If the St. Louis Cardinals thought they were going to find a bargain, they were wrong
The St. Louis Cardinals have spent the off-season waiting out the free agent player market. But, if they were hoping patience would pay off in the form of bargains, it appears they might be out of luck.
On Saturday, word came out that catcher James McCann has reached an agreement with the New York Mets that will pay him more than $40 million over four seasons. That’s more than twice the total amount and double the length the former Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox receiver was expected to draw on the open market.
McCann’s deal is bad news for the Cardinals, which has been trying to drive down the price of its own free agent catcher, Yadier Molina. News came out last week that Molina was insulted by the offer the Cardinals made to him which was apparently less than the $10 million for one season and an option for another year that he’s been seeking. McCann is going to be 31 in June, which gives him a decided age advantage over the durable Molina. But McCann was non-tendered by the Tigers after the 2018 season in which he hit .220. It’s hard to make a case that he’s worth twice as much as Yadi.
In the meantime, if the Cardinals were hoping to get a bargain basement rate on some outfield power, the market isn’t looking so hot there, either.
Reportedly, the Cardinals have interest in Joc Pederson to patrol one of the outfield corners at Busch Stadium next year. Pederson was pegged at about $8 million a year for either one or two seasons. But then the White Sox dropped $15 million for two seasons on Adam Eaton. While he’s a good hitter, Eaton is much older than Pederson — and he’s had a lot of trouble staying on the field over the past three years because of injuries, logging more than 95 games in a season once in the last four years. It would seem that Pederson, who has averaged 133 games a year over the past three full Major League Baseball seasons despite being dismissed by some as a glorified platoon player, would be worth considerably more.
Also landing a contract above expectations already this off-season is former Colorado Rockies outfielder David Dahl who inked a $3 million deal with the Texas Rangers. While $3 million might not seem like a lot by MLB standards, that’s nearly a $600,000 raise over his 2020 salary, and his 2020 season was abysmal with a -1.1 Wins Above Replacement mark to go with his .222 on base percentage. If Dahl, who has only managed to stay healthy for more than 275 plate appearances once in four MLB seasons, can land such a large raise this winter, it seems like the Cardinals’ dreams of a free agent market depressed by COVID-19 are nothing but fantasy.
On the bright side, with McCann signing with the Mets, the Philadelphia Phillies seemingly committed to slashing payroll while their free agent catcher J.T. Realmuto still sitting on the market and the New York Yankees deciding to hang on to their incumbent receiver Gary Sanchez, there aren’t a lot of good alternatives for Molina. But, while the Cardinals might retain Molina and Adam Wainwright, it’s hard to imagine them being competitive on any players who might actually make the team better than it was last season by sitting around and waiting to see who is left at the end of the free agent musical chairs.
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Scott Wuerz is a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan. The Cheap Seats blog is written from his perspective as a fan and is designed to spark discussion among fans of the Cardinals and other MLB teams. Sources supporting his views and opinions are linked. If you’re looking for Cardinals news and features, check out the BND’s Cardinals section.
