Cardinals ideal Willson Contreras replacement would be another shot at Cubs

As the St. Louis Cardinals fight to maintain postseason relevancy, they just received a massive blow in the form of an injury to star catcher Willson Contreras. Contreras, who was acquired in free agency from the rival Cubs in free agency two years ago, fractured his finger and will miss a few weeks.

Ivan Herrera is expected to replace Contreras for now, which makes sense. Herrera is a former top prospect who was long groomed as the heir-apparent to Yadier Molina. While that never came to be, Herrera is a good depth piece to have, slashing .279/.340/.378 in 54 games played. Pedro Pages has been Contreras' primary backup most the season, and has performed admirably of late, slashing .326/.356/.442 since the All-Star Break.

So, the question remains: Do the Cardinals need to make a big splash to replace Contreras, or should they stand pat? The answer to that question is a resounding yes.

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Should the St. Louis Cardinals pursue Elias Diaz?

If St. Louis were a playoff team as currently constructed, they could probably afford to wait out Contreras injury and go with their respectable replacement options. However, the Cards are well out of the NL Central standings and remain six games back of the surging Braves for the third NL Wild Card spot. This is not a postseason club as currently constructed by John Mozeliak, so why not take a swing on a former All-Star MVP?

Elias Diaz was waived by the Colorado Rockies last week. Diaz has struggled since the All-Star Break, but still has more-than-respectable numbers on the season. The 33-year-old was slashing .270/.315/.378 with the Rockies, and is just a year removed from being Colorado's NL All-Star Game representative and winning the MVP for that game.

Adding Diaz would most likely pair him with Pages, sending Herrera back down to the minor leagues or forcing a position change. The transition from catcher to first base is not a difficult one, and St. Louis could use more depth there to push Paul Goldschmidt, who has been far from his usual self in 2024.

Not to mention, Diaz is a former target of the Cardinals' rival, the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs don't appear interested in adding Diaz prior to this winter, though facing him in Cardinals colors could speed up their process.

The Cardinals identified one clear problem last winter and addressed it, improving their pitching staff ERA from 5.08 to 4.46. Unfortunately for them, the offense hasn't translated from last season, as the likes of Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado and Nolan Gorman haven't been able to carry this corpse of a lineup.

Every contender needs a jolt sometimes. Adding a player like Diaz could help -- or at the very least won't hurt.