4 moves the Cardinals need to make after the Winter Meetings

The 2023 MLB Winter Meetings came and went without a move by the St. Louis Cardinals. John Mozeliak stated that he didn't feel pressured to make a move and that the team's early action this offseason allowed them a cushion to get a feel for both the trade and reliever markets.

Having acted early with the signings of Lance Lynn, Kyle Gibson, and Sonny Gray, the Cardinals' front office could sit back during the Winter Meetings this year. While the team does need some clarity going forward before Spring Training starts, irrational, rushed decisions and moves wouldn't have helped the team in Nashville.

It would have been great as a Cardinals' fan to hear that the team traded for Dylan Cease, Tyler Glasnow, or Shane Bieber, but if the trade market was too high, or if teams were waiting on the big dominoes like Juan Soto, Shohei Ohtani, or Yoshinobu Yamamoto to fall, then it made no sense for John Mozeliak to make a move.

Pitchers and catchers don't report to Spring Training for another two months, and the first games of Spring Training don't start until February 24th for the Cardinals. That gives management plenty of time to fill out the roster and finalize their team as a whole. Within that time span, there are many things that John Mozeliak and Michael Girsch can do to make the Cardinals a true contender in 2024.

The bullpen still needs some fortification, the glut of outfielders and position players needs to be cleared up, the team could use another high-end starting pitcher, and the coaching staff needs some additions to become more modern.

Move #1: Trade Tyler O'Neill

This move has been apparent for quite some time now. Oliver Marmol's comments at the end of the year led fans to speculate that Tyler O'Neill was a player that needed to be "weeded out", and John Mozeliak said the quiet part out loud at the Winter Meetings when he ostensibly said that O'Neill will be traded this offseason.

O'Neill, a former MVP candidate with multiple Gold Gloves and a 30-home run season on his resume, still has value to lots of teams in baseball, and the Cardinals should get a decent return on him. The recent trade of Alex Verdugo, another player who has struggled in recent years, gives fans an outline for the potential return should Tyler O'Neill be traded.

The Boston Red Sox received a bullpen pitcher in Greg Weissert who had a 4.60 ERA in 29 appearances these past two years, and prospects Richard Fitts and Nicholas Judice. Neither Fitts nor Judice were ranked in the Yankees' top 30 prospects. If the Cardinals find a trade partner for O'Neill, it is likely that he nets one prospect from the organization's #20-30 range or a bullpen arm with decent statistics and minimal team control.

Trading O'Neill will clear up an outfield logjam and will provide a window of opportunity for Masyn Winn to show his potential in the majors. O'Neill doesn't seem to have a spot on the team anymore. Mozeliak did quip that when O'Neill is traded, he wouldn't be surprised to see the 28-year-old righty get MVP votes next year. This trend started when the Cardinals traded Randy Arozarena and Adolis Garcia only to see them succeed on their new teams.

Yeah, (O'Neill) will probably get MVP votes. Do we wish we batted 1.000 (on trades)? Of course, but we are human, and we do make mistakes.

Move #3: Add to the coaching staff

St. Louis has been rumored to have a smaller coaching staff than most MLB teams. They don't have as many specialists as teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tampa Bay Rays, and Houston Astros. It has even been rumored that players didn't know who to speak to for help in certain cases.

The primary area they would like to add to their coaching staff would be in the pitching department. The Cardinals ranked 24th in team ERA last year and 29th in team strikeouts last year. Both of those figures seem to be areas of improvement. By building up the pitching staff members, perhaps positive dividends could be seen next year.

St. Louis has already added Yadier Molina as a Special Assistant to the President of Baseball Operations. In this role, Molina will primarily help at Spring Training and in the Front Office, but he will be in uniform occasionally and in the dugout.

(Yadi's) going to be a resource for Oli, and he's going to spend time at the Minor League level. It's not going to be catching-specific, but that will be his forte. But if he can help with pitchers or even spend time with coaches and share his wisdom, that's the point of this.

In addition to Yadi joining the staff, Daniel Descalso was already hired as the team's bench coach, and there are rumors that Dean Kiekhefer, the assistant minor league pitching coordinator, could be promoted to the major league team's staff. Expanding the coaching staff should be a major goal for John Mozeliak now that the Winter Meetings are over.

Move #4: Get one more starting pitcher

Pitching, pitching, pitching was the mantra this offseason. Mozeliak said he would add three starters to the rotation, and he did so. The issue, however, is that it wasn't expected for two of the three additions to be bottom-of-the-rotation arms. Fans and reporters alike figured Mozeliak would sign a starter to solidify the back end of the rotation, then find two pitchers who were both better than Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz.

Instead, the St. Louis faithful were left puzzled when Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson were signed back-to-back. Sure, the innings totals are nice and the player personalities are strong, but the team was in need of a true ace and another high-end starting pitcher. There is a lot of pressure on a rotation with an average age of 35 next year.

Another high-end pitcher such as Dylan Cease, Tyler Glasnow, Shane Bieber, or any one of the Miami Marlins' starters would be the icing on the cake this offseason. Cease and the Marlins' pitchers would cost quite a bit of prospect capital, but they would alter this starting rotation immediately, thrusting it into a top-ten rotation in the league.

St. Louis figures to be out on the Yoshinobu Yamamoto sweepstakes as the price continues to soar, and Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery are also probably too expensive for a club looking to stay below the $237 million luxury tax, but the Cardinals' surplus of position players puts them in a good spot to continue exploring the trade market for another starting pitcher.

Adding four starting pitchers to a rotation in one offseason is a tall task, but it would turn last year's team's greatest weakness into next year's team's greatest strength.