MLB Rumors: Yankees-Blake Snell bummer, Braves-Acuña outlook, Cardinals swooping in?

MLB Rumors: Can the Cardinals swoop in and sign another big-time starter?

The St. Louis Cardinals were the most aggressive team in the league at the beginning of the offseason as they had Lance Lynn, Kyle Gibson, and Sonny Gray signed to contracts before Thanksgiving.

The Cardinals made it abundantly clear that they were going to improve what wound up being a disastrous starting rotation in 2023, and did so by inking those three veterans to contracts. While the rotation is better, it's certainly not as good as it can be.

Sonny Gray was an outstanding addition as he's a legitimate ace, but the rest of the starting pitchers are shaky at best. Lynn, Gibson, and Miles Mikolas are all coming off down seasons and are all 35 years old or older. They'll all give innings as they do each and every year, but how good will those innings be?

Their fifth starter, Steven Matz, had a solid season in 2023 but was limited to just 17 starts and 105 innings pitched. He's made more than 22 starts just three times in his nine-year career.

Their rotation looks to be set as of now, but you have to wonder if John Mozeilak will be willing to swoop in and sign one of Jordan Montgomery or Blake Snell if they continue to linger on the open market.

In the last week we've seen two of the top free agents, Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman, sign three-year deals with opt-outs after each of the first two years of their deals. Bellinger and Chapman happen to be represented by Scott Boras, the same agent representing Montgomery and Snell. If Boras is looking for the same structure for those pitchers, it would behoove the Cardinals to swoop in and sign a frontline starter at great value. The longer those two sit on the open market, the more open they'll have to be to sign a short-term deal.