3 under-the-radar options to fill the Cardinals' starting rotation this winter

New St. Louis Cardinals President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom will be gearing the organization forward into an unprecedented rebuild. While he will be focusing on the future, ownership will still expect him to work towards the 2026 roster. Many questions remain regarding young core options staying or going, what assets can be traded away to be used towards rebuilding, and what prospects will step forward to bridge the gaps. But one glaring issue remains, which is the starting rotation.

Sonny Gray is in trade rumors, Miles Mikolas is a free agent and is not expected to return to St. Louis, Andre Pallante faulted as a starter, Matthew Liberatore looks to be a rotation staple, but the value is not guaranteed, and the minor league depth sustained major injuries during the 2025 season. The logical move is to add MLB-quality starting pitching over the winter, but the question is, who do you add? Here are three options that can plug into the Cardinals' starting rotation for the 2025 season.

Adrian Houser

The Cardinals will look to obtain innings on cost control. They do not want to rely on shaky minor league depth to carry their rotation throughout the 2026 season. Someone like Adrian Houser can help solidify the middle of the rotation while providing quality to the team. Houser had a strong 2025 season with the Chicago White Sox before being acquired by the Tampa Bay Rays. Over 68.2 IP, Houser posted an impressive 2.10 ERA, 3.34 FIP, 1.223 WHIP, 6.2 SO/9, and 2.9 BB/9.

He became a very attractive buy-low candidate at the trade deadline, and the Rays took the gamble. It backfired on them, where he posted 56.1 IP, 4.79 ERA, 4.38 FIP, 1.349 WHIP, 7.2 SO/9, and 2.6 BB/9. His execution improved within the Rays' pitching lab, but the results were dramatically different. The veteran righty will be entering his age-33 season and very well could be a reliable gamble to help the Cardinals anchor down the rotation over the full season.

Chris Paddack

For years, the Cardinals have failed to develop pitchers with swing-and-miss potential and are trying again to fix this issue. In the meantime, they need to acquire these types of arms to remain competitive at the Major League level. Chris Paddack would be a very good option on the affordable end to accomplish this. Paddack has struggled to stay healthy, but showcases promising metrics when healthy. Over his 7-year career, he averages 173 IP, 4.64 ERA, 4.26 FIP, 1.215 WHIP, 8.2 SO/9, and 2.1 BB/9. These numbers don't scream ace-level potential, but they do scream reliable back-end starter. He is elite with chase rate, walk rate, and extension. The velocity is noticeably down, and he is slipping away with whiff percentage and allowing hard and continual contact.

This type of gamble works if you are looking to stop gap a season needing MLB-level pitching on the short term, which also allows the player to take a one-year deal to gamble on themselves. This move could also set you up to move the player at the trade deadline in an inflated market. The Cardinals could do better here if they were going to be aggressive, but they will not be acting in that manner. This can be a very safe move to add a 4th or 5th starter.

Dustin May

A very similar gamble to Paddack but with a higher ceiling, Dustin May is very much worth the roll of the dice to give a shot at a bounce-back season. The once highly touted Dodgers prospect has been battling injury after injury, which is becoming detrimental to his development. But even with the roadblocks, May is still posting effective metrics. His ERA, FIP, and WHIP continue to climb in an undesirable trend, but his strikeout and walk numbers continue to remain around his career norm. In the 2025 season, May posted an 8.4 SO/9 and 3.8 BB/9, which lines up with his 8.3 career SO/9 and 3.1 career BB/9. He recovered well after several elbow injuries to post 132 IP in 2025, which was a career high by far. He still has great pitch movement and extension, which should only improve his underperforming metrics over time.

This type of pitcher could be either a steady fourth or fifth starter, or can exceed expectations and become a front-line starter. The lack of innings pitched should prevent his market from becoming too expensive, and this should be one of the early targets for Chaim Bloom to acquire.