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Cardinals Off-Season

As a big Cardinals fan, and an even bigger Oscar Taveras fan, it still gives me a bit of a sour taste in my mouth to even think about baseball, but it is time to move on and enjoy the activity of the off-season.

Coming off another NLCS appearance (9 since 2000!) one might think the Cardinals need only to touch up their roster to get over the hump and bring in another World Series title, but the young and talented NL Central is gaining quickly on the Cardinals so they need to make strong moves to ensure they can hold the surging Brewers, Pirates, and (gulp!) even the Cubs back another season.

Starting Pitching

Wainwright, Wacha, Lynn, Miller Lackey (C Martinez, M Gonzalez, J Garcia, S Maness)

--No need to make a move here, and I can't see them trading any of those pieces as they are in love with Gonzalez, need Martinez for the bullpen and (inevitable) injury insurance, and and no one would want Garcia.

Bullpen

Rosenthal, Martinez, (Neshek, Motte, Choate), Maness, Freeman, (M Gonzalez, K Seigrist, S Tuivailala, T Cooney, N Petree)

--I expect us to part ways with Neshek, Motte, and Choate, as all earned themselves pay days, but Mozeliak doesn't tend to give money to older relievers. I expect us to keep Marco in AAA to continue progressing towards his potential as a starting pitcher, and Seigrist needs to work his issues out before we will count on him.

*Needs: LH Setup in place of Choate and two typical Mozeliak type relivers (old guys who are bounce-back candidates)

Andrew Miller, 4 years, 32 million
Luke Hochevar 1 years: 2 mil with incentives
Josh Johnson 1 year, 3 mil with team option
Tuivailala (97 k in 60 MILB innings) is set to join the bullpen next season

Miller is a lefty and former 1.1 pick who can face multiple batters and has nasty stuff. Due to receive a large pay-day for a middle reliever

Luke Hochevar is another former 1.1 pick so he has great stuff, but didn't find himself until the Royals moved him to the bullpen for a stellar 2013 season. Coming back from injury he could be a real steal.

Johnson has always been a starter, and could step into that role as needed, but has Rich Harden syndrome (dynamite stuff, but injury trouble if he throws too much). Stick a guy like that in the bullpen and watch him turn into Wade Davis overnight.

(other options: Joba Chamberlin and Neal Cotts are midwest kids, and Rafael Betancourt/Joel Hanrahan fit the Mozeliak typology)

Infield

Molina (Cruz), Adams (Scruggs), Wong (Ellis), Peralta (Kozma), Carpenter (Descalso)

--That bench is pathetic, and it cannot afford to be so bad with Molina due to miss time at some point or another, Adams and Peralta being heavy (and likely) not durable guys, Wong still being a young question mark, and Carpenter not being a natural 3rd basemen.

*Needs: A real backup catcher, a power bat at the corners who can hit lefties, and a solid middle infield bench bat

Mets trade Kevin Plawecki to Cardinals for Stephen Piscotty and Juan Herrera (Mets new SS of future and an impact outfield bat)
Cardinals purchase rights to Korean IF, Jung-Ho Kang, for 12 million and sign him for 4 years, 25 million.
Sign Kevin Kouzmanhoff to minor league deal and let him battle for roster spot

(other options: A-Rod if Yankees drop him, Mark Reynolds power corner bat, Justin Smoak could find his potential outside Seattle, Kendry Morales is a bounce-back candidate, call up Aldemis Diaz to replace Descalso's role)

The Mets have Travis D'Arnaud penciled in at catcher for a decade and his second half shows he is the real deal. They can afford to deal Kevin Plawecki (Cardinals' style catcher with leadership, intelligence, work ethic, and a plus bat tool).

Jung-Ho Kang hit 38 HR in 381 PA last season while batting .360. That won't carry over, nor will his limited range at SS, but he is great insurance policy at 3B, 2B, and SS as a power hitting RH bat that could hit 270/320/440 in the bigs.

Kouzmanhoff is strong defender at 3B with pop to his bat, and eats left handed pitchers.

Outfield

Holliday, Jay (Bourjous), Grichuk (Pham)

--Holliday is getting old, will need time off, and is an injury candidate. Jay is poor defensivly and has no power, so we could benefit by finding an upgrade or at least and insurance policy, and Grichuk doesn't appear to be a starter against righties quite yet. Bourjous wants to start, and apparently wants a trade. Pham isn't ready to be a big league outfielder so we must pick someone up.

Needs: Right Field starter and a 5th big league outfielder

Sign Corey Hart for 2 years, 7 mil with incentives
Sign Brian Bougsevic to a minor league deal and let him battle for a roster spot
Sign Nolan Reimold to a minor league deal and let him battle for a roster spot

Hart had an 865, 866, 841 OPS for the Brewers from 2010 to 2012, and was recovering from knee surgery in 2013, then struggled in his 2014 return. Mozeliak loves picking up a good character, veteran clubhouse guy each off-season. This off-season the guy is Corey Hart, as we hope to catch lightning in a bottle.

Bougsevic may be 30 years old, but considering he didn't begin hitting in the minor leagues until he was 25, we still may not have seen the best from this slick-defending power hitter.

Reimold always hits when he is healthy (which is virtually never). If he can keep his body in playing condition then we might find ourselves a heck of a bench bat.

(other options: while I wish we would spend the money on Yasami Tomas, that isn't a Cardinal type move. Torri Hunter, Ichiro might be an option, be we tend to avoid players who don't speak English. Nori Aoki, but again, the English issue. Delmon Young, but he seems to have a personality contrary to what Matheny wants to build in the clubhouse)

2015 Opening Day Roster

A Wainwright
M Wacha
L Lynn
S Miller
J Lackey

T Rosenthal
C Martinez
A Miller
J Johnson
S Maness
L Hochevar
S Freeman

M Carpenter (3B)
K Wong (2B)
M Holliday (LF)
M Adams (1B)
J Peralta (SS)
Y Molina (C)
C Hart (RF)
J Jay (CF)

K Plawecki
J Kang
K Kouzmanhoff
R Grichuk
B Bougusevic

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