For a giant of a Cardinals fan such as myself and so many other members of our “baseball” city, this offseason has been a frenzy of moves. Almost immediately after the NLCS-as well as the Cards’ chances to make the World Series-ended in mid October, Cardinal Nation was struck with a tragedy, the death of 22-year-old rookie phenom Oscar Taveras who had been a top prospect ever since the Cards picked him up in his late teens. He had been driving under the influence in his home of the Caribbean Island.

After this sudden tragedy, Cardinals GM John Mozeliak was forced into looking for other options in terms of a long term right fielder which he found in former Rookie of the Year Jason Heyward, obviously believing the playoff starting right fielder, Randal Grichuk, needs more time to develop. The now former Atlanta Brave hit .271 last season with 11 home runs and 58 RBIs. However, the deal for Heyward included the Cards giving up young, up and coming pitcher Shelby Miller who closed the year with a bang in 2014 going 2-0 with an ERA of 1.48 in his final five games.

The Cards also picked up 6-foot-5 reliever Jordan Walden. Walden struck out 62 batters in 50 innings last year. Finally a few notables were the comeback once more of pitcher Jaime Garcia as well as the pick up of free agent Mark Reynolds, a power hitting third baseman who played for the Brewers last year. Reynolds is better known as a strikeout machine, but gained more and more success last year and could serve as an essential pinch hitter or back up in the organization.

After a busy offseason, the Cardinals and St. Louisans hope to put a great team on the field this year and make, for a fifth year in a row, a deep run into the playoffs.