Organizational report: Cardinals prepare to contend again

Sports Weekly takes an in-depth look at each major league organization during the offseason, from the major leagues to the farm system. We start with teams with the worst records and move up.

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The St. Louis Cardinals’ 2015 season was impressive, a division series elimination in the postseason notwithstanding.

The Cardinals went 100-62 to become the first major league team to reach triple-digit wins since the Philadelphia Phillies in 2011.

St. Louis also won its third consecutive National League Central title, fending off the teams with the second- and third-best records in the major leagues — the Pittsburgh Pirates (98-64) and Chicago Cubs (97-65).

Yet a four-game ouster vs. Chicago in the best-of-five National League Division Series and the Cubs’ splashy offseason — including taking outfielder Jason Heyward and veteran starting pitcher John Lackey from St. Louis in free agency — have made the Cardinals seem like yesterday’s news.

The Cardinals’ only major move was signing right-hander Mike Leake to a five-year, $80 million contract as a free agent. They likely like wouldn’t have made that move if not for Lance Lynn needing Tommy John elbow surgery that will cost the veteran starter the 2016 season.“They took some guys from our team that were big parts of it that we’re going to have to replace,” third baseman Matt Carpenter says of the Cubs. “I think we’ve got the pieces to replace them. It’s going to come down to the end, not to mention that the Pirates are going to be right in the thick of it, as well.”

A big surprise of the offseason has been that the Cardinals did not upgrade an offense that was 24th among the 30 major league teams in runs last season with an average of four a game. The loss of Heyward seemingly will exacerbate the problem, though the acquisition of utility infielder Jedd Gyorko from the San Diego Padres is expected to bolster the bench and help keep the starting infielders better rested than last season.

The Cardinals are counting on continued improvement from outfielders Randal Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty, a bounce-back year by first baseman-outfielder Brandon Moss and better health for first baseman Matt Adams.

“If you can imagine multiple cars in your garage, and you seem to (use) the same one every day. At some point you may ask yourself, ‘Well, does the other one work?’” Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak says. “You have to give it a chance. You have to go test-drive it. You’ve got to let it out and find out if it’s what you thought it was.

“Whenever you simply go out and get that proven commodity, it could be because you need it (or) it could be because you ignore that because you want to give a person that chance. I feel like that’s the crossroad we’re at.”

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Where the Cardinals stand at each position (*prospect):

Catcher: Yadier Molina’s status is undecided as he had a second surgery on a torn left thumb ligament Dec. 15, an injury he suffered Sept. 20. Molina is expected to have the thumb in a cast through mid-February, which leaves doubt whether the eight-time Gold Glove winner and seven-time All-Star can be ready for opening day. The Cardinals moved to improve their catching depth when they signed veteran Brayan Pena and traded backup Tony Cruz to the Kansas City Royals. The Cardinals are looking to add another catcher. Carson Kelly is shaping up to be Molina’s heir apparent and will begin the season at ClassAA Springfield (Mo.).

Depth chart: Molina, Pena, *Mike Ohlman, Eric Fryer, *Kelly.

First base: Adams tore his right quadriceps muscle May 26, did not return to action until Sept. 10 and was limited to 60 games. Even before being injured, Adams struggled. He will be pushed by Moss for the starting job in spring training. The Cardinals decided to bring arbitration-eligible Moss back at $8.25 million, though he hit .250 with four home runs in 51 games last season after being acquired from the Cleveland Indians in a trade. Adams and Moss are both left-handed hitters, making a platoon out of the question. Piscotty will likely move in from right field to start at first base when the Cardinals face left-handed starters.

Depth chart: Adams, Moss, Piscotty, Gyorko, *Jonathan Rodriguez.

Second base: Kolten Wong took another step forward last year in his first full major league season and showed the star potential that caused the Cardinals to select him in the first round of the 2011 draft. But Wong wore down in the second half, posting a .614 on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) following a .777 mark in the first half. That is where Gyorko, who hit 49 home runs for the Padres in three seasons, should help. He should spell left-handed-hitting Wong, especially against lefties.

Depth chart: Wong, Gyorko, Greg Garcia, Dean Anna, *Jacob Wilson.

Third base: Carpenter keeps getting better every year, and it is easy to make a case that he was the Cardinals’ best player last season. He hit a career-high 28 home runs — three more than his combined total of 25 in the three previous seasons — and his 101 runs were 22 more than anyone else on the team. In a perfect world, the Cardinals would drop Carpenter from the leadoff spot to the middle of the order. Wong has volunteered to bat first, but manager Mike Matheny is understandably hesitant to mess with a good thing.

Depth chart: Carpenter, Garcia, Gyorko, *Patrick Wisdom, *Bruce Caldwell.

Shortstop: The Indians shifted Jhonny Peralta to third base from shortstop in 2008, feeling his range had become too limited to play the middle infield. Yet he has gone on to be a starting shortstop for teams that qualified for the postseason in each of the last five seasons with the Detroit Tigers (2011 to 2013) and Cardinals (2014 and 2015). But Peralta’s range started to slip last season, and this could be his last year at the position, as he might be moved to first base or the outfield in 2017 to make room for prospect Aledmys Diaz. Like Wong, Peralta struggled late, as just one of his 17 homers came after Aug. 1.

Depth chart: Peralta, Gyorko, Garcia, *Diaz, *Alex Mejia.

Left field: The Cardinals won 100 games last season while slugger Matt Holliday was limited to playing in 73 games because of a recurring strained right quadriceps. It is easy to wonder if Holliday could be reaching the end of the line, as he is 36 and coming off a season in which he hit just four home runs in 277 plate appearances. But Holliday has been working throughout the offseason without problem and says he feels healthy. Moss would be his likely replacement if he isn’t.

Depth chart: Holliday, Moss, Tommy Pham, *Anthony Garcia, Jeremy Hazelbaker.

Center field: Grichuk is no longer the answer to the trivia question of who did the Los Angeles Angels select before Mike Trout when they had back-to-back picks in the first round of the 2009 amateur draft. Despite being bothered by a sore right elbow for much of the season, Grichuk shined in 2015 and was rewarded with the starting job for 2016 when the Cardinals traded Jon Jay to the Padres for Gyorko. Pham, who had an .824 OPS in 52 games as a rookie, will back up Grichuk. The Cardinals have good prospect depth at the position, headed by Charlie Tilson, who will be at Class AAA Memphis.

Depth chart: Grichuk, Pham, *Tilson, *C.J. McElroy, *Harrison Bader.

Right field: Piscotty made a big impression in his first taste of the major leagues last season while also learning to play first base on the fly because of the injury to Adams. If Piscotty does play first base against left-handers, then right-handed hitting Pham will like start in right in those games. Journeyman Carlos Peguero was an interesting signing as a minor league free agent with 13 home runs in 319 major league plate appearances, though he also has 126 strikeouts.

Depth chart: Piscotty, Moss, Pham, Peguero, *Nick Martini.

Starting pitchers: Adam Wainwright tore his left Achilles tendon in his fourth start of the season and returned to pitch out of the bullpen at the end of the season. He will be back at the top of the rotation in 2016, and the 34-year-old proved during his rehab that he is in top shape. Carlos Martinez and Michael Wacha, both 24, made the All-Star Game for the first time in their careers. Leake is an average starter but has proved to be reliable during a six-year career, averaging 29 starts and 181 innings a season. Jaime Garcia had a strong bounce-back season last year after having surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, a nerve disorder, in 2014. The Cardinals have a number of other left-handed options.

Depth chart: RHP Wainwright, RHP Martinez, RHP Wacha, RHP Leake, LHP Garcia, LHP Tyler Lyons, *LHP Marco Gonzales, *LHP Tim Cooney, *RHP Matt Bowman, RHP Jeremy Hefner, RHP Deck McGuire, *LHP Jayson Aquino.

Bullpen: Trevor Rosenthal, 25, has a 2.66 ERA in 237 career innings and set the franchise record with 48 saves in 51 opportunities last season, when he cut his walks per nine innings to 3.3 from 5.4 the previous year. Kevin Siegrist is a high-quality left-handed setup man and led the NL with 81 appearances last season. Jordan Walden began last season as Rosenthal’s primary setup man but did not pitch after April 30 because of biceps tendinitis, and his status is cloudy. The Cardinals re-signed veteran Jonathan Broxton and also signed South Korean right-hander Seung Hwan Oh, who pitched in South Korea and Japan for 10 seasons. Seth Maness can pitch in a variety of roles and looks to rebound from a rocky season. Sam Tuivailala, 23, has a chance to make the opening-day roster and could eventually become the closer if Rosenthal proves to be too expensive.

Depth chart: RHP Rosenthal, LHP Siegrist, RHP Walden, RHP Broxton, RHP Oh, RHP Maness, *RHP Tuivailala, RHP Miguel Socolovich.

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Top five prospects

Excerpted from BaseballHQ.com’s 2016 Minor League Baseball Analyst. To order: baseballhq.com/mlba16.

1. Alex Reyes, RHP: One of the best pitching prospects in baseball, Reyes will miss the first 50 games of 2016 for testing positive for a drug of abuse. He features a 96- to 97-mph fastball that tops out at 102mph; a hard 12-to-6 curveball and an improved changeup. His mechanics have been smoothed out, and the 21-year-old struck out 13.4 batters per nine innings in 2015. Once he returns, he will report to Class AAA Memphis and should make his big-league debut in 2016.

2. Magneuris Sierra, OF: Sierra struggled as a 19-year-old in full-season Class A but rebounded nicely when demoted to a short-season affiliate. He possesses a quick, left-handed stroke, though breaking pitches down in the zone give him fits. He has above-average speed (19 stolen bases) but doesn’t project to have more than average power. Sierra should stick as a center fielder, and he’ll give Class A another try in 2016.

3. Jack Flaherty, RHP: With a four-pitch mix, Flaherty, 20, was lights-out in the low-A Midwest League with a 2.84 ERA. He fills up the strike zone and has easy athleticism and repeatable mechanics, but some scouts wonder whether his long-term projection is anything higher than a middle-rotation starter.

4. Luke Weaver, RHP: He has a 90- to 93-mph fastball, keeps the ball down in the zone and gets late action from a high three-quarters arm slot. With good command (19 walks in 1051/3 innings at high-Class A in 2015), Weaver will get a shot a Class AA.

5. Marco Gonzales, LHP: Another four-pitch pitcher, Gonzales has a fluid delivery that leads to good command. Though his fastball lacks premium velocity (88-92 mph), he locates it well and pairs it with a good changeup that he throws in any count. His curveball is more inconsistent. The 23-year-old struggled at Class AAA in 2015 (5.45 ERA), though he will have a shot to make the Cardinals rotation.

Rob Gordon