photo: Masyn Winn and Jordan Walker (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
To begin our annual year-end series, we ranked the Top 10 stories affecting the St. Louis Cardinals in 2023. The dominating story was the dramatic fall of the club from 2022 division winner to 2023 last-place finisher, followed by the resulting July player sell-off and the challenging conclusion to Adam Wainwright’s career.
The Cardinal Nation’s Top 10 St. Louis Cardinals Stories of 2023
To close out the three-article series, it is time for my annual predictions of the top story lines that may grab the largest headlines throughout this New Year of 2024.
The top story is customarily the easiest and most logical one – the results of the team on the field during the upcoming season. However, that is assumed so will be excluded from these predictions.
As I compiled the list and set the rankings, I considered the staying power of the story – how long it might remain in the headlines – as well as its potential short- and long-term impact – both on the 2024 Cardinals and the organization’s future.
Without further ado, here are my projected top St. Louis Cardinals stories of 2024. As always, your comments are encouraged at The Cardinal Nation’s free message board.
- The “Over the Hill Gang”
The Cardinals’ major changes to try to correct the 2023 nosedive are the signing of three veteran free agent starting pitchers. The intent is to get more quality innings from the rotation and put less pressure on the bullpen.
One associated risk taken is that the Cardinals now have one of the oldest rotations in the Major Leagues, backed up primarily by unproven youths.
(ages as of Opening Day 2024)
- Lance Lynn – 36 years, 10 months
- Kyle Gibson – 36 years, four months
- Miles Mikolas – 35 years, six months
- Sonny Gray – 34 years, three months
- Steven Matz – 32 years, nine months
Without the veteran leadership of the retired Wainwright, perhaps the new trio, led by Gray with his three-year contract, can help fill that void.
The offense has most of its same players back from 2023 and is expected to continue to be a strength of the club. So, as the retooled (and long in the tooth or very experienced, depending on your perspective) rotation goes, so may the 2024 Cardinals team.
- Lame duck manager
In just two years at the helm of the Cardinals, manager Oliver Marmol has experienced extreme highs (93 wins and the division title in 2022) and deep lows (91 losses in 2023, the worst finish in 33 years).
Marmol’s original three-year contract concludes with the upcoming season. There is a wide range of possible outcomes for what may come next.
If the 37-year-old is offered an extension, or perhaps does not even finish the 2024 schedule, will be a direct result of whether the team returns to 2022 form or delivers more of the same from 2023. The longer that remains in question, the longer Marmol’s lame duck status may continue.
- Sorting out pitching prospects
There seem to be several motives for the Cardinals’ decision to bring in starting pitchers Gray, Lynn and Gibson, including making a quick, but short-term fix that did not break the bank. It also buys the organization time. In the case of the latter two signees, the team issued one-year contracts with 2025 options.
The Cardinals can use 2024 to try to determine which (if any) of their pitching prospects closest to St. Louis can ready themselves to step into the 2025 rotation. Incumbents with Major League experience include Matthew Liberatore, Zack Thompson and July trade acquisition Drew Rom. Other prospects added late in the 2023 season include Tekoah Roby, Adam Kloffenstein and Sem Robberse. Homegrown candidates include Gordon Graceffo, Michael McGreevy and Tink Hence.
Nine pitchers, especially starters, are a lot to sort through, but it needs to be done during the upcoming season. Otherwise, stopgaps Lynn and Gibson (or the like) could remain part of the 2025 picture, as well.
- Going for the Gold(y)
Paul Goldschmidt is an anchor of the Cardinals and I don’t intend to disrespect the 2022 National League Most Valuable Player by making this story number four. However, I suspect no drama or conflict is coming.
The 36-year-old’s contract is set to expire at the end of the 2024 season, but perhaps unlike his manager, Goldschmidt is not on shaky ground. The Cardinals have a history of working out spring multi-year contract extensions and I expect the first baseman will come to terms with the club on a contract that will enable him to finish his career with St. Louis.
- Walker and Winn in year two
While Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras aren’t likely to be going anywhere, they are all on the other side of 30.
Improvement from the Cardinals offense in 2024 could be focused on a pair of 21-year-olds who will report to spring camp as presumed starters at their respective positions. Right fielder Jordan Walker and shortstop Masyn Winn have been closely linked since they were drafted in the first and second rounds, respectively, in 2020.
However, their to-do lists for 2024 are almost opposite. Walker needs to improve his defense while Winn needs to show that his Triple-A offense can be carried over to the highest level.
The outfielder has most of a year with St. Louis to build upon, but the shortstop may feel more pressure this spring after a very slow late-2023 debut with the bat.
In the short term, if the two can truly break out, it would be the kind of performances that could help turn a borderline club into a contender. For the long haul, it could enable them to evolve into roles as part of the next generation of team leaders.
This article concludes our annual series for another year, but we will be back in 12 months to see how we did and start the process all over again. Please join us!
Related articles:
- The Cardinal Nation’s Top 10 Stories of 2023
The Cardinal Nation’s Top 10 St. Louis Cardinals Stories of 2023
- Revisiting TCN’s Top St. Louis Cardinals Stories of 2023 Predictions
Revisiting TCN’s Top St. Louis Cardinals Stories of 2023 Predictions
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Brian Walton can be reached via email at brian@thecardinalnation.com. Follow Brian on Twitter.
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