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5 moves to make the Cardinals World Series champions

By Miranda Remaklus

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 25: Harrison Bader #48 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates after a solo home run in the second inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on September 25, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 25: Harrison Bader #48 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates after a solo home run in the second inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on September 25, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /
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WEST PALM BEACH, FL – MARCH 16: First base coach Oliver Marmol #37 of the St Louis Cardinals (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
WEST PALM BEACH, FL – MARCH 16: First base coach Oliver Marmol #37 of the St Louis Cardinals (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images) /

Cardinals rumors: Promote Juan Yepez for DH role

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak shouldn’t hesitate to bring up prospects in 2022. This season is believed to be very important. Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina are signed for what is believed to be their final seasons with the Cardinals. Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado are primed coming off successful seasons in which they earned Rawlings Gold Gloves and led the club in home runs.

And then, there is a young outfield filled with young talent in Tyler O’Neill, Harrison Bader, and Dylan Carlson. O’Neill had a huge bat for the Cardinals and earned his second Gold Glove. Bader stepped things up a notch and finally earned a Gold Glove and had some timely hits that helped the Cardinals. And Carlson is one of the organization’s top prospects who is primed for a big season.

MLB has announced that the designated hitter will be universal under the new collective bargaining agreement. While all of these players would be excellent candidates to fill in as a DH depending on the day, you don’t really want to lose their efforts in the field.

It would be good to have one person you could depend on to be the DH. If the Cardinals decide to stay in-house, instead of signing Albert Pujols, they should look to one of their top prospects — Juan Yepez.

Yepez was acquired in the deal that sent Matt Adams to the Atlanta Braves. Over the past couple of seasons, Yepez has had an impressive breakout, going .286/.383/.586 with an OPS of .986. He blasted 27 homers and 77 RBI in 111 games between the AAA Memphis Redbirds and AA Springfield Cardinals. He also had quite a season in the Arizona Fall League going .302/.388/.640 with an OPS of 1.028. In 23 games, she hit seven home runs and 26 RBI.

It seems likely that Mozeliak will want to stay in-house for filling the designated hitter role. Why not fill it with young talent ready for the big show in Yepez?

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