The St. Louis Cardinals continue to attack the free-agent pitching market with determination, securing the signature of ace Sonny Gray on Monday.
The former Minnesota Twins frontline starter scored a nice three-year, $75 million contract to pitch in St. Louis until the end of the 2026 campaign.
Gray now joins Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson as Cardinals reinforcements for their 2024 rotation.
They knew they needed a lot of pitching to get back in contention next season, went out there, negotiated, and added three arms in a matter of hours.
That’s a team interested in winning.
Cardinals insider Derrick Goold, a beat writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, analyzed the Gray move.
It’s fair to say he gave it a positive grade.
“‘The Cardinals are buying innings in bulk… they saw (Sonny Gray) as a guy who could be towards the front of the rotation.’ @dgoold discusses St. Louis’ free agency moves and how they’ve transformed their rotation by signing 3 proven veterans,” MLB Now tweeted.
“The Cardinals are buying innings in bulk… they saw (Sonny Gray) as a guy who could be towards the front of the rotation.”@dgoold discusses St. Louis’ free agency moves and how they’ve transformed their rotation by signing 3 proven veterans. #MLBNow pic.twitter.com/CXKHRilSLr
— MLB Now (@MLBNow) November 27, 2023
The Cards ranked 24th in ERA last season, and part of the problem is that their starters just couldn’t cover a large portion of innings.
That instead put a lot of pressure on the bullpen and the offense.
The front office decided to pursue three workhorses to fill out the rotation.
All three arms surpassed 180 innings in 2023: Lynn had 183.2, Gibson logged 192, and Gray had 184.
If they remain healthy, expect them to approach or surpass those numbers in 2024 as the Cardinals try to bounce back and regain “contender” status.
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