![]() Soler, who will be 30 next year, is also the most serviceable player of these three on defense in the outfield. Then there’s Atlanta’s Jorge Soler, who hit 27 regular-season homers for Kansas City and the Braves. He’s hit 32 home runs split between Minnesota and Tampa Bay. But that’s not necessarily a baseball decision.Īmong two possibilities if the team decided to hand it over to a single player and let it ride, another ageless wonder, 41-year-old Nelson Cruz would be an attractive option. The marketing allure of Pujols, Wainwright and Molina, all potentially riding off into the sunset together has the potential to put fans in the seats at Busch Stadium in ways we haven’t seen since pre-pandemic conditions. At 679 home runs, the 700 home run milestone may be slightly out of reach for a part-time player. We’ve seen Albert Pujols can still be dangerous against left-handed pitching. Assuming it does come to pass, there will be stiff competition for the best bats, particularly among the National League clubs that will need to rebuild rosters with a DH in mind. Seager and Story would seem like the most likely options if the Cardinals go outside for an upgrade.ĭESIGNATED HITTER: A universal DH is not yet a done deal as we don’t know what the particulars of the new CBA will look like yet. Each will likely command roughly $30 million annually. Correa is the youngest at 27, Semien’s the oldest at 31. Corey Seager, Trevor Story, Javier Baez, Carlos Correa and Marcus Semien (who spent most of 2021 at 2B) are the big names. SHORTSTOP: Injury and inconsistent hitting from Paul DeJong helped Edmundo Sosa win over the starting shortstop position over the course of 2021, but most observers expect the Cardinals to explore the historic shortstop market available in free agency. While the Cardinals would appear to have four starters already penciled in with Wainwright, Mikolas, Flaherty and Hudson before even getting to Reyes, Matthew Liberatore, Jake Woodford and Johan Oviedo, will the team want to go into the deep end of the pool to snag a Max Scherzer, or a Marcus Stroman in the $20-$40 million per year pool, or even the Robbie Ray, Jon Gray pool, in the $15 million range? ![]() With Alex Reyes looking to stick in the rotation next year, a back end of the bullpen of Garcia, Genesis Cabrera and Giovanny Gallegos would allow for a lot of options. Garcia could be somebody’s closer next year, including St. McFarland assumed most of the responsibility Miller had taken on in recent years on the left side of the pen. McFarland and Garcia could find themselves in demand after strong second-half performances out of the bullpen. KK Kim, Jon Lester, JA Happ, TJ McFarland and Luis Garcia are among the team’s own free agents who will all merit some form of discussion about a return. PITCHING: The team got a jumpstart on free agency by locking up Adam Wainwright for what could be his final season. Cardinals fans already looking forward to 2022 season
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