The St. Louis Cardinals made a deliberate effort to strengthen their starting rotation during the previous offseason. Their 2023 season was marred by a lackluster performance, particularly due to a thin starting rotation plagued by injuries and underperformance. Despite having some promising talents like Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty, the Cardinals traded them away before the deadline.
To address their pitching woes, St. Louis focused on replenishing their rotation by acquiring Sonny Gray, Kyle Gibson, and Lance Lynn in the offseason. While these additions have bolstered their pitching staff, the Cardinals still find themselves at the bottom of the National League Central with a 9-12 record.
As the trade deadline approaches, speculation has already begun swirling. Bleacher Report’s Zachary Rymer has outlined potential trade scenarios for various teams, including the Atlanta Braves. Interestingly, he suggested Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn as a potential target for the Braves.
Rymer noted that Atlanta might be in need of pitching reinforcements, especially with uncertainties surrounding Spencer Strider’s elbow injury. He mentioned Lynn among other pitchers as a possible solution due to his ability to provide quality innings, citing Lynn’s solid performance so far this season with a 2.63 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings.
While Lynn has a club option for the 2025 season, he could become a free agent after this season. However, it seems highly improbable that the Cardinals would trade Lynn, particularly to the Braves, given their offseason efforts to strengthen their rotation.
Considering St. Louis’ proactive approach to improving their starting pitching, it wouldn’t align with their strategy to trade away the very players they acquired to address their pitching deficiencies.
