Hall of Fame hopeful was somehow never a Cardinals player despite mutual interest

Mark Buehrle, a St. Charles native, entered his fifth year of Hall of Fame eligibility as one of the most consistent pitchers in Major League history. His case for enshrinement into the Hall is an interesting one. Buehrle’s durability and workload paired with his 214 wins and flair for the big moments puts him in the discussion, but without a major award to his name and middling peripherals, he'll have to wait another year to see if he'll end up in Cooperstown after falling short in the voting this year.

With all of his success in Chicago, whenever the soft-tossing lefty would be available on the free agent or trade market, the St. Louis Cardinals were always mentioned as suitors for the Missouri native. However, despite the continued mutual interest between the parties, Buehrle never ended up suiting up for the Redbirds before he retired after the 2015 season.

The Cardinals and Mark Buehrle were always seen as a match

I spent this past weekend with a former White Sox pitcher and another lifelong Sox fan and they both said the same thing when I brought up my love for Buehrle and my desire to see him in St. Louis. Each of them basically said "Whenever he was available, we were just waiting for him to be a Cardinal" and I had that same feeling. As a Cardinals fan in the Chicago area, I would always receive sports news from each city and it also seemed like Chicago media was always ready for the Buehrle farewell to St. Louis. However, the move just never happened.

The southpaw was available and connected to the Cardinals on multiple occasions, but the times that were most likely were near the end of his career. The former 38th-round draft pick out of high school spent the first 14 years of his professional career with the White Sox and was the model of consistency. He made his major league debut as a 21-year-old during the 2000 season and made 28 appearances, all in relief, but his second season was the true beginning of his workhorse mentality.

From 2001 through the end of his White Sox tenure after the 2011 season, Buehrle totaled at least 205 innings in each of them and only had a losing record in the 2006 campaign. All told, his stay in the Southside ended with 161 wins, four All-Star appearances, and three Gold Glove awards. Buehrle had flirted with the idea of retiring after his contract ended, but after some time to think it over, he decided to continue his career even if it was with a new organization.

This was the first point at which a Buehrle-Cardinal connection made sense. Even after winning the 2011 World Series, much of that success was coming from veterans like Chris Carpenter, Kyle Lohse, and Jake Westbrook. The organization was expecting a full recovery from Adam Wainwright in 2012, but questions remained for how to fill the rotation. Despite the openings, the Cardinals looked to fill from their minor league pitching depth and Buehrle took his talents to South Beach and signed a 4-year deal with the rebuilding Miami Marlins.

A terrible Marlins season in 2012 caused the team to switch directions and they shipped Buehrle to Toronto in a massive 12-player trade. He spent the next three seasons with the Blue Jays and garnered his fifth and final All-Star nod during the 2013 season. Heading into the final year of his Marlins' contract, Buehrle had thrown at least 200 innings in 14 consecutive seasons. If he were to throw 200 innings again in 2015, he would be on a list with only four other pitchers, all of whom are in the Hall of Fame. Going into his last start of the season, Buehrle needed to throw 8.2 innings to reach the milestone, but he was pulled in the seventh inning with the Blue Jays in a playoff race. With just two innings needed, Jays manager John Gibbons made the decision to start Buehrle for the season finale on just one day's rest. The decision did not pan out as the lefty could not get out of the first inning and gave up eight unearned runs to end his run at 200 innings.

Buehrle was then left off of the playoff roster and his desire to continue his career was again in doubt. Early in the 2015 offseason, it was reported that the St. Charles native would either "pitch for the Cardinals or retire" but the timing did not seem to make sense for St. Louis. In one of the most disappointing deals in the organization's history, the Cardinals signed Mike Leake to a big contract to round out the rotation that already featured Wainwright, Jaime Garcia, Michael Wacha, and Carlos Martinez. Outside of Leake, the team also had prospects Luke Weaver and Alex Reyes knocking at the door so there was never much reciprocated interest from the Cardinals.

Buehrle stayed true to his word and eventually retired, ending his career with 214 wins and set himself for an interesting conversation when his time would come on the ballot for Hall of Fame. While he never won a major award like the Cy Young, his wins, innings pitched, games started, and bWAR all put him among the top 100 pitchers of all time. While never a strikeout pitcher, Buehrle totaled 1,870 strikeouts which put him just outside of the aforementioned list.

He has never been seen as a true Hall of Fame pitcher, but he has shown up on at least 5% of Hall of Fame ballots since his eligibility started in 2021 and that streak looks to continue in the 2025 voting campaign. During his entire career, Buehrle was always someone that seemed to fit the Cardinal mold but circumstances never let the wish come true.