The St. Louis Cardinals are finally getting active in free agency, and as expected, both notable moves were made to improve the rotation.
Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak promised to acquire at least two, preferably three arms this offseason and has delivered. Who he brought in, however, has not done much to move the needle.
“Source confirms: Free-agent right-handed pitcher Kyle Gibson in agreement with Cardinals on one-year, $12M contract with club option,” The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported Tuesday.
Gibson posted a 4.73 ERA with a 157-to-55 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .270 batting average against and 1.32 WHIP in 192 innings last season.
One day after signing the pitcher who allowed the most home runs in Major League Baseball last season, Mozeliak signed the pitcher who led the National League with 198 hits allowed.
The 36-year-old has one All-Star nod under his belt and a career 4.54 ERA across 11 seasons.
It’s clear what the Cardinals’ motive has been early on, to add innings pitched to the rotation. While both Lynn and Gibson are not premier arms, the former tossed 183 2/3 innings last season and the latter an aforementioned 192 innings.
If St. Louis plans to deem these two hurlers the additions the fanbase has clamored for, they should not bank on selling many tickets next season. However, if the goal was to add some ancillary pieces to the rotation while still in the hunt for a couple of notable arms, they deserve to be commended.
Depth is nearly as important as star power across a 162-game season and they have certainly added more value to the starting pitching positon as a whole.
As it stands now, the Cardinals can factor in Steven Matz, Miles Mikolas, Lynn and Gibson into the rotation. Should they add any of the following names: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Sonny Gray or Jordan Montgomery — they would be a much-improved club.
There also is another tier — Eduardo Rodriguez, Marcus Stroman or Shota Imanga — that would be enticing as well.
The Cardinals desperately need an ace or at least a high-end frontline starter but the building blocks are in place. It’s not time to panic yet. If the rotation looks similar on Feb. 1, different story.
