NL Team 'Will Pursue' Philadelphia Phillies Ace In Offseason

With the Philadelphia Phillies in the middle of a playoff push that they hope sees them end up back in the World Series for consecutive seasons, few people in the organization are thinking about next year.

That can't be said for one of the prominent National League teams who finds themselves completely out of the playoff picture as they plan for their future.

According to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY, the St. Louis Cardinals are planning to sign Phillies ace Aaron Nola in the offseason.

He reports, "The Cardinals will pursue at least three starting pitchers in trades and free agency, president John Mozeliak said, with Julio Urias of the Dodgers, Blake Snell of the Padres and Aaron Nola of the Phillies sitting atop their wish list."

The right hander is one of the two big named Philadelphia players that will hit free agency this offseason. Injured first baseman Rhys Hoskins is the other player who teams might be interested in signing.

It's unknown what the priority of the Phillies' front office is regarding keeping Nola on the roster. He's a homegrown talent who has been part of the organization since he was drafted seventh overall in 2014.

The right hander has struggled for the majority of the year. He has a 4.58 ERA through 25 starts and has given up the most home runs in his career during a season.

Despite these struggles, he's still a big name who still possesses big game to go along with his reputation. A number of teams would love to add Nola through free agency this offseason and plenty could be putting up a lot of money to make that happen.

With one team already announcing they're in the mix, Philadelphia needs to figure out if their ace is in their future plans or not.