Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals' Sonny Gray Breaks Silence On St. Louis' Confusing Offseason

The Cardinals had a long few months...
Patrick McAvoy|
Aug 12, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) pitches against the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images
Aug 12, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) pitches against the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals didn't have the same offseason as they did a year ago.

St. Louis entered the offseason last year after a rough 2023 season and went to work quickly. The Cardinals clearly knew they needed to add pitching and did so by signing Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn, and Kyle Gibson quickly. The Cardinals then put a specific effort into building up the bullpen and it worked out.

The Cardinals didn't make the playoffs, but they did finish the season with an 83-79 record. At the very least, that was much better than the 2023 season in which they had a 71-91 record. Things didn't go their way playoffs-wise, but they still took a step in the right direction. While this is the case, the Cardinals did pretty much nothing throughout the offseason despite saying they wanted to "reset" the team.

St. Louis wanted to pull off trades, but no-trade clauses played a big role. The Cardinals let Paul Goldschmidt walk in free agency and turned down Lynn and Gibson's club options for 2025. That's pretty much the extent of the offseason.

One player who decided to stick around was Gray. He joined the team last offseason and had a no-trade clause in his deal. He opened up about the team's offseason on Friday, as shared by FanDuel Sports Network's Jim Hayes.

"You say a 'reset' I guess, but what does that mean? I mean, it's not like we unloaded everybody we just didn't sign the people who were free agents back and didn't add any free agents so far," Gray said. "I don't know, only time will tell. I'm getting more and more excited each day that I'm here just for baseball in general. Only time will tell how this goes."

It was an odd offseason, to say the least.

More MLB: Cardinals 28-Year-Old Shares Thoughts On Surprising Contract Process

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Patrick McAvoy
PATRICK MCAVOY

Patrick McAvoy's experiences include local and national sports coverage at the New England Sports Network with a focus on baseball and basketball. Outside of journalism, Patrick also is pursuing an MBA at Brandeis University. After quickly rising as one of the most productive writers on the site, he expanded his reach to write for Baseball Essential, a national baseball site in Sports Illustrated Media Group. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Inside The Cardinals, please reach out to Scott Neville: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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