MLB Rumors: Braves-Sonny Gray surprise, Cardinals underwhelm, Red Sox Turner pivots
- Red Sox mulling several options to replace Justin Turner
- Cardinals addressing SP has underwhelmed, but there's hope
- Braves have a surprise wrinkle to pursuit of Sonny Gray
MLB Rumors: Cardinals keep underwhelming with Kyle Gibson, but there's optimism
The St. Louis Cardinals, specifically president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, has promised for months that the team would be aggressive in adding to its starting pitching with essentially a bare cupboard sitting there at Busch Stadium. And so far, he's made good on the promise to add those pitchers, already signing two. Of course, who they've signed has not been what fans were dreaming of.
In the past few days, we've seen the Cardinals add veterans Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson to the rotation. Both are being added on one-year deals with options and the total of the two contracts together is just $23 million. However, for a team that is trying to quickly rebound for a disastrous 2023 to get back into contention, those two pitchers aren't exactly the needle-movers that fans were hoping for.
As underwhelming as the Lynn-Gibson combo is in terms of adding to the rotation, though, there is some optimism.
FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray noted in his report on the deal with Gibson that, though the fan frustration is warranted, the veteran combo can be back-end rotation pieces who can eat innings effectively, which is a necessary role to fill in a body-less rotation.
"The additions of both Lynn and Gibson, who signed for a combined $23 million, provide innings in a rotation that desperately needed depth. Both pitched a combined 375 innings last season and provide two decades of veteran experience," Murray said.
More importantly, though, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Cardinals aren't done and still have their sights on another pitcher to add this offseason. Goold reported that Japanese sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto and veteran Sonny Gray figure to be St. Louis' top target as they search for an upgrade, though the trade market is also an option as well.
If this doesn't materialize, then Cardinals fans would have every reason to be peeved with Mozeliak for over-promising and under-delivering. However, until we see all of the dominoes of this offseason fall, perhaps patience is the best course of action, even if a Lynn-Gibson combo will never be anything close to a sexy addition.