I think we all knew the Cardinals were going to have multiple Gold Glove Award winners once we saw they had six finalists but getting 5 of 6 was pretty stunning even for those of us who watched the team day in and day out. They were all deserving but when the criteria is a mix of analytics and human voting it leaves a lot of possibilities for potential outcomes.
Paul Goldschmidt, Tommy Edman, Nolan Arenado, Tyler O'Neill and Harrison Bader were very much deserving and had the analytics to back up whatever "eye test" anyone would want to use. Whether you want to look at defensive metrics or just trust your eyes, these guys fit either bill.
It is a bit ironic that one of the best defensive players of all-time, Yadier Molina, was the one who didn't grab gold this time around.
Yadi would have been a deserving winner, no doubt, and it would have been fantastic to see him get that 10th Gold Glove for his career but it won't negatively impact his legacy. He will go down as one of the 2-3 best defensive catchers in the history of the game with or without that 10th GG. He's one of the best ever to put on the gear and the fact that he's a GG finalist at age 39 with more than 17,000 innings behind the plate to his credit is a marvel all by itself.
Now let's move the ball forward a bit...
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This defensive core is the foundation the team has been built on and with a foundation this strong, that also includes good defenders at SS and RF, expectations should be pretty high for 2022. Defense is the part of the game that slumps the least and that gives the Cardinals a real, notable advantage to start the offseason. When you're set up to be an elite defensive team like this you can make whatever moves you need to make without having to worry about how they impact you defensively. This type of stability gives the team the freedom to be creative when it comes to patching the biggest holes, which to me look like this (in no particular order):
- A left handed bat that fits somewhere between the top and the middle of the order (does NOT have to be a SS)
- A veteran who can fit into the starting rotation
- A veteran who can fit into a key spot in the bullpen
The bat
I'm more concerned about the quality of the bat and making it a lefty bat than I am about what position they play. If you wind up lengthening out the lineup so that Molina, Bader and either Paul DeJong or Edmundo Sosa can bat 7-8-9 (assuming there's a DH), you won't have to worry too much about what that bottom third provides offensively. I'd love to see someone like Corey Seager in STL but realistically speaking, it's probably not going to happen. I wouldn't fight the idea of bringing in Trevor Story if his market isn't too crazy (this ESPN.com report projects him getting 5 years, $115 million in free agency), I'm just saying that I'd prefer a lefty bat and I'm not as fixated on the SS position as others might be.
Kyle Schwarber, Kyle Seager, Joc Pederson, Eddie Rosario and Michael Conforto should all be pretty reasonably priced and they can all play the field at least a little bit even if they're serving as a primary DH that spot can also be used to rest other guys and get these guys in the field here and there. None of them are perfect and that's okay. The offense isn't as far away from being more consistent as it might seem.
The 2021 offense wound up pretty much middle-of-the-pack in the NL with a wRC+ of 97 (tied for 6th with SD, just one point below WS champion ATL) so taking the next step toward being a top 3-5 offense in the league isn't going to require adding a $300 million player (as fun as that would be). They need to walk more, for sure, but I think there are several ascending players already in the lineup (Dylan Carlson, O'Neill, Bader) and I think Arenado is going to be even better in 2022 than he was in 2021.
We do need to allow for the possibility that guys like Lars Nootbaar and Nolan Gorman could factor in as left-handed bats in some way - and we need to acknowledge that Juan Yepez has put himself on the map this year so even though he's a righty he could still be part of lengthening the lineup - but someone who is proven would be a good place to start. There's always room for more good players, right? Just ask the Rays and Dodgers, right?
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The rotation arm
Would it be great for this guy to be Max Scherzer? Yes. Yes it would. Just don't hold your breath. I'm seeing projections of Scherzer getting 3 years and $90+ million and while he's been worth every penny he's ever been paid I wouldn't expect the Cardinals to dive that deep into the pool...and I'm not sure it's necessary to be honest.
They have four proven starters (when healthy) and that's a fantastic start. Jack Flaherty, Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas and Dakota Hudson is a great start to a rotation. There are questions in there, as we can all see based on what happened in 2021, so it probably makes sense to add a little more certainty to go with the other internal rotation possibilities like Alex Reyes, Jake Woodford, Johan Oviedo and maybe even Jordan Hicks (though I have my doubts about his candidacy). That's not to mention top pitching prospect Matthew Liberatore who will be knocking at the door. Bringing back someone like Jon Lester or JA Happ would be interesting but it might be better to shoot a little higher with some of their payroll flexibility.
I'm not going to get into listing names because there are just too many to list but since this was the area that really put the Cards in a hole last season it would be a good idea to get out in front of it for 2022. It's a cliche but it's true: you can never have enough starting pitching.
Bringing in another proven starter doesn't mean you can't have Reyes as a part of the group, by the way. He just pitched 70 innings or so...he's not going to be ready to make 30-32 starts in 2022 and it's almost a lock that other starters will miss games so they can still get him a lot of innings and a fair number of starts even if they come to Spring Training with 5 established starters. Oli Marmol has been talking about creativity and being willing to move things around and this is an area the Cards could really max out performance with the added depth.
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The bullpen arm
With TJ McFarland already back in the fold there is a lot to like about the possibilities for 2022. McFarland and Genesis Cabrera give you two good lefties. Giovanny Gallegos looks just fine as the closer to me. Then you have guys like Kodi Whitley and Ryan Helsley with big stuff as potential setup men to go with Gallegos and the lefties. Let's not forget that Reyes, Woodford and Hicks still have a chance to be weapons out of the bullpen as well. Even with all of that, though, another arm would be a big deal.
Maybe that's Luis Garcia. He's a free agent at the moment but he was outstanding for the Cardinals in '21 and with that big arm throwing 98-99 MPH he could be a big asset again in '22 if they can agree to terms. If it's not Garcia it would be good to add another proven piece to the pen ... heck it might be a good idea to do that in addition to bringing back Garcia.
The main lesson learned from 2021 regarding pitching is that there is no such thing as having enough pitching. More is better. If the Cardinals pitching had been what everyone, including the team, expected it to be we'd be talking about the '21 team as division champs.
The defense was amazing. The offense wound up being solid enough after struggling horribly in June. It was the pitching falling short of expectations (for a lot of reasons, including injury) that led to the problems the team wound up having.
If they can have reasonable health in the rotation and add a few pieces they could make a big jump in 2022, a jump large enough to shoot right past Milwaukee at the top of the NL Central.
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