Dustin May-Cardinals reunion in free agency may be too complicated to pull off

Last offseason, the St. Louis Cardinals and Dustin May were a match made in heaven, and the experience could not have gone better for either side. May is a World Series champion and is set up to cash in this offseason, and the Cardinals snagged two top prospects for May's services.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see why the two sides have been linked to each other once again as we head into the offseason and May has declined his mutual option, but as Cardinals insider Jeff Jones noted, running things back is a tougher fit than things were last offseason.

Cardinals and Dustin May likely have better options available to them this offseason

For the Cardinals, if they are going to sign another starter, it's going to be a "Dustin May-type", so wouldn't Dustin May be the best fit? Well, no, because the Cardinals and May have already rehabilitated his value.

Entering last offseason, May's name value and pedigree were rather strong, but his results on the field and poor bill of health on the mound made him a risky bet for any team. So, May found a match in St. Louis, a team that had a plan to get him right on the mound and keep him on the field, and since that worked, May is now set to cash in on a multi-year deal this offseason.

The Cardinals, on the other hand, are positioned to go and run the same play again - go sign a starter with upside to a one-year deal, see if they can rebuild their value, and then either flip them at the trade deadline or, if the team is contending, keep them to push for the postseason.

That's why names like Zac Gallen, Shane Bieber, and Kris Bubic are floated around as fits for St. Louis this offseason. May could fall back into their range if his market does not materialize, but that's unlikely to be May's top preference.

Sure, I do think there's a world as well where May and the Cardinals could come to an agreement on a multi-year deal. I have a hard time seeing that number being something that both sides would be interested in, but I'm not ruling it out based on how much both sides seemed to enjoy their time together.

Personally, as great as things went with May, I do think locking him into a long-term deal isn't right for where the team is at right now. He's the type of pitcher who can pitch like a front-line starter on any given day, but he isn't that guy in practice yet. I'm not sure I'd be betting on him becoming that on a multi-year deal, but I certainly would on a one-year deal.

But on a multi-year deal, even if the expectation isn't that he'll lead the staff long-term, the Cardinals already have a lot of solid guys under team control between Michael McGreevy, Andre Pallante, Kyle Leahy, Quinn Mathews, Richard Fitts, Cooper Hjerpe, Hunter Dobbins, and the prospects who are coming.

Keep an eye on May's free agency over the next month and after the lockout if he does not sign prior to that, but I don't think a reunion is in the cards here.

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