3 moves Cardinals must make to keep up with Cubs in NL Central arms race
By Curt Bishop
2. Trade for a frontline starter
Some of the Cardinals offseason shopping will likely have to come via the trade market. Fortunately, there are some good pitchers available in that market.
The Cardinals could potentially try for Chicago White Sox ace and former Cubs farmhand Dylan Cease, who the White Sox will listen to offers for.
Another option is Cleveland Guardians ace Shane Bieber, who is a former Cy Young and will be looking to bounce back from a season in which he was not the best version of himself. But those two starters can be considered frontline guys, and the Cardinals desperately need to add some top-level arms to strengthen their rotation.
But now all of the sudden, the Cardinals have to worry about what the Cubs will do this winter, and they need to understand that it's going to take more than the status quo to defeat their archrivals.
Fortunately, the Cards have plenty of bats they could deal away in order to bolster their pitching staff. Players such as Nolan Gorman, Brendan Donovan, Tommy Edman, and Alec Burleson are bats that could be had in trades.