Cardinals Should Invest In Future By Signing Injured Ace To Two-Year Deal

St. Louis should play the long game with a star pitcher

Scott Neville | Dec 27, 2023

Cardinals Should Invest In Future By Signing Injured Ace To Two-Year Deal /

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St. Louis Cardinals

Much has been made of the St. Louis Cardinals' need to bolster the pitching staff ahead of the 2024 season following an embarrassing last-place finish in the National League Central.

Cardinals president of baseball operation John Mozeliak acquired three new starters, as promised this offseason, doing so in an aggressive manner.

They should still keep their eyes peeled for a budget-friendly addition to the rotation such as James Paxton, Sean Manaea or Michael Lorenzen but should also look toward 2025 in one specific instance.

St. Louis has a rare opportunity to get a legitimate frontline starter in-house at a very reasonable price and should do everything in their power to make it happen.

Former Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Brandon Woodruff was non-tendered last month and could be a perfect candidate to get the Cardinals' rotation back to prominence in a few seasons.

Woodruff is expected to be out for the 2024 season following shoulder surgery but would be well worth the wait.

The 30-year-old hurler went 5-1 with a 2.28 ERA, 74-to-15 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .172 batting average against and a 0.82 WHIP in 67 innings across 11 starts prior to the injury in 2023.

The right-hander has a career 46-26 record with a 3.10 ERA, 28.9% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate, .214 batting average against and 1.05 WHIP in 130 appearances across seven seasons -- all of those metrics are elite.

Woodruff is expected to get a two-year deal this winter -- one season to rehab and then get back on the mound in 2025. That would allow St. Louis to spread out his contract across two seasons, making the ace much more affordable when he returns.

A rotation headed by Woodruff and Sonny Gray would be dangerous, especially when paired with a slew of young position players expected to be stars by that point.

The focus for Mozeliak should be on the upcoming season but this one move could set the team up for success two years down the line.

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Published Dec 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