After Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic had reported that the St. Louis Cardinals had previously had preliminary discussions about acquiring Pablo Lopez from the Miami Marlins, fans got hopeful that the front office would finally address their obvious need for starting pitching.
But the Cardinals ultimately did not land him.
Instead, it was the Minnesota Twins who acquired him, sending the reigning American League batting champ Luis Arraez to Miami.
Cardinals fans tend to be very vocal about their discontent with management, and one fan on Twitter made sure to express his feelings about the team not acquiring the right-hander with three simple words.
I am unhappy https://t.co/VsQEAx9pfd
— Ryan (@The_Ryan_Shull) January 20, 2023
Here we have yet another solid starting pitcher that the Cardinals ultimately passed up on.
St. Louis made no attempt to sign Carlos Rodon, Jacob deGrom, or Justin Verlander, and let left-hander Jose Quintana walk.
And thus, their obvious need for starting pitching remains.
At this point, it seems unlikely that they’ll dive back into the free agent market to address this issue, though former Cardinal Michael Wacha has still yet to sign and could be a cost-efficient option for them.
St. Louis has plenty of depth, but Jack Flaherty and Steven Matz are coming off of injury-plagued seasons.
Adam Wainwright also experienced an uncharacteristically bad month of September and may not be a sure thing.
In addition to that, Matz is the only current starter under contract for 2024 and beyond, with Wainwright set to retire at the end of the season.
We can certainly expect Cardinals fans to rightfully express their frustration on Twitter after this.
NEXT: Cardinals Fan Comments On Nolan Arenado Snub