The St. Louis Cardinals have been left out of the playoffs for the past three seasons now. The front office isn’t satisfied, and, the fans aren’t happy either. The Cardinals were expected to make a “big splash” last off-season. They only ended up signing outfielder Marcell Ozuna, and bullpen arms: Luke Gregerson, Greg Holland, and Dominic Leone. Hoping to win big, let’s take a look at the St. Louis Cardinals off-season.
Hoping to Win Big: The St. Louis Cardinals Off-Season
Bryce Harper
Yes, the most coveted free agent heading into this off-season. there have been rumors flying around daily about where current Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper is going to sign his new contract. The New York Yankees have said that they are not going to be in on the Harper sweepstakes. So, you have to think that next in line would be, the Chicago Cubs. But if you look at the Cubs payroll, barring a large amount of money coming off the books, the Cubs do not have the money to pay Harper the amount that he is looking for.
That amount of money that Harper asked the Nationals to pay him when his contract expired at the end of the 2017 season was upwards of $400 million. Will the Cardinals be willing to cough up that amount to Harper? Only time will tell.
Other Top Free Agents:
The next top two players that come to mind when thinking about free agents that the Cardinals should go after are: Josh Donaldson and Manny Machado. Both have been very solid defensively, and at the plate in their careers so far. Let’s first start by talking about Donaldson.
Donaldson has spent time with Oakland, Toronto, and Cleveland. He has a career .275 batting average and a .367 career on-base percentage. Donaldson was drafted by the Cubs in the 2007 MLB draft, but he never played a game for them. He has appeared in 34 postseason games, with a career postseason batting average of .275, four home runs, and 13 RBI.
Manny Machado has played with Baltimore, and Los Angeles (NL). He has a career batting average of .282. Machado has 175 career home runs and 513 career RBI. In the postseason, Machado has appeared in 23 games. He has a .213 batting average, with four home runs, and 14 RBI.
Another player that the Cardinals could bring in is Red Sox Closer Craig Kimbrel. This could be a tricky signing, because, obviously, the Red Sox just won the World Series. Kimbrel has been known for his closer role. He has been quite successful at it, with a career 1.91 ERA. Kimbrel has 532.2 innings pitched under his belt as well. Kimbrel has a career 868 strikeouts.
No one is leaking any information so far in MLB free agency. No players have signed, which is actually sort of typical in the world that is the MLB free agency. It is kind of a feeling-out process.
The bottom line is that the St. Louis Cardinals need to make some sort of moves this off-season in order to avoid a fourth consecutive lost season. The Cardinals have the money to spend on top dollar players. So now it is time to go out and get some top end talent and get back into the postseason mix.
Main Photo:
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