Post by STL Cardinals on Jan 12, 2022 10:18:37 GMT -5
With limited cap room, Cards didn’t figure to be big movers and shakers this off-season, but you know what they say. Even with very limited resources, the birds on the bat were able to bring in two marquee studs, SP Julio Urias and 1B Matt Olson, for hopefully a competitive 2022 campaign.
1B was a need for us. We first brought in Darin Ruf, with an eye toward him getting increased playing time with the NL DH. Then, we got Jesus Aguilar, but then shipped him off to get Olson. New owner of the Nats also put Urias on the block, so we made a serious offer and we’re able to get a deal done. Overall, getting the two ballers cost us mostly in rotation depth, as we traded away Jake Odorizzi, Drew Rasmussen and promising prospect Roansy Contreras.
After the big moves, we focused on extensions. Chris Sale was likely given how much ace pitching can dominate matchups and now Urias needed one, so that brought the Byron Buxton dilemma to the forefront. Ultimately, we decided to move on, grabbing Top 100 prospect Andy Pages from the Reds.
Devoting $70M to two pitchers for the immediate future after 2022 will probably raise some eyebrows, but ace pitching is a game changer in points leagues and I think we can put together a cheap offense. We have some great OF prospects coming up, platoons and whatnot are an option, and we will have three infielders locked up after Arraez gets his extension next offseason (and a promising rookie catcher).
Looking forward to a competitive 2022 and our first draft since joining the league.
If the season started today, it seems like this would be the lineup (hopefully Jose Miranda becomes a solid contributor in the infield before too long):
C Joey Bart
1B Matt Olson
2B Thairo Estrada
SS Jorge Polanco
3B Luis Arraez
LF Willie Calhoun
CF Sam Hilliard
RF Adam Duvall
DH Nelson Cruz
SP Julio Urias
SP Chris Sale
SP Yu Darvish
SP Shane Baz
SP Madison Bumgarner
RP Camilo Doval
RP Devin Williams
RP Tanner Rainey
RP Jake Cousins
RP Yimi Garcia
1B was a need for us. We first brought in Darin Ruf, with an eye toward him getting increased playing time with the NL DH. Then, we got Jesus Aguilar, but then shipped him off to get Olson. New owner of the Nats also put Urias on the block, so we made a serious offer and we’re able to get a deal done. Overall, getting the two ballers cost us mostly in rotation depth, as we traded away Jake Odorizzi, Drew Rasmussen and promising prospect Roansy Contreras.
After the big moves, we focused on extensions. Chris Sale was likely given how much ace pitching can dominate matchups and now Urias needed one, so that brought the Byron Buxton dilemma to the forefront. Ultimately, we decided to move on, grabbing Top 100 prospect Andy Pages from the Reds.
Devoting $70M to two pitchers for the immediate future after 2022 will probably raise some eyebrows, but ace pitching is a game changer in points leagues and I think we can put together a cheap offense. We have some great OF prospects coming up, platoons and whatnot are an option, and we will have three infielders locked up after Arraez gets his extension next offseason (and a promising rookie catcher).
Looking forward to a competitive 2022 and our first draft since joining the league.
If the season started today, it seems like this would be the lineup (hopefully Jose Miranda becomes a solid contributor in the infield before too long):
C Joey Bart
1B Matt Olson
2B Thairo Estrada
SS Jorge Polanco
3B Luis Arraez
LF Willie Calhoun
CF Sam Hilliard
RF Adam Duvall
DH Nelson Cruz
SP Julio Urias
SP Chris Sale
SP Yu Darvish
SP Shane Baz
SP Madison Bumgarner
RP Camilo Doval
RP Devin Williams
RP Tanner Rainey
RP Jake Cousins
RP Yimi Garcia