Before the Winter Meetings even began, the St. Louis Cardinals added three pitchers to their rotation. However, just because the Cardinals had a fast start doesn't mean they plan to stop making moves.
St. Louis is open to trading one of their controllable outfielders, via Jon Morosi of the MLB Network. While the Cardinals seemingly would want to add more pitching, St. Louis isn't ‘necessarily committed,' to requiring an immediate starter be a mandatory in any deal.
The Cardinals were in desperate need of a makeover in the pitching department. They finished last season ranked 24th in MLB with a 4.79 ERA. St. Louis is hopeful that Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson can help stabilize the rotation.
But that doesn't solve the Cardinals' logjam in the outfield. Lars Nootbaar and Jordan Walker seemed locked into roles, leaving Tyler O'Neill and Dylan Carlson fighting for one spot.
Article Continues BelowSince joining the Cardinals in 2018, O'Neill has hit .248 with 78 home runs, 217 RBI and 40 stolen bases over 477 games. Back in 2021 he blasted 34 homers, but he has 10+ long balls in just two of his professional seasons. O'Neill makes up for it with his defense, where he was won two Gold Gloves.
Carlson made it to the bigs a few years later in 2020. He has hit .243 with 34 home runs, 150 RBI and 11 stolen bases. His big year came also came in 2021 where he hit 18 home runs and drove in 65 runs.
While their 2023 season didn't go to plan, the Cardinals don't expect to be out of the playoffs for an extended period of time. Already amplifying their pitching rotation, St. Louis is looking to make a trade to help their roster become more complete.