St. Louis Cardinals' mentality for 2023: If you hit, we'll find a position for you

#2 - Player performance will dictate playing time more than ever before

Like I talked about earlier, cold stretches from players will come with shorter leashes than the club could afford in recent seasons due to the level of depth on this roster.

If one of their outfielders is struggling for a few weeks, then the club will find playing time for other guys. If Donovan or Gorman struggles, the other will play. The DH spot will feature whoever is hitting, rather than being filled by someone because it has to be. This is actually a major reason why the Cardinals should be patient in thinking of dealing from this talent pool.

One of the biggest frustrations fans have had in recent years is the success of guys like Randy Arozorena and Adolis Garica for other teams. Both guys got very brief stints in St. Louis before being let go due to a lack of roster space and ended up blooming in their new environments. The club might as well wait and make sure they commit to the right guys before making drastic changes. The intentions of upgrading starting pitching are good, but the worst-case scenario would be committing to the wrong bats in the process of doing that.

What if one of Carlson, O'Neill, or Nootbaar struggles big time in 2023? Heck, what if two of them do? If the Cardinals had already dealt away other pieces, they'd be stuck feeding playing time to underperforming players. What St. Louis has done here is set themselves up for any cold stretches or steps backward in performance or development, so that they can always field great lineups regardless of that.

Gorman, Walker, Gomez, Burleson, and Yepez are all guys who could spend time in Triple-A as well in 2023 if the club wants consistent at-bats for them. While it may not be the ideal scenario for the players individually, it would provide them the opportunity to play every day if they are not in St. Louis.

The last way is inevitable for every team, but seems to have been a them for St. Louis in recent years.