St. Louis Cardinals: Is the time right for a Tommy Edman extension?

Could the St. Louis Cardinals borrow a page from the Atlanta Braves and lock up infielder Tommy Edman early in his arbitration years? There’s an argument to be made for it, but there are also reasons why the Cardinals could be hesitant.

The pros and cons of a Tommy Edman contract extension with the St. Louis Cardinals

After an offseason that has seen big-dollar pursuits of four big-name free agents, the St. Louis Cardinals stood pat in that chase, opting instead to go with an Opening Day middle infield that could well be Tommy Edman at shortstop and Brendan Donovan at second base (with Nolan Gorman certainly in the mix as well). While signing a Dansby Swanson or Xander Bogaerts may have made a bigger splash (and could for two of the Cardinals’ National League rivals in the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres, respectively), St. Louis opted to stay in house with its infield options.

With Nolan Arenado at third base and Paul Goldschmidt at first, add in a Gold Glove each for Donovan and Edman and the St. Louis infield certainly glitters. The offensive pop provided by those four is certainly nothing to ignore either, with Goldschmidt serving as the reigning National League MVP.

St. Louis is certainly stacked in the infield, much like fellow NL rival Atlanta, a franchise that has opted to lock up key members of its core well into this decade and beyond.

With that in mind, could the Cardinals look to shore up their infield with an extension of Tommy Edman? Let’s examine the possibilities.