Cardinals Reportedly 'Want To Make An Aggressive Move Early' This Offseason

St. Louis needs to upgrade the rotation right away

Scott Neville | Nov 6, 2023

Cardinals Reportedly 'Want To Make An Aggressive Move Early' This Offseason /

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St. Louis Cardinals

Will the St. Louis Cardinals strike first when free agency opens?

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak has been open about his impending pursuit of three starting pitchers this offseason.

If St. Louis wants the top acquisition of the three to be a bona fide ace, there will be no time to wait around. Fortunately, the Cardinals reportedly plan on making calls right away.

"The Cardinals also want to make an aggressive move early in the market if possible," St. Louis Post-Dispatches Derrick Goold reported. "Multiple sources have identified Sonny Gray as a target with (Aaron) Nola as another pursuit."

The offseason will be long and consist of a whole lot more rumors than substantive news. If the Cardinals could go out and get a star under contract right away, that certainly would appease the minds of everyone with a rooting interest in St. Louis.

Gray is someone that the Cardinals should be able to pry away from the Minnesota Twins after the 33-year-old's strong campaign. The unheralded hurler 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 this season. He also led Major League Baseball with a 2.83 FIP and 0.4 home runs allowed per nine innings.

Nola would also be appealing -- though he's less consistent and costs more. Gray will be a rare premier but still affordable arm due to his age.

Whether the first move is for one of the aforementioned frontline starters or someone else, the mindset of going out and making a move early is one that should encourage fans and media members alike. This is exactly what should be coming out of St. Louis at this juncture.

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Published Nov 6, 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