Crank that offseason plan: St. Louis Cardinals

Seeing as how the Matt Holliday OOOPS is still in everyone's mind, let's examine where the St. Louis Cardinals go from a 2009 NL Central title and a swift first round playoff exit.

Currently, the Cardinals have spots open in the rotation, third base, left field and potentially shortstop depending on if they consider Julio Lugo the starter there.

Gasp...they might even consider Brendan Ryan at shortstop as well, this is a Tony La Russa managed club after all.

As each day passes I can't really get a gauge on if it looks more and more like Holliday and fellow left fielder Jason Bay might be out of the Redbirds' price range.

Given the comparison to the 2009 payroll, in 2010 St. Louis has around $20 million to spend after a hefty raise to closer Ryan Franklin.

Technically speaking, the Cardinals are financially capable of signing either Holliday or Bay and letting starting pitcher Joel Piniero and third baseman Mark DeRosa be replaced by a pair of unknowns.

The bad news for the club is the farm system being significantly depleted with the late season additions of both DeRosa and Holliday. I'm not sure Brett Wallace, whom the Redbirds traded, would be ready to hold down third base in 2010 but he certainly figures to be the third baseman of the clear and present future for the Oakland A's.

All this being said I think it's smart baseball thinking to let Piniero and DeRosa walk in favor of adding a Holliday/Bay type in left field.

With projections for both Holliday/Bay at $18 million, we'll figure St. Louis gets at least one of them with just around $2 million left over.

Piniero had pitching coach Dave Duncan repair him into a serviceable third option in the rotation but why pay for him when he can replaced by someone else Duncan can salvage?

My ideas for the back end of the rotation include bringing back John Smoltz on an incentive-laden deal and adding Justin Duchscherer on a similar deal.

Duchscherer would greatly benefit from Duncan's tuteledge after missing the year with arm issues and struggling with depression.

As for third base? Let's keep the cheap times rolling with a hometown favorite in Joe Crede.

If Crede can pass a physical, he'd play for next to nothing on a one-year deal to prove his back can handle 120-ish games.

Bottom line here is simple: The most important part of the 2010 offseason is finding someone to protect MVP slugger Albert Pujols. Bay and Holliday both have proven they can hit NL pitching and both come with a hefty price tag.

Should the Cardinals somehow get outbid for both? Buy low on Jermaine Dye in left field, Orlando Cabrera at shortstop and Miguel Tejada at third.

Honestly, neither scenario sounds terrible, does it?

With Phat Albert leading the offense and Chris Carpenter (God willing) and Adam Wainwright staying healthy, everything points toward St. Louis challenging for the NL Central crown in 2010.