3 St. Louis Cardinals ace backup plans after whiffing on Aaron Nola
By Mark Powell
St. Louis Cardinals should sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto as Aaron Nola backup plan
While Yamamoto is a bit of an unproven commodity at this point in his career, the NPB star is just 25 years old and has won multiple Sawamura's, which is essentially their Cy Young award. Yamamoto's connection to Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar was well noted, as the two Team Japan WBC stars were seen golfing just last week. Nootbaar has nothing but good things to say about the culture in St. Louis. Having a friend on the team can only help matters.
“I want to help Yoshi in any way that I can,” Nootbaar said. “I don’t know about the legality of it, and I don’t want to step on any toes, but if Yamamoto or any of the guys have questions, I want to be there to help."
The Cards were only of dozens of teams to scout Yamamoto last season in Japan. St. Louis liked what they saw, and they will be one of several teams vying for his services once Yamamoto is posted, which could happen as soon as Monday.