Some Cardinal fans are already looking ahead to the 2024 offseason to see what the front office does to improve the team so that this season is never seen to be repeated again. And everybody around the Cardinals knows that the top priority is without a doubt addressing the pitching.
President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said after the Trade Deadline that they will be looking to pursue three starting pitchers in the offseason. That would put the Cardinals in the thick of basically every starting pitcher that is going to be on the market.
A statement like that also makes you wonder will guys like Zack Thompson, Dakota Hudson, and Matthew Liberatore be the odd men out of a rotation spot regardless of how they perform for the rest of this season. Adding that many starters could turn out to be a good thing or a bad thing, it depends on how the Cardinals plan to approach it.
The market for starting pitching this winter is expected to be a strong one, rumors have been swirling about who the Cardinals could target. It was reported by Bob Nightengale of USA Today that the Cardinals have a "wish list" of starters they will go after, and there is one pitcher on that list that I think the Cardinals should stay away from in free agency. Alongside that name, there are a few other arms that St. Louis should be wary of this offseason.