Cardinals Reportedly Finalizing Deal With Cy Young Runner-Up

St. Louis’ rotation will receive a major boost

Scott Neville | Nov 27, 2023

Cardinals Reportedly Finalizing Deal With Cy Young Runner-Up /

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals had one clear goal going into the offseason: upgrade the rotation.

After making some wise depth additions earlier in the offseason, St. Louis reportedly is closing in on a big splash move for a legitimate frontline starter.

“Sonny Gray and the Cardinals are expected to finalize a deal today, via league sources,” the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported early Monday morning.

The 33-year-old posted a 2.79 ERA with a 183-to-55 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .226 batting average against and 1.15 WHIP in 184 innings across 32 starts last season. He led Major League Baseball with a 2.83 FIP and 0.4 home runs allowed per nine innings.

Gray’s stellar season was a enough for a second-place finish in American League Cy Young voting, trailing New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole.

With Gray, Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn joining a pitching staff that already features Steven Matz and Miles Mikolas, the Cardinals should have a top-half rotation in 2024.

That might sound impossible after the Cardinals’ disastrous 2023 campaign but president of baseball operations John Mozeliak appears to have done what was needed to get St. Louis out of the gutter.

The Cardinals could be thrusted right back into playoff contention with a few more ancillary pieces added to the bullpen and overall roster depth just one year after a last-place finish in the National League Central.

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Published Nov 27, 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