3 burning questions for the St. Louis Cardinals to answer in the offseason

1. What will the Cardinals do at shortstop?

This could be the most interesting offseason question of all for the Cardinals. Will St. Louis keep Tommy Edman at shortstop or will they explore what could be a tantalizing free agent market at the position and move Edman back to second base?

Landing a big-name shortstop like Carlos Correa, Trea Turner, Dansby Swanson, or Xander Bogaerts won’t come cheap for the Cardinals, a team that is still waiting to see if Nolan Arenado will opt out of his current contract and look for more money from St. Louis or another team after an MVP-type of season.

St. Louis doesn’t have to explore the shortstop market thanks to Edman, who saw action in 80 games at shortstop last season after the Paul DeJong experiment ended with a thud (.157/.245/.286 slash line in 237 plate appearances). DeJong, by the way, is signed through next season, so it will be interesting to watch if the Cardinals keep him or try to find a fresh start for him elsewhere.

If Edman moves to shortstop full-time, the Cardinals will likely use Brendan Donovan and Nolan Gorman at second base. Donovan’s numbers from his rookie season (.281/.394/.379 in 468 plate appearances) indicate the Cardinals would be just fine with an Edman-Donovan middle of the infield.

However, shortstop is a position where the Cardinals could upgrade, and St. Louis will need to do something to shake up the roster after another October disappointment. With a fresh face likely coming in at catcher, will St. Louis do the same at shortstop? It’s a pricey possibility.