Cy Young Award Winner Floated As Trade Target For Cardinals In Offseason Blockbuster
The St. Louis Cardinals have one of the most important offseasons in recent memory ahead of them.
St. Louis was a disappointment in 2023. The Cardinals entered the campaign widely expected to finish atop the National League Central but instead finished in last place with just 71 wins. St. Louis won 93 games in 2022 and was expected to take a leap forward toward being World Series contenders but inconsistent play -- mainly from the starting rotation -- and a constant flow of injuries derailed the season.
The Cardinals have said all of the right things since the regular season came to a close. St. Louis has said it will look to add three starting pitchers and also that it plans to increase the club's payroll this offseason. While these are great sentiments, they're sure to have plenty of competition for hurlers this offseason and need to be aggressive.
St. Louis has been linked to a handful of stars already and with so much room for growth, rumors won't slow down anytime soon. There's a wide range of hurlers who make sense for the Cardinals and one intriguing player to watch out for is Cleveland Guardians hurler Shane Bieber -- who was floated as a possible trade target by Redbirds Rants' Josh Jacobs.
"With just one year of control remaining, (Shane Bieber's) recent decline in stuff, and his $12.2 million salary for 2024, I imagine the Guardians will want to get whatever value they can for him," Jacobs said. "I could easily see (Tommy Edman) alone getting the deal done, but honestly, even something centered around (Tyler O'Neill), (Dylan Carlson), or (Alec Burleson) may be strong enough."
Jacobs listed 10 hypothetical trade targets for the Cardinals this offseason and listed Bieber at the No. 2 spot. This isn't the first time Bieber has been floated as a target for St. Louis and a move makes sense. St. Louis has the prospect capital and young big-league talent needed to get a deal done.
Bieber won the 2020 American League Cy Young Award and has a career 3.27 ERA. The two-time All-Star compiled a 2.88 ERA in 2022 in 31 outings. He took a step back in 2023 but still was efficient with a 3.80 ERA in 21 starts. He's just 28 years old and should at least be considered by the Cardinals if Cleveland actually deals him away this offseason. It's unclear how likely a move is, but the possibility is interesting, at least.
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