It was a relatively quiet offseason for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Outside of signing Willson Contreras, the team didn’t do much, save for the signing of lefty Andrew Suarez on a minor-league deal.
Many fans were hoping for a starting pitching addition, an ace-level pitcher particularly, as St. Louis’ rotation is a major question mark for the 2023 season.
However, they passed on Justin Verlander, Carlos Rodon, and Jacob deGrom.
On Thursday, the New York Yankees got some bad news when it was revealed that Rodon had suffered a forearm strain and will begin the season on the injured list.
A Cardinals fan tweeted about the news, wishing Rodon well but also not being too upset that the Cardinals didn’t commit $162 million to the left-hander.
I hope he has a quick recovery, but this is the reason why I was not upset with the Cardinals hesitance to give him 9 figures. https://t.co/8ihdijlPsK
— Quinn (@QuinnSTLCards) March 9, 2023
While a starting pitching addition would have been a boost for St. Louis, they may have lucked out by not signing Rodon.
Jack Flaherty his dealt with more than his fair share of arm issues over the past several years, and signing Rodon might have given the Cardinals a little something extra to worry about.
Losing the left-hander is a huge blow for the Yankees, who signed him to a six-year deal this winter.
As of now, every Cardinals starting pitcher appears to be healthy.
The team also has plenty of pitching depth and could plug holes with Matthew Liberatore, Andre Pallante, Jake Woodford, or Dakota Hudson.
Ultimately, there may in fact be a silver lining to the fact that St. Louis was quiet this winter.
NEXT: Andre Pallante Had A Solid WBC Debut
