During his retirement ceremony, right-hander Adam Wainwright made a bold claim, saying that he couldn't wait to see confetti flying at Busch Stadium after the St. Louis Cardinals win the 2024 World Series.
That's still quite far away, and a lot of work needs to be done for St. Louis to return to their winning ways next season, especially after finishing in last place in the NL Central with a record of 71-91. But it's always possible that Wainwright could have been onto something.
Wainwright is of course the eternal optimist. But there are some major moves that need to be made for the Cardinals to win their 12th title.
The team will need to be aggressive in their search for pitching, and they also need to spend some money, more so than they have in recent years.
Fortunately, the free agent market is full of options to choose from, and there are also some pitchers that could become available in trades. In this piece, we'll focus on free agents.
St. Louis has three rotation spots to fill this winter after their starting staff failed them in 2023.
Here are three free agents the Cardinals could sign in order to win the World Series in 2024
Sonny Gray
It already appears as though the Cardinals have begun to zero in on their top offseason target.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY, St. Louis will "strongly pursue" Sonny Gray this winter.
Gray posted a 2.79 ERA this past season with the Twins and guided them to the postseason for the first time since 2020. The Twins eliminated the Toronto Blue Jays in the Wild Card Series thanks to Gray's dominant outing in Game 2.
The veteran right-hander is set to turn 34 this offseason, and that may prevent him from receiving a long-term deal. However, he'll still be highly sought after this winter.
Gray formerly pitched with the Cincinnati Reds, so he is familiar with the NL Central and Busch Stadium. His ERA this year was the second-best in the American League and should garner him some consideration for the Cy Young Award.
He also is a strikeout machine, having averaged nine per game this season. This is what St. Louis needs in their rotation in order to have a chance to attain postseason success for the first time since their run to the NLCS in 2019.
Gray would certainly qualify as the team's ace if signed.
Jordan Montgomery
If the Cardinals are looking for top-level pitching, another name they could look into is Jordan Montgomery, the man who has turned himself into the ace of the Texas Rangers as they tear through the best teams in the American League this postseason.
Montgomery began the 2023 season in St. Louis after being traded from the Yankees at the 2022 deadline. Less than a year later, St. Louis shipped him off to Texas with Chris Stratton in exchange for Tekoah Roby, Thomas Sagesse, and John King.
The veteran left-hander posted a 3.20 ERA in 32 starts and won 10 games with the Rangers and Cardinals. He owns a 2.08 ERA this postseason, which means his stock is rising. However, the Cardinals have made it a point to increase their payroll this winter, and adding Montgomery on a long-term deal would allow them to do just that.
The 30-year-old has been lights out this postseason and the Rangers seem to be pointed towards the World Series for the first time since 2011. He won't come cheap, but the Cardinals now know that in order to contend, they will need to spend some money to improve their pitching staff.
Aaron Nola
Aaron Nola is another pitcher who is having a very strong postseason. He is also somebody that is already on the Cardinals radar, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The 30-year-old owns a 1.42 ERA this postseason. He helped pitch the Philadelphia Phillies into the NLDS and guided them to a win in Game 3 of the series before eliminating the Atlanta Braves.
His regular season was less than stellar, as despite winning 12 games, he posted an ERA of 4.46. Still, he recorded 202 strikeouts and is pitching like the ace he has been for the majority of his career this October.
Nola is also somebody the Cardinals are quite familiar with. It was Nola who pitched a gem in Game 2 of last year's Wild Card Series to eliminate the Cardinals and end the careers of Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina.
Nola is expected to receive a massive payday this offseason. He and the Phillies were unable to reach an agreement on a contract extension earlier this year.
Several teams will be in the running for Nola, and the Cardinals can only hope that they'll be able to compete with some of the bigger-market teams in the Nola sweepstakes.