Would Eduardo Rodriguez be a good fit for the St. Louis Cardinals?

Aaron Nola is back with the Phillies and Lance Lynn is making his return to the Cardinals. Some pretty massive moves, right?

Okay, maybe just one.

As the starting pitching market begins to take shape, we have seen one of the biggest dominos fall in Nola and one of the many back-of-the-rotation starters available in Lynn end up with St. Louis. Still, the Cardinals, and so many other teams in baseball, are looking for starting pitching help, so more names could be flying off the board here soon.

One name we have not talked a lot about on this site, and yet, would make for an interesting fit with the Cardinals, is Eduardo Rodriguez. The left-hander just spent the last two seasons with Detroit, but his first six major league seasons began in Boston.

Rodriguez is a World Series champion who has shown the ability to be a legitimate option in big games. He's coming off his best season of his career, posting a 3.30 ERA in 26 starts with the Tigers. Rodriguez doesn't have elite strikeout stuff anymore, but still produces swings and misses and looks like he's really found himself as a starter.

After opting out of his contract with Detroit, Rodriguez is looking for a payday but should come at a much lower cost than other starters who are available. Most projections I have seen for Rodriguez are somewhere in the four to five-year range at about $17m-$18m a year, with the highest I've seen from MLB Trade Rumors, putting him at four years, $82 million.

While Rodriguez really profiles as a number two starter at best, that contract number may be really appealing to St. Louis and could be one of the best bang for their buck options on the market. I still prefer guys like Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Dylan Cease, Tyler Glasnow, Sonny Gray, and Jordan Montgomery to Rodriguez, but I would not blame the Cardinals for exploring a deal with him.

Now that Nola has signed, I wouldn't be surprised to see Rodriguez as one of the next names off the board. While I could see him in St. Louis, I would put my money on him returning to Boston or Detroit this offseason, or making his way down to Atlanta with how aggressive they are trying to upgrade their rotation. Sonny Gray is another name the Braves are interested in, but if they lose out to the Cardinals, Rodriguez is an excellent pivot point. The Red Sox were supposed to be players for Nola like the Braves, so a deal for Rodriguez would make sense instead.

I would keep an eye on Rodriguez over the coming days as the next potential domino to fall, and even though I'm not predicting him ending up in St. Louis, I see the fit and think it's on their radar.