The St. Louis Cardinals certainly have been busy since the end of the 2023 season.
It was an extremely disappointing season and the club responded with a flurry of additions. The starting rotation and bullpen were the club's biggest area of concern.
While this is the case, St. Louis has made other additions to add depth throughout the organization. The Cardinals recently signed three-time All-Star Brandon Crawford to help add middle infield depth.
St. Louis certainly needed it and Crawford was a solid pickup. It sounds like Crawford isn't the only player the Cardinals considered, though.
The Cardinals reportedly spoke to two-time Gold Glove Award Nick Ahmed but turned their attention elsewhere, according to USA Today Sports' Bob Nightengale.
"That opportunity now belongs to Ahmed, who is battling with Marco Luciano, Casey Schmitt, and Tyler Fitzgerald for the starting shortstop job," Nightengale said. "He’s rejuvenated. Invigorated. And, has a Grand Canyon-sized chip on his shoulder. It was a rude awakening to sit around all winter and not get a single contract offer. He talked to the Cardinals as well but nothing ever materialized.
“The free-agency market, my agent and I weren’t expecting it to be that slow," Ahmed said as transcribed by Nightengale. “There was a pocket of guys, especially the middle infielders, that didn’t move at all until mid-February. That was kind of surprising."
Ahmed spent his entire 10-year big-league career with the Arizona Diamondbacks before joining the Giants this offseason. He struggled last season with Arizona and is looking to get back on track.
More must-reads: