{"id":10537,"date":"2017-12-11T18:02:40","date_gmt":"2017-12-11T23:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/\/?p=10537"},"modified":"2017-12-12T17:15:42","modified_gmt":"2017-12-12T22:15:42","slug":"st-louis-cardinals-plan-b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2017\/12\/11\/st-louis-cardinals-plan-b\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring the Options for the St. Louis Cardinals Plan B"},"content":{"rendered":"

The saga, mercifully, has finally come to a close; the Giancarlo Stanton<\/a><\/strong> deal to the New York Yankees<\/a> was made official this morning.<\/p>\n

The smoke and mirrors process has run its course. Giancarlo Stanton made it clear that he would not accept a deal to St. Louis, and inevitably forced his way to the Bronx. Now, after \u201cPlan A\u201d failed, the St. Louis Cardinals<\/a> must look at the alternatives.<\/p>\n

Exploring the St. Louis Cardinals Plan B<\/h2>\n

The front office inked starting pitcher Miles Mikolas<\/a><\/strong>, a.k.a. \u201cThe Lizard King,\u201d last week to a two-year, $15.5 million contract<\/a>. Then, they signed reliever Luke Gregerson<\/a><\/strong> to a two-year, $11 million contract<\/a> on Sunday.<\/p>\n

While these additions could serve as key pieces to the pitching staff, they don\u2019t necessarily move the needle. Yet, there are a few names circulating around that the Cardinals may target.<\/p>\n

As the Winter Meetings are officially underway in Orlando, here are a few players on the trade market the Cardinals have been linked too.<\/p>\n

Manny Machado<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Baltimore Orioles<\/a><\/h3>\n
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In cards story they are seen as team with best chance at machado \u2014 they have the prospects, the motivation and could fit him in \u2014 but of course O\u2019s are still seen as unlikely to trade him (tho they are listening).<\/p>\n

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 11, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n