Talking bout Jose.
this team needs to focus on pitching and defense. They scored plenty of runs this week outside of 1 or 2 games to win but couldnt pitch or defend to save their pathetic lives. You saw errors left and right and the pitching staff falling behind counts and giving up early runs constantly. They literally did not play with a lead this entire week from Tuesday until Saturday, and only had a lead on Monday for roughly 1/2 a inning.
Jose is a good player but hes the token DH. His value is high right now, as is Munoz's. You could easily package those two together for a elite player. I am willing to give Wong another shot at it since he played well post-ASB, and he played well defensively. You have Gyroko platoon with him at 2B. Now you go out and find a 3B/1B.
The main problem with this club is the fact that they do not have a true ace, a true closer and any shutdown options from the leftside in the bullpen. The offense was good enough to be a playoff team this season, the pitching was the main problem and it showed this week.
O'neill is ready to platoon, Bader is a future all star and Ozuna is going to be a main cog moving forward. An ace, a PROVEN elite closer and some bullpen moves are mandatory this offseason.
This ofcourse will not happen, because Mo is a terrible judge of talent and roster construction.
The pitching is more just the young guys running out of gas. Flaherty, Gomber, Hicks, etc, all just started getting tired. They've been carrying this team since Shildt took over. I definitely don't disagree with you that the Cardinals need a proven Ace, but that's hard to come by right now. They missed their chance when Scherzer all but said he'd take a hometown discount to pitch for St. Louis and Mo and DeWitt ignored him. Now, they are regretting that move. I love Waino, but he's not an ace anymore. Mikolas isn't an ace. C. Mart is a solid #2 starter on any roster. I think the young pitching looks bright for St. Louis. They really need to fix the bullpen and add a middle of the order bat.
Harper is who I'd lay out a blank check for,but I know DeWitt and Mo won't. An outfield of Ozuna, Bader, and Harper would be outstanding. Hell, if you wanted to, sign Harper and trade Ozuna and put O'Neill out there. If they want to improve defense as you're suggesting, then they need to move DeJong to 3B, get a SS. They also need to NEVER let J. Martinez or Fowler see the OF again. Wong is an excellent defensive 2B, but he's an offensive hole that's hard to fill, so it's really a question of who you can get to play SS and if that person can hit.
The Cardinals' position players are like a grouping of players who can do 1 or 2 things really well, but suck at everything else. They don't have any players who are the whole package really. Wong is an amazing defender, only ok at the plate. DeJong is a solid defender, has power, but strikes out too much, same with O'Neill. Bader is an amazing defensive CF and decent at the plate but not consistent at the plate. Ozuna is an up and down roller coaster and an average defender. Molina is about as close to a whole package player as they have any more. The problem is his age. When is it finally going to give out? M.Carpenter is a solid hitter and great OBP guy, although it seems only from 1 spot in the lineup, and an average defender at 1B but not great any where else. Munoz is a Ben Zobrist type with a solid bat, but he's not great anywhere. J. Martinez is a consistent hitter but awful, AWFUL defensively, and the list goes on. The Cardinals need that bonafide superstart and unless the give a blank check to Machado, Harper, or move a ton to get one, they aren't getting a superstar any time soon.
It was also WAY to early to sign Shildt. I would have waited until at least the offseason. I think this should be Mozielak's last shot at rebuilding the Cardinals. If it fails again next year, then Girst and Mo need to be gone, maybe to just appease the fan base. The Cardinals had an unprecedented run of success from 2000 to 2015 but that time is definitely over. It's time to get this franchise rebuilt.