Beloved Cardinals Pitcher Predicted To Leave St. Louis This Winter

St. Louis has some tough decisions coming in the near future

Sep 5, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of the hat and glove of St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Nolan Gorman (not pictured) before a game against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals made a handful of moves ahead of the 2024 Major League Baseball regular season, including a reunion.

St. Louis needed to add to the starting rotation and did so quickly. The Cardinals struck fast and signed Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn, and Kyle Gibson. Lynn began his big league career with the Cardinals in 2011 and developed into a star.

Lynn won a World Series with the Cardinals in 2011 and also was named an All-Star across six seasons with the team before leaving. He bounced around the league over the last six years but returned to the Cardinals this past offseason.

He has been everything that the Cardinals could've hoped for this season. St. Louis needed a consistent starter to help shore up the rotation, and Lynn has been just that. His season is done, and it was a successful one. He made 23 starts and logged a 3.84 ERA and a 109-to-44 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 117 1/3 innings pitched.

It's unclear if Lynn will be back in 2025, but it doesn't seem likely at this point. He is 37 years old and is nearing the end of his career. St. Louis has a $12 million team option for the 2025 season and MLB Trade Rumors' Steve Adams predicted that the club won't pick it up.

"Lance Lynn, RHP, Cardinals: $12MM club option ($1MM buyout)," Adams said. "Because of a knee injury that shelved him on July 31 and kept him out of action into September, Lynn hasn’t pitched as many innings as his rotationmate on this list, (Kyle Gibson). He’s been effective when on the bump, posting a 3.96 ERA in 111 1/3 innings with a respectable strikeout and walk rates of 21.3% and 8.6%.

"Lynn has been unable to complete five innings in nearly one-third of his starts this season, though, and he’s heading into his age-38 season (as opposed to Gibson’s age-37). With Sonny Gray, Erick Fedde, Steven Matz, and presumably Gibson all in next year’s rotation, plus younger arms like Andre Pallante, Michael McGreevy, and Sem Robberse all in the mix, Lynn could be bought out in order to reallocate those dollars to other areas of need."

Although Lynn may not be back in 2025, a reunion was a fantastic idea.

More MLB: Cardinals Veteran Is ' Lock To Be Back' In St. Louis In 2025