Play for now, or 2014?

The St. Louis Cardinals have a problem that many teams would give anything to have, too many young talented arms and a potential All Star first baseman. With that being said, John Mozeliak and his think tank need to decide if they want to play to win it all in 2013 or if they want to not fully pursue another World Series trophy to have a better team in 2014 and beyond.

Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, and Jake Westbrook all have contracts that will expire at the end of the 2013 season. Mozeliak will likely strongly pursue signing Adam Wainwright to a long term contract, and let Carpenter and Westbrook go. After the 2013 and at the age of 38, Carpenter will probably strongly consider retiring. Westbrook, however, will have a few more years in him. Adam Wainwright deserves to have one of the ten largest pitching contracts in the Major Leagues, however, he may not demand that much. When he signed his last contract, a modest 4 years, 15 million dollar deal, he said he took the cheap contract because he wanted to be the most underpaid player in the Major Leagues. If he keeps that mentality for his next contract, then the Cardinals will be very pleased, but he may ask for full price. There's no reason to assume that Wainwright won't be back in St. Louis for the 2014 season. Both he and the organization want him back.

To fill the remaining four spots in the rotation, the Cardinals have ample of options. Unless traded, contestants for those spots will likely be Jaime Garcia, Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly, Shelby Miller, and Trevor Rosenthal. Most likely a year or so behind the rest of them is Carlos Martinez, a 21 year old who is projected as a future front-of-the-rotation starter. The Cardinals could have a rotation that could match that of the infamous Atlanta Braves in the late 90's and early 2000's. Wainwright is already a perennial Cy Young candidate, and Miller and Martinez have been considered future All Stars since they were drafted. Lance Lynn has already become an All Star and was in the Cy Young consideration for most of the year. This is so rare when on organization has this many potential dominating pitchers. Shelby Miller has a life time K/9 IP of 11. Trevor Rosenthal has a K/9 of 9.29. Joe Kelly 8.26. Lance Lynn 8.32 (9.4 in majors). Carlos Martinez 9.74. That is a lot of strikeouts. If developed correctly, the Cardinals have a strength that is only dreamed about. Do they want to sacrifice part of this talent core of pitchers for a need somewhere else?

As far as position players, the Cardinals have several players that will be lock down for many years to come. Yadier Molina just signed a five year deal last offseason that will keep him in St. Louis through 2017. Matt Holliday is signed through 2016, with an option for 2017. Allen Craig and Jon Jay don't hit free agency till 2017. Freese will be a free agent in 2016, but will most likely sign a large deal before then. With Molina at catcher, Allen Craig at first, Freese at third, and Matt Holliday in left with Jay in center, the Cardinals have an amazing group of players to build this team around. Matt Carpenter could turn into one of the most offensively productive second baseman in the National League. Oscar Taveras, a 20 year old right fielder, is on the fast track to becoming the Cardinals right fielder of the future. In four minor league seasons, he has a career batting average of .321 and OPS of .906. Last season at Double-A Springfield, he hit 23 home runs and swiped 10 bases. He even got some playing time in Spring Training in 2012. If all of these players stay healthy and continue on the track they are on, the Cardinals are going to have a deadly lineup. The only whole is shortstop. They don't have a short term solution for shortstop, or long term. This is where the Cardinals will consider trading Matt Adams, a blue chip minor leaguer. If it weren't for Allen Craig, Adams would be the Cardinals long term first baseman. As it is, they have two future All Stars and only one spot to put them (Holliday and Taveras block Craig from playing the outfield).