5 paths for the Cardinals to acquire their ace (and when to pivot from each)

Plan A: Try to win the Yoshinobu Yamamoto sweepstakes

When to pivot:

1. Yamamoto signs elsewhere or it becomes clear the Cardinals are out of the running.
2. Potential trade targets are close to being moved.

Plan A has to be Yoshinobu Yamamoto at this point. While I like other options on this list, Yamamoto is the one name that can single-handedly change a lot of our opinions about this offseason, raise the Cardinals' ceiling for 2024, and help this team for years to come, all at the same time.

I detailed various reasons why I am becoming more optimistic about Yamamoto signing with St. Louis recently on the site. If you are not familiar with all of the things the Cardinals have done as an organization to position themselves for this sweepstakes, I'd highly recommend reading my write-up or looking into it yourself. While it remains to be seen if the Cardinals will truly pony up the kind of offer needed to secure Yamamoto, it's clear they've been doing a lot of work to make it a real possibility. Here is a link to an interview I did with Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat on the Noot News Podcast, as he detailed the Cardinals' work on Yamamoto as well.

Signing Yamamoto would give the Cardinals a true ace, and potentially one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, who also is just 25 years old. That would be a franchise-altering move, requiring them to give out a contract at or above $200 million in the process.

For as much as I love the idea of Yamamoto, they still will lack the overall talent at the top of the rotation truly needed to be considered a favorite in the National League. Yamamoto is clearly a number one-level pitcher, but you cannot sell anyone on Miles Mikolas or Steven Matz as the number two starter.

I do think there are paths for the Cardinals to acquire two top starters this offseason, but signing Yamamoto would narrow that second name down to a cost-controlled arm. They could still pull off a deal for someone like Dylan Cease or Logan Gilbert to pair with Yamamoto, but signing him would certainly take them out of the market for any other free-agent starters or even a Tyler Glasnow trade due to the money.

Before I dive into the "pivot points", I want to remind everyone that the Cardinals are going to be exploring multiple options at once regardless. Even if Yamamoto is Plan A, they have to be working on Plan B, C, etc. at the time time, as the market is going to continue moving, even if the Cardinals would prefer to focus on Yamamoto.

Let's touch on the second pivot point first in light of that. If the Cardinals are in on Yamamoto but are still waiting for him to make a decision, and the trade market for one of the other top starters they acquire begins to heat up, the Cardinals will likely need to pivot to acquire one of those guys if they can get a deal in place. Why? Well, the only thing more frustrating than missing on Yamamoto would be to miss on Yamamoto and also miss on all of the other options they could acquire. The Cardinals cannot afford to come up empty-handed.

The other reason to pivot would be the obvious one, that Yamamoto has made it clear he will be signing elsewhere. Sure, the Cardinals could try and convince him otherwise, but at that point, they really need to get serious about one of the other top options available, rather than striking out on Yamamoto and beginning to panic.

Plan B: Trade for Tyler Glasnow

When to pivot:

1. The Rays' asking price gets crazy high or they prioritize other trades.
2. The Cardinals have a deal in place for another starter on the trade market.

Tyler Glasnow may be controversial to some, but it's what I genuinely believe the Cardinals' actual Plan B to be and would be my Plan B for them as well.

I do think the Cardinals have Yamamoto as their number one target right now, but knowing that he very well could go elsewhere, their signings of Gibson and Lynn lead me to believe they have positioned themselves to take on the risks that Glasnow has attached to him.

Tyler Glasnow, when healthy, is a true number-one starter in today's game. Yes, the lack of starts year to year due to injuries is very concerning, but at this point, the Cardinals need someone to lead their rotation and have to be willing to take on the risks associated with them.

Glasnow's risk is not making many starts during the year. If you sign Yamamoto, you're risking him getting injured or underperforming, and tanking that huge contract he signed. That risk is even greater if they were to sign Blake Snell. If they trade for Dylan Cease or Logan Gilbert, the risk of injury is there, but now the Cardinals are also giving up one of Nolan Gorman or Brendan Donovan and some top prospects as well. That itself carries a ton of risk. And if the Cardinals choose to sign Sonny Gray, Jordan Montgomery, or one of the other "tier 2" free agent pitchers, they risk not having ace upside in their rotation, and once again, potential injury.

So yes, I understand Glasnow has not proven he can stay on the mound for a full season, but with the way the Cardinals have built their rotation, they can afford to take that risk now. Mikolas, Gibson, and Lynn provide them with three arms that should give them 180 or more innings in 2024, and St. Louis has multiple young arms they can turn to for different stretches if injuries happen.

It's also been well documented with Glasnow that the price to acquire him should be far lower than that of Cease or Gilbert. I've put together three trade packages I think St. Louis and Tampa Bay could agree to recently, and none of them involve giving up the kind of hauls it would require to get those starters who have more team control.

From the Cardinals' perspective, there are other reasons why Glasnow would be a great fit as well. First, obviously, if things go well, the Cardinals have a Cy Young candidate in their rotation who they could look to resign long-term. Glasnow has been pretty open about his desire to resign in Tampa Bay, so the fact that he would stay with an organization like the Rays tells me he'd be open to a long-term fit with St. Louis.

If things don't work out with Glasnow, or if he does decide to leave in free agency, the Cardinals can give him the qualifying offer and receive a draft pick in return for his services. So whatever value the Cardinals did have to give up to get Glasnow, they'd be able to get some of that value back through that draft selection. And if for some reason Glasnow wants to reposition himself for free agency the following year, he could come back to St. Louis on the qualifying offer, helping them fill one of their three option rotation spots for 2025.

The Cardinals should pivot from Glasnow (Plan B) if the Rays ask for too much or they have a trade-in place for Plan C or Plan D. With how the starting pitching market is this offseason, there may be a team desperate enough to really overpay for Glasnow, and if that's the case, the Rays may not accept one of the packages I put together. If they begin asking for a Donovan or Gorman, or a true top prospect like Masyn Winn, Tink Hence, Victor Scott II, or Tekoah Roby, then the Cardinals should hang up the phone immediately.

While they are negotiating though, if a better deal for Plan C or Plan D arises, then the Cardinals should pivot quickly.

Plan C: Trade for Dylan Cease

When to pivot:

1. The White Sox decide to hold onto Cease or deal him elsewhere.
2. The White Sox's asking price goes well beyond what we discussed here.

The idea of a team settling for their "Plan C" sounds like a bad outcome, but if the Cardinals are truly invested in the top of the market, a Dylan Cease is a great fallback option here.

In a lot of ways, Cease offers the Cardinals things the first two names on this list could not, namely being cost-controlled for the next two seasons. Yamamoto will likely require an annual value north of $30 million a year, while Glasnow is under contract for just 2024 at $25 million. Not exactly cheap options when it comes to salary. Well, Cease would be under contract for a projected arbitration number of just below $9 million in 2023, then a slight pay raise in 2025 as well.

Because of that though, the Cardinals would have to pony up more in terms of trade value to acquire Cease. While the biggest name I could see happening in a deal for Glasnow would be Tommy Edman (although it would more likely be an Alec Burleson or Dylan Carlson plus a little bit more), the White Sox would likely demand one of Gorman or Donovan, plus a top prospect, and potentially more to secure Cease's services. I put together different versions of this trade on the site recently if you want to get a better idea of what we'd be talking about.

If the Cardinals could somehow pull this deal off by sending Edman, prospects, and even some of those depth names like Burleson or Carlson, then I'd be all-in on making a Cease deal happen. I'd also be very interested in a deal just involving prospects if the White Sox would be interested. But my assumption is that Chicago will want one of those prized young bats in return, which is why I think this is more of Plan C for the Cardinals as well.

Now, Cease was a Cy Young candidate in 2022 and his stuff has not diminished at all. He eats a ton of innings, strikes a lot of guys out, and would profile well as the Cardinals' ace for 2024 and 2025. Like Glasnow, the Cardinals can work on an extension for Cease as well, hopefully locking in their top starter for years to come while they continue to develop pitching in-house. Even if they had to give up a Tink Hence in the deal, they'd still have guys like Tekoah Roby, Cooper Hjerpe, and Gordon Graceffo would could contribute in the future.

The Cardinals would only need to pivot here if Cease is dealt to another team, the White Sox decide to hold onto him for the beginning of 2024, or if their asking price is beyond what we've discussed here. Even if I don't want to give up one of the young bats, a top prospect, and more to get Cease, I understand why the White Sox want that. But if they begin to ask for Gorman and Donovan, or one of those guys plus two top prospects and more, or any other outrageous requests, the Cardinals will need to pivot to Plan D.

Plan D: Trade for Logan Gilbert

When to pivot:

1. The Mariners decide to hold onto Gilbert
2. Asking price takes two or more of the Cardinals' best young position players

There are only two plans left, and honestly, this is one that would be hard to stomach, but probably not as difficult to stomach as the next option the Cardinals have.

Logan Gilbert is one of the most valuable trade assets in baseball. He's a workhorse starter who already profiles as a really good number three or low-end number two in this league, with the potential to be even more than that. He just entered arbitration for the first time this year and is under team control through the 2027 season, meaning the Cardinals won't have to give him a huge contract for a while.

The Mariners know this well and would love to have that luxury in their own rotation for a long time. The only reason they'd entertain trading Gilbert would be to give their lineup a massive upgrade. I think the starting point for any Gilbert deal on the Mariners' side would be Lars Nootbaar, Jordan Walker, or Nolan Gorman.

The first two names are for sure off the table, so the Cardinals would need to construct a deal around Gorman to get the Mariners' interest. That would be Gorman and Donovan for Gilbert, that could be Gorman, Burleson, and a top prospect or two, or it could be some other super expensive package. I really do not see the Mariners moving off of Gilbert unless they get a massive haul.

If I'm being honest, I wouldn't do this deal. I actually prefer the last resort option that we'll get to next over this. Part of the reason that Gilbert would be so expensive to acquire is all of the control he has remaining. Unless the Cardinals plan on signing another starter on top of trading for him, I don't think it makes sense to weaken the lineup as much as they would need to in order to bring him in.

Gilbert is not an ace yet. He very well could be in 2024, but Cease, Glasnow, and Yamamoto are all better talents right now. Frankly, I'd expect Sonny Gray and Jordan Montgomery to put up the same production as Gilbert for 2024. So why am I giving up all of that value to acquire him?

Some may say turn the attention onto Bryan Woo or Bryce Miller instead, but the Cardinals already got their back-of-the-rotation options in Lynn and Gibson. They need a front-line starter now.

If the Cardinals can pull this deal off with a package that takes something like Gorman or Donovan and a few top prospects or depth pieces, then sure, it makes sense. But if the Mariners want more than that or decide to hold onto Gilbert, then it's time for Plan E (the last resort).

Plan E (or last resort): Sign the best starter left on the market

When to pivot:

1. There are no more pivots left. The Cardinals are out of options and have to get a deal done.

If the Cardinals strike out on Yamamoto, Glasnow, Cease, and Gilbert, then they have to sign someone like Blake Snell, Sonny Gray, or Jordan Montgomery.

Snell would be the best option available here, but I have my own concerns about how his contract will age over time. But if all of the other top-end options are gone, the Cardinals need to be aggressive for Snell. The concern about innings can be mitigated by the innings eaters the Cardinals' have, so it would be worth taking a gamble on the top-end stuff he has.

I'm a huge Gray fan, but with how the Cardinals decided to address their other two starting pitching options, he would be an extremely underwhelming number-one starter for this rotation. Montgomery was excellent in 2023, but bringing him back as the ace would make their 2024 rotation look eerily similar to the group they had last year, and that did not work out well at all.

If this is the plan the Cardinals land on, they will get an overall offseason grade of a C- if they grabbed Snell, D if they sign Gray or Montgomery, and a flat-out F if it's anyone worse than that.

There is no more patience left for this organization, and they've backed themselves into a corner in their pursuit of pitching. I do believe they are prioritizing the first four names on this list, and I'd bet they end up with one of Yamamoto, Glasnow, Cease, or Gilbert as their other starting pitcher acquisition, but there's also a real possibility they miss out on all four even if they are aggressive in their pursuit. Yamamoto could choose to sign elsewhere even if the best offer is from the Cardinals, and the Rays, White Sox, and Mariners could trade their guys elsewhere or ask for far too much from St. Louis.

That's not an excuse for the Cardinals. At this point, if they cannot pull it off, they have no one to blame but themselves, even if each individual miss from those four starters "makes sense". This is the price the Cardinals have to pay for failing to position their rotation for success up until this point.

Let's hope the Cardinals are truly aggressive and are able to pull off one of these first four moves. Honestly, I think it will be chaotic if they do not, and I for one do not want to live through another disaster season.