The St. Louis Cardinals should target these 4 free agents when the MLB season ends

With about two weeks left to go in the season, and St. Louis Cardinals fans still chapped that the team did nothing to improve their offense at the trade deadline, let’s take a look at the free agent possibilities if the club tries to add some firepower over the off-season.

First, let me say that the obvious way to improve this team is to go the trade route. The Cardinals are over-stocked with young pitching. While the saying goes that you can never have too much pitching, that’s not the case when you have more than enough arms to stock two full staffs. That’s obviously the case for the Cardinals who proved the abilities of their young hurlers by surviving the longest layoff in Major League Baseball history, thanks to COVID-19, and then the stream of doubleheaders and lack of days off that followed.

If I had my way, I’d love to see the Cardinals trade some young pitching to the Colorado Rockies for Nolan Arenado who would not only perfectly complement Paul Goldschmidt in the middle of the St. Louis batting order. He’d also vastly improve the third base defense over Matt Carpenter. But it takes two to tango, so let’s look at the top sluggers that can be had without convincing another general manager to trade them.

Cardinals should sign George Springer

I’d be shocked if the Houston Astros didn’t make a strong bid to hang on to their slugging outfielder. But he’s a couple months from the open market and they haven’t locked him up to a long-term contract so far. In each of the last three seasons, George Springer has been an all-star and at least been in the Most Valuable Player Award conversation, finishing seventh in the balloting once and 13th a second time. He’s also won two Silver Slugger awards in the past three seasons. Over his past three full years, Springer is a .279 hitter with a .361 on-base percentage. He’s hit 34, 22, and 39 home runs in his last three full seasons, the last of which he accomplished in only 120 games. The outfielder is capable in center but can also play right field. He’s 30 years old and would probably want a longer term contract than what might make the Cardinals comfortable. But he’s by far the best player left on the board after Mookie Betts signed an extension with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Mike Trout agreed to an extension that prevented him from sniffing free agency. It’s difficult to say what Springer would want. But Betts’ 12-year, $365 million contract probably isn’t a very good comparable because Betts is three years younger. I’d expect Springer to want seven to eight years at about $30 million a season.

Cardinals should sign Joc Pederson

Joc Pederson has shown tremendous power. But he’s not a consistent everyday player at this point of his career with a .231 career average and a reputation as a glorified platoon player thanks to his struggles against lefty pitchers. He has a decent overall on-base percentage of .337. But are one year of more than 30 homers and twice as many strikeouts as walks a big deterrent to pitching around Goldschmidt? The bad is that he’s a career .187 hitter against southpaws. The good news is that he is a much better hitter away from cavernous Dodger Stadium where he is a .222 batter, so he might see a boost from calling more neutral Busch Stadium home. If he stays healthy, I could see Pederson as a perennial threat to hit 40 home runs with the Cardinals. He probably won’t command nearly as much as Springer, maybe available on a two or three-year deal for $35-$40 million.

Cardinals should sign Justin Turner

Another attractive choice from the Dodgers is the slick-fielding, slugging third baseman. On the bright side, he’d be a two-way improvement like Arenado, making the team better offensive and defensively. A .291 career hitter who has hit 21 or more homers in three of the past four full seasons, Justin Turner has finished in the top 9 in MVP balloting in two of the past four seasons. His biggest issue is that he’s managed to stay on the field for 130 or more games in 11 of his previous MLB seasons, this year doesn’t count. His injuries aren’t career threateners, but more of the nagging variety. Turner will be 36 before the start of next season, so he’ll likely be willing to sign a short-term deal. Whether he is available seems to depend entirely on whether the deep-pocketed Dodgers decide to bring him back. He’s a Southern California native and seems to greatly prefer playing for the Dodgers, as evidenced by his relatively modest previous contract. Two years and $36 million seems to be about the going rate for a slugger his age.

Cardinals should sign Nelson Cruz

He’s 40. But the guy just keeps on hitting. I wouldn’t mention him if it wasn’t for the fact that it seems the National League will never get rid of the designated hitter now that the seal has been broken. He’s batting .327 with 15 home runs with the Minnesota Twins in this shortened season. It’s no fluke, he’s hit .287 or better in each of the past six seasons and he hasn’t hit fewer than 37 homers in a full year during that span. Since 2014, he’s averaged .289 with 41 homers. But he strikes out a ton. Nelson Cruz surely should be available on a one-year deal. The only question is can he focus on hitting the ball when he’s reminded every time he arrives at Busch Stadium that he misplayed a ball that would have given him and his Texas Rangers teammates a World Series ring?

Do the Cardinals have enough money for free agents?

Should the Cardinals want to go the free agent route, how can they afford any of these players when they have to pay Carpenter, Dexter Fowler — plus maybe Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina — in 2021?

Well, there are a lot of things the Cardinals can do to create some payroll space:

I don’t think there is any getting rid of Carpenter’s contract at this point. But Fowler has had a decent year. Might the Cardinals package him with some young pitching and get a pitching starved club to bite? The depth St. Louis has would allow it to trade a compelling package of high-end prospects and guys who could help right now. It’s worth asking opposing GMs.

Will the Cardinals extend Kolten Wong after picking up his 2021 option? It’s probably going to cost quite a bit and, sorry, but I don’t think Wong has justified a long-term contract as an elite player with his on again, off again production. It would be an easy way to save $12.5 million to trade away Wong this off-season and install Tommy Edman as the starting second baseman. Edman clearly has the glove for it, and if St. Louis was to land a third baseman, it would be the best way to keep the kid on the field on a daily basis.

St. Louis will save money with the expiration of Andrew Miller, Brett Cecil, Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina’s contracts. It will also save $4 million it paid Mike Leake to go away. So that’s nothing to sneeze at. The Cardinals probably want to bring back Molina and Wainwright. The Cardinals paid Molina $20 million each year of his current contract. But, as he ages, I’d like to think he’d at least take a $5 million pay cut. Why should he make so much more than his battery mate, Wainwright?

The last option is a little creative financing. If the Cardinals want to sign Springer, offer a deal that pays a bit less the first year when Fowler and Carpenter as still on the payroll and more later. If Yadi wants a two-year contract and the team is inclined to give one to the franchise legend, give him $10 million the first year and $20 the second to achieve the $15 million average while creating some flexibility in 2021. I’m sure Molina would be in favor of adding a player who could help him try to win another World Series ring.

Scott Wuerz

Belleville News-Democrat

Scott Wuerz has written “Cheap Seats,” a St. Louis Cardinals fan blog for the Belleville News-Democrat, since 2007. He is a former BND reporter who covered breaking news and education.