The St. Louis Cardinals are reportedly interested in these 3 starting pitchers

The St. Louis Cardinals have already pronounced themselves as a team looking ahead to 2024, according to President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak.

Here is what that doesn't mean. The Cardinals are not going to trade their superstar duo of Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, no matter how many photoshops we see of Arenado in Yankees jerseys on Twitter. I cannot wait for that to end.

It also does not mean the Cardinals are going to "blow up" the rest of this roster. This is not a rebuild, it's a retool with the expectation that they will be ready to compete with the rest of the National League in 2024.

Honestly, it's not only a precursor to this coming offseason, it's also a reaction to misteps from this last offseason.

Sean Murphy, and to a lesser extent, Pablo Lopez, were two names that the Cardinals really should have pooled their assets together to acquire this last offseason. In the moment, I got their hesitancy. They'd already been burned by trading away guys before they really "knew" what they were. Willson Contreras was sitting there in free agency, they technically already have a five-man rotation for 2023. Might as well hold onto their assets and see what they have, right?

Well, 2023 has been about as bad as it could have been. Now the Cardinals are licking their wounds, but need to quickly turn to the "offensive" when it comes to this deadline. This includes not just "selling" on their impending free agents, but also looking to "buy" arms with control beyond this season.

Over at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Derrick Goold revealed some names of starters that are reportedly in the crosshairs of the Cardinals' front office. Each will come at a varying price, but all three could help the 2024 club out in a big way.

Here are three starting pitchers the Cardinals are looking at acquiring

Logan Gilbert, Seattle Mariners

The first name that Goold mentioned is one that I had identified this week as someone the Cardinals should target this deadline - Logan Gilbert.

The Cardinals and Mariners have been linked together for a few weeks now in trade rumors. Gilbert is the most established out of the Mariners' arms that are potentially available, but as Goold stated, it's unclear what kind of return the Mariners would want for him.

Gilbert, 26, is in his third big league season and is currently 7-5 with a 3.66 ERA with 106 SO in 108.1 innings pitched. Gilbert was a top prospect in all of baseball a few years ago and really broke out in 2021 with a 13-6 record and 3.20 ERA in 185.2 innings. Gilbert is not a strikeout machine by any means, but he has a lot more strikeout stuff than the Cardinals have right now.

He is also under team control through the 2027 season, meaning he will cost the Cardinals very little for the majority of this stretch of time. The Cardinals need at least three starters for their rotation next year, and if they want to be able to fill it with significant arms, a few of those will need to be cost-controlled, like Gilbert.

Acquiring Gilbert would likely take one of Nolan Gorman, Brendan Donovan, Tommy Edman or possibly Dylan Carlson as the headliner. Goold already stated that Jordan Walker and Lars Nootbaar are not available alongside Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado.

I would still keep an eye on names like Bryan Woo and Bryce Miller from Seattle. Both made their Major League debuts for Seattle this year and if Gilbert is not available like George Kirby, then those two could be an option.

Clayton Beeter, New York Yankees

If you watched the MLB Futures Game this year, you will have already been introduced to the number thirteen prospect in the Yankees system, Clayton Beeter.

Beeter, 24, was identified as a fit for St. Louis according to one of Goold's sources. In 14 starts across Double-A and Triple-A this year, Beeter has a 2.64 ERA with 83 SO in just 71.2 innings pitched. In 2022, Beeter struck out 15.1 batters per nine innings, the highest among Minor League starters who threw 77 or more innings.

There are a few concerns with Beeter. First, there are some concerns about his ability to be a starter long-term, as some scouts believe he may need to transition to the bullpen at some point. The Yankees seem pretty confident in him as a starter though, and apparently the Cardinals do too. Second, he has struggled since being promoted to Triple-A, but he's only made two starts thus far after posting a 2.08 ERA in Double-A.

Beeter does not have a Major League track record, but his stuff is legit. Goold wrote that the Yankees are looking for outfielder help and short-term pitching, so names like Tyler O'Neill, Dylan Carlson, Tommy Edman, Jordan Montgomery, and Jack Flaherty could all be potential fits here in a Beeter trade.