While the St. Louis Cardinals are in the middle of a playoff race, wild card in their case, they also need to think about next season, and specifically about Brandon Moss, who becomes a free agent at the end of this season.
The 32-year old all-around player (mostly first base and left field) is making $8.25 million this season, and will be looking for an upgrade this winter. He’s having a fantastic season, batting .261 with a .914 OPS, hitting 21 home runs through 88 games and 308 plate appearances. The Cardinals got him via trade from the Cleveland Indians last July, and he’s eligible for free agency, which means not control over a player who was on the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, Oakland Athletics and Indians before arriving in St. Louis.
The one-time All-Star is interested in staying, but obviously, it’s all about the money, or what players usually call respect:
Honestly, I have thought more about wanting to stay here than I have thought about where I could end up. I think most guys spend their entire careers trying to get to a place like this.
He leads the Cardinals in home runs, and among major league players with 300 plate appearances or more, is trailing only David Ortiz in ISO with .306. The Cardinals have praised him recently through general manager John Mozeliak, but they’re not planning on talking an extension at the moment, waiting to see how their postseason bid plays out, and maybe even see how the market values Moss before taking a chance on him, thinking about the hip injury he had in 2015, resulting in a down year.