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Cardinals Off-Season Planning, part 2
The major league roster is virtually set, but we can always get better. The farm system is still in bad shape, in part because most of our best prospects have been pulled up to the majors. I won’t trade young prospects for major league talent, and I won’t commit to a long-term free agent contract that will cripple my ability to sign J.P. Crawford.
The starting rotation is set with Odorizzi, Walker, Flores, Thompson, and Rosenthal. Ray Chambers projects to be the long man replacing Michael Wacha. Kohl Stewart is out of options and won’t make the team, so he is available for trade. Roberto Mercado is not on the 40-man roster and doesn’t need protection from Rule 5, so he gets another chance at AAA to prove he can stay healthy.
I would like to find a left-handed starter and a right-handed starter as depth guys. Both of these pitchers must have minor league options and no right to refuse demotion, so it is not a good spot for a “build value” free agent.
• Left-handed starting pitcher with options
• Right-handed starting pitcher with options
The bullpen is set too, with Brothers as the closer and Mark Montgomery as the setup man. Darryl Chambers, Dalton Friend (lefty), Ryan Rodebaugh, and Pedro Solis are the other four relievers slated to be on the active roster. Our #1 prospect, reliever Merlin Mackey (48 app at AAA, 2.56 ERA, 17 SV), has been added to the 40-man roster. Mackey was acquired from Oakland in the same trade with Ray Chambers and Ryan Rodebaugh, and he is a candidate to make the team next spring. I would like to add a left-handed reliever to the team, and there are several available in free agency.
• Left-handed reliever with setup stuff
I will be waiting until late in the winter to make free agent offers on pitchers, but a trade could happen sooner.
Jorge Alfaro and Steve Bean are the active roster catchers. Logan Ice (.255/.303/.371 at AAA) still has a minor league option left, and I have recently added Yoel Gonzalez (.226/.341/.333 at AA) to the 40-man roster. Obviously, a third catcher (bats right) with major league experience and minor league options would be a great addition.
• Third-string catcher (bats R) with options
The infield of 1B Kyle Cooper, 2B Franklin Barreto, 3B Trey Michalczewski, and SS J.P. Crawford is all-star quality. The reserves right now would be 2B/3B Hector Rios (bats L) and SS/1B Cristhian Adames (bats S). I have added two more top prospects, 1B/3B Josh Williams (.278/.374/.460 at AAA) and 2B/SS Andre Hicks (.270/.355/.463 at AAA), to the 40-man roster. Williams bats right while Hicks is a switch-hitter without a platoon differential. It is not clear to me that I am better off with the veteran reserves over the rookies. If I have a chance to move one or both of the veterans, I would consider it.
Tarou Sano is the DH. Oscar Taveras is the right fielder. Victor Sharp (.361/.429/.601 and AAA Player of the Year), backs up these two spots and he has a minor league option left. Slick-fielding Albert Almora will be in center field with Vance Knox as his backup. If the season opened today, Dutch Deol would be in left field with everyone’s favorite player, Min-Zhong You, as the backup. You are out of options (if you ever had any).
The ideal solution would to move Knox and You (not you, dear reader) for an outfielder that bats right and can play all three outfield spots. The best free agent fit is 36-year-old Yoenis Cespedes (.254/.313/.393 with ATL). I don’t see him as an upgrade over Dutch Deol, but he is better than you (and probably You). A player that fits my profile perfectly is CF Lonnie Finch of the Washington Nationals. Finch split last season between AAA, where he hit pretty well, and the majors, where he didn’t hit at all. Finch has three minor league options and isn’t close to arbitration at age 24. The Nationals are willing to talk.
• Outfielder that plays CF, LF and bats R (options a plus)
Just for the record, we have about $10 million of salary room and five secondary roster spots available. Players that could be on the block in the right deal:
• CF Vance Knox
• 2B Hector Rios
• SS Cristhian Adames
• SP Kohl Stewart
• MR Ryan Rodebaugh
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