Cardinals Reportedly Favorites To Land Three-Time All-Star Starting Pitcher
It sounds like the St. Louis Cardinals may end up landing one of their top choices in free agency.
St. Louis needs to rebuild the starting rotation this offseason and has been linked to seemingly every big-name pitcher available. The Cardinals don't need just one starter, though, the club likely needs three. While they won't be able to land three aces, they have money to spend and likely could land two top-tier arms and a depth piece.
One player who has been linked to the Cardinals on numerous occasions is three-time All-Star Sonny Gray and St. Louis reportedly is the favorite to land him, according to USA Today Sports' Bob Nightengale.
"The Cardinals, the favorites to sign free-agent pitcher Sonny Gray, badly need experienced starters to fill innings," Nightengale said. "They are without five pitchers who made 82 of their 162 starts this past season."
Gray has been mentioned as a fit for the Cardinals on numerous occasions and it isn't surprising why. The Cardinals' rotation was one of the biggest reasons they had one of the worst seasons in team history in 2023 and Gray immediately would help fix the issue. He made 32 starts for the Minnesota Twins last season and compiled a 2.79 ERA across 184 innings pitched. Gray was stellar for the Twins and finished second in the American League Cy Young Award voting.
St. Louis traded away Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty ahead of the 2023 Major League Baseball Trade Deadline and now needs to add at least two and possibly three starters. It sounds like Gray could be one of them.
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