Cardinals expected to be aggressive at winter meetings

Though they came up short on negotiations with starting pitchers David Price and Jeff Samardzija early in free agency, the St. Louis Cardinals are still expected to be one of the most active teams at this week's winter meetings.

Not known for being big spenders during free agency, the Cardinals were reportedly "very aggressive" in their pursuit for Price, an official told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, but their bid was ultimately at least $30 million less than that of the Boston Red Sox.

"We felt like we stretched in the Price situation, and we'll stretch again if we see the right opportunity in someone who has the characteristics that he had. Those are tough to replicate," said team chairman Bill DeWitt Jr.

With Price, Samardzija, and former Cardinal John Lackey all off the board, the team is reportedly "looking closely" at Mike Leake, and have discussed Wei-Yin Chen and Ian Kennedy to fill out their rotation.

Meanwhile, one of their biggest priorities will remain re-signing outfielder Jason Heyward, who had a career-high batting average of .293 last season.