Where the Cardinals money will go rather than signing Carlos Correa

Expect the St. Louis Cardinals to spend their money in the late innings, not on star shortstop Carlos Correa.

The St. Louis Cardinals are a potential match for free agent shortstop Carlos Correa. Any team with room to upgrade at the position and a will to win should be.

However, as Robert Murray of FanSided’s Redbird Rants reports, it’s not where they will spend their money this offseason.

The Cardinals are taking a different approach. They aren’t about to have an infield with Paul Goldschmidt at first base, Nolan Arenado at third base, and Correa at shortstop. Instead, the Cardinals are expected to spend the bulk of their money on the bullpen.

Cardinals rumors: Carlos Correa not in their future

Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin, and Joe Kelly are the three names Murray names as free agents the Cardinals are considering. Possibly the three best available on the free agent market with no closer expectations for the coming year, adding even one of them can significantly increase the club’s chances at competing in 2022.

St. Louis already has a steadier bullpen than most clubs with room to grow. They invited T.J. McFarland back and should hope for good things out of late innings arms like Alex Reyes, Giovanny Gallegos, and a healthy Jordan Hicks.

Rather than sign Correa, Murray believes the Cardinals are going to cross their fingers and hope Paul DeJong rebounds from a rough 2021 campaign. The low-average/high-power/good defense he has supplied the team only in previous seasons took a nosedive in one of those categories last year.

Doing his best impression of Minnie Mendoza, DeJong batted just .197/.284/.390 while knocking 19 home runs and driving in 45. The Cardinals are going to need a lot more out of him in the coming year. His contract, which pays him $6.1 million in 2022, jumps up to $9.1 million in 2023. It’s significantly less than what Correa is looking for. Appearing hopeful he can turn things around, St. Louis sounds more focused on winning the late-inning chess match instead of anything else.

The Cardinals will have to act quickly to swoop in and buy up the relievers they want. The remaining free agent class doesn’t have an incredibly amount of depth to it. Rather than get stuck having to pay in a different kind of way—such as trades—they will need to pay with the almighty dollar to head into the 2022 with a more secure bullpen.