St. Louis Cardinals 2020 Season Preview

Offseason additions: Gwang-hyun Kim, Brad Miller, Austin Dean, Matthew Liberatore, Ricardo Sanchez, Rob Kaminsky, Akeem Bostick, Nabil Crismatt, Oscar Hernandez, Adam Wainwright (re-signed), Matt Wieters (re-signed).

Offseason subtractions: Marcell Ozuna, Jose Martinez, Randy Arozarena, Ramon Urias, Michael Wacha, Chasen Shreve, Dominic Leone.

Point team prediction: 87-90 wins (NL Central champions). The St. Louis Cardinals will go into the season looking to stay on top of the NL Central. In 2019, the Cardinals made the playoffs for their first time since 2015. The Cardinals went 91-71 and won the NL Central for their first time since 2015. The Cardinals would beat the Atlanta Braves in 5 games in the NLDS. The Cardinals would end up getting swept in 4 games by the Washington Nationals (the World Series champions) in the NLCS. It was the Cardinals first time in the NLCS since 2014. Manager Mike Shildt won NL Manager of the Year. Shildt is only the third manager in franchise history to win the award. The two others are: Whitey Herzog in 1985, and Tony La Russa in 2002.

The Cardinals didn't really do much this offseason. The Cardinals signed Gwang-hyun Kim who was a good starting pitcher in Korea, and mostly recently signed Brad Miller. They got Austin Dean off of waivers from the Miami Marlins, and Ricardo Sanchez off of waivers from the Seattle Mariners. The Cardinals traded Jose Martinez, and Randy Arozarena to the Tampa Bay Rays for Matthew Liberatore.

The Cardinals bullpen should be fine again in 2020, it was one of the best bullpens last season. The Cardinals will need a closer though. I think that will be Giovanny Gallegos or Ryan Helsley. The Cardinals still have a great defense in place. The Cardinals will need to have the offense improve in 2020. If the offense doesn't improve, then it could be bad for the Cardinals. Only Kolten Wong hit in 2019.

Starting rotation:

Jack Flaherty
Miles Mikolas (If he can overcome his current injury)
Carlos Martinez (If he does well in camp)
Dakota Hudson
Adam Wainwight

Bullpen:

Giovanny Gallegos
Ryan Helsley
John Brebbia
John Gant
Andrew Miller
Tyler Webb
Gwang-hyun Kim (He can either start of be in the bullpen)

Starting lineup:

Dexter Fowler, RF
Kolten Wong, 2B
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
Paul DeJong, SS
Matt Carpenter, 3B
Tyler O'Neill, LF
Yadier Molina, C
Harrison Bader, CF (If Bader doesn't hit, I can see Lane Thomas taking his spot)
Pitcher

Bench:

Matt Wieters
Tommy Edman
Brad Miller
Rangel Ravelo
Lane Thomas

Prospects to watch:

Dylan Carlson (Will be on the roster at some point in 2020)
Junior Fernandez
Jesus Cruz
Kodi Whitley

Fantasy stud:

Jack Flaherty