2 moves that could have saved the St. Louis Cardinals in 2023

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The 2024 season will be upon us soon. In a few more weeks, pitchers and catchers will report to spring training.

The Cardinals are certainly a team that is eager to get going, especially after the nightmare that was the 2023 season.

At this point, there's really no sense in worrying about what could have been different, as we pretty much already know how the Cardinals could have prevented this disaster.

If only they had addressed their pitching.

Granted, they finally did address their pitching this winter, but last offseason's negligence had a ripple effect on the organization that still affects the team now. The Cardinals had money to spend and refused to spend it. They still have money to spend but are not willing to spend it.

If only they would change their ways. Then they could have a much better team.

So, as we look forward to the 2024 season, we'll look back on 2023 one last time and get to the heart of what went wrong.

We can discuss the Willson Contreras situation, the front office and ownership's stubbornness, and the decision to bring back a compromised Adam Wainwright. But even with all of that in play, there are ways that the debacle could have been avoided altogether.

In fact, two moves, which may not have exactly been earth-shattering moves, but would have been enough to at least move the needle, are the subject of today's story on how the 2023 debacle could have been dodged.

Here are the two moves that could've been made that also could have saved the season.

2. Extend Jordan Montgomery instead of Miles Mikolas

In the spring, after the dust had settled from a boring offseason, the Cardinals made a crucial mistake.

Miles Mikolas was given a two-year contract extension that would take him through the 2025 season.

This is not a knock on Mikolas in any way, and I'm not suggesting that he's a bad pitcher. But the results from the 2023 season speak for themselves.

Mikolas went 9-13 and posted a disappointing 4.78 ERA last season. Meanwhile, Jordan Montgomery played the role of the ace for the Rangers and led them to a World Series title after the Cardinals had traded him.

Montgomery is only 31 now, and the Cardinals could have extended him at a good price last spring had they just been willing to give him what he wanted.

He's a free agent now, so there is a small chance the Cardinals could come calling if the price goes down, but they wouldn't have to worry about that right now if they had only chosen to extend him instead of Mikolas.

He proved himself as a viable postseason starter last October, and the Cardinals certainly could have benefitted from that. Even if the Cardinals had fallen out of contention, they could have instead traded Mikolas and still had Montgomery under club control for at least a few more seasons.

He alone wouldn't have saved the Cardinals however, which brings us to our next point.

1. Sign Nathan Eovaldi

As we mentioned above, simply extending Montgomery and doing nothing else wouldn't have changed much, but had they added a starting pitcher in the offseason, it would have.

No, the Cardinals were never going to sign Justin Verlander, Jacob deGrom, or Carlos Rodon. But they could have still signed someone that would have fit their price range, meaning they wouldn't have had to adjust their model too much, which granted they still haven't done.

The pitcher in question is Nathan Eovaldi, who emerged as an ace last season with the Rangers. Texas gave him two years and $34 million. It's certainly fair to ask, in what world is that out of the Cardinals' price range?

Texas relied heavily on the combination of Eovaldi and Montgomery last October, and if the Cardinals had them both in the same rotation, there could have been a parade in the heart of Downtown St. Louis after the World Series.

That's not a guarantee, but the Cardinals would have still been a formidable opponent in October.

And if he and Montgomery were both under contract for this year, the Cardinals would have only had to replace two starting pitchers, those being Adam Wainwright and Jack Flaherty. They could have still signed Sonny Gray and had their pick between Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson.

Gray, Montgomery, and Eovaldi leading the rotation would make the Cardinals legitimate World Series contenders.

Alas, past decisions have put them in this position.

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