A budget version of the 2026 St. Louis Cardinals' roster

Rotation

RHP Sonny Gray
RHP Tink Hence
LHP Quinn Mathews
LHP Cooper Hjerpe
LHP Matthew Liberatore

This list is in no particular order, but it's likely that Sonny Gray will get the Opening Day start due to his veteran status and time spent in the organization by then. Behind Gray, the Cardinals will boast an assortment of young pitchers. This collection of starters has three left-handed pitchers, so I could see a world where Matthew Liberatore or Cooper Hjerpe are replaced by Tekoah Roby (if he gets healthy) or Gordon Graceffo.

This is the list of starters I'll go with, though. Liberatore is ready now to make major league starts, but he will benefit tremendously from a full offseason of preparation for said role. Hence, Mathews, and Hjerpe will be more than ready come 2026, and at least one of them should see a cup of coffee in the majors as early as 2025.

Every player except for Gray will still be in pre-arbitration by then. Minimum salaries in 2026 according to the CBA are set at $780,000. Including Sonny Gray's $35 million price tag and the pre-arb salaries of the other four starters, and you have a rotation that costs only $38.12 million. That's a breath of fresh air compared to this year's rotation price of $81 million.

If these pitching prospects continue to develop at the rate they are, this rotation will be young, cheap, talented, and exciting to watch. Other viable options for the rotation include Drew Rom, Zack Thompson, Tekoah Roby, and Andre Pallante.