The St. Louis Cardinals jumped into the Jon Lester race less than two weeks ago, but the left-hander has yet to meet with the team. He has met with the Red Sox, Cubs and Braves, but is continuing his tour next week with the Giants.
Bidding for Lester has already reportedly reached $135 million with the Chicago Cubs' offer and it doesn't appear the Cardinals are willing to get into such a war. Signs are pointing to St. Louis backing off on Lester for a number of reasons, with one of them being the emergence of Carlos Martinez and Marco Gonzales, who will both compete for the final starter spot during spring training.
Martinez and Gonzales are each only 22 years old and may provide a bright future for the Cardinals' rotation. But aside from that, there are other arms on the market, both this year and next year that are just as appealing as Lester. Max Scherzer and James Shields both remain available this offseason, in addition to others, after garnering little interest thus far. Next offseason (when John Lackey's contract is up and Jaime Garcia facing a team option) a number of names will be available: David Price, Jordan Zimmermann, Doug Fister, Rick Porcello, Jeff Samardzija and the entire Reds' starting rotation (Johnny Cueto, Alfredo Simon, Mat Latos and Mike Leake).
So is it imperative the Cardinals compete with the Red Sox, Cubs, Giants and Braves for Lester?
The answer is probably not. St. Louis still has a playoff caliber team, especially after adding Jason Heyward and Jordan Walden in a recent trade with the Braves. Their pitching staff is more than capable and could possibly be dominant if Garcia returns to form after three consecutive shortened seasons due to injury and if Martinez or Gonzales can effectively bring their stuff to the mound on a consistent basis. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch puts it nicely:
"The Cardinals, who insist publicly they are content with the options they have to fill the fifth spot in their rotation, remain interested from the periphery of the pitching market this winter, like the Black Friday shopper ready to strike on the deal that slips through the scrum. Their stance is mainly because they intend to give Carlos Martinez and Marco Gonzales the chance to win the opening."
So unless Scherzer and Shields are still available late in the offseason and their prices decrease significantly, it doesn't appear as if the Cardinals are going to break the bank for another starter. Next offseason looks like a strong possibility though, especially if Garcia, Martinez and/or Gonzales have poor 2015 campaigns.
