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There has been little silence from the Cardinals since the team signed longtime division rival Wilson Contreras officially tabbed him as successor to the franchise icon and signed him to a five-year deal Yadier MolinaFilling the void left by Molina was clearly a top priority for the card this winter, but it was also loosely tied to the market for top available shortstops and some free-agent pitchers.
Now that Contreras has signed, a look through the St. Louis roster reveals a strong group likely to contend for another NL Central throne in 2023. Andrew Chafin, Matt Moore, Zach Britton When blood hand is still one of the available names. Perhaps you can find a stronger backup for Contreras. But broadly speaking, it’s a deep and talented roster with lots of relief pitchers, plenty of rotation depth, and great positioning flexibility. Tommy Edman When Brendan Donovan.
That said, it doesn’t feel like the Cardinals are over this winter either.For one, their entire rotation, with the exception of lefties Stephen Matz, will become a free agent next winter. Cards can also add another bat to the mix.While a young slugger Juan Yepes When Nolan Gorman Neither has yet established himself as a proven big-league bat, although they offer the advantage of being a candidate who can spend some time at DH.
In left field, the Cardinals have quality options Tyler O’neal —if he is healthy.A shoulder impingement and a strain in two of his hamstrings limited O’Neill to his 96 games, and very likely contributed to his .228/.308/.392 batting average decline. Dylan Carlson is a former top prospect whose numbers were strong in 2022 but not as strong as in 2021. Lars Notvaal He broke out in the second half in right field. It’s a talented trio, but not the Cardinals’ star-studded infield range. Plus, the Cardinals have other young outfield options waiting in the wings. Alec Burleson has already debuted Moises Gomez Almost ready right after a big minor league season and very promising jordan walker We’re getting close to triple A.
For all the young talent the card has, it feels like there’s room for at least one more notable bat to be plugged into the lineup. (or Adam WainwrightIf he retires) next offseason, the Cardinals will probably want to add more controllable pitching.
Looking at the Cardinals depth chart, there are virtually no players available on the card and considered unattainable. The Redbirds have a bright future, with MLB ready-to-use young talent in nearly every position, and a myriad of potential trades with the Marlins and other clubs.
Let’s take a look at some of the talents they can hang around when looking for impact bats and high-end pitchers to put in their rotation:
hot prospects
Ivan Herrera Considered the Cardinals’ future catcher for the past few years, Contreras’ signing to a five-year deal has clouded his role at the club. And Contreras is a good enough hitter that he can be brought in as a DH on days he’s not at bat. Perhaps that opens the door for Herrera to carve out a bigger role than most backup catchers hold, but this is a 22-year-old who finished .268/.374/.396 against previous Triple-A competitions. He has just beaten , and he is number 1 in the ranks. Game 84th Observatory Baseball he in America. He’s a good safety net in his net and a potentially very capable backup for Contreras…but he’s also very attractive to a club that doesn’t have long-term options behind the plate.
Outfielder Galois
As mentioned earlier, O’Neal, Carlsson and Nutvar all have potential appeals to other clubs, albeit to varying degrees. O’Neal’s club control has two years left and is on the verge of a down season…but in 2021 he’s put up a strong defense, batting .286/.352/.560 and hitting 34 home runs…many teams is paying attention.If you have the right bat, you may be intrigued to gamble with rebounds.Both Carlson (mentioned in Juan Soto Rumors) and Nootbaar (who were reportedly interested by the Jays and A’s in catching a trade this offseason) offer even more club control and plenty of long-term upside. .
The Cardinals will need to acquire big-league talent in another area if they trade anyone in that group. It’s either a more impactful, established offensive presence to throw into the outfield, or perhaps a quality starting pitcher with a few years of club control left. Either way, either O’Neal, Carlsson or Nutvar would be just one of several players transferred as part of the return of an established big leaguer.
Beyond the current stable of MLB outfielders, the card has Burleson, Gomez, and Walker. Baseball Burleson, his 68th-ranked prospect on his American Top 100 list, struggled with 53 plate appearances in his MLB debut last year, but batted . 372/.532 batting average. Gomez played 60 games each in Double-A and Triple-A, hitting .294/.371/.624 totals with 39 home runs. A first-round pick in 2020 and ranked among the top 10 overall prospects for the sport by nearly every publication, Walker is perhaps the most “hands-on” of all the Cardinals’ young hitters. He is an unbeatable person. However, like Gomez and Burleson, he could also offer nearly his MLB replacement if the Cards moved one of his current MLB outfielders in his package to trade. Walker was drafted as a third baseman, Nolan Arenadopresence means he is likely to make his debut as an outfielder. 306/.388/.510 at the age of 20, making him one of the youngest double-A players, he’s probably not far off.
young infielder
Infielders in St. Louis are mainly Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt In the corner, Tommy Edman is shortstop and Brendan Donovan is second baseman.It’s unlikely the card will move anyone out of that group, but if you want to claim that third-ranked NL Rookie of the Year finisher Donovan can be included in the impact player package, it’s at least roughly doable. A was reportedly asked about him in the upcoming negotiations Sean Murphyperhaps the fact that the Cardinals were hesitant about Oakland’s asking price tells us most of what we need to know about Donovan’s availability (or lack thereof).
It’s a strong group and both Edman and Donovan can be placed virtually anywhere in the diamond, each playing at least five positions in 2022 alone. Perhaps Donovan will eventually settle into some sort of very useful role, but that will require a step forward from another young infielder.
Nolan Gorman didn’t explode in the rookie game, but he batted .226/.300/.420 and had 14 homers in 313 at-bats. Much of his production came early, followed by a strikeout slump—he instigated 32.3% of his at-bats—but Gorman continued his Triple-A pitching in the form of . He’s another former top contender with a tattoo. He has 330/.585 output, including 16 home runs in which he has just 188 at-bats. He was originally a third baseman, but was converted to second base under Arenado’s influence. He now has a good amount of experience in both spots.
20 years old on the farm Masin Wynn It occupies 56th place on BA’s Top 100 list. Like Walker, he’s already had a full season in Double-A. 258/.349/.432 outputs were league-average as measured by wRC+(100), and like Walker, he was among the youngest players in the league. was one of his BA praised his Winn for having “by far the strongest pitching arm in his league in the minors” and touted him as a plus-plus runner, giving him the chance to be an above-average defender at shortstop. I’m here. Wynn was drafted as a two-way player, but he has only pitched one inning in professional baseball.
Start Proposing Prospects
It would probably be counter-intuitive to mention that the Cardinals need a controllable starting pitcher and tout the abundance of quality pitching potential they can trade. However, the decline in pitcher candidates is even greater than that of fielders. That’s not to say those arms aren’t worthless, of course, but one rotation he’s easier to convert to those arms if he’s hoping to fill a spot. It’s insane that he hopes to fill 3-4 rotation spots with internal prospects.
The Cardinals have no shortage of intriguing weapons. Gordon Gracefo, Matthew Liberatore When tink All have been ranked positively or recently on various top 100 lists in the industry. So (57th) and Graceffo (66th) are just a few spots apart in BA’s top 100 at the moment.
Both Liberatore and fellow lefties Zach Thompson (No. 19 pick in 2019) has already made it to the major leagues, but is yet to take root. Liberatore said last season he posted over 5.00 ERA in both Triple-A and 34 2/3 big league innings, but he’s still only 23 and at least he’s dominated the club for six years. , which leaves him two years of further minority options in his league. Thompson pitched the same 34 2/3 innings in the major leagues in 2022, but he threw mostly from the bullpen. He also pitched with his 2.08 ERA pristine. His 19.9% strikeout rate and his 10.3% walk rate both leave something to be desired, but he’s slightly shy of averaging 95 mph on the heater, and his impressive Achieved a ground ball rate of 53.7%. .
St. Louis has more depth in right-handed form Dakota Hudson, a groundball machine that was kicked out of the rotation but has two years left in control of the club. ‘s sinker averaged only 91.6 mph after surgery. Still, he’s his fourth or his fifth starter contender off the shelf, with three of his option years remaining. Jake Woodford Last season, he posted a 2.23 ERA in 48 1/3 innings in the St. Louis bullpen, but he’s cut from the same cloth as a low-strike, grounder-oriented pitcher who could slot in the back of the rotation. (However, the ball in play has a lot of luck and a very low home run rate).
Some of these arms will be assigned to opportunities in the 2024 rotation. Also, injuries and performance setbacks are likely to reduce inventory. Still, their current value gives the Cardinals an opportunity to condense some of its talent into trading with more established players.
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Overall, the Cardinals’ arsenal of young talent hasn’t topped 18th overall in the draft in the last 15 years, and in the last four, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. It’s a great position to establish yourself as an organization, but if there’s one “downside” to him (I use the term loosely), it’s the timing of the surge in young talent.
In general, the trade market is very dark right now.Miami’s quartet of available weapons dominates the headlines, but there’s little other substance on the market. Pirates reportedly have very high asking prices Brian Reynolds As such, he’s unlikely to be moved in the first place, and it’s not hard to imagine demanding more from his division rivals. There are certainly other name changes possible between now and the season opener, but the obvious candidate isn’t a clear upgrade to the Cardinals, as the Mariners have two backends who need his starter. increase(Chris Flexen, Marco Gonzalez),twins(Max Kepler) and A’s (Seth Brown) There are several available outfielders. There’s not much to get excited about in the trade market right now.
That doesn’t stop the Cardinals front office from trying to convince other teams to give up their starter help and slugging bats, which seemingly aren’t natural trade candidates. Failing that, the Cardinals, like nearly every team in the league, are in a position to make a deal with the Marlins whenever Miami finally feels like an inevitable trade.
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