We are now 90 days away from my favorite day of the year, Opening Day.
When the Cardinals lost to the Cubs in Game 4 on October 13th, fans across St. Louis had no choice but to prepare for the brutally long offseason. Cardinal fans entered the offseason with one wish, to re-sign Jason Heyward.
A couple weeks after that last game, the Cardinals found out Lance Lynn would be out for the year in 2016 with Tommy John surgery. It was a crushing blow to the starting pitching staff. Alex Reyes also received a 60 games suspension for use of marijuana. Now hopeful Cardinal fans started to ask the question, Jason Heyward, David Price, or both?
The Cardinals started the offseason movement with a small but effective move. They went out and signed 33 year old Brayan Peña to a 2 year/5 million dollar deal. This deal pretty much told us Tony Cruz will be dealt elsewhere. Sure enough, a couple days later Tony Cruz was traded to the Kansas City Royals for minor league shortstop Jose Martinez. This was a necessary move to strengthen the backup behind Yadier Molina.
Next, we watched Pete Kozma and Peter Bourjos go. St. Louis fans everywhere rejoiced seeing these two go. Kozma, a longtime Cardinal who had one of my favorite hits ever in the 2012 NLDS Game 5, was claimed by the New York Yankees. Kozma struggled at the plate, hitting just .152 in 99 at bats. Bourjos, a Cardinal since 2014 who came over in the David Freese trade with the Angels, was claimed by the Philadelphia Phillies. Bourjos also struggled at the plate, batting .200 in 195 at bats. Two more necessary moves, especially since Greg Garcia and Tommy Pham will take their roles.
Then the Cardinals made their only trade of the offseason (so far). It was a move that totally came out of nowhere and shocked Cardinal nation. The Cardinals traded OF Jon Jay for IF Jedd Gyorko with the San Diego Padres. Coming with Gyorko is 7.5 million to help pay for his contract. Gyorko is owed 33 million over the next 5 years, including a 2020 buyout of 13 million. Jay is owed 7 million in 2016, then hits free agency. Gyorko can play second, short, and third. He had a very solid rookie campaign, batting .249 and hitting 23 home runs in 125 games. He had a slow start to 2015, but ended up with 16 home runs, while batting .247. He helps out the Cardinals infield depth big time.
The Cardinals threw a big contract to David Price, who was actually going to accept it, until the Red Sox outbid us by about 30 million. Coming this close and falling short sent Cardinal fans in a panic. Fans now turned to realizing we have enough money for Heyward, so we had to get him. Then John Lackey signed a 2 year/32 million dollar contract with the Cubs. It was sad seeing Lackey go, but for that money at that age and the draft pick that came with him leaving, fans got over it quickly. Eyes shifted quickly back to Heyward.
MLB fans waited weeks to see if their team was going to be the one to win the Heyward sweepstakes. Then the news broke. Cardinals and Cubs are the finalists, with the Angels as a mystery team. Then it said the Nationals were a new team in later reports. Then the gut punching news came out: Cardinals are out on Heyward, while he is expected to sign with the Cubs. Fans turned quickly on Heyward and Mozeliak. Rumors started coming out saying that Mozeliak actually offered a deal with more guaranteed money, but with less opt outs. Then those who blamed fully shifted their attention to Heyward. Fans were in disbelief, watching the Cubs lineup get more and more dangerous with Ben Zobrist and Jason Heyward.
The Cardinals then went and re-signed Jonathan Broxton to a 2 year/7.5 million dollar contract to help the bullpen depth.
Mozeliak came out and said the Cardinals were still interested in a SP. The Cardinals went and signed 28 year old Mike Leake to a 5 year/80 million dollar deal. It was a solid deal for the righty, who posted a 2.91 ERA outside of the hitter friendly Great American Ballpark in 2015. It will be very interesting to watch him develop into a potential number 3 in the rotation. Mike Leake excited Cardinal fans when he said, “I look forward to the rivalry with the Cubs and I look forward to taking them down.”
The Cardinals then lost Mark Reynolds to the Colorado Rockies and Steve Cishek to the Seattle Mariners, where he got a huge contract. Both players were not needed for our 2016 team.
Overall, I still love the Cardinals hitting and pitching. Everybody loved our lineup last year, and now it seems most people hate it. When you look at it, we actually got better.
I'd take Grichuk and Piscotty over Jay and Heyward. I'd take Peña over Cruz. I'd take Gyorko and Garcia over Kozma. I'd take Moss over Reynolds. And finally, I'd take Pham over Bourjos. Looking at the rotation, we basically traded Lynn and Lackey for Wainwright and Leake. I love it.
The hidden prize of the offseason? We received two high draft picks from the Cubs for losing Jason Heyward and John Lackey. We went out and signed Mike Leake, who doesn't cost us a pick. Mozeliak has 3 high picks in what he succeeds most at in June.
Let's not forget we also have Chris Davis, Yoenis Cespedes, Justin Upton, and Alex Gordon still on the market. We may not be done yet. Rumors have been swirling that the Cardinals have talked to the Rockies about their OF. So we will wait and see over these next couple weeks. It's going to be another fun season in 2016 and I am more than ready.
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