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Buffa: Cardinals offseason is promising yet unfinished

If the Cardinals don't acquire a closer, it will be an irresponsible oversight by a team putting out the signals that they are catching the Cubs.
Feb 14, 2017; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak fields questions from reporters during Spring Training workouts at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

What's the plan, St. Louis? Several Cardinals fans are asking this question as January continues to unfold without action from the front office hub down at Busch Stadium.

With the Winter Warm-up days away and the team unveiling its roster to fans and media, the offseason has been a solid-yet unfinished-adventure. Let's do a quick overview of the offseason thus far.

After acquiring Miles Mikolas and Luke Gregerson to shore up some rotation and bullpen innings, the Cardinals made their splash in mid-December, acquiring Marcell Ozuna from the Miami Marlins in exchange for Magneuris Sierra, Sandy Alcantera, and additional prospects. Stephen Piscotty was sent to Oakland to clear space for Ozuna.

Now, the room has gone quiet. Real quiet. Too quiet.

So, what is the plan, John Mozeliak and Michael Girsch? What do you have left in store for a team with a hole or two on its roster?

Right now, the Cardinals have a starting outfield of Marcell Ozuna, Tommy Pham, and Dexter Fowler with Randal Grichuk and possibly Harrison Bader battling for the fourth outfielder spot. The infield setup is Jedd Gyorko, Paul DeJong, Kolten Wong, and Matt Carpenter left to right with Jose Martinez, Greg Garcia, and possibly Luke Voit backing them up.

Yadier Molina will catch the bulk of the innings behind home plate with Carson Kelly serving as the backup.

The rotation features Carlos Martinez, Michael Wacha, Adam Wainwright, Luke Weaver, and Mikolas (whiskey swig!) with Jack Flaherty, Dakota Hudson, and possibly Austin Gomber lurking as options.

The bullpen looks like an unmanned daycare center right now. Trevor Rosenthal is gone. Seung hwan Oh is gone. Tyler Lyons emerged last year as a valuable reliever, but what is his exact role moving forward? Gregerson has double-digit save totals in two seasons, but saw some mph drop off two of his pitches last year. Is he a setup or closer prototype?

Brett Cecil earned a big money contract before 2017, but pitched performed like a conflicted Cyclops with steady stretches mixed into overall disappointment. John Brebbia has an exciting fastball, and looked like a closer type last summer (I was on board), but struggled near the end of the season as hitters got more of a look. John Gant could help in the pen or rotation, but doesn't wow me with his profile. When Matt Bowman is finished receiving his brand new bionic right arm attachment, he may be worth something. He will most likely be Mike Matheny's anything guy again in 2018.

I see nothing definitive about the bullpen right now. You have a large group of hard throwing yet experience-weary pitchers. Abbott and Costello would even have a hard time directing these guys to positions of need, much less Mike Maddux.

Right now, according to Steamer on Fangraphs, here are the projected WAR for the infield, outfield, and rotation.

Infield: 12.4 WAR

Outfield: 8.8 WAR

Rotation: 13.1 WAR

That's 34.3 WAR from your starting infield, outfield, and rotation. Bullpen WAR, especially with this group, won't be easy to calculate.

It will take 90 wins to be a serious wildcard/division contender in 2018, so the Cards will look for arguably 55-60 wins elsewhere. Isn't that wild to think about? It makes me a little worried, but I'm kind of sure it will work out in the end.

Mozeliak's work can't be done. He needs to sign a closer. If Greg Holland comes down two years since no other team is currently giving him 3-4 years, you do that. If not, sign Addison Reed to work the late shift. The Cardinals can't hope for the perfect return from rehab for Alex Reyes, and you don't want to rush such a huge commodity back from a serious injury.

There was one outside the box theory from Twitter on the closer situation:

Hudson is an interesting case. The 23 year old Mississippi State product was floated around as a potential trade piece, but did collect 152 innings between Springfield and Memphis in only his second season in the minors. The six foot five slender righthander can dial it up like a closer, but I would be more interested in his progression as a starter, especially with the instable rotation currently in line for the big league club. At only 23, I'd let this kid remained stretched out. If Hudson is starting games this summer, something went wrong.

There's no excuse not to sign a closer. Heck, even Mike Matheny is asking for it, according to MLB.com. The Cardinals blew a lot of late games in 2017, which crippled their chances in September to make a real push. Ozuna is an upgrade in the outfield and the infield has enough juice to get to the trade deadline at the very least, and while I can argue the rotation is unstable, a stout bullpen would provide ample support to that moving projection of starter innings.

Holland, long term, is a hazard. Short term, he's a strength. Reed has saved double-digits four separate times in his career. He's a big man with consistent ability who is still relatively young at 29 years old. Alex Colome doesn't seem to be a name that the Tampa Bay Rays are shopping at the moment, so it's time to pick a guy and put him in.

I don't trust Lyons or Gregerson making a run at closer, because they aren't great options and would take away from other bullpen titles.

If the Cardinals don't acquire a closer, it will be an irresponsible oversight by a team putting out the signals that they are catching the Cubs. The Cardinals need to be as strong as possible all around in order to catch the Cubs. They don't have what the Cubs do, which is two legit stud producers like Anthony Rizzo (4.0 projected WAR) and Kris Bryant (6.2 WAR). If you can't match their top guy, beat them in overall durability.

According to everything Mozeliak and Girsch has said the past year, the team is getting younger, but not rebuilding. Sounds like a good story, but you need to put it into action, fellas.

The infield and outfield are solid if not flashy or All Star flooded, and the rotation has potential masked by shaky foundations. The bullpen is a huge question mark right now, and with options on the market, there is no excuse for the Cardinals to rely on internal options to solve the closer problem. Let's no do a remake of 2003 where anybody and everybody (Pedro Borbon, UGH!) got a shot.

Get a legit closer and fix your bullpen. If you've read this from me before or around the net, it just goes to show you how big of an issue it is.

The offseason hasn't been a bad one for the Cardinals, but as of this moment, it is incomplete.

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