STL Cardinals Rumors: Nola over Snell, Masyn Winn buzzkill, Steven Matz done

Cardinals rumors: Pursue Aaron Nola over Blake Snell this offseason?

This offseason, the St. Louis Cardinals are going to be very active in the starting pitcher market, as John Mozeliak said this week. Luckily for them, the market is going to be loaded with a plethora of potential aces for them to attempt to sign.

Two of the premier starters that’ll be available in free agency are the Phillies’ Aaron Nola and the Padres’ Blake Snell. St. Louis could pursue either. But given a choice between the two, even with Snell putting up superior numbers in 2023, the Cardinals should pursue a deal with Nola over Snell, as noted by Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The Cardinals need multiple starters and they’ll likely want one of those to be an ace-caliber pitcher to hold the rotation down. Nola has a track record of being one of the better pitchers in the National League and he’s just 30 years old. But Snell has had a better season this year, so why would the Cardinals pursue Nola instead?

The contracts. Coming off a Cy Young-caliber season, Snell is going to demand a huge contract in the offseason. Nola’s contract won’t be a slouch of a deal, but it’ll likely be nothing compared to the one that Snell is going to get.

With the trio of Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado and Miles Mikolas taking up nearly $80 million combined with the need to add multiple starters in the offseason for the 2024 season, the Cardinals will need to be meticulous with their spending and Snell may be just out of their price range. Nola, however, could fit right into the framework for the future.