$11 Million Ex-Cardinals All-Star Loosely Linked To NL Central Rival As Closer Option

A former Cardinal may have a fit elsewhere in the NL Central.

Jun 30, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn (31) throws against the Cincinnati Reds during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-Imagn Images | Jeff Le-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals have been quiet this offseason, but they were quite busy at this time last year.

By February of 2024, St. Louis had signed three starting pitchers in Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson. Both Lynn and Gibson are now free agents.

Interestingly enough, however, Lynn is drawing interest from several teams as a closer option, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. It certainly wouldn't hurt for teams to at least give him a look as such.

One team Rosenthal listed as a candidate for some bullpen help is the Cincinnati Reds. Perhaps they could target Lynn.

"The Cincinnati Reds might want to create competition for Alexis Diaz, who was inconsistent last season," Rosenthal reported. "Kenley Jansen, David Robertson and Kyle Finnegan are among the back-end types who remain free agents. Lynn is less established as a reliever, but not unfamiliar with pitching late in games.

As a rookie, Lynn worked the eighth inning for the Cardinals in Game 7 of the 2011 World Series."

Lynn began his career as a reliever, so it would be interesting to see him return to a similar role towards the end of his career. His work out of the bullpen helped pave the way for the Cardinals to win their 11th World Series title back in 2011.

The Reds are a team on the rise while the Cardinals are taking a step back in 2025. It will be interesting to see if Lynn ends up somewhere he can close.

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