The St. Louis Cardinals desperately need pitching and Marcus Stroman declined his $21 million contract option with the Chicago Cubs. Could Stroman follow in Willson Contreras' footsteps and ditch Chicago for St. Louis? MLB insider Jon Heyman said it is a possibility.
“Where does Stroman end up? That's another interesting question,” Heyman said, via B/R Walk-Off. “I think he made the right call in not coming back to the Cubs for $21 million dollars. The way this pitching market is right now, I think Stroman does much better than that, gets a multi-year deal maybe with an opt-out. Obviously he was injured in the second-half for the most part last year, but he performed outstanding in the first-half.
“He's really never had an arm injury. I don't see him going back to the Cubs but I do think there will be a number of teams out there on Stroman. Cardinals are one team I've heard connected to Stroman.”
Cardinals need pitching!
St. Louis surprisingly had a respectable offensive performance despite their all-around miserable 2023 season. The Cardinals' pitching was abysmal though, which was the primary reason for their forgettable campaign.
The Cardinals are realistically once ace and two reliable starters away from being a contender once again. The Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt-led lineup is going to produce enough offense for the ballclub to win.
Upgrading the bullpen wouldn't hurt either, but St. Louis' focus will be on starting pitching. Marcus Stroman enjoyed a tremendous first-half, as Heyman mentioned. The Cardinals will likely be willing to sign him to a long-term contract despite Stroman's second-half injury concerns.
Stroman is a great candidate to lead the rotation in 2024. St. Louis could then either sign/trade for two or three more reliable pitchers, who don't even need to be stars necessarily, to rebuild the starting rotation.
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