10 burning questions the Cardinals must answer if they want to win back their fans

Question #7 - How will the club fix an offense that as a whole is less than the sum of its parts?

The Cardinals offense was supposed to be the strength of the club this year, but instead, it has been one of the worst in baseball and historically bad, with runners in scoring position.

On top of Goldschmidt and Arenado, the Cardinals have had disappointing years offensively from Nolan Gorman, Jordan Walker, Lars Nootbaar, and Brendan Donovan as well. Gorman and Walker now find themselves in Memphis, Nootbaar is playing like someone who deserves to be there, and while Donovan has been a great player overall for them this year, his bat has taken steps back.

What on earth do the Cardinals do to fix their offense this offseason?

Well, the first and easiest response is by firing hitting coach Turner Ward. The offense has regressed significantly since Ward took over, and it is especially telling that both veterans and young players are struggling under his leadership.

Thankfully bats like Willson Contreras, Alec Burleson, and Masyn Winn have provided hope, but the latter two position players were not supposed to be leading their offense this year. If the Cardinals want to have a bright future, they need production from the names I listed above - or they need to find a way to shake up this position player group.

When you look at the names in the lineup, it looks like a team that should be one of the better offenses in baseball. Last season, the Cardinals were a top-10 offense in baseball before waiving the white flag. Even with expected regression from Goldschmidt and Areando, guys like Gorman, Walker, Nootbaar, and Donovan were supposed to be getting better, not substantially worse.

So how do the Cardinals fix that group outside of just a hitting coach change? Do they stick with this core of youngsters and hope an offseason to reset and a fresh voice help them achieve what we know they can offensively again? Or do they need to move some of these names in the offseason to truly shake things up?

The problem with moving some of those pieces this offseason is I have a strong feeling they'll end up performing elsewhere. Gorman and Nootbaar are at their lowest value right now, so I'm not sure what you would actually get for them.

Maybe it looks like the Cardinals bringing in a few veterans to compete with their young core, giving St. Louis other options while still allowing those young bats to potentially break through again.

While I think many fans will understand holding onto their young core, I do believe there will be a crowd who could not stand to see them run it back with mostly the same names. I don't blame them, but I do think this conversation will be a tricky needle to thread this winter.