5 non-tendered players the St. Louis Cardinals should consider signing

Lou Trivino

Lou Trivino was a relief pitcher for the Oakland Athletics from 2018-2022. The New York Yankees acquired him at the 2022 trade deadline. As a reliever for the Athletics, Trivino was their primary closer and he racked up 36 saves during his tenure. He had Tommy John surgery in May of last year, and it is likely that he will miss at least half of the 2024 season to recover. Whoever signs Trivino this offseason must assume that A) he won't be able to pitch until at least August and B) he won't be the same as he once was before the injury.

The 32-year-old right-handed pitcher has a career 3.86 ERA, 1.342 WHIP, and has struck out batters at a 9.5 K's per nine innings rate. He has experience working at the back end of the bullpen, a position the Cardinals are looking to fill this offseason. MLBTR projected him to be tendered a contract at $4.1 million.

St. Louis could swoop in and sign him to a multi-year deal at a discounted price due to his injury this past year. While there is concern about signing a pitcher coming off Tommy John surgery, he has the track record of success that John Mozeliak is looking for.

Spencer Turnbull

Spencer Turnbull was a part of the ascendant Detroit Tigers' pitching prospect list. He, along with Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize, and Matt Manning, were supposed to be the rotation of the future. Injuries scripted a different story for those four pitchers. Turnbull has only pitched 302 innings in his 5-year career and only has one season with more than 56 innings pitched (148 in 2019). When he has been healthy, Turnbull has been an effective pitcher. He was projected to be tendered a contract worth $2.4 million.

Turnbull's career 4.55 ERA, 3.82 FIP, and 1.359 WHIP are all solid numbers, especially for a #5 starting pitcher. He has been used exclusively as a starting pitcher throughout his career. Spencer profiles as a groundball pitcher (I know, we just got rid of one of those through arbitration), and he favors his sinker and his slider. His fastball tops out around 93 MPH.

The main benefit to signing Turnbull would be to see if St. Louis can tap into something that Detroit couldn't. Spencer Turnbull definitely shouldn't be the team's flagship signing, but perhaps Busch Stadium could stifle some of the home runs he was prone to giving up last year.