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This coming offseason is going to be a big one for the St. Louis Cardinals as they hope to address the glaring holes in their starting rotation.
The team will need three starters from outside the organization with only Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz under contract for 2024 and 2025.
Many fans have been hoping that Shohei Ohtani would be one of the starters the Cardinals will end up targeting.
However, Cardinals writer and insider Jeff Jones tweeted a reminder that some fans may not like, stating that it is highly unlikely that the Cardinals go after Ohtani, and that now with the right-hander unable to pitch, it could affect how the team goes about its offseason.
There’s probably no reasonable expectation that Shohei Ohtani will be a Cardinal at the start of the 2024 season.
For a team committed to adding three outside starters, though, his injury adds quite a wrinkle to the off-season. New:https://t.co/55MRVFvXnZ
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) August 25, 2023
Ohtani was more than likely never going to be a target for the Cardinals.
And now with his injury, a potential match in free agency is even less likely.
More likely are pitchers such as Aaron Nola, Blake Snell, Eduardo Rodriguez, Lucas Giolito, and Sonny Gray.
However, Jones did not that Ohtani’s elbow injury may change the course of the offseason for many teams, including the Cardinals.
With Ohtani likely unable to pitch in 2024, the chances of prices rising on other starters increases exponentially.
Ohtani was set to receive multiple high-value offers and potentially sign a record-breaking deal, but the injury likely cost him some money.
This means that teams such as the Cardinals, who need starting pitching, will have to aim high in order to add a true No. 1 pitcher to their rotation for 2024 and beyond.
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