3 free agents St. Louis Cardinals could sign that would erase John Mozeliak’s stink

2024-25 is the final season in which John Mozeliak will handle the responsibilities as the GM of the St. Louis Cardinals. After this season, the duties will be handed over to Chaim Bloom, who has a proven track record of turning teams in the right direction.

This offseason, the Cardinals front office has the ability to begin turning their franchise back into the winners that they were in the early 2010s. If the Cardinals can put together a successful offseason and then experience a seamless transition of power from Mozeliak to Bloom, it would work wonders in eliminating the idea that Mozeliak was a bad GM.

Step one would be to bring in these three free agents in an attempt to put this franchise back in the postseason where they belong.

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3. LHP Tanner Scott

The Cardinals are going to need to spend some serious money if they really want to turn their veteran roster around. The team already has some serious money wrapped up in multiple veteran players who are net-negatives for the team. There's a chance that St. Louis works to get these contracts off the books.

However, they need to invest some money into their bullpen if they want to continue shortening games. As of now, St. Louis has one of the best closers in baseball with Ryan Helsley. They don't need to add another closer, but if they want to continue shortening games, adding another serious high-leverage reliever would be a great move.

With Helsley being a righty, adding left-handed closer Tanner Scott would make a ton of sense. Scott was one of the best relievers in the game and he adds an additional aspect as a left-handed pitcher compared to the right-handed Helsley.

The issue here is that Scott will have a ton of contenders chasing after him. If the price drives up too high, the Cardinals shouldn't overpay too much for him. They could chase other bullpen options. But, adding Scott would be the dream move for their bullpen.

2. RHP Jack Flaherty

Jack Flaherty might be the most obvious pitcher for the Cardinals to pursue this offseason. Flaherty spent his first six and a half seasons in the big leagues with St. Louis before the Cardinals dealt him to Baltimore halfway through 2023. Flaherty would then sign with the Detroit Tigers on a one-year deal before being dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers halfway through this season.

Now, he's set to enter free agency again this offseason, whenever the Dodgers' season ends. When he gets there, the Cardinals need to prioritize bringing him back to where he began his career.

Flaherty has been incredible this year, tossing a 3.17 ERA in 28 regular season starts split between two teams. He's often looked like an ace, including a dominant postseason appearance against the Mets in the NLCS.

He began his career with 122 starts as a member of the Cardinals. St. Louis could run into an issue in re-signing him if Flaherty has any hard feelings about being dealt away. It was Mozeliak who dealt him away in 2023, so for Mozeliak to try to re-sign him two years later might not go over so well. Still, the Cardinals need to upgrade their rotation over the aging veterans who have struggled the last two years. Flaherty is the perfect pitcher to do it.

1. 1B Christian Walker

St. Louis has made it clear that they are moving on from their veteran first baseman, Paul Goldschmidt, who has manned first base for the last couple of seasons in St. Louis. Goldschmidt has done quite a good job there, but he's getting up there in age, so letting him walk in free agency makes sense for St. Louis.

There are some great options to replace him in free agency. Pete Alonso obviously comes to mind as every team that needs a slugger is going to chase Alonso. But Christian Walker is also entering free agency and he may be even better than Alonso as an overall baseball player.

The 33-year-old Walker is routinely finishing in the top three in Gold Glove at first base. He has two Gold Gloves and he's in line to win another one this season. He also routinely puts up an OPS of .800, doing so in each of the last three seasons. Last year, Walker slashed .251/.335/.468 with 26 home runs and 26 doubles.

A lot of the bigger teams will likely go after Alonso instead of Walker. Pulling him away from the Diamondbacks would be tough, but the Cardinals are a much bigger market, so they could likely offer him a bit more money. It would certainly be quite the impressive signing to send Mozeliak off in the sunset.