With manager Mike Shildt winning the National League Manager of the Year in 2019, Paul Goldschmidt earning his keep in the first year of his big-time contract extension, and the team as a whole exceeding expectations on its way to winning the NL Central divisional crown, the St. Louis Cardinals put together a pretty darn good season this past year.

Besides Goldschmidt, Marcell Ozuna had moments that pretty much played himself out of town, Harrison Bader jumped at the occasion and made a deserving play for more playing time, rookie Dylan Carlson has forced himself into the 25-man roster conversation for next year, and the pitching staff combined to string together enough solid appearances to mask its issues.

Showing that they are willing to spend the money to bring regular season and postseason success to the city of St. Louis, the Cardinals look to be ready to play with the big boys in 2020 and beyond. Not having ruled out any sort of money-restricting moves this winter, it will be interesting to see how strongly they decide to cast their net into the pool of free agents.

Moving forward, the Cardinals understand that while they did defeat both the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs on their way to the divisional crown, both teams will not lie down and let them do it again in 2020 without a fight. And with how the Cincinnati Reds have positioned themselves to win now, this looks to be turning into a four-horse race for the division.

With that outlook in mind, here are three potential targets for the Cardinals as they move forward into free agency and beyond for the 2020 MLB season.

Josh Lindblom – SP
Potential Deal – 3 years, $12 million

Remember when this team decided to take a chance on signing Miles Mikolas, who was pitching overseas for the Yomiuri Giants of the Nippon Professional Baseball League? Yeah, fair to say that he turned out pretty well for this team.

Josh Lindblom would represent another chance taken on a prospect who went overseas to refine his stuff, just to come back to the United States to finally earn that contract that he deserved. Having been a starter in the Korea Baseball Organization for three seasons, the 32-year-old is a bit older than when the team scooped Mikolas up, but Lindblom could have a great opportunity to solidify the end of the rotation for this team moving forward.

A small cost to pay for a lottery ticket that could finally prove that he found his stuff in his second go-around in the MLB, the Cardinals have experience going overseas to bring over the needed talent. If they were to go after Lindblom this offseason, it would represent another chance that they are willing to take to improve their pitching.

Drew Pomeranz – RP/SP
Potential Deal – 2 years, $20 million

Hey, is it a weird thing for a team that already has a dominant left-handed reliever in Andrew Miller to go out and spend $10 million over two seasons on another left-handed reliever? Why yes, yes it is – but it just may be what the Cardinals need.

Outside of Miller, the ways that this team can attack lefty-dominated teams is limited, so bringing in another proven veteran like Pomeranz would have a few different positive impacts on this team moving forward.

Firstly, Pomeranz was just moved into the bullpen by the Milwaukee Brewers when they acquired him at this past season’s trade deadline, but he has mostly started games in his career. By having that experience in both realms of the game, with the league instituting its new three-batter minimum, Pomeranz would easily have the type of pitching style to competently get through that minimum – and then some.

Secondly, stealing Pomeranz from a divisional rival that seems to, on a yearly basis, forget how to spend money during the offseason, would be very sweet. By hoarding assets like this, while not necessarily on a cheap basis, would be a savvy move made by the Cardinals to make themselves better and make the rest of their division weaker.

Nicholas Castellanos – OF
Potential Deal – 3 years, $47 million

How about burying the spicy free-agency pickup?

Nicholas Castellanos, who burned a ton of teams with the double this past season with the Cubs, would become a nice addition for the Cardinals in right field, provided Dexter Fowler can competently make the move from left to right field.

Offensively, Castellanos is one of the better offensive corner outfielders in the game at this point, but his defensive metrics have graded out to be some of the worst across the whole league, which will definitely not help him in contract negotiations. That kind of grade out sounds exactly like the guy that just turned down a qualifying offer from the team this offseason, Marcell Ozuna.

Castellanos would become a thorn in the side of all NL Central opponents, as his offensive skills would surely make up for his defensive deficiencies in the lineup. While the team and its fans are used to dealing with defensively-challenged corner outfielders who tend to lose the ball or fail to catch it on a too-often basis, Castellanos is that big name that is a proven commodity that fans would be plenty fine with dealing any issues that come with his improvements.

For the Cardinals, their advantage in the NL Central has seemed to have grown quickly overnight, but they cannot give up the advantage that they worked so hard to gain. By paying money in the past as they have, they have shown what they are about and how they are willing to compete.

Moving forward, by making smart but needed additions through free agency, the Cardinals can not only extend their lead in the NL Central race for 2020 and beyond, but it can also help them solidify their stance atop the rankings in the NL.