Red October has come to a crashing end. St. Louis fell short of reaching the World Series and a chance at the 12th title in franchise history.
The Cardinals remain the model franchise of Major League Baseball, and 2014 should not be written off as a bust. The Cardinals captured their second straight division championship and advanced to their fourth consecutive league championship series.
As the lights go off inside Busch Stadium for the winter, the Cardinals' brass will be faced with decisions that need to be addressed for the betterment of the club.
Here are the three biggest decisions general manager John Mozeliak and his staff will have to make this offseason:
Oscar Taveras
Do the Cardinals use him as a trading chip this winter, or do they continue to wait for him to mature? That’s the biggest question surrounding coveted rookie outfielder Oscar Taveras.
Mozeliak shipped Allen Craig to Boston for a number of reasons, with the most important one being to give Taveras an opportunity to play every day.
The move by Mozeliak worked...sort of.
Taveras saw plenty of playing time and racked up 134 at-bats in August and September. However, the Cardinals weren’t getting the most out of Taveras, who hit a measly .244 in August. Taveras cranked it up in September, hitting .295 with a homer and two runs batted in.
But that production wasn’t enough to convince Matheny to start him over fellow rookie Randal Grichuk, who by the way is playing out of his mind. Taveras’ streakiness isn’t the only thing keeping him from playing. His range in the outfield is a major concern, according to Mozeliak.
“He’s obviously not playing,” the Cards GM told David Wilhelm of the Belleville News-Democrat earlier this week. “When you look at his defense right now, it’s definitely different than what you’re seeing out of others who play (right field). We still believe he’s an offensive player, and given opportunities, I think he will hit. ... I think his focus needs to be on quickness.”
If Taveras is what the hype suggests, he needs to prove he’s all-in by devoting his attention to his conditioning and defense this winter. The Cardinals have never been high on Taveras’ defense. Mozeliak told Wilhelm he’s "an average defensive player."
It’s safe to say Taveras has slipped. Has he slipped too far from the good graces of his manager and GM?
There's a guy down in South Florida by the name of Giancarlo Stanton. He's a popular name, 24 years old and already proven. Does Mozeliak pull the trigger and make a move that highly impacts the future of this organization one way or another? It would take more than Taveras alone to pull off such a deal, but Mozeliak has the resources. It would be foolish to overlook a possible trade.
I still hold true to my opinion that Taveras is a cornerstone player for this franchise. You don’t know what you have in him yet. It’s still way too early to label him as a bust, which would be absolutely ludicrous considering he’s a rookie who’s been labeled as the best hitter in this organization since Albert Pujols. So, yeah, I expected Taveras to struggle in his first season in the big leagues.
Who wouldn’t?
Bottom line: Oscar has to stay.
Crowded Outfield
There’s no such thing as having too much depth. Just ask the Cardinals, who will have five players (Jon Jay, Grichuk, Peter Bourjos, Taveras and Stephen Piscotty) competing for two of the three outfield positions come spring training.
Signed through 2016 with a club option for ’17, Matt Holliday remains a lock in left field unless Mozeliak does a 180 by trading him, which wouldn’t make much sense when you look at his value to this club over the past several years.
What about center and right?
If I were to bet (I don’t), Grichuk will be in right field for the Cardinals come Opening Day 2015. Grichuk has blossomed in a roller-coaster season that saw him promoted and demoted numerous times. He’s proved he belongs on the parent club and in the lineup on a daily basis. It will be tough to beat him out.
Jay has a lot of upside in center, especially with his great range and instincts. We’ve seen him make dramatic improvements at the plate. He’s obviously seeing the ball much better.
Bourjos is likely reserved for the bench or possibly traded. I like Bourjos a lot. He’s a game-changer on the bases but has yet to do much at the plate. As a result, his at-bats and playing time declined, as they should. The Cardinals are paying Bourjos $1.2 million this season. Depending on the overall interest between both sides, I would like to see Bourjos remain a Cardinal. By the same token, this is a business driven by results.
Patching up the Bullpen
Pitching was the biggest strength the Cardinals featured during the regular season. More importantly, the Cardinals had a group of relievers that combined for 55 saves, the most in baseball. The bullpen was part of a collective pitching staff that led all of baseball with 23 shutouts.
On the flip side, the Cardinals’ 3.62 bullpen ERA ranked 17th in MLB and sixth in the NL.
Of higher concern to many is the status (confidence?) of Trevor Rosenthal, who always finds a way to get in a jam game after game. How much longer can Mozeliak and Matheny go with the hard-throwing righty?
Can he still be trusted next year and the year after that? Matheny has insisted nothing will change in the ninth inning with the game on the line. It belongs to Rosenthal.
I’m not sold on the Cards’ stopper. I'm not saying the Cardinals should trade Rosenthal, but something has to give.
Speaking of stoppers, what to make of 2012 NL saves leader Jason Motte, who has battled injuries for the past two years? Motte will be a free agent this winter. Do the Cardinals offer him a short-term deal to provide insurance for the bullpen?
Either that or find another hurler with the same velocity capable of rescuing Rosenthal in the ninth.
You’d figure the Cardinals want to keep Pat Neshek around for a couple more years. He was their top reliever and pitched the best season of his career. Neshek represented the Cardinals in the All-Star Game and features the quirkiest, ridiculously effective delivery in the game. He’s the guy you want on the mound in late-game situations.
(By the way, remember Neshek was a non-roster invitee to spring training).
Are these the only decisions Mozeliak and his staff will have make this offseason? Of course not. Other predicaments will surface.
Does Marco Gonzales make the team out of spring training? Will Carlos Martinez begin 2015 in the rotation and remain there? What about Adam Wainwright’s health? Micheal Wacha and his shattered confidence?
The list goes on and on.
Obviously a lot can—and probably will—change over the next few months, but these three decisions top the Cardinals’ evaluation list heading into winter.
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