Cardinals Potential Off-season Moves

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Cardinals Potential Offseason Moves

Sam Grus

        The St. Louis realized late in the playoffs that defense and pitching wins. In all fairness, the Cardinals do need an everyday shortstop that is healthy, along with a solid second baseman.

        Asdrubal Cabrera: Cabrera is a young shortstop for the Cleveland Indians. Even though he is not a free agent, the Cardinals have expressed interest in the man. Cabrera can hit at the top of the order in the two hole, and hit right around .300. Asdrubal is a magician with the glove. He makes plays that are so difficult look so easy. With a man like that at the top of the order, and a glove like his, he can do no wrong.

        Elvis Andrus: Elvis Andrus is another young shortstop for the Texas Rangers. He is one of the fastest players in the league at this point. If you put him in the leadoff position and he gets on, you get a single and you’ve got runners on the corners. The scoring possibilities are endless. Andrus is also quite good with the glove; he makes the routine plays and the hard plays. It would not surprise me if he ended up winning a Gold Glove in his career.

        Rafael Soriano: The Cardinals bullpen is strong; however, it lacks some veteran leadership. Rafael Soriano came into the 2011 as a set-up man to the great Mariano Rivera. When Rivera went down with a torn ACL, Soriano stepped up for the job. He took the responsibility of the closer job. He may not get a closing job with the Cardinals, but he could be a great set-up man to Jason Motte. Soriano has the experience that could help the Cardinals late down the stretch.

        If the Cardinals were to make any of these potential moves, they would be considered a force to be reckoned with down the playoff road. With having an everyday shortstop, the defensive and offensive struggles would be solved.