Fox Sports recently ranked your ºüÀêÊÓƵ Cardinals as having baseball’s sixth-best offseason, and that was before the lots-to-like late Thursday night addition of free-agent reliever Keynan Middleton.
Meanwhile many in Cardinal Nation are still so bent out of shape about Matt Carpenter returning as the last bat off manager Oli Marmol’s bench, they are choosing to mostly ignore the addition of three new starters and six new relievers.
What does that tell us?
Probably that the Cardinals have had a pretty solid offseason, all things considered.
Especially when you consider the sad state of the National League Central, where the reigning division champion Brewers just traded away ace Corbin Burnes for Baltimore prospects after letting the Cubs poach their beloved free-agent manager.
People are also reading…
Gross.
The Cardinals can choose to see Milwaukee’s punt as yet another reason to stick to their predetermined course. There’s an alternative worth considering. It will probably get ignored. Instead it should be embraced.
Drop the hammer, Cardinals.
Surprise us all with one more starter.
Update the plans, increase the payroll to better close the distance with National League powers who have left you in the dust and take full advantage of a still-impressive list of free agents and a division begging for a dominant team.
Hey, great news. There is someone still available who can help send this rebuilt rotation over the top, someone who can help fortify the bullpen by trickle-down effect, someone who can fit right in helping a team he called his own for 32 games over the last two seasons.
There have been assumptions Jordan Montgomery is just waiting to sign a contract that sends him back to the World Series champion Texas Rangers as soon as that team’s TV broadcast money gets sorted out for this season. Maybe.
There have been assumptions Montgomery could have to settle for less than expected because of his ongoing wait. Not buying that. Super agent Scott Boras represents both Montgomery and fellow free agent Blake Snell. Boras is known for waiting, waiting, waiting, then landing his clients big deals. And? The Cardinals can afford big deals for the right guys. They did for Sonny Gray. They could for Montgomery. The Cardinals can afford whatever they decide their self-imposed payroll can embrace. It’s not a salary cap. It’s never a salary cap. We’re not talking Shohei Ohtani dollars here.
There have been assumptions Montgomery wouldn’t entertain a return to ºüÀêÊÓƵ. I’m not necessarily buying that one, either. Wanting to explore your trade-deadline shot with a contender instead of sticking with a seller on the eve of your free agency isn’t the same thing as shutting down the idea of a return. You know what helps convince a guy sometimes? An agent. And money. And a feeling a big season could be there for the taking by a team.
Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak and Boras have talked this offseason.
“Certainly we let him know that we were open to the idea,†Boras said about Montgomery and the Cardinals at winter meetings.
Montgomery won’t be cheap, whether he goes back to the defending champs or somewhere else. But he would give the Cardinals two proven starters at or near the top of their rotation, instead of just one in Gray. Unlike Snell, he fits right into the mold of what the Cardinals have prioritized this offseason, which is securing quality starts for their rotation to better position a revamped bullpen for success. On top of his 3.34 ERA since 2022, Montgomery is one of only 24 major leaguers with 20 or more quality starts.
There’s more.
Signing the familiar and proven Montgomery would allow the Cardinals to weaponize Steven Matz as a reliever instead of a fingers-crossed starter. Matz’s injury and performance issues in the recent past make him a rotation question mark. His increased velocity in a relief role and swing-and-miss potential from the left side could pair nicely with the right-handed relievers the Cardinals have added this offseason. Matz is set to make $12.5 million this season and next. That’s not too much money if he’s a reliable reliever, as previous sample sizes suggest he can be. This argument isn’t about punishing Matz. It’s about proactively trying to maximize his talent after he’s started only 27 times through two seasons here.
The Cardinals were wise to protect a promising offense from potential trades that would have sapped talent. A running game that was mostly silenced in 2023 due to so many lopsided games should find better traction if the pitching improves. A defense that was often scattered last season is going to be more stable by design and hopefully sharper as a result. The division, as previously noted, doesn’t scare. If the Cardinals were coming off a business-as-usual season, this would be a fine time to push back from the free-agent table and start packing for spring training.
The Cardinals are not coming off a business-as-usual season, though.
They are coming off a last-place finish and staring straight down the barrel of a decade in which the best thing they’ve done in the postseason is getting embarrassed in a National League Championship Series sweep more than four years ago.
The Cardinals have checked their obvious boxes at a time when some teams have decided to blow holes in themselves. Good. They can still add more, and with the time left and the talent left available — including a starting pitcher who piles up quality starts and thrived in ºüÀêÊÓƵ as late as last season — to stop here would mean settling for solid instead of reaching toward special.
Isn’t something special overdue?