The St. Louis Cardinals recently got some rough news.
Cardinals ace Sonny Gray recently suffered a hamstring injury which has raised questions about his possible availability for Opening Day. Gray is progressing, but it's still unclear how much time he will miss.
Even before the injury to Gray, some have speculated that the club should make another addition to the rotation. St. Louis added Gray, Lance Lynn, and Kyle Gibson but still could use another top-of-the-rotation arm.
Opening Day is right around the corner but there still are some interesting options available in free agency. The top option out there certainly is two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell.
It's unclear where he will land, but the New York Post's Jon Heyman surprisingly floated the Cardinals as an option for the superstar.
"The (San Francisco Giants) probably need Snell most," Heyman said. "They recently lost 40 percent of their rotation (camp injuries to Keaton Winn, and Tristan Beck), and despite nice pickups, still appear in over their heads in the ultra-tough (National League) West. They already spent a quarter of a billion this winter, but that was dwarfed by the rival Dodgers' $1B plus, so the Giants have an extra incentive, not to mention plenty of loot.
"Plenty of other teams could make sense, including the Cardinals (their rotation looks pretty underwhelming even after some early adds), (the Philadelphia Phillies) (their rotation is excellent, but Taijuan Walker is hurting and they want to win as much as anyone), (Seattle Mariners) (Snell’s hometown team), and whatever team suffers the next injury scare."
Snell was linked to the Cardinals at the beginning of the offseason but nothing has come from it to this point. A move certainly should be considered unlikely, but it's interesting an insider like Heyman is giving St. Louis a chance.
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