MLB Rumors: Gerrit Cole trade farce, Cardinals top target, Angels last gasp

MLB Rumors: Aaron Nola named top Cardinals target for 2024 retooling

Perhaps the worst-kept secret in baseball — largely thanks to John Mozeliak making it public on several occasions — is that the St. Louis Cardinals have torn down their roster in the midst of a disappointing 2023 season but plan to rebuild and retool a contender for the 2024 campaign. And that all starts with building out the pitching staff.

Logan Gilbert has been oft-mentioned as a trade target for the Cardinals this offseason and that could still be the case. But when it comes to free agency, one of the analysts covering the team believes he’s uncovered what should be the top target of St. Louis: Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola.

Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is banging the drum for the Cardinals to be in heavy pursuit of Nola, noting that, as Mozeliak’s refrain is a need to add three pitchers, Nola fits the bill. And though he knows it’ll be costly, he rightly asserts that’s the necessary evil of the place that St. Louis is currently in.

"But wouldn’t he be expensive? Of course! Great pitching costs more every single season. Prices for baseball’s most vital need do not drop. The Cardinals will be back in seller’s camp a season from now if they don’t fill the pitching talent hole that has opened up beneath them. Figuring out what has derailed pitching development is another task entirely. Both are critical to this team’s future success, but young arms, even with suddenly fixed instruction, are not helping Nolan Arenado and the Cardinals contend in 2024. Nola could."

Nola has indeed been in the midst of a down year by the 30-year-old’s standards with a 4.58 ERA, though he does have a 1.15 WHIP. But given that he’s been a Cy Young candidate more often than not over the past six seasons, this feels like a blip on the radar given his overall consistency — especially with a sub-4.00 xERA, indicating he’s been unlucky this season.

Make no mistake, Nola is going to be one of the more coveted free agency pitching options this winter. But the Cardinals have no choice but to play that game — and perhaps Frederickson is right in that the longtime Phillie is exactly what the Redbirds need as a cornerstone of a rebuilt rotation.