St. Louis Cardinals weighing options for filling the 40-man roster – MLB News
The St. Louis Cardinals' general manager John Mozeliak has said that the club may explore the market for a trade if the need of bringing a lefty pitcher arises. The Cardinals have four spots to fill for the 40-man roster.
"I think we knew going in that the lefty relief market wasn't a great place to be shopping, just in the sense that there's not a lot out there," Mozeliak said. "As we look at a lot of our options, it may come from trade."
There are currently five arbitration-eligible players that the Cardinals have to offer contracts with the upcoming deadline for setting the 40-man roster in advance of the Rule 5 Draft.
As to what the Cardinals’ next move will be is something that is not quite clear. Only recently did the general manager say that the club will not disseminate information about potential extension talks with the players through the media.
The five players, who remain arbitration-eligible, are Mitchell Boggs, Jason Motte, David Freese, Marc Rzepczynski, Edward Mujica. All the five players, in their capacity, have been instrumental in the team’s success.
On the other hand, there might well be some concern about Jaime Garcia, the club’s starting pitcher. Diagnosed with a left rotator cuff strain last month, he is right now undergoing rehab without surgery.
The general manager had once spoken about the free-agent market which actually showed the team keeps its eye on each and every option.
He said, “I think we've identified what we're trying to accomplish. Where we are today is trying to send out feelers and get a sense for the major league's free-agent market as well as get a temperature of what all clubs are trying to do.”
With rotations to be filled, Cardinals' general manager, however, said that the club will make public any addition or subtractions public by Tuesday.
The Cardinals are likely to extend the contracts of some of the arbitration-eligible players given the performance they had in the past season. As for buying from the market, they will weigh every option before reaching a final decision about it.
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