Cardinals 'Among Teams Linked' To Cy Young Runner Up, Three-Time All-Star

The St. Louis Cardinals made some moves to sure up the back-end of their rotation early on but they have yet to add a frontline starter.

Fortunately, all but one -- Aaron Nola -- remain unsigned, and the Cardinals reportedly are in the mix with at least one premier arm.

"The (Atlanta) Braves and Cards are among teams linked to Sonny Gray," the New York Post's Jon Heyman wrote Thursday.

Gray posted a 2.79 ERA with a 183-to-55 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .226 batting average against and 1.15 WHIP in 184 innings across 32 starts last season. He also led MLB with a 2.83 FIP and 0.4 home runs allowed per nine innings.

The 33-year-old's performance was strong enough to warrant a second-place finish in American League Cy Young voting.

The Cardinals have been linked to Gray for months and appear to be a logical landing spot for the three-time All-Star. St. Louis needs to make at least one splash, and Gray arguably is as good of a pitcher as any of the free agents on the market.

A rotation featuring Gray, Steven Matz, Miles Mikolas, Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn would be formidable. If they could add another starter in the Eduardo Rodriguez, Marcus Stroman, Shota Imanga tier, they could once again enter the year as National League Central favorites given the offensive firepower already in place.

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