The St. Louis Cardinals have their work cut out for them this winter. The 11-time World Series champions will be tasked with rebuilding a pitching staff that collapsed and led them to a 91-loss season, their worst season since 1990.
The starting rotation fell apart very quickly, which resulted in the bullpen being taxed. Injuries took place as well, and the Cardinals were unable to overcome them.
The starting rotation will be at the top of the Cardinals list this winter. Only Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz are under contract for 2024 and beyond, meaning that they'll need to fill three spots.
The Cards are fortunate that there are so many options available on the free agent market, so they'll have ample opportunity to address the pitching staff and its weaknesses. But as the postseason rolls on without the Cardinals, they appear to be preparing for a much different offseason than last year.
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted that Aaron Nola and Sonny Gray are on the Cardinals radar already. However, not every free agent pitcher should be of interest to the Cardinals, and there are a few that they should try to avoid.
Here are three free agents that St. Louis should avoid at all costs
Lucas Giolito
Giolito has some upside when concerning his ability to strike hitters out. He averaged 10 per game this season with the White Sox, Angels, and Guardians.
However, he appears to be on a downward trend. The former All-Star is not the frontline pitcher he once was. Last year, he posted a 4.90 ERA in 30 starts. Things didn't get much better for the veteran right-hander in 2023. Giolito made 33 starts and compiled a dismal record of 8-15 with an ERA of 4.88.
Giolito is still relatively young at 29, so he could always turn things around and rediscover his old form. However, his recent track record precedes him, and that is something that the Cardinals, and other teams for that matter should probably keep an eye on before deciding if they want to negotiate with him or not.
Above all, the Cards need certainty in their rotation, and Giolito's recent body of work makes things very cloudy. He could be a fallback option if they don't sign Aaron Nola, but nothing more than that.
He's not the frontline starter that St. Louis truly needs in order to strengthen their rotation and find a way back to the postseason in 2024.
Julio Urias
Julio Urias is a complicated case. He has tremendous upside as a pitcher, can strike hitters out, and is also somebody who doesn't walk many batters.
He isn't having a good season this year, as he owns a 4.60 ERA, but he had the best ERA in the National League last season.
So why should the Cardinals avoid him you ask? Well, Urias is currently not with the Los Angeles Dodgers following an arrest on suspicion of domestic violence back in early September. Major League Baseball has yet to reach its decision on what they will do with the embattled left-hander.
This was also the second time that Urias had been arrested on a domestic violence charge. While MLB is still gathering the facts, a move by the Cardinals to sign him would come with a lot of controversy and could lead to some off-the-field distractions.
It is for this reason that the Cardinals should not even entertain the idea of signing Urias, whose future in Major League Baseball is now in doubt after his recent arrest.
While the league still hasn't reached its decision, the Cardinals would be better served looking elsewhere to find their starting pitching help.
Clayton Kershaw
While it seems trivial to think that Kershaw would ever leave the Dodgers, he will still be a free agent at the end of the year. At 35, the veteran left-hander is still effective. The three-time Cy Young and former MVP posted a 2.46 ERA during the regular season.
However, injuries have taken their toll on Kershaw over the past several years, and he is not quite the pitcher he once was. Also worth noting is the fact that he tends to struggle in the postseason.
In Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday night, the 35-year-old surrendered six runs to the Arizona Diamondbacks and only recorded one out in the first inning before being lifted and replaced by Emmet Sheehan.
The Cardinals are a team that has had more than their fair share of success against Kershaw in the postseason, and adding him this winter wouldn't give them much of a chance to compete for a deep run into October, something they haven't experienced since 2019.
If Kershaw does pitch next season, it will almost certainly be with the Dodgers. But the left-hander is past his prime, and he is a free agent that the Cardinals and other teams should pass on, should the Dodgers not bring him back.