Cardinals Linked To Pair Of Affordable Frontline Starters To Bolster 2024 Rotation

St. Louis will be making some major moves this winter

Scott Neville | Sep 8, 2023

Cardinals Linked To Pair Of Affordable Frontline Starters To Bolster 2024 Rotation /

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals have been adamant that changes are coming to the pitching staff -- including the addition of at least three new starting pitchers.

The upcoming free-agent class is loaded with starting pitching and the Cardinals are expected to be heavily involved in the sweepstakes.

"Looking at FanGraphs’ Roster Resource page, I’m guesstimating around $40 million between what they have spent this year and what they have locked down for next year between salaries and arbitration," The Athletic's Eno Sarris wrote Friday.

It would be logical to see ownership increase its budget for the 2024 season in a much-needed panic move but there are ways to improve the staff either way.

Sarris suggests St. Louis should start the offseason by signing Japanese ace Shota Imanaga to a five-year, $75 million deal. The 30-year-old has garnered some serious hype since rumors arose of him being posted this offseason -- and his stats back it up.

The southpaw is 7-3 with a 2.81 ERA, 152-to-21 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 1.03 WHIP in 128 innings across 19 starts this season. The veteran would be a great addition to the Cardinals rotation.

His second suggestion is a player fans a much more familiar with: Minnesota Twins right-hander Sonny Gray. Sarris suggests St. Louis should aim to bring him in for under $20 million a year, a reasonable objective.

The 33-year-old has a 2.98 ERA with a 160-to-53 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .227 batting average against and 1.17 WHIP and a 147 ERA+ in 163 innings this season. The veteran's 0.4 home run per nine innings is the best in Major League Baseball.

The Cardinals would be greatly improved with these two additions, though they'd be wise to continue the youth movement as well seeing as both hurlers are on the wrong side of 30.

More MLB: Cardinals Reaping Rewards Of Jordan Montgomery Trade Early On

Published Sep 8, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the St. Louis Cardinals for FanNation's "Inside The Cardinals" on Sports Illustrated. Before starting "Inside The Cardinals", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." After a few months as the top Major League Baseball site in the program, Neville sought expansion and pitched "Inside The Cardinals," one of the newest additions to FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group. The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Cardinals" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu