Your Cardinals Winter Meetings preview plus quick thoughts on the new front-office hires

Baseball’s signature offseason gathering is just around the bend, and Cardinals figure to play an important role in the goings-on when it comes to trade talks

Before we jump into the meat of this episode, let’s briefly address three recent front-office additions. As part of the ongoing player-development firmware update, the Cardinals recently announced three key hires. Those hires came not long after Rob Cerfolio was named assistant general manager for player development and performance and then tasked with making these subsequent choices. Fresh to the org are Matt Pierpont, the new director of pitching; Larry Day, the new director of player development (or farm director); and Carl Kochan, the new director of performance. As was the case when Chaim Bloom named Cerfolio to his post, I’m optimistic about these additions for three generalized reasons:

• All three are from outside the organization;

• All three were hired by someone who very recently came from outside the organization;

• All three come to the Cardinals from organizations known for player-developmental acumen (Pierpont from the Mariners, Day from the Guardians, and Kochan from the Dodgers).

As I and others have said over and over, the Cardinals in part got to this unenviable place because they’ve been insular to a fault and favored “continuity” as a first principle over all else. The simple and inexplicable act of not filling player-dev vacancies up and down the system was the leading culprit, of course, but the blinkered approach to staffing no doubt played a supporting role. That’s why turning to other organizations to find these new front office members was critical – not just any organizations but rather player-dev pacesetters. Color me pleased that Kochan, for instance, has spent the last six years as a member of the Dodgers.

Yes, their new roles are elevations in job title and presumably in salary, but it’s still cause for optimism that they were willing to make the leap to the Cardinals from their respective prior organizations. For me, this speaks to Bloom’s strong reputation around the game as someone for whom people want to work. To state the obvious, their work will be judged on how the Cardinals’ young talent develops and performs in the coming years, but these initial hires – plus the promise to on-board more field coordinators and roving instructors and the like – are encouraging. Moving on …

In the immediate offing are the Winter Meetings, MLB’s most notable of hootenannies. Front-office cohorts from all 30 teams, agents, and even some notable free agents themselves will soon caucus in Dallas for a few days of pressing the flesh, alcohol intake, and high-level discussions deep within serviceably appointed hotel suites. It’s an antiquated event in some respects, as there’s really not much true need for in-person negotiations these days. Still and yet, the Winter Meetings typically occasion multiple major signings and a notable trade or three.

That brings us to our St. Louis Cardinals. Outside of perhaps a veteran righty-hitting outfielder willing to be the gently used half of a platoon, the Cards aren’t going to be active on the free-agent front, which is mostly owing to the self-described “reset” that’s still ongoing. On the trade front, however, the Cardinals may be one of the most sought-out clubs over the four-plus days of note. While names like Ryan Helsley and Steven Matz may be bandied about, I’m most interested to see what happens with two other potential trade candidates – third baseman Nolan Arenado and right-handed starter Erick Fedde.