Dream St. Louis Cardinals rotation for the 2026 season as trade rumors swirl

#3 starter: RHP Dustin May

In my mind, there are three potential choices for the Cardinals' third starter next year, and any one of them could be as good of a choice as the next.

I see this spot being filled via free agency, and I think it will be a one-year, prove-it deal for a player who is looking to get a refresh on his career and parlay a strong 2026 season into a multi-year deal. These are the types of players the Cardinals will have to get creative with next year. If this pitcher does well in the first half of the season, Chaim Bloom could flip him at the deadline for a package of prospects. If he struggles, it's a one-year deal, and an internal pitcher like Quinn Mathews, Ixan Henderson, or Brycen Mautz could make a debut in July.

Those three options would be Dustin May, Lucas Giolito, and Walker Buehler. Of this bunch, Lucas Giolito is probably the least realistic. He finished 2025 with a 3.41 ERA in 145 innings on a one-year deal with the Boston Red Sox. He'll likely land a multi-year deal worth $60 million or so, something the DeWitt family may not want to spend.

That leaves Walker Buehler and Dustin May as the next best options. If I had my druthers, I would pick right-hander Dustin May to fill the third spot for the 2026 St. Louis Cardinals.

May is hitting free agency at just 28 years old, making him one of the youngest pitchers in free agency this year. The bulk of May's appeal comes from what he can be rather than what he has been. He's made only 57 starts since his debut in 2019 due to a plethora of injuries, but his career 3.86 ERA is attractive.

May boasts a plus fastball that sits in the mid-90s. In the past, he's relied on a sinker with excellent movement and a cutter that once generated whiffs at an absurd rate. He has the potential to be a strong strikeout pitcher.

May finished the 2025 season with 25 starts and 132.1 innings thrown, a career high for him. He posted a 4.96 ERA between Los Angeles and Boston, but he finished the year on the Injured List due to elbow neuritis. According to May, he is "fully back to normal" ahead of the 2026 season, and he's looking to have a normal offseason.

Let's be clear: there's plenty of risk in signing Dustin May. He's injury-prone, he hasn't quite lived up to his billing, and his former strength, strikeouts, has become a generic trait at this point for him. The Cardinals' signing May to be their number three starter is a buy-low, sell-high move. May could pitch quite well and boost this rotation in 2026. He could also pitch poorly and/or get hurt. That's the risk you take during a rebuild!