With a pitching rotation stuffed with query marks, the St. Louis Cardinals made a significant enchancment to it on Monday by touchdown free-agent pitcher Sonny Grey.
Agreeing to a three-year, $75M deal, Grey was a finalist for the 2023 American League Cy Younger Award, going 8-8 with a 2.79 ERA and 183 strikeouts in 184 innings pitched for the Minnesota Twins.
Since 2019, the 34-year-old has been one of the crucial constant pitchers in baseball, going 39-33 with a 3.22 ERA whereas hanging out 732 batters in 670.1 innings pitching for the Cincinnati Reds and the Twins.
A 3-time All-Star, Grey added a sweeper in 2023 that was ranked as among the finest pitches in baseball, and has confirmed no indicators of regression together with his stuff coming into his twelfth season.
Solely two pitchers had been left from the Opening Day rotation in St. Louis coming into the offseason, so the Cardinals addressed that problem early signing pitchers Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson to offers earlier than making the massive splash with Grey.
These three additions are joined by returning Cardinals pitchers Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz within the rotation, however the Cardinals are very prone to nonetheless be available in the market for one more arm.
Each of their earlier signings will be seen as wild playing cards, with Lynn coming off a traditionally unhealthy season that the Cardinals will hope he can rebound from in his return to St. Louis and Gibson being nothing greater than a league-average at finest pitcher for many of his 11-year profession.
With the free-agent market beginning to warmth up, the Cardinals even have loads of items to swing a commerce for one more starter if the chance arises.
After a disappointing 71-91 end in 2023 after opening the 12 months as the favourite to win the division, the Cardinals nonetheless want to deal with the bullpen and the logjams they’ve at quite a few positions in the event that they wish to achieve success in 2024.
Grey is a good begin, however search for extra strikes to be made because the Cardinals goal to recapture the Nationwide League Central crown in 2024.
