3 bold predictions for the St. Louis Cardinals at the 2023 winter meetings
Looking to improve after a disappointing 2023 season, the St. Louis Cardinals figure to be one of the more active teams at the 2023 winter meetings in Nashville.
There was a long list of disappointing teams in 2023. Two teams that come to mind first are the San Diego Padres and New York Mets. Another team that has a long and storied postseason history that had a rough season was the St. Louis Cardinals.
President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak and GM Mike Grisch have a very long offseason ahead of them in terms of building a competitive roster for next season. There are several needs that the Cardinals have if they want to compete next season in the National League Central, that will be wide open for any team to take control of.
The winter meetings are around the corner and it’s going to be an active week for a lot of teams in Nashville.
Here are three bold predictions for the St. Louis Cardinals at the MLB winter meetings
St. Louis Cardinals enter the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes
Mozeliak knows that this is a big offseason for the Cardinals and there are plenty of different avenues they could go to build a roster and you get the feeling that they are going to make a free-agent splash or two. There is no better way to make a splash by getting into the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes.
There going to plenty of suitors for Ohtani's services and it was recently reported that the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, and Boston Red Sox are expected to be in the mix. Why not the Cardinals?
Would St. Louis outbid those three teams or even a team like the New York Yankees? Probably not, but just getting into the conversation is a starter and who knows where the negotiations would go? Signing Ohtani would be signal a very quick turnaround in terms of competing for the Red Birds.
St. Louis Cardinals sign Blake Snell
One of the biggest needs for the Cardinals this offseason is pitching. Adam Wainwright is gone and as the season went along in 2023, more and more issues came up in the starting rotation.
With starting pitching being a big need, look for St. Louis to make a big splash and there is no bigger splash available than Blake Snell. He had a good 2023 season for the Padres and they would love to keep him, but he outpriced himself out of Southern California.
Snell finished 14-9 with a 2.25 ERA in 2023 with 234 strikeouts in 180 innings. He was a Cy Young finalist and he could have been close to a 20-game winner had he got more run support than he did. His 14 wins were the second most in his career.
Adding him as a top-of-the-rotation pitcher would be a very big piece and key to the Cardinals turning things around next season. Signing him would signal a quick turnaround for St. Louis and be a big piece to help them get right back in the thick of things in the NL Central.
St. Louis Cardinals trade for Alek Manoah
To say that Alek Manoah’s 2023 season was a huge disappointment would be a big understatement. His struggles reached a breaking point and the Toronto Blue Jays sent the right-hander to their Florida Complex in June to try and turn things around.
After a dominating 2022 season where he established himself as an ace in Toronto, he fell backward last season. Despite being sent down, he was never able to return to his form of the previous season and shut things down in September.
He can be a headache for a manager with his fiery presence on the mound, but right now, a change of scenery would do him some good. There would be no better place for that than in St. Louis.
Again, pitching is at the top of the list for the Cardinals, and acquiring Manoah would not require a lot going to the Blue Jays in return. He has proven he can be a very good pitcher and at 25 years old, he still has a lot of seasons ahead of him. This just makes too much sense.
St. Louis is one team that will have a lot of eyes on them in Nashville and expect some big moves from them during the week.