The St. Louis Cardinals have officially fallen out of postseason contention. After their 7-5 loss on Tuesday night to the San Diego Padres, the team is seven games out in the National League Wild Card race.
In addition, Busch Stadium is full of empty seats, as fan apathy has set in. But the Cardinals can change this next year by adding some key pieces to their roster.
Ben Goldberg of FanSided discussed the possibility of reuniting with a former top pitcher who is now with the Miami Marlins.
"There are big names to be had in free agency like Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell, and Max Fried. While those names seem unrealistic for a team that has never spent big on an outside pitcher, maybe the glaring attendance issues will finally cause a shift in spending," Goldberg wrote. "And if not, then this team needs to get creative and land an ace through a trade. As Ben Frederickson recently pointed out, perhaps a reunion with Sandy Alcantara, the ace that got away?"
St. Louis traded Alcantara and Zac Gallen to the Miami Marlins in December of 2017 for slugger Marcell Ozuna. While Ozuna produced two solid seasons in St. Louis, the deal didn't work out.
Alcantara won a Cy Young with the Marlins in 2022 and Gallen has emerged as the ace of the staff for the Arizona Diamondbacks. But the Cardinals can correct their course if they try to trade for Alcantara.
The young right-hander has been out after undergoing Tommy John surgery last year, but he should be back in 2025. His value may not be very high either given his current injury, but that could give the Cardinals the perfect opportunity to pull off a steal.
Alcantara and Sonny Gray atop the rotation would make St. Louis a much bigger threat to make a deep run into October than they have been in recent years.
More moves will need to be made in the offseason, but this might be a good start for a team that is likely to finish under .500 in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1994-95.
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