3 burning questions for the St. Louis Cardinals to answer in the offseason
By Kevin Henry
2. What to do with the rotation?
While the Cards will be looking outside the organization for help at catcher, the pitching side of things could be a mix of internal and external options … depending on the decision of 41-year-old right-hander Adam Wainwright.
Wainwright had a disappointing end to the 2022 campaign and was unable to pitch in the Wild Card round. He has also not stated if he will be back in 2023 (he signed a one-year, $17.5 million deal for the 2022 campaign), so St. Louis are in a bit of a holding pattern with him and his spot in the rotation.
The same goes with José Quintana, who was a trade deadline acquisition and started Game 1 of the Wild Card for St. Louis. He had a 2.01 ERA for the Cardinals in 12 starts covering 62.2 innings and will likely look to parlay those solid numbers into a bigger payday this offseason. Will the Cardinals go all in on the 33-year-old southpaw?
Jack Flaherty would seemingly have a spot in the 2023 rotation, but has battled numerous injuries during his time in St. Louis. Can (and will) the Cards count on him for a complete season?
Miles Mikolas and Jordan Montgomery are sure things in the St. Louis rotation, but it becomes a bit murkier after that.
Will St. Louis have Wainwright and Quintana back? The answer to that burning question will be a big one for Cardinals fans to monitor this offseason.