White Sox Reportedly Sign Cardinals Free Agent, Ending Reunion Hopes

St. Louis will not add familiar depth to the organization

Scott Neville | Jan 10, 2024

White Sox Reportedly Sign Cardinals Free Agent, Ending Reunion Hopes /

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The St. Louis Cardinals made it a point this offseason to revamp their entire pitching staff, from the top down to their depth.

In doing so, they moved on from a myriad of hurlers. The most valuable pitchers were exchanged for prospect hauls at the 2023 Major League Baseball Trade Deadline while lessor-proven talents walked in free agency or were non-tendered earlier in the offseason.

One of the displaced arms has landed in the American League, aiming to solidify himself in another organization.

"Right-hander Jake Woodford is signing a minor-league contract with the Chicago White Sox that includes an invite to spring training, sources say," FanSided's Robert Murray reported Wednesday. "The right-hander posted a 4.29 ERA in four seasons with the Cardinals."

Woodford posted a career-high 6.23 ERA with a 29-to-22 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .314 batting average against and a 1.74 WHIP in 47 2/3 innings this season.

The 27-year-old's dip in production led him to be non-tendered in November after nine seasons as a member of the Cardinals organization.

Woodford showed promise for the majority of his career in St. Louis and even logged a 2.23 ERA across 48 1/3 innings in 2022.

With that said, the Cardinals could not afford to wait around and hope for improvement from last season's pitching staff. It would have been nice to keep Woodford around as minor-league depth but the loss is not significant and has been inevitable for months.

More MLB: Ex-Cardinals Hurler's Market Heating Up; Could Reunion Be In Play?

Published Jan 10, 2024

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