Cardinals Free Agent Predictions

The St. Louis Cardinals had an interesting October, that's for sure.

They humiliated the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS and followed that up with an absolute dud, as they got swept in embarrassing fashion by the Washington Nationals in the NLCS

Last offseason, the Cards' big move was trading for Paul Goldschmidt. We don't expect them to make that big of a splash this time around, but don't think they'll sit quietly, either.

They Let Marcell Ozuna Walk

Prior to 2018, St. Louis paid a stiff price to acquire Ozuna from the Miami Marlins and the All-Star outfielder responded by being one of the team's most productive offensive players over the last two campaigns.

However, Ozuna is unlikely to accept the Cardinals' qualifying offer and if that turns out to be the case, reports indicate that the organization isn't motivated to sign him to a long-term deal.

Marcell Ozuna has rejected the one-year, $17.8 million qualifying offer from the #STLCards, as expected. Ozuna looking for a multiyear deal and has interest from teams. He's one of eight players to reject the QO.
— Anne Rogers (@anne__rogers) November 14, 2019

They Aggressively Pursue Madison Bumgarner

There's no doubting that a plethora of contenders will be keen on signing Bumgarner this offseason, and the Cardinals will prove to be one of them.

For starters, they are in dire need of pairing an elite arm next to Jack Flaherty at the top of their rotation. We fully expect them to compete for a playoff berth in 2020, and Bumgarner's legendary status in October tells us that St. Louis will heavily pursue the three-time World Series champ.

Madison Bumgarner officially declined the qualifying offer. He's a free agent, and the Giants will get a draft pick if he ends up elsewhere.
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) November 14, 2019

They Sign Either Josh Donaldson or Yasiel Puig

If the Cardinals do end up letting Ozuna sign elsewhere, they will need to find another imposing bat to compliment Goldschmidt in the middle of their lineup.

It's no secret that Donaldson would love to stick around in Atlanta, but St. Louis will look to convince him to do otherwise. In 2019, the vet slugger showed that he's 100 percent healthy, clubbing 37 home runs, driving in 94 runs, with a .900 OPS. Expect the Cardinals to be all in on Donaldson.

Then there's Puig, who could personify a capable fallback option should Donaldson opt to stay with the Braves. His defense was shaky, but Puig was solid at the plate for both the Reds and Indians. In 555 at-bats, he hit .267 to go with 24 homers and 84 RBI.