The St. Louis Cardinals made it a point this offseason to revamp their entire pitching staff, from the top down to their depth.
In doing so, they moved on from a myriad of hurlers. The most valuable pitchers were exchanged for prospect hauls at the 2023 Major League Baseball Trade Deadline while lessor-proven talents walked in free agency or were non-tendered earlier in the offseason.
One of the displaced arms has landed in the American League, aiming to solidify himself in another organization.
"Right-hander Jake Woodford is signing a minor-league contract with the Chicago White Sox that includes an invite to spring training, sources say," FanSided's Robert Murray reported Wednesday. "The right-hander posted a 4.29 ERA in four seasons with the Cardinals."
Woodford posted a career-high 6.23 ERA with a 29-to-22 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .314 batting average against and a 1.74 WHIP in 47 2/3 innings this season.
The 27-year-old's dip in production led him to be non-tendered in November after nine seasons as a member of the Cardinals organization.
Woodford showed promise for the majority of his career in St. Louis and even logged a 2.23 ERA across 48 1/3 innings in 2022.
With that said, the Cardinals could not afford to wait around and hope for improvement from last season's pitching staff. It would have been nice to keep Woodford around as minor-league depth but the loss is not significant and has been inevitable for months.
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