MLB Insiders Propose Cardinals Among 'Best Fits' For Fiery Starter

Will the Cardinals do anything in free agency?

Feb 26, 2021; Jupiter, Florida, USA; A general view of the St. Louis Cardinals logo on the stadium at Roger Dean Stadium during spring training workouts. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images / Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images

Will the St. Louis Cardinals do anything at all before Spring Training?

It doesn't seem very likely at this point, but Spring Training is right around the corner so we won't have to wait too long at least to find out. Pitchers and catchers will start to report to Spring Training across the league in less than a week. Teams certainly can still make moves after Spring Training kicks off, but is there anything on the way for St. Louis?

The Cardinals could use another veteran starting pitcher if they want to be competitive in the National League Central. As things stand right now, the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers are ahead of the Cardinals on paper.

The Athletic's Tim Britton, Chad Jennings, and Aaron Gleeman have been keeping tabs on the top 40 free agents in baseball throughout the offseason. There aren't many on their list still available, but one is former Boston Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta. Britton, Jennings, and Gleeman listed the Cardinals among "best fits" for him toward the beginning of the offseason and they still have him there now.

"Best fits: Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Tampa Bay Rays," Britton, Jennings, and Gleeman said. "Pivetta is a durable innings eater who can, at times, do more than just eat innings. His strikeout rate the past two years was fourth-best in the majors among pitchers with at least 250 innings, and his 4.09 ERA the past two seasons is comparable to that of Dylan Cease (4.00), Aaron Nola (4.01) and Joe Ryan (4.10).

"Granted, some of Pivetta’s productivity came out of the bullpen in the second half of 2023, but his best stretches have been impressive, even if they’ve been mixed with patches of vulnerability and inconsistency."

Pivetta has ties to Chaim Bloom after spending time together in Boston. Could he be a realistic solution to help the Cardinals' rotation?

More MLB: MLB Pundit Predicts Ex-Cardinals All-Star, Champion To Sign In NL West