2 reasons the Cardinals will be better in 2024 and one reason they won't

The Cardinals' offseason is pretty much complete at this point. They've made some key moves, but will they truly be better in 2024 than they were last year?

Mar 4, 2024; West Palm Beach, Florida, USA;  St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54)
Mar 4, 2024; West Palm Beach, Florida, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) / Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
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Opening Day is right around the corner.

As has been discussed ad nauseum, the Cardinals were a trainwreck last year, losing 91 games and securing their first last-place finish since 1990.

2024 promises to be a little bit better. Or does it?

The Cardinals were busy this offseason and addressed their biggest weakness, the starting rotation. Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn, and Kyle Gibson were signed in free agency to bolster a rotation that faltered early in 2023.

But will that be enough to avoid another sub-.500 season?

In this piece, we will discuss two reasons why the Cardinals will be better and one reason why they won't.

The Cardinals will be better because of emerging young stars

We'll start off by discussing what the Cardinals have on the offensive side. On paper, what they have looks pretty good. I think it will all depend on the emergence of several young stars.

Jordan Walker is only going to get better, as are Nolan Gorman and Lars Nootbaar. Ivan Herrera finally has his shot to be a Major League catcher, and Masyn Winn is likely to be handed the reins at the shortstop position.

You also can't sleep on Tommy Edman and Brendan Donovan as they look to bounce back from injuries that plagued their 2023 seasons. In addition to Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, and Willson Contreras, the team has a young core that is set to take off and carry the franchise for years to come.

The Cardinals will be better because they have their ace

Going into the offseason, the need for an ace was clear for the Cardinals. When they signed Sonny Gray, they finally found their ace in the hole.

Gray finished second in the American League Cy Young race after posting a 2.79 ERA with the Twins. The Cardinals signed Gray to a three-year, $75 million contract to cap off the rotation additions.

The 34-year-old is somebody that can be trusted to start Game 1 of a playoff series. That's something the Cardinals haven't had since Adam Wainwright was in his prime. Even with Gray nursing a hamstring injury, fans can remain confident in him as an ace in 2024.

The Cardinals also needed some swing-and-miss for their rotation, and Gray averaged nine punchouts per nine innings in 2023 while serving as the Twins ace.

One ace won't make the Cardinals World Series contenders, but the time had come for the team to finally spend some money in free agency. They got Gray at a good price and now have somebody they can bank on for the next three years.

As mentioned above, Gray is somebody who gives you a chance to win in the playoffs, and if Miles Mikolas bounces back and returns to his 2022 form, then you have a pretty solid top two in your starting rotation, which is an exciting thought.

Again, it doesn't put the Cardinals on par with teams like the Dodgers, Phillies, and Braves, but a guy like Gray can at the very least put fear into the rest of the NL Central.

The aging roster is a red flag

Now, we'll get to one reason why the Cardinals may still struggle in 2023.

I think the biggest issue will be the number of aging players on the roster. While Gray helps, he's already 34 years old. Lynn and Gibson are 36, and Lynn is turning 37 in May.

On top of that, Steven Matz is turning 33 this season, and he's the Cardinals' youngest starter, while Miles Mikolas is already 35 and coming off a down year, so that's certainly a concern.

And that's just with the rotation. There are concerns on the offensive side as well, with names like Matt Carpenter and Brandon Crawford joining the mix.

I don't ever count Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado out, but they aren't getting any younger. Goldschmidt will be 37 by the end of the year, and I think he finally started to show his age a little bit last season when his home run total dropped by 10.

Arenado was an All-Star, but his normally stout defense at third base regressed a little bit, and he battled a back injury for much of the season. He'll be turning 33 in April.

I think I like Arenado's chances of bouncing back a little better than Goldschmidt's. Arenado still has a couple of good seasons left. That's not to say Goldschmidt doesn't, but I do think it's safe to say that the latter is past his prime.

If all goes according to plan, the Cardinals should be fine, but they're tempting fate with several aging stars.

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