The St. Louis Cardinals dominated the second half of the season to run away with the National League Central crown. But once the playoffs rolled around, the Cardinals were quickly swept by the Philadelphia Phillies in the best of three Wild Card series, sending them into the offseason much sooner than initially expected.

Now the Cardinals will be left wondering what they can do to build a contender come next season. St. Louis seemed like one of the strongest teams in the league heading into the playoffs, but they went cold at the worst possible time. The front office will have to work on figuring out how to avoid that come next season.

An easy way to do that is to make a splash in free agency. The Cardinals have some holes on their roster that could be filled in quite quickly with a couple of big moves, but it's all about picking the right free agents to invest in. With free agency right around the corner, here are three big free agent targets that the Cardinals should pursue this offseason.

3. J.D. Martinez

The Cardinals received an unexpected boost from Albert Pujols in their designated hitter position this season, but now that he's retired, St. Louis needs to find a proper replacement for him. Enter J.D. Martinez, who has been one of the best designated hitters in the league over the past few seasons. Martinez is set for free agency, and now could be the perfect time to sign him.

Martinez is coming off a down year with the Boston Red Sox (.274 BA, 16 HR, 62 RBI, .790 OPS) and likely won't be re-signing with them this offseason. It was a steep drop in production from Martinez, who saw both his power numbers and batting average drop during the final season of his five year deal with Boston. That makes signing him an inherent risk.

The good news is that Martinez likely won't command a huge deal considering he's already 35 years old and coming off a down year. Even though last season was a down year for him, he still was productive, and his bat could be a perfect fit in a Cardinals lineup that needs more depth behind Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. Martinez could be a fantastic low risk, high reward signing for St. Louis this offseason.

2. Justin Verlander

Justin Verlander's name should have an asterisk next to it since he may not even technically be a free agent this offseason. Verlander has a player option in his deal that he could exercise to stay with the Houston Astros worth $25 million, but considering how he will likely win the American League Cy Young award, it wouldn't be surprising to see him decline it and try to make more money in free agency.

The Cardinals loom as a team that could benefit greatly from the short-term addition of Verlander if he chooses to test free agency. St. Louis has a deep starting rotation, but they don't have a true ace leading the way currently. That would quickly change if they opted to make a run at Verlander, who is coming off one of the best seasons of his career (18-4, 1.75 ERA, 185 K, 0.83 WHIP) despite not having pitched for nearly two seasons before this year.

Typically there would be a lot of risk associated with signing a guy who will be 40 by the time the 2023 season starts, but Verlander appears to be immune to regression. If the Cardinals could land him on a short deal for the next two or three seasons to lead their rotation, that could be what it takes to make them a de facto World Series contender. But in order for that to happen, Verlander actually has to hit free agency, so his status is worth monitoring.

1. Willson Contreras

Like many teams across the league, the Cardinals are in need of help at the catcher position. The combination of Andrew Knizner and Yadier Molina simply didn't work, and the team needs to come up with a solution to the position this offseason. The good news is that one of the best all around catchers in the league in Willson Contreras is set to hit free agency this offseason.

The Chicago Cubs surprisingly decided not to trade Contreras at the trade deadline despite the fact he was in the final year of his contract. Contreras doesn't appear intent on sticking around in Chicago, and will likely draw a huge market based on his strong production in 2022 (.243 BA, 22 HR, 55 RBI, .815 OPS). The Cardinals should be one of the teams interested in Contreras' services.

Contreras already has some ties with the Cardinals, as his former teammate Jose Quintana has reportedly already made his pitch for Contreras to join the Cardinals in free agency this offseason. St. Louis needs to add to their lineup, and addressing a huge position of need at catcher would allow them to kill two birds with one stone. For that reason, the Cardinals need to make it a priority to sign Contreras this offseason.