6 ideal free agent fits for the St. Louis Cardinals that are somehow still available

The St. Louis Cardinals are mostly running things back with their young core and some veterans from the 2024 season, but even John Mozeliak has acknowledged a desire for reinforcements if they can find the right matches in free agency.

Specifically, Mozeliak has mentioned the potential of bringing in another arm for the Cardinals' bullpen or a right-handed bat, and in his words, preferably one with some "thump". Well, lucky for the Cardinals, free agency has been at a bit of a standstill the last month, and so there are plenty of names that can fill those voids for them if the front office makes the effort to acquire them.

Today I wanted to take a look at six names that would fit what the Cardinals are looking for. No, they aren't flashy. I tried to stick to what we know they want (that reliever and right-handed bat) and target names that aren't going to require big multi-year deals to bring into the fold.

6 ideal free agent fits for the Cardinals that are somehow still available

Phil Maton

Arguably the least flashy name on this list, Phil Maton is from near the St. Louis area and would represent a proven veteran option that they could add to the back of their bullpen in 2025.

In 71 games coming out of the Rays' bullpen last year, Maton posted a 3.66 ERA while covering 64 innings of work. He had one of the lower K% of his career (22.6%) but posted a career-best 46.8% ground ball rate, the result of the Rays' maximizing Maton's arsenal last year. Maton is one of the best in the game at not allowing hard contact, which is a good recipe for any pitcher.

One of the major changes the Rays' made to Maton's arsenal was reintegrating a cutter, something he had stopped throwing in 2022 and 2023. This, paired with a dip in the use of his four-seam fastball and curveball helped Maton continue to be successful on the mound, but he was actually a fair bit better in 2023 with the Astros. In that season, Maton posted a 3.00 ERA in 66 innings of work and a 3.74 FIP.

Maton makes a ton of sense as an inexpensive veteran option for the Cardinals to add to their bullpen before Spring Training.