If the St. Louis Cardinals don’t bring back Adam Wainwright, then the rebuild is on

The St. Louis Cardinals can say what they want about never being in rebuilding mode. But if they let Adam Wainwright walk away, I don’t think there is going to be any other way to explain what’s going on.

Finding a way for the Cardinals to fit Yadier Molina into the payroll, as ridiculous as that sounds, could be a tougher nut to crack. Molina has never actually made it to free agency before, so we’re in a bit of uncharted territory here. But Wainwright accepted a huge pay cut and year-to-year contracts three offseasons a go to stay with the only team he’s ever played for. He’s already shown he’s willing to be reasonable and that he’s committed to the club. So, if he suddenly decides the infield grass is greener someplace else, it can only be because the team told him it’s not willing to bring back one of the most accomplished players in its history at any price.

Saying Wainwright wasn’t a good strategic or business signing isn’t going to wash. There is no away around the fact that he was the team’s best pitcher during the bizarre 2020 season — and one of the best two in 2019. He’s a leader for the army of young hurlers the team on the roster, connecting their future to the team’s World Series history. Sadly, these days those links are getting pretty scarce.

If the Cardinals plan to win in 2021, Wainwright needs to be a part of it. If they plan to win with the core they have now in 2022, Wainwright needs to be a part of it. Otherwise, next time you’re at spring training in Jupiter, Florida, you might have to double check which team is the Miami Marlins and which team is the 11-time champions.

I get that the Cardinals count on ticket sales for a large portion of their revenue. But claims that they and other clubs are afraid to sign contracts because they don’t know what next season is going to look like don’t seem 100 percent honest. If the 2021 season is impacted by COVID-19 and games aren’t played, salaries aren’t going to be paid to players for those games. Actually, if word that Molina wants two years and $20 million are true, it might be a gift to the Cardinals to have another half season next year. But, as I’ve said before, I think the easy solution to this deal is to give Molina a backloaded offer. Give him $7.5 million in 2021 and $12.5 million in 2022 when things are -- hopefully -- back to normal in terms of attendance and the contracts of Dexter Fowler, Matt Carpenter, Andrew Miller and Carlos Martinez are gone.

It’s just such a shame if Cardinals’ franchise icons like Wainwright and Molina are lost forever because of those bad deals John Mozeliak passed out for reasons I am still trying to understand as they mercifully reach their conclusions.

What about the rest of the St. Louis Cardinals roster?

Word Sunday was that the Los Angeles Angels have expressed interest in now-former Cardinal Kolten Wong.

One of the reasons I don’t mind seeing Wong walk out the door is he made way too much money for a guy who is primarily known for his glove, but who doesn’t play a premium position. The Halos are interested in him because their shortstop, Andrelton Simmons, opted for free agency. Simmons IS a premium defender at a premium defensive position. Over the course of his career, Simmons has also shown a lot more production from his offensive potential. What if the Cardinals were able, in a depressed free agent market, to land Simmons to play shortstop, moving Paul DeJong over to third base where he would be a vast improvement over Carpenter.

DeJong, Simmons, Tommy Edman and Paul Goldschmidt would make one of the best infield defensive alignments in Major League Baseball. And Simmons, in my book, would be a more reliable offensive force than Wong. Suddenly, if the Cardinals could find a decent middle of the order hitter to improve power production and get a more consistent performance from Dylan Carlson in his second season in the big leagues, a team that made the playoffs and then lost in the first round ought to at least be incrementally better.

Back in the real world, however, I can’t figure out how the Cardinals could part with Wong and then expose second baseman Max Shrock to waivers while Austin Dean remains on the team. It seemed like Schrock impressed when he finally got a chance to show what he could do at the major league level last season. It appears, if Wong isn’t brought back, that some sort of second base depth will have to be brought in. The team hasn’t showed a lot of faith in Edmondo Sosa’s future.

There have been a lot of head scratchers over the past five St. Louis offseasons. But I think there are more mysteries cued up for how this winter is going to pan out than all of the rest of them put together.

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.