ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The Cardinals kicked off their holiday shopping season just right before Thanksgiving, adding two former Minnesota Twins starting pitchers in Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn. On Cyber Monday, the Cardinals added another former Twins starter.
The Cardinals reportedly finalized a three-year deal worth $75 million with former Twins pitcher Sonny Gray. New York Post and MLB Network Insider Jon Heyman was the first to report the Cardinals and Gray were expected to finalize a deal Monday. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported the terms of the deal.
Gray last season pitched for the Twins, where he was outstanding, posting a 2.79 ERA, American League-leading 2.83 FIP, striking out 183 batters and allowing only eight home runs in 184 innings. Gray’s performance earned him votes to be runner-up in the 2023 AL Cy Young voting process.
Since Gray rejected a qualifying offer with the Twins prior to testing the market, the Cardinals will also forfeit their second-highest pick to the Twins as compensation for signing Gray.
With the Cardinals heading into the offseason desperate for starting pitching and their financial situation making it unlikely they would’ve signed someone at the top like Blake Snell, Gray to the Cardinals was a perfect fit.
Gray, heading into his age-34 season, was never going to command a significant long term deal, with many sites projecting mostly a three-year deal for him.
With the signing of Gray, the Cardinals accomplished their goal of acquiring three starting pitchers this offseason. The Cardinals projected starting rotation as of right now all have starters over the age of 33, with Steven Matz being the youngest among them. While not an ideal situation for the Cardinals to have a rotation up there in age, it is a still very veteran lading rotation, with all five pitchers having experience pitching in the postseason.
Whether this means this will end the Cardinals pursuit of Japanese superstar starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto is unclear. Last week during a press conference to announce the deals for Lynn and Gibson, when asked by a reporter if the Cardinals could go after a fourth starter this offseason, Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said he was 'leaning' more to only going after three starters 'based on how things are looking.'
However, Mozeliak did stress the offseason was a fluid situation and there could be chances the teams adds more. Mozeliak highlighted the trade market, a market Mozeliak said they 'really haven't take a deep dive into it yet' as a possible avenue to add more help.
However, with the Cardinals signing Gray, its more likelier the Cardinals will now shift their focus onto adding bullpen help now rather than going after a fourth starter.