The Cardinals' weak starting point with their rotation sours early moves

They added two guys who don't stack high above Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz.

The St. Louis Cardinals signed Kyle Gibson yesterday. He’s pitched for a few teams, and doesn’t come off as a guy who will make Cards fan groups jump for joy.

Following the Lance Lynn signing that I liked yet most thought was a laughably familiar starting point for the Mozeliak rehab plan, the team signed Gibson to another one year deal. If it’s a one-year deal, there’s some degree of “please be better next year” seasoning to the signing.

One of the reasons that you can like the Gibson signing is that he promises starts and innings. He eats them like a Kyle Lohse-Jeff Suppan hybrid. Since his debut in 2014, he has completed at least 75% of his starts in a given season.

In the pandemic-shortened 2020 year, Gibson still made 12 starts. The Cards would like the guy with a combined 3.73 ERA from 2021 to show up, but they may get the fella who gave up 198 hits in 192 innings last season. Maybe somewhere in between.

Still, for a St. Louis team begging for innings, the Gibson move isn’t surprising nor is it a bad idea. It’s just underwhelming, like the Lynn signing to a degree, considering their starting point with the rotation began with Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz. Lynn, Mikolas, and Gibson all ranked in the top five for hits against this year. Matz had a nice six-week stretch, but couldn’t stay healthy.

The team needs a solid third rotation piece to make it all come together, and also make sense. A signing like Sonny Gray would be solid if still underwhelming overall; wishing on a bigger baseball prayer than advisable. A signing like Yoshinobu Yamamoto would be a huge cap off to the rotation needs. There would be some wiggle room for a future trade, and plenty of firepower for innings and execution.

But that’s a BIG IF, especially for Mozeliak and company. They need a big win, but it’s been a while since the front office has pulled off a devilish, Doug Armstrong-type steal in a trade or signing for pitching. Lynn and Gibson are low liability one-year deals, but a bigger acquisition has to be made for the 2024 team to contend.

Do nothing else, and this is a 75-win team. Get a fish like Yamamoto, and you’re trending in the 80-85 with room for improvement. If they do nothing else, the team will hold onto that stinky label, like a team that knew how it would go and kept walking. The attendance will go down, and the DeWallet will tighten. Mozeliak’s seat will get warmer, and larger moves in the office area will happen.

2024 is also Oliver Marmol’s final year under contract. He’s had one good and one bad season as skipper. If they don’t properly equip him, he’ll have an ugly one.

Bottom Line: It’s still early and there’s plenty of time, but the trend (and starting point of futility) doesn’t look great for the Cardinals right now. They’re walking extra miles to finish a marathon due to their ineptitude in this market over the past few (or eight) years. These two signings give the team a combined WAR potential for less than five wins. They need a 5-6 WAR-type arm for the third signing to make a dent.

Ask yourself something honestly: how strong of a feeling do you have that this front office will bring in a big starter to finish the painting?

Cue the collective sigh…

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports