This is how the Brewers-Kolten-Wong stuff started yesterday, man. Talk of a connection, confirmation of interest, and escalating quickly from there.
That is to say, this suggests to me that the Cardinals have actually been in recent negotiations with the second best starting pitcher remaining on the market, Jake Odorizzi:
Jake Odorizzi is a starter the #Cardinals have interest in, can confirm, after largely being absent from the pitchers’ market earlier this winter.
With Arenado, Wainwright aboard and Molina soon in place, #stlcards know their payroll room. https://t.co/XZrVfKsZ4i
— Derrick S. Goold (@dgoold) February 4, 2021
In addition to having their payroll situation understood, it would make a lot of sense for the Cardinals to go for Odorizzi right now. They’ve got one more year of Wainwright and Molina, they are paying zero in salary for Nolan Arenado (who could (but won’t) opt out after this year), and eventually you start projecting decline for Paul Goldschmidt.
Oh, also? The NL Central will probably stink. Good time to push in, and the Cardinals could easily use another starter.
Odorizzi, 30, is one of these guys who has long been loved and coveted by teams that could see his potential just waiting there for a breakout (Cubs were in on him many times back when he was with the Rays), and it finally came after a velocity bump in 2019 with the Twins. He was injured last year, but the expectation among pursuers remains that he could be very, very good over the next few years. His contract will reflect that – I suspect it’ll be a lot more than many are expecting – and he’s going to make an impact on the team he joins next.
Stay tuned.