Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals Should Explore Reunion With Starting Pitcher Coming Off Strong Season

St. Louis could use another arm in the rotation

Nate Hagerty

Cardinals Should Explore Reunion With Starting Pitcher Coming Off Strong Season
Cardinals Should Explore Reunion With Starting Pitcher Coming Off Strong Season /
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The St. Louis Cardinals top priority this offseason has been to retool the rotation and they've done a decent job at doing that so far.

Reeling in American League Cy Young runner-up Sonny Gray, right-handed pitcher Kyle Gibson, and former Cardinals hurler Lance Lynn has replenished the missing holes in the Cardinals' rotation. 

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak indicated that St. Louis is content with the rotation after the latest signings and will direct their attention to bolstering the bullpen -- while still keeping an open mind to other possibilities.

With that said, one scenario that could improve the Cardinals' chances of having a winning season in 2024 would be to sign former St. Lous pitcher Michael Wacha to a short-term contract.

Wacha has gone 25-6 with a 3.27 ERA (127 ERA+), 228-to-74 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .228 batting average against and 1.14 WHIP in 261 1/3 innings across 47 starts over the last two seasons between his time playing for the Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres.

The 32-year-old free agent is on an upward slope in his career and would be a perfect addition to the Cardinals' rotation.

The right-handed pitcher is a middle-of-the-market starting pitcher and would probably match up with Gibson and Lynn's salary costs in terms of average annual value. 

With Gray's back-loaded contract, the Cardinals only owe him $10 million this season. They should capitalize by investing that extra payroll room on another starting pitcher -- like signing Wacha to a short-term deal.

There's speculation that the Cardinals' rotation won't be enough to turn things around next season. Adding a high-leverage hurler like Jordan Montgomery or Yoshinobu Yamamoto is unlikely at this point but Wacha would make sense.

Will the Cardinals make one last stab at adding rotation depth for 2024?

More MLB: Cardinals Reportedly 'In The Mix' For Elite Flamethrower To Bolster Bullpen

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Nate Hagerty
NATE HAGERTY

Nate Hagerty joined “Inside The Cardinals” as a content creator to spread knowledge about his favorite childhood team. A hometown native of Boston, Hagerty chose at an early age of six years old to follow the St. Louis Cardinals. The miraculous season of 04’ for the Red Sox did not deter Hagerty from rooting against his hometown team, nor did it in 2013 against the Red Birds. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Inside The Cardinals, please reach out to Scott Neville: nevilles@merrimack.edu