12-12-2018, 08:26 AM
So what now?That's what Cardinals fans want to know. An offseason that started with so much promise with a new television deal in hand, the club had Jack Morris Jersey an unprecedented amount of money to spend and all indications, well, indicated they were willing to flex this newfound cash muscle suddenly feels very much like a disaster.MORE: Top 15 remaining free agents | Winter meetings winners and losersFirst, they came oh-so-close to landing an ace to join Adam Wainwright atop their rotation, but David Price chose the Red Sox's larger offer, and now he's in Boston.That stung a bit, especially this revelation from a USA Today story: "David Price teed off Tuesday morning at a charity golf tournament in Las Vegas believing he would be spending the next seven years pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals."Yeah. Yikes.But Price was never really anything more than a wonderful "what-if?" and the Cardinals were still likely to bring back Jason Heyward, their top offseason priority. Why would he want to leave St. Louis? This is a franchise that's been to the playoffs 12 of the past 16 seasons and is riding five consecutive appearances.Surely he would follow the Matt Holliday example, right?You know what happened Friday afternoon.Like the Bowling Hall of Fame, Heyward is now a part of St. Louis' history, not St. Louis' future. Heyward left for the Cubs. The arch-rival Cubs. It's hard to blame him.Heyward joins the team that knocked his Cardinals out of the 2015 playoffs, a team that added Ben Zobrist and John Lackey this offseason, a team Daniel Norris Jersey that has Joe Maddon as its manager. And they guaranteed him $184 million over eight years, unle s he uses one of his two opt-out clauses (who knew those even existed) and hits the free-agent market again (which will almost certainly happen).SPECTOR: What each team still needs to do this winter | Cubs may not be done making movesBut that doesn't help answer the question for Cardinals fans.What now?Even though the two body blows were painful, the reality is the Cardinals remain in decent position. With the exceptions of Lackey and Heyward (and losing Lance Lynn to Tommy John surgery), they have the core of their 100-win squad back, with Wainwright returning to the rotation and Stephen Piscotty around all season. They still have lots of money to spend, and the free-agent market isn't exactly bereft of talent.Deep breaths, folks. Chase your Imo's with Ted Drewes and relax for a moment. It really is good, guys.Now that the Heyward domino has fallen, though, the Cardinals should act quickly. Outfielders Alex Gordon, Justin Upton and Yoenis Cespedes waited to see where Heyward signed and for how much. That Joe Jimenez Jersey information in hand, it probably won't take long for them to choose new addre ses.And suddenly, slugger Chris Davis makes a ton of sense for the Cardinals.They absolutely must find more offense for 2016 it's their biggest weakne s, by far and Davis could provide that. He had 53 homers in 2013 and 47 in 2015. He can play first base or right field (though he probably shouldn't ever be a primary right fielder) and can even fill in at third base in an emergency.Davis reportedly had an offer that topped $150 million to remain with the Orioles, and because he hasn't taken that yet it figures he's seeking a compensation package that exceeds that number. It could also be, though, that he doesn't want to play Tigers Cool Base Team Gray Jersey for the Orioles, or that he wanted to wait for Heyward to set the market, and then make his decision.TOP FREE AGENTS: 25 best | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | SP | RPThe Cardinals could opt for a trade. Rockies slugger Carlos Gonzalez who hit 40 homers in 2015 is very available . CarGo has two years and $37 million left on his current deal, which is basically nothing in baseball's economic climate.As for the rotation, at the moment it looks like this:1. Adam Wainwright2. Carlos Martinez3. Michael Wacha4. Jaime Garcia5. Tyler Lyons/Marco Gonzalez/Tim CooneyThat's not horrible if the Cardinals go into spring training with that configuration.And there are plenty of free-agent starters on the market: Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake, Wei-Yin Chen, Scott Kazmir and Ian Kennedy, to name a few. They could make a run at Kenta Maeda, who has been a star in Japan. They could make a trade Cleveland would part with either Carlos Carrasco or Danny Salazar for the right offer.So, yes, the Cardinals mi sed out on David Price and Jason Heyward.That's a bummer, no doubt.But the offseason is Leonys Martin Jersey far from finished, and Cardinals fans have toasted ravioli available. It'll be OK.