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Three moves the Cardinals should have made this offseason

By Curt Bishop |
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These three moves this offseason would have been huge moves for the Cardinals

While it's encouraging to see that the Cardinals are starting to heat up and have erased five games off their NL Central deficit, there are still some glaring issues. The offense is looking great, but the starting rotation remains a problem.

This is something that was obvious at the onset of the offseason after the Cardinals lost to the Phillies in the Wild Card Series. Yet the front office failed to act and let all the good starting pitchers sign elsewhere, instead choosing to settle with just one offseason move. It got so bad that it reached the point where the Cardinals were seemingly throwing their new acquisition, Willson Contreras under the bus and scapegoating him for the struggles of the starting rotation.

As such, the Cardinals are still 21-28. And while they're only five games back of first place and 4.5 in the Wild Card race, they still have miles to go before they even get to .500. The Cardinals are fortunate that the NL Central is easily the weakest division in all of baseball, with the Pirates and Brewers being tied at the top with a 25-22 record. If this was the AL East, they would be dead in the water.

In this story, we'll break down and discuss three moves the Cardinals should have made this offseason in order to strengthen their roster. Keep in mind that all players listed will be starting pitchers, as that is the issue that is plaguing the team as it has in years past.

Sign Nathan Eovaldi

Okay, so the Cardinals were never going to be in on Justin Verlander, Carlos Rodon, and Jacob deGrom. Fine. If the price tag is too high, then they can go look at other starters. The problem is that they didn't do this. However, there were plenty of other more affordable starters that would have benefitted the team.

Enter Nathan Eovaldi. He signed with the Rangers for two years and $34 million, which is a pretty good get for a starting pitcher. Eovaldi may be more of a second-tier starter on the surface, but he sure is pitching like an ace right now.

In his first nine starts with the Rangers, the veteran right-hander is 5-2 with an ERA of 2.83. He also has struck out 61 batters. We often talk about the Cardinals needing pitchers with strikeout stuff. This is no different. The pitch-to-contact approach the Cardinals are following is long outdated and their use of it goes to show that there is poor communication happening within the organization. More on that later.

Eovaldi is also an experienced postseason pitcher, having helped guide the Red Sox to a World Series title in 2018 and back to the ALCS in 2021.

Sign Chris Bassitt

Chris Bassitt ultimately signed with the Blue Jays on a three-year deal. They only had to pay $63 million. The price was a little steeper than what Eovaldi would have been, but that's still a good get for a pitcher. And for all the talk of payroll increasing, this would have been one way to do it.

Last season with the Mets, the right-hander went 15-9 with a 3.42 ERA in 30 starts. This year, he's 5-3 in his first 10 starts and owns a 3.03 ERA. In his last seven starts, he's 4-1 with a 1.53 ERA while striking out 40 batters and walking only 16 over 47 innings of work.

Bassitt was the ace of the A's for quite some time and would have been a seamless fit for the Cardinals.

Trade For Pablo Lopez

Pablo Lopez has cooled off a little bit, but he got off to a pretty hot start with the Twins. He's 2-3 with a 3.90 ERA since being acquired from the Marlins. He also has struck out 75 batters over 60 innings of work. This was an obvious fit and the Cardinals missed a great opportunity to add a steady presence to their rotation.

Ken Rosenthal had reported that the Cardinals and Marlins had discussions about Tyler O'Neill over the winter. This would have been a great way to clear the outfield logjam. However, St. Louis passed and played the tired "We like what we have" card.

The Twins later extended Lopez and bought out his upcoming year of free agency, and they did so at a reasonable price, signing him for $73.5 million.

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Hindsight is of course 20/20, but with the struggles of Jordan Montgomery, Jack Flaherty, and Steven Matz, the Cardinals have been exposed for failing to address a glaring problem.

Next. 6 Cardinals who could become superstars. dark

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