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

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.