the potential to be their long-term answer in center field, and it wouldn't shock me to see him ready to debut sometime next season.

Same with Peete, who was acquired in the Donovan trade and is posting a .921 OPS this season at just age 21. He too is in Double-A right now, and while he gets eaten alive by left-handed pitchers, Peete can mash righties with the best of them. Cho, who has been with the Cardinals since 2022, has broken out in a big way this year and has an .891 OPS while now playing for Springfield as well. He is 23 years old, though, and his defense is by far the most questionable of the bunch.

Still, these are three potential center field options who are all highly productive this year at the Double-A level for the Cardinals. That doesn't guarantee that any of them will pan out, but what I do believe it does is gives the Cardinals leverage and time to figure this out.

They don't need to be overly aggressive in their pursuit of a center field option. If they find a deal they like with a free agent like Daulton Varsho or Trent Grisham, they can pursue that. If they want to try to trade for a player like Jackson Merrill, Jake McCarthy, Colton Cowser, or another center fielder, they can try to do so. But if they don't like the value that is there, there's no reason to force the issue.

The Cardinals should be even more competitive in 2027, but they are still at least a year away from their true new window for contention. And it would be a bit odd to push their chips in on a center fielder now for it not to work out, or for them to end up having one or more great options ready to debut, and could have addressed a different need instead. Again, if they can find a guy they like now, they shouldn't be afraid to go after them, but there truly is no rush.

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