Two Cardinals Officially Elect Free Agency
According to @MLBPA, a total of 131 players were declared free agents with additional players possibly becoming free agents pending option decisions in their Uniform Player Contracts.
For the St. Louis Cardinals, this included starting pitcher Jose Quintana & outfielder Corey Dickerson.
Quintana (33), was acquired during the trade deadline when the Cardinals traded P Johan Oviedo & INF Malcom Nunez to the Pittsburgh Pirates for the left-handed starter and reliever Chris Stratton.
He was 3-5 with a 3.50 ERA in 103 innings for the Pirates, before coming over and posting a 3-2 record with an impressive 2.01 ERA over 12 starts (62.2 innings) for St. Louis. Quintana was a big reason the Cardinals were able to accomplish winning the NL Central Division.
Last offseason, Quintana took a 1-year $2M deal with the Pirates, and will definitely be one of the more sought after LHP in this free agent market.
The Cardinals could look to bring back the lefty, despite having what seems to be a rotation of Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas, Adam Wainwright, Steven Matz, & Jordan Montgomery with Dakota Hudson, Andre Pallante, Matthew Liberatore, Zack Thompson & others in the mix.
John Mozeliak has mentioned being in the market for starting pitching so it will be interesting to see if bringing back Quintana will be an the agenda, or if the Cardinals will go a different direction on that front.
Also electing free agency is 33-year old outfielder Corey Dickerson. Dickerson signed a 1-year deal with St. Louis last offseason for $5M. This was a move that was to add outfield depth, and at the time an option for a lefty bench bat and possible DH. He signed with the club before they signed Albert Pujols.
With injuries plaguing the Cardinals outfield (primarily Harrison Bader & Tyler O’Neill), Dickerson served as a starting option for St. Louis down the stretch. He ended the season with a .267/.300/.399 slashline in 96 games. He also tallied 6 HR, 36 RBI with 17 doubles as well.
While Dickerson was serviceable, he’s less likely to return to the Cardinals, as the emergence of Lars Nootbaar & Brendan Donovan both look for playing time, as well as possibilities of Juan Yepez & Alec Burleson who saw action late in the year. There’s also top prospect Jordan Walker that may force his way into the Opening Day plans for St. Louis.
The Cardinals could also look to free agency for another outfield option if need be, or could always explore trade options as they are also said to be looking for a catching upgrade.
As it stands today, both Jose Quintana & Corey Dickerson are no longer on the Cardinals roster.