What the St. Louis Cardinals need to do before next year

“A lot has to happen (for the team to be competitive next season), and clearly that’s not going to be solely defined as what happens in the next two weeks,” Mozeliak said. “It will be like how active we can be in the free-agent market this offseason, as well as potentially what types of deals we could do then as well.”

So the Cardinals may or may not be competitive next season. Not my words

If this team truly wants to be competitive next year why aren’t they making changes and getting prepared? There is more to do than just wait for pitching. The Cardinals need to look at the hitters too. Can anyone tell me why Taylor Motter is taking up space?

The hard part is to look at this roster and try to decide what the roster should be next year. St. Louis has outfielders playing infield and outfielders playing in the infield. Starters and relievers have swapped positions. Players are moving up and down from the majors to the minors. Players that need reps are getting pulled for defensive purposes. I am unsure how management expects anyone to improve, especially if they don’t know their roles.

Nothing is more important than starting today and pretending this is 2024. That means deciding what this team should be with the players you have available and if you make improvements this off-season, all the better. I realize some of these moves might not be possible until the September expansion, but I still want to see this.

With that in mind, this is is what I would do with the team starting tomorrow.

Catcher

I am still old-school when it comes to constructing a roster. Great defense up the middle, power on the corners, and speed where I can get it. Winn sounds like he will be elite at shortstop. With Gorman being average at second, I want better defense at catcher and center field. With that as my goal I bring back Ivan Herrera and see what I have. I let him start most games until the end of the year.

During his last stint here he received great praise from management for his game management and defense. That is certainly a lot more than we heard about Contreras this year. Oh and by the way, the kid can hit. In the minors this year with 254 ABs he has a .302 batting average and .970 OPS.

If they find out by playing him that they have the catcher of the future I keep Knizner as the backup and trade Contreras if possible. If not, Contreras needs to get used to becoming our DH now and that wouldn't be all bad.

Outfield

Keeping with my theme of defense up the middle, I will start with centerfield. This goes to Tommy Edman. His defense isn’t elite, and his arm isn’t the strongest on the team but he is consistently above average, rarely makes mistakes, and he has a steadying influence on the outfield. I also want his bat and speed and attitude in my lineup every day.

Right field will still be Jordan Walker. Since he will have a year in the big leagues by the time Spring Training rolls around I would even try to get him a few games at first base. I still think that it’s possible that’s where he ends up and with Goldschmidt going into a contract year it would be nice to know if there is a fit there.

Left field for me would be Lars Nootbaar. This year he has the third most home runs, third most stolen bases, and the highest WAR on the team. His energy is sorely needed and it gets me another left-handed bat in the lineup.

BENCH

This leaves me with four bench spots. My perfect construction would be a lefty and a righty power hitter and two players that play multiple positions.

Brendon Donovan (L) (1B, 2B, 3B, SS, LF, RF)is a no-brainer. He has played every position except center and catcher. He is a left-handed bat that hits home runs and has the second-best batting average on the team just behind Nolan Arenado.

Alec Burleson (L) (1B, LF, RF, DH) Another good player that we can use in multiple positions, and all he does is keep on hitting.

Luken Baker (R) (1B/DH) With Goldschmidt possibly being gone after next year I think we really need to look at this guy. He is hitting .334 with 28 home runs already. He is a first baseman that we could also use as the DH if we can find a way to unload Contreras. Either way, he looks ready for a promotion.

Dylan Carlson - (S) (LF, RF, CF) I keep Carlson because he is a good outfielder and a switch hitter. I would like this to be another infielder but with Edman able to do that I think this makes the most sense.

Gone from the roster would be Tyler O’Neill, Tyler Motter, and Jose Fermin making room for Winn, Herrera, and Baker.

Here is how it looks:

C: Hererra, Knizner, Contreras
1B: Goldschmidt, Baker, Burleson, Donovan
2B: Gorman, Edman, Donovan
3B: Arenado, Gorman, Donovan
SS: Winn, Edman, Donovan

LF: Nootbaar, Donovan, Burleson, Carlson
CF: Edman, Carlson, Nootbaar
RF: Walker, Carlson, Donovan, Burleson

DH: Contreras, Baker, Burleson, Contreras, Baker