ST. LOUIS–A pro sports roster is a constant work in progress. Except for when there’s a lockout that freezes them. After 99 days, Major League Baseball’s lockout ended Thursday, kicking the sport’s second offseason off into high gear as teams look to fill holes, add depth and find a few diamonds in the rough ahead of the start of the season April 7.
Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak told reporters Thursday night that his approach was to urge everyone–execs and agents–to take a deep breath as they all figure out next steps.
Ahead of the start of spring training next week, Mozeliak and the Cardinals’ staff are spending the next few days reconnecting with current players–especially pitchers, to gauge what they’ve been doing since December 1.
Mozeliak said he’ll be reconnecting with player agents to look at where the club could be active in augmenting the available options at the DH spot. The team is excited about internal options, like Juan Yepez and Nolan Gorman, who could factor into that mix, along with Lars Nootbaar. The elimination of the Rule 5 draft also opens up the possibility that minor league slugger Luken Baker, who hit 26 home runs in 2021 but would have been unprotected in the Rule 5 process, could also get consideration.
The pace of roster moves likely means that if the Cardinals wanted to make a higher-profile addition from the outside for DH, that would come sooner and not later. “We have to internally decide where we want to put our remaining resources,” Mozeliak said.
On the mound, Mozeliak sounded upbeat about the depth of the team’s rotation, knowing that depth today could be sapped tomorrow, with 2021 as very recent evidence. The team is still believed to be interested in adding bullpen help.