Should the St. Louis Cardinals pursue Jordan Lyles?

With the St. Louis Cardinals needing another starting pitcher, could they ask the Texas Rangers about Jordan Lyles?

The St. Louis Cardinals rotation is in rough shape. That much has been established. The team entered spring training with uncertainty in the backend of the rotation and after Miles Mikolas’ setback, are prepared to go into the regular season with John Gant as their No. 5 starter.

But could they look into acquiring someone from outside the organization? The top free agents currently are veterans Homer Bailey and Rick Porcello. There will likely be more options come Opening Day as veterans opt out of their contracts.

If the Cardinals want to explore the trade market, perhaps one option could be Texas Rangers right-hander Jordan Lyles. He was informed by the Rangers that he will not be used as a traditional starting pitcher and he is not happy about it, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.

Whether the Rangers would trade Lyles or not is unclear, but he would make a lot of sense for the Cardinals. First, he is likely to come cheap via trade. Second, the presence of Yadier Molina could mean that they are able to maximize Lyles’ ability.

I covered Lyles when he was with the Milwaukee Brewers and he raved about working with Yasmani Grandal. He had one of the best stretches of his career after the midseason trade and credited much of it to the presence of Grandal. Perhaps Molina, an even more well-regarded catcher, could help Lyles with pitch calling and pitch framing.

Lyles is just one option that the Cardinals might explore. But if the Rangers do consider trading him, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak should be all over it.