TOWER GROVE • Once the smog of disappointment and frustration cleared from the failed negotiations for Albert Pujols, the St. Louis Cardinals were left with one word that described the franchise's new world order.
Flexibility.
It's a favored word around John Mozeliak's front office. At the trade deadline, Mozeliak talks about the "flexibility" that roster has to add a piece. When the club sets the 40-man roster, officials talk about needing "flexibility" to add via free agency or the Rule 5 draft. There is "flexibility" in the payroll; Skip Schumaker, Allen Craig, Daniel Descalso and Tyler Greene offer "flexibility" when it comes to their positions; and when the Cardinals entertained trade talk for two members of the rotation it was all to gauge the market should they need "flexibility" to make room for another starter.
But this post-Pujols' "flexibility" is something new.
This is flexibility that cuts to the core.
The Cardinals, guided by Mozeliak and chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., now have a chance to reshape the core of the team. Without Pujols' hefty salary on the books, it's clear to see how the Cardinals can position themselves to re-sign Adam Wainwright after his contract ends in 2013, chase Yadier Molina when his contract ends after next season, and, yes, add a new face — perhaps even from the outside, a la Matt Holliday, to be a pillar for the team's future.
Manager Tony La Russa would not throw the term "core" around lightly. To him, the "core" was the tight nucleus of players that the team and the clubhouse orbited around and was held together by La Russa. Some days, La Russa would use the word "core" to describe the players invited to join his leadership counsel. Other times, La Russa would use "core" to describe players who received preferential treatment — whether that meant days off, spot in the lineup, or, say, the ability to call hit-and-runs from the batter's box. Just saying. At times, the "core" that La Russa referred to also included players who had the benefit of a multi-year contract.
Whatever definition you choose to follow, it's clear that the consensus picks for the "core" of the 2012 St. Louis Cardinals would include these five players:
Matt Holliday
Chris Carpenter
Adam Wainwright
Lance Berkman
Yadier Molina
There are some variations that would include lefty Jaime Garcia because of his multi-year contract and the commitment that the Cardinals have made to him before his 25th birthday. There are some that would include Schumaker because of his history with the team and his role in the clubhouse. The people's pick would undoubtedly be David Freese, the Crowned Prince of St. Louis. A survey of the Cardinals' roster shows who has the contract to back their place in the core. To show how long the Cardinals expect individual players to be around (and, thus, to be an integral part of the team's Post Pujols Era), here is the roster re-sorted by the final year of each player's contract:
2017 - Matt Holliday (team option year), Jaime Garcia (team option year), Tony Cruz* (under control).
2016 - Eduardo Sanchez* (under control), Allen Craig (under control), Tyler Greene* (under control), Daniel Descalso (under control), Fernando Salas (under control).
2015 - Mitchell Boggs (under control), David Freese (under control), Jon Jay (under control), Marc Rzepczynski (under control).
2014 - Jason Motte (under control).
2013 - Chris Carpenter, Jake Westbrook (mutual option year), Adam Wainwright, Skip Schumaker, Rafael Furcal, Kyle McClellan (under control).
2012 - Kyle Lohse, Lance Berkman, Yadier Molina, J. C. Romero.
* It's worth noting in some cases that players "under control" (i.e., players with less than six years of service) will only become free agents after the year listed if they are in the majors from now until the year listed. A return to the minors could cost service time needed to trigger free agency.
Through that chart, it's easy to see how the Cardinals could build their team around Wainwright, Molina, Garcia, Holliday and Freese and, possibly, Craig and/or Jay. The makings of a "core" are already there for new manager Mike Matheny.
But there is also room to add a piece or so.
When it comes to position players who could be identified as "core" eligible, there really is only one remaining in this year's market: Prince Fielder. Mozeliak told me recently that the club didn't plan on making any more "record offers" this winter. The club record, of course, is Holliday's seven-year, $120-million deal agreed to in 2010. Fielder also doesn't fit the Cardinals' MO when it comes to building or adding to the "core" of the team. As it was when Walt Jocketty was general manager, Mozeliak and DeWitt act to lock-in potential core players before they reach free agency or trade for them in time that they get bathed in Cardinal culture and all that. The examples are numerous: Edgar Renteria, Mark McGwire, Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds, Holliday, Carpenter, Lohse ... et cetera.
"We've done a great job in retaining our own players over the years," DeWitt told a few of us in Dallas during the Winter Meetings. "(These are players) who either have been approaching free agency or have become free agents. We think that St. Louis is a great place to play, and playing on a world championship-contending team is very desirable."
The absence of Pujols means Mozeliak and DeWitt could now peruse the buffet table of pending free agents for the next "core" Cardinal.
There are some options.
After the 2012 season, Michael Bourn, B.J. Upton, Andre Ethier and Carlos Quentin are just four of the outfielders who are scheduled to be free agents. Third baseman David Wright has a $16-million option for 2013 with the New York Mets, who are in financial peril. Catcher/first baseman Mike Napoli is set to be a free agent, but not if the Texas Rangers can help it. So is righty Matt Cain. An audit of the future shows that these are some of the high-end players who could be on the market 11 months from now (with age they'll be):
C Mike Napoli, 31
C Yadier Molina, 30
C Brian McCann, 29 ($12 million option)
2B Ian Kinsler, 31 ($10 million option)
2B Robinson Cano, 30 ($15 million option)
2B Howie Kendrick, 29
SS Stephen Drew, 29 ($10 million option)
3B David Wright, 30 ($16 million option)
OF Josh Hamilton, 32
OF Michael Bourn, 30
OF B. J. Upton, 28
OF Carlos Quentin, 30
OF Andre Ethier, 31
Also set to hit the market are center fielders Shane Victorino (32) and Curtis Granderson (32), who has an option with the Yankees for 2013. For the most part, you can sort of see who is a gimme-putt to have their option exercised (Cano) and who is less certain (Drew). There is also a handful of higher-tier pitchers set to be available at the end of the coming season: RHP James Shields (pending option), RHP Zack Greinke, RHP Matt Cain, RHP Anibal Sanchez, RHP Shaun Marcum, and RHP Dan Haren (pending option).
Two years down the road, Joey Votto, Jacoby Ellsbury and Nelson Cruz are on-deck as difference-making free agents.
The question, then, posed to you is who fits best in the next Cardinals' core? Holliday and Garcia are already in place, Wainwright is a likely target to pin down for the future, and Shelby Miller is expected to be a "core" member in the latter half of this decade. (Hold off a bit on the rush to anoint other prospects for that sentence. Let them get to Class AAA first.)
What outside addition is the best complement for a contender? The comment section is open for your suggestions. Let's discuss.
With Pujols off the books, the Cardinals don't just have additional money to spend for 2012. They have additional "dry powder" — another favorite phrase from the Cardinals' brass — in years to come. They had Pujols' salary baked in to the projections for the next decade. Now there's a vacancy. That doesn't mean, as Mozeliak recently said, that the team plans to go out there and spend $21 million this winter just because it can. No, the more likely scenario is that they address needs (i.e., Furcal, Romero and the interest in Carlos Beltran) and save payroll space for an addition during the season. That follows the trend.
Acquire. Re-sign. Entrench.
And, if that's how this plays out, then get ready to hear during spring training and again in June that the Cardinals have something they always want to have when it comes to acquiring a player via trade.
Flexibility.
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