St.Louis Cardinals As a franchise, we are in a very difficult situation. They have enough experienced talent to continue to believe they can be contenders, but not enough talent to truly compete as the season approaches. They have enough young talent that they think should succeed in the big leagues, but these top prospects are taking longer than expected to develop.

The Cardinals have two options. They can either restructure and gut the roster, or they can continue to struggle. The front office hasn’t made any moves to indicate which direction they’re heading, but all signs point to a rebuild.

They still have a chance to try to fight back. This would be John Mozeliak’s final effort as President of Baseball Operations to send the Cardinals to the postseason. Today, we’ll look at three potential World Series champions the Cardinals could sign if they choose to compete in 2024.

To preface, these signings wouldn’t mean much if they choose to rebuild aggressively. This is just St. That’s in case St. Louis tries to compete again next season.

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3. 1B Anthony Rizzo, New York Yankees

Okay, this is a little out of left field, I’ll admit. But I love harmony. Anthony Rizzo will be given a large amount of cash New York Yankees He will choose the club option for 2025. But after playing injured all year, the Yankees will probably give up on paying him that much money and allow him to hit the unrestricted free agent market. Once there, Rizzo will have the freedom to sign with the team of his choice.

The Cardinals will likely let veteran first baseman Paul Goldschmidt leave as a free agent. This leaves a huge hole for the Cardinals to fill at first base. Bringing in players like Pete Alonso and Christian Walker was a big deal for St. He will be too expensive for Louis, so they may opt to acquire a cheaper veteran like Rizzo.

Rizzo hasn’t been the same lately, but he’s dealt with injuries fairly consistently over the past two seasons. If he can get healthy and stay healthy, he has the potential to turn into a .800+ OPS guy. Rizzo is a veteran asset and if he can improve again, he could return to the quality of player he was a few seasons ago. If the Cardinals can get him cheap, I’d love that.

2. RHP Clay Holmes, New York Yankees

Building a competitive team means building a dominant arena. Having a bad bullpen virtually eliminates your chances of becoming a World Series champion. Having a dominant bullpen helps boost the World Series odds tremendously. The Cleveland Guardians built their entire pitching staff around how dominant their bullpen will be in 2024, successfully narrowing games to seven or eight innings for most of the regular season. This happens by having more than one dominant reliever.

St. Louis already has a dominant closer in Ryan Helsley. Helsley will assume all immediate responsibilities for the foreseeable future. But the Cardinals would be much better off if they wanted to add an elite eighth inning pitcher like Clay Holmes from the Yankees.

Holmes was dominant in the first half of 2024 and earned a berth in the MLB All-Star Game. But he collapsed under pressure in the second half, losing his job recently and falling slightly down the rankings. He was heavily criticized by the media and fans in the Bronx, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility that he might not be interested in returning to the Bronx.

St. Adding St. Louis as a setup man would be a huge step in shortening games on the back end.

1. RHP Jack Flaherty, Los Angeles Dodgers

Looking at the free agent pool this summer, St. There is one name that stands out to St. Louis Cardinals fans: Jack Flaherty. Los Angeles Dodgers.

Flaherty started the year with the Detroit Tigers and was later dealt to the Dodgers in a buzzer beater deal at the deadline. He was great for both organizations, but his time with the Dodgers saw him take over as the team’s best player. Now heading into the World Series, Flaherty is tasked with going toe-to-toe with Yankees star Gerrit Cole.

Flaherty to St. Bringing him back to St. Louis would effectively give them the ace they need to compete with the best teams in the league. He proved to be an ace in the league last year.

But the problem here is that Flaherty’s St. His departure from Louis was not a clean one. Cardinals fans have been pretty hard on him the last few seasons, so St. I can’t blame him if he doesn’t want to go back to St. Louis. But it was the team that drafted him. It was the organization that trained him, so St. Louis probably holds a special place in her heart.

If the Cardinals want to compete, Flaherty is the guy they need to go after.