Once the Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks ends on Sunday night, we’re officially onto baseball season.
The St. Louis Cardinals have had a very active offseason, beginning a rebuild after two straight losing campaigns. They’ll report to Jupiter, Fla. on Feb. 12 and these are some of the biggest things we’ll be watching for.
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Free agents in: RHP Dustin May, RHP Ryne Stanek
Trades in (MLB): RHP Richard Fitts, RHP Hunter Dobbins
Trades out: Brendan Donovan, Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado
The Cardinals have already done the heavy lifting in their rebuild by moving Gray, Contreras, Donovan and Arenado, but there could still be more.
What about left-handed reliever JoJo Romero? How about outfielder Lars Nootbaar? Both have been mentioned in trade talks this winter.
If there’s not a move, how do some of the positional battles shake out as a result? Namely, will Romero be the team’s closer, or will Stanek or Riley O’Brien get the nod for Oli Marmol?
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Let’s face it. This is what the entire season is about for the Cardinals. This is all that really matters. How will JJ Wetherholt look in spring? Can he earn a major league job from day one? Or will, he push the envelope for a promotion early in the season? Will he work at second base or third base?
How about last year’s first-round pick Liam Doyle? He’s not going to have a rotation spot on Opening Day, but can he show enough to give confidence he’ll debut later in the season? What about outfielder Joshua Baez, who shot up prospect rankings this offseason?
Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman were once top prospects, and while both have shown signs of being future pieces for this team, they haven’t been consistent enough to earn guaranteed future roles.
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They are going to get chances early in the season to play, but how they look in the Grapefruit League could dictate how they perform early, which will be important for this team.
The Cardinals have 10 different players in the organization leaving for the World Baseball Classic, including O’Brien. Those absences could impact roster battles and positional standings. We covered more on the impact of the World Baseball Classic here.
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