Could the St. Louis Cardinals Look to Acquire Carlos Gonzalez in MLB Offseason?

The St. Louis Cardinals lost outfielder Jason Heyward to the Chicago Cubs in free agency, but could the Cardinals look to acquire Carlos Gonzalez from the Colorado Rockies in MLB offseason action moving forward?

Karl Buscheck of Bleacher Report listed the Cardinals as one logical suitor for Gonzalez and other reports have linked him to St. Louis as well.

Gonzalez would be a huge pickup to help ease the pain of Heyward leaving town to join their arch rival. He would bring much more at the plate than Heyward had, although he wouldn't be nearly the defensive presence that the Cardinals had last season. There is also the matter of the money that it would take to bring him on board and what kind of trade value they'd have to give up.

Acquiring Gonzalez from the Rockies wouldn't be cheap, but it is obvious that Colorado wants to move him.

During the 2015 season with the Rockies, Gonzalez ended up compiling a .271 batting average to go along with 40 home runs and 97 RBI's. Those numbers would look awfully good in the Cardinals' lineup and would make them even more dangerous at the plate than they were last season.

At 30 years old, Gonzalez still has a good six or seven years left in his career of playing at a high level. The other option that has been discussed by the Cardinals is signing 31-year-old outfielder Alex Gordon. He would be a good addition as well, but if the Cardinals can get Gonzalez it would make a lot more sense for them.

St. Louis cannot be happy with the offseason that they have had thus far. Losing John Lackey and Heyward is tough to replace, but they could take a huge jump by bringing Gonzalez on board.

Don't be surprised if more rumors continue coming out about the Cardinals showing interest in Gonzalez.

It is obvious that they are intrigued by the possibility of trading for him, but they aren't going to rush their decision. Gonzalez is likely going to be with a different team than the Rockies before the start of the 2016 MLB season and it wouldn't be shocking to see him end up with the Cardinals.