3 Cardinals backup plans once Jordan Montgomery signs elsewhere

2. Cardinals can add veteran rookie in Shota Imanaga

Lost in the media firestorm surrounding Yoshinobu Yamamoto's move to the Los Angeles Dodgers is the availability of Shota Imanaga, Japan's winning pitcher in the WBC championship game. While the 30-year-old isn't considered the same caliber of pitcher as Yamamoto, he figures to impact winning straight away in the MLB. His deadline to pick a team is Jan. 11, so the Cardinals will have to move quickly.

Imanaga is lauded for his location control and elite movement. He could face a steeper adjustment period than Yamamoto. The NPB's baseballs are different, the mounds are different, and there are always concerns about translating from one level of competition to the next. On the other hand, Imanaga has been around longer than Yamamoto. He was an absolute stud for the Yokohama Bay Stars in 2023, going 7-4 in 22 starts with a 2.80 ERA and 1.054 WHIP.

Also a lefty, Imanaga would balance the Cardinals' rotation. The Cards already have a perennial Cy Young candidate in Sonny Gray. There is no need to land the biggest fish. What St. Louis needs is a quality innings-eater with more reliable stuff than Lynn or Gibson, both of whom are well past their primes. Scouts have posited concern about Imanaga's slight 5-foot-10 frame, but the nastiness of his stuff and his penchant for airtight command offset those purely hypothetical worries.

There is a certain unknowable quality to Imanaga. That could be viewed as a positive or a negative. He is expected to receive nine-figure offers. The Cardinals would have to be certain about Imanaga's fit in their organization, but St. Louis has been scouting the southpaw for ages. We can connect the dots.