St. Louis Cardinals linked to surprise MLB free agency pursuit of All-Star from rival team

A top MLB insider believes pursuing an All-Star pitcher from a rival team will be a top priority for the St. Louis Cardinals in MLB free agency in the next month.

Along with the New York Mets, San Diego Padres, and New York Yankees, the Cardinals were one of the biggest disappointments in the 2023 MLB season. The team entered this year with many of the same players from a group that won the National League Central title in 2022, however, those same parts did not deliver winning baseball in 2023.

That is why the organization took the bold step of being sellers at the trade deadline and shipped off pitchers Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty when their value was highest. However, the team still believes they can compete for a division title next year but they must replace those two arms with equal or higher value talent in free agency or via a trade.

There have been various reports recently about which starters the Cardinals could target when MLB free agency opens, including Minnesota Twins ace Sonny Gray. However, on Friday New York Post MLB insider Jon Heyman spoke about the market for Chicago Cubs ace Marcus Stroman and St. Louis’ involvement in it.

“I think he made the right call by not coming back to the Cubs for $21 million and one year,” Heyman said. “The way this pitching market is right now I think Stroman does much better than that and gets a multi-year deal. … He performed outstanding in the first half and he’s really never had an arm injury. I don’t see him going back to the Cubs, but I do think there will be a number of teams on Stroman. The Cardinals are one team I’ve heard connected to Stroman.”

Marcus Stroman stats (2023): 10-9, 3.95 ERA, 1.295 WHIP, 119 SO in 136.2 IP

Stroman earned his second trip to the All-Star game this season as he won 10 games and posted a 3.95 ERA and 1.259 WHIP in 25 starts this season.