Cardinals future could be in St. Louis on Saturday as potential dream addition

The St. Louis Cardinals entered last offseason with a clear need for starting pitching help. They addressed it by signing Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn, and Kyle Gibson in free agency, but even at the time, most fans knew that John Mozeliak had not done enough. Sure enough, the Cardinals enter Saturday's game ranking 23rd in the majors with a 4.49 rotation ERA. It's an improvement over last season's rotation which ranked 26th in the majors, but it's still not good enough.

The Cardinals aren't virtually out of the postseason race only because of their rotation, but that subpar unit certainly hasn't done enough to help.

Before the Cardinals chose to do all of their damage in free agency, they were linked to several starting pitchers on the trade market. One team they were heavily linked to was the team visiting St. Louis right now, the Seattle Mariners. That fit made sense, as the Mariners needed offense and the Cardinals needed starting pitching.

No trade was made, but these teams still have the same problems. The Mariners have fallen flat as the season has progressed despite rostering arguably the best starting rotation in the league because their offense is so subpar. The Cardinals, as evidenced by their team rotation ERA, need starting pitching.

The answer, as Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes (subscription required), could be Saturday's starter for Seattle - Logan Gilbert.

Cardinals should do everything in their power to try and acquire Logan Gilbert this offseason

Gilbert has established himself as one of the best starting pitchers in the American League this season, posting a 3.19 ERA in 28 starts and 177.2 innings thus far. He's always been a solid, durable arm, but he has taken his game up another level this season, and was rewarded with his first All-Star Game nod as a result.

Gilbert being as good and durable as he is combined with the fact that he's just 27 years old and under club control through the 2027 campaign would make him untouchable for just about every other team. In Seattle's case, though, they have to consider a trade.

It'd take a ton, but the Cardinals are a team that could potentially do it with high upside bats like Jordan Walker and Alec Burleson potentially being centerpieces.

"This past offseason, when the Cardinals were desperate for pitching and the Mariners had it in abundance, there was a lot of dot-connecting between Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak and Mariners baseball operations leader Jerry Dipoto, who the Seattle Times recently reported will indeed be back for 2025," writes Frederickson.

The Mariners and Cardinals did not make a trade, but Frederickson reports that the two teams did have some discussions. The fact that Jerry Dipoto will be back in 2025 and John Mozeliak likely isn't going anywhere means that these teams could easily talk again this offseason. Based on their needs, they should.

Is it likely that a deal will go down? In reality, no. Gilbert is so good and is under control for several years, making him virtually impossible to part with. Still, with the Mariners in dire need of offense and the Cardinals in dire need of starting pitching, it's something both of these teams should consider.