Former Two-Time All-Star Available; Could Be Intriguing High-Reward Depth For Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are one of the hottest teams in baseball but there still is plenty of work to be done if the club wants to compete for a World Series title this season.
Many pegged St. Louis as title contenders heading into the 2023 campaign after winning 93 games in 2022 and returning much of the same roster plus some intriguing additions this season, but things didn't go as planned to begin the year. The Cardinals struggled out of the gate mainly due to subpar pitching from their starting rotation, but things have started to turn a corner.
Heading into May, the Cardinals sat at the bottom of the National League standings but now St. Louis has crawled itself out of the gutter and is just five games back of the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers.
If the Cardinals want to take another step forward, the club likely will need to make an addition to the rotation. Adam Wainwright's return to the hill has slowly begun to help stabilize the rotation plus some other starters have started to work the rust off. Intriguing elite prospect Matthew Liberatore also has made one start and many hope that he begins making appearances on a more regular basis.
St. Louis likely will be busy in the trade market as we get closer to the summer and the club has the outfield depth to likely get a deal done. If the Cardinals wanted to make an addition in the short-term that is low-cost with a potentially high reward, they could look into signing free agent Julio Teheran.
The two-time All-Star hasn't pitched at the big league level since 2021, but at one point was one of the most impressive right-handed pitchers in baseball. Over the last two years, Teheran mainly has pitched at the minor league level and signed with the San Diego Padres ahead of the 2023 season. The 32-year-old reportedly opted out of his deal Monday afternoon to become a free agent, according to the New York Post's Jon Heyman.
Teheran made eight starts for the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas and compiled a 5.63 ERA across 40 innings pitched. Although his numbers don't jump off the page, he may be worth another minor league deal to see if he can work out the kinks. From 2013-2019 Teheran compiled a 3.63 ERA for the Atlanta Braves to go along with his two All-Star nods. He may not be that pitcher anymore, but if he could find his form at the minor league level, he could be very inexpensive and serve as a back-of-the-rotation or stretch reliever role for the Cardinals. It could never hurt to add more depth. If he isn't able to succeed at the minor league level, no harm would come to the Cardinals. A move is certainly something to consider.
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