Even with John Lackey hitting free agency the St. Louis Cardinals figured to be in good shape with their starting rotation heading into the 2016 MLB season. However, Lance Lynn will miss all of next year after undergoing Tommy John surgery yesterday and rumors now suggest the team is in the market for another pitcher.
David Price and Zack Greinke figure to be far out of the Cardinals' price range, which could mean Jordan Zimmermann or Jeff Samardzija are in their crosshairs.
St. Louis presented Lackey with the qualifying offer and previously had no plans to explore starting pitchers in free agency because their rotation consisted of Lynn, Adam Wainwright, Michael Wacha, Carlos Martinez and Jaime Garcia. But Lynn's injury drastically shifted the landscape for 2016 (as did top prospect Alex Reyes' 50-game suspension for marijuana).
"General manager John Mozeliak acknowledged that the team will have to wade into the free-agent market for pitchers and explore their first multi-year free-agent signing of a starting pitcher under his watch," writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
"You hate to be reactionary to something like this," Mozeliak said. "When you look at internal options, I think we have them. But when you're trying to be a championship club there are times you have to go outside your comfort level."
The Cardinals do have internal options with Marco Gonzales, Tim Cooney and Tyler Lyons, but none of those three figure to replicate Lynn's production. The right-hander went 12-11 with a 3.03 ERA in 31 starts this past season and is 61-39 with a 3.37 ERA in 150 career games with the Cardinals.
As a result, Goold mentioned Zimmermann, Samardzija, Doug Fister and Ian Kennedy could be on Mozeliak's radar because they aren't expected to command the type of money David Price, Zack Greinke or even Johnny Cueto might. The largest contract in the history of the franchise is Matt Holliday's seven-year, $120 million deal.
Further rumors may begin to circulate because the general managers meetings are a prime source for speculation. Additionally, no player has ever accepted the qualifying offer, and although Lackey is 37 years old, he had a career-best campaign in 2015 and could get a two- or three-year deal in free agency.
Mozeliak said he'd like to "let the market develop" first, but it's possible he doesn't have an opportunity to do that. There is high demand for starting pitchers and this is as deep a class as we've seen in years, so teams will be lining up to make their move before it's too late.
This could further affect the team's plans (if there are any) with outfielder Jason Heyward, who is also a free agent. The 26-year-old, according to rumors and projections, could get a $200 million deal. If the Cardinals feel the need to add an established starting pitcher then Heyward could all but officially be out of their price range if he isn't already.
The MLB's top club this past season is now looking for answers as they could be without their two best starters and their best outfielder in 2016.
