Cardinals' John Mozeliak Pours Cold Water On St. Louis Engaging In Trade For Pitching

St. Louis appears unlikely to upgrade its rotation via trade

The St. Louis Cardinals' top priority this offseason has been to retool the rotation after losing three of their top starting pitchers -- Jordan Montgomery, Jack Flaherty and Adam Wainwright.

After resigning right-handed pitcher Lance Lynn and acquiring Kyle Gibson and Sonny Gray this offseason, the Cardinals have filled the holes in the rotation.

Despite speculations over whether the latest additions to the rotation will be enough for St. Louis to bounce back next season, it seems that the Cardinals are content and will be looking elsewhere for improvements.

“We were very aggressive in the free agent market which was strategic," Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak told Spectrum News' Gregg Palermo prior to the Winter Meetings.

"We did not think we were going to be able to acquire what we were looking for via trade, at least where we didn’t feel like we were going to give up something that we were comfortable with, and so now that we do have some starting pitching we are going to be looking at things for our bullpen and be open-minded because there could be something that we haven’t thought about."

After St. Louis' rotation finished last season with a 43-64 record, 5.07 ERA, 653-to-289 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .289 batting average against and 1.49 WHIP, the pressure is on for next season's hurlers to perform.

The Cardinals hit fairly well last season -- tied for No. 13 with a .742 OPS -- and St. Louis would likely have to trade away vital pieces of their lineup if they were to pursue a trade for starting pitching.

Although a trade for starting pitching is unlikely to occur, the Cardinals still have time to pursue another free-agent starter such as Blake Snell or Yoshinobo Yamamoto, however, St. Louis is not a top contender.

The Cardinals have now turned their attention to upgrading the bullpen, which could use a high-leverage arm or two as well as some added depth.

Hopefully, St. Louis will have similar success in retooling the bullpen as they have with their rotation this offseason.

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