Spencer Strider's apparent availability gives Cardinals a home-run offseason target

For a brief spell there, Spencer Strider looked like one of the best young pitchers in all of baseball. Between 2022-23, the right-hander pitched to a 3.36 ERA over 318.1 innings, leading all of baseball in strikeouts (285) and the NL in FIP (2.85) in the latter campaign en route to a fourth-place finish in Cy Young voting.

Unfortunately, injuries have killed his momentum in recent years, as an internal brace procedure (2024) and further elbow and shoulder troubles this year have limited him to a meager 4.78 ERA and less than 175 innings in the past three seasons combined.

But wait -- why am I even bringing him up in the first place? And what does he have to do with the St. Louis Cardinals? Well, it appears that the Braves were seriously shopping him at the trade deadline this year, nearly securing a deal for Jacob deGrom before the veteran right-hander nixed the swap with his no-trade clause (now where have we heard that before?).

It should go without saying that the Cardinals should be all over this if the Braves are willing to revisit these trade talks in the offseason. He may be a few years removed from his peak form, but a chance to buy low on a pitcher this talented (who is still only 27 years old) is the kind of timeline-accelerating move that the Redbirds should be hunting after an impressive first year under Chaim Bloom.

Spencer Strider fits every possible Cardinals timeline as an offseason trade target

I don't want to suggest that the Cardinals should simply throw caution to the wind here and acquire someone owed $44 million over the next two seasons (plus a $22 million club option in 2029) for the sake of adding potential to their rotation. There's a reason the Braves are trying (or at least willing) to move Strider in the middle of his prime, after all.

Still, all those injuries and that salary have basically sapped Strider of whatever value he once had; the Braves wouldn't be able to ask for much in a prospective deal. At a mitigated prospect cost, it seems like a no-brainer to me to bring in someone who was one of the five or so best starting pitchers in the sport at 24 years old.

The Cardinals have a young rotation led by Michael McGreevy and Kyle Leahy, but I think most of us would stop short of calling any of their starting five an "ace." Top prospects Liam Doyle and Jurrangelo Cijntje have that kind of potential, but neither has even made their MLB debut yet. Somehow, the Redbirds need to add an MLB pitcher with those credentials if they hope to compete in 2027.

Following a surprisingly competitive "rebuilding" season, the Cardinals should look to bring players in who can both elevate their ceiling now and match up on the timeline of their current core. Rather than paying an exorbitant price for one of the older starting pitchers set to hit free agency this offseason, a buy-low swing on Strider might be the perfect way to walk that tightrope.

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