![]() On top of that, having injuries on the offensive side … Our depth didn’t play the way we had hoped. We got ourselves to a spot where we had a lot of guys that were trying to get acclimated to the big leagues at the same time, and we’re just having trouble throwing strikes and staying competitive. ![]() And as good as our defense was all year, and as friendly as a place to pitch we have, when you can’t throw strikes, it’s sort of irrelevant. ![]() Girsch: Early in the season, we had some injuries that exposed some of our depth issues, especially on the pitching side. Clearly, that was a time where you look back and see that had an adverse effect on our year. As I think back to the year, if you could kind of reshuffle that time period, maybe things would have gotten better for us sooner. All of a sudden, you just felt like this sort of dark cloud on us. Then, on that same trip, we go into Los Angeles, and that’s when Jack Flaherty tears his oblique, Kwang-Hyun Kim comes out with lower back issues, and Carlos Martínez couldn’t get out of the inning. Mozeliak: I think back to the end of May, when Bader got injured, DeJong was out. When you look at what transpired over the course of the 2021 season, what do you think was the biggest cause for that downfall in performance, one that saw the team skid from first place in the division to fourth place in the middle of the season? In interviews with The Athletic during the general manager’s meetings, Mozeliak and vice president and general manager Michael Girsch expanded on their takeaways from the 2021 season, how the club can improve for 2022 and what the front office needs to accomplish this offseason in order to achieve that goal. Regardless of the uncertainty of the rest of the winter, the Cardinals have already identified their biggest offseason needs. There is a chance both sides can come together by then, although optimism throughout the league is waning. There are about three weeks remaining until the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the union and players expires. However, they are closing in on a few preferred candidates and are not expected to expand their staff further once the position is filled. Louis as a roving minor-league instructor and joined the Angels organization in the same role. The Cardinals are still searching for an assistant hitting coach to replace Jobel Jiménez, who declined an offer to remain with St. Yet, the state of the division won’t impact Mozeliak’s decision as he attempts to construct a World Series-caliber roster, seeking a height the organization believes is truly attainable in 2022.Īfter naming Oli Marmol as the club’s new manager, and boosting their coaching staff with the hiring of Skip Schumaker as bench coach (which is expected to be made official by the team in the next few days), only one position remains open. The early analysis on the National League Central suggests that it will be a weak division, with the Cubs and Pirates rebuilding and the Reds cutting costs. ![]() Their top prospect, Nolan Gorman, is all but ready for big league action, and breakout seasons from Juan Yepez and Lars Nootbaar have led to some surprising depth possibilities. A majority of the roster will be retained, with only the middle infield presenting questions from a position-player standpoint. The front office expects to compete once more in 2022, a season that has been long-primed as their best shot for contention. McFarland on a one-year deal through 2022, continuing the relationship with a left-handed relief arm they had identified as an ideal target to return near the end of the 2021 season.īut there is still plenty for president of baseball operations John Mozeliak to figure out as the offseason begins to truly unfold, and that’s without the possibility of a potential work stoppage.įor now, the Cardinals will proceed under their usual circumstances. ![]() The Cardinals also brought back free-agent T.J. Both are expected to attempt to continue their careers, but with different clubs. Louis did not exercise the options on Matt Carpenter and Carlos Martínez, ending the tenures of two Cardinals staples who had spent the entirety of their maj0r-league careers with the organization. ![]()
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