Could the Cardinals find a bigger-name free agent pitcher than we thought?

St. Louis Cardinals new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom has indicated that he is open to spending money as long as it aligns with the overall goal of restoring a winning culture to the club. Any free agency spending would have to be done without damaging improvements made to player development.

Bloom has expressed openness to acquiring starting pitching to bolster a rotation featuring some young arms that could benefit from additional development. Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy, and Andre Pallante are young and doing their best, but they need some good veteran leadership to guide them.

Sonny Gray wants to be on a winning team and has expressed a willingness to be traded if it makes sense. Bloom has also said he would have no problems keeping Gray on the team but would respect his wishes. If they could trade him for pitching or a talented outfielder, that would be great, but if they can keep him and make good additions, even better.

Prior to Bloom taking over, it seemed the Cardinals would have to move Gray, Nolan Arenado, or Willson Contreras to acquire pieces to help for the future. Fans were wary of John Mozeliak's words and how those words would play out. Making plans one through three to trade Arenado turned out to be nothing. Mozeliak's inaction has shaken fans and made them highly critical of Bloom before he even gets started.

With Bloom at the helm, the Cardinals seem to have a plan and are more open to possiblities.

And when you take a look at the pending free agent starting pitchers, it's easy to see why fans can feel more hopeful. There are starting pitchers available that could be just what the Cardinals need, whether they have Gray or not.

Max Scherzer has been atop many free agent wish lists for Cardinals fans. Scherzer is finishing up this season with the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series. Scherzer expressed interest in playing for the Cardinals in the past. He is a much older pitcher now and probably isn't the dependable arm the team needs. The Cardinals must get dependability from their starting pitchers from now on. We aren't talking "low-hanging fruit" anymore.

Some more likely options include Walker Buehler, Cal Quantrill, Shane Bieber, Dylan Cease, Ranger Suarez, Freddy Peralta, Michael King, Zack Littell, Zach Eflin, Tyler Mahle, Lucas Giolito, and Michael Soroka.

There are a plethora of veteran starting pitchers as well, including Chris Sale, Justin Verlander, Chris Bassitt, Merrill Kelly, Adrian Houser, Jon Gray, Marcus Stroman, Alex Cobb, Tomoyuki Sugano, Kenta Maeda, and Carlos Carrasco.

There are more options out there, and with that, it appears the Cardinals could land a couple of top-tier starting pitchers to complement their current rotation, whether it includes Gray or not. The offseason may not be as disappointing as some fans would have you believe.