(Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
With the 2023 season almost halfway complete, the St. Louis Cardinals still find themselves near the bottom of the pack in the National League.
With their pitching staff and defense struggling, they have found themselves in last place in the NL Central with a record of 32-45.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic posted a column that suggested the Cardinals should either trade some of their stars at the deadline or finally spend big for a top free-agent pitcher or two in the offseason.
On Twitter, St. Louis sports radio host Brandon Kiley refuted the idea that the Cardinals should trade their stars and stated that their goal should be to upgrade their starting rotation.
The #STLCards aren’t trading Goldy/Arenado. They *need* to get bold with their rotation.
We’ll discuss this column today on @101espn. https://t.co/xusCKfgSu9
— Brandon Kiley (@BKSportsTalk) June 27, 2023
Despite the Cardinals’ poor record and their chances of a turnaround being slim, upgrading the rotation would be a good idea for the front office.
While the team is more than likely not going to dig themselves out of this hole, it still makes sense, given that the only current starters under contract for 2024 are Steven Matz and Miles Mikolas.
Matz is currently in the bullpen, and Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery are free agents at the end of the season.
On top of that, Adam Wainwright is set to retire.
The Cards could look to sell off certain players with expiring contracts and see what they get in return before ultimately making a play for a frontline starter such as Dylan Cease or Shane Bieber.
The buying could be done in attempt to get ahead on their offseason plan and fill out their rotation for 2024 rather than to mount a comeback this year.
It may also get them to level of pitching required for them to return to prominence next season.
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