The St. Louis Cardinals have money to spend, but rarely are they flashy. However, their free agency philosophy could work to their advantage this offseason as rumors suggest the prices of some available MLB stars may drop.
A few of those names - those of whom would also be a good fit for the Cardinals - include Yoenis Cespedes, Justin Upton and Chris Davis.
Davis is a client of Scott Boras, so it's hard to tell if his price tag will significantly decrease, but there have already been some rumors/speculation about Cespedes and Upton witnessing their value tumble a bit.
Earlier today we elaborated upon the notion brought forth by ESPN's Buster Olney suggesting that some of this year's free agents might be better off signing one-year deals due to the crowded class. Because of the surplus of talent that was available this offseason, many MLB teams splurged early on and spent excessively on a number of players such as David Price, Zack Greinke, Jason Heyward, Johnny Cueto, Jordan Zimmermann, Jeff Samardzija, Mike Leake, Ben Zobrist and others.
Now there is a sense the heavy lifting is done and many teams are no longer willing to offer up those lucrative long-term contracts. As a result, Olney said some free agents might consider signing one-year deals and bet on themselves to perform well heading into next offseason when there is a dearth of talent.
That's one option.
The other is to take a multi-year deal at a less excessive price with a team that has the ability to win and maintain consistency. That's where the Cardinals come in.
"They missed out on Price and Heyward," Joel Sherman of the New York Post says of the Cardinals. "So we know the dough is there to add more than just Mike Leake at a time when age/injury/decline (Matt Holliday, Yadier Molina, Brandon Moss) and uncertainty (Matt Adams, Stephen Piscotty, Tommy Pham) fill a lineup aching for more power. Davis, Upton and Cespedes all would help the long-ball shortage."
Speaking of aching for power, Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch weighed in over the weekend regarding the same subject.
"The addition of free agent Mike Leake rounded out the starting rotation for 2016 and underscored the franchise's long-term commitment to pitching.
"But what about a promising run producer for the middle of the batting order?"
"This franchise really, REALLY must focus on offensive development to remain a perennial contender."
Well, they can expedite that process by signing someone in free agency.
Gordon has a point. What are the odds the Cardinals are able to replicate their 2015 season in which they finished 24th in runs scored and first in ERA? Larry David would probably say, "prettay, prettay, prettay" slim. They lost John Lackey to the Cubs and Lance Lynn to Tommy John surgery. Lackey led the team's starters with a 2.77 ERA and Lynn wasn't too far behind with a 3.03 ERA.
We know Jason Heyward isn't an enormous offensive threat, but he still batted .293/.359/.439 with 79 runs scored, 13 home runs, 60 RBI and 23 stolen bases. That's a productive offensive player if you ask anyone. He's now with the Cubs too.
St. Louis would likely have to do some tinkering with their roster in the event they sign Cespedes, Upton, Davis or even Alex Gordon. Rumors have linked both Davis and Gordon to the Cardinals, so those scenarios aren't farfetched.
The Cardinals haven't experienced the greatest of offseasons, but they can make up for it by taking advantage of the current free agent market. If the prices do indeed drop on any of the aforementioned players, St. Louis should pounce and bolster their lineup because the NL Central isn't getting any less competitive.
As the only 100-win team last season, the Cardinals were the best team in the MLB. However, the next two best teams - the Cubs and Pirates - were right behind them in the division and it looks like they'll be relevant for quite a while.
