ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals arrive at the Winter Meetings this week having already been plenty active this Hot Stove season. Not only have they subtracted more than a dozen players from their 40-man roster since the season ended, but the Cards have flipped Jaime García for a trio of prospects and inked Brett Cecil to the richest reliever deal in franchise history.
Their winter work, however, is far from complete.
• Hot Stove Tracker
The team's biggest need entering the offseason -- outfield help -- remains their biggest need at the start of the Winter Meetings.
The free-agent departures of Matt Holliday and Brandon Moss, coupled with the defensive struggles of the team in 2016, have plunged the Cardinals into the outfield market. Securing an above-average defensive center fielder who could fit near the top of the lineup would be ideal.
That pursuit will continue in earnest this week, as front-office folks, agents and members of the media descend upon the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center outside Washington, D.C., for four days.
• Will Cards pull surprive move at Winter Meetings?
MLB.com and MLB Network will have wall-to-wall coverage of the 2016 Winter Meetings. Fans can watch live streaming of all news conferences and manager availability on MLB.com. That includes coverage of the Rule 5 Draft on Thursday at 8 a.m. CT.

Cardinals.com will be updated frequently with content that covers any persistent rumors, deals gone down or other market movement. There will also be extensive coverage of manager Mike Matheny's media gathering.
Though the Cardinals aren't often the team that generates the biggest headlines at the Winter Meetings, they are typically active. This same week last year, the club completed a Jedd Gyorko-for-Jon Jay swap, claimed lefty Jayson Aquino off waivers, re-signed reliever Jonathan Broxton and plucked reliever Matt Bowman in the Rule 5 Draft.
With a new Collective Bargaining Agreement now in place, the Hot Stove is poised to simmer. So stay tuned.