Cardinals urged to hold onto rotation ace despite starting rebuild

The St. Louis Cardinals finished the 2024 season with an 83-79 record and missed the postseason for the second consecutive year.

Now, the team looks prepared to enter a rebuild, which means they could trade away players on expensive contracts to cut payroll.

However, SportsGrid made a list of things St. Louis needs to do during their rebuild and listed holding onto staff ace Sonny Gray as an important step.

"Gray's 2024 performance proved he's still a top-of-the-rotation arm. Trading him would dismantle the progress they've made in solidifying their pitching.

The Cardinals finished 20th in ERA and 23rd in opponent batting average, so Gray's presence is vital. Instead of cutting costs, they should focus on strengthening their rotation around Gray."

The Cardinals likely won't be super active in terms of adding free agents and other players to their roster. But even if they rebuild, it makes sense for them to keep Gray around.

Gray didn't pitch like the ace he was in 2023, but he was still solid and proved capable of leading a rotation. He struck out 203 batters and gave St. Louis 166 1/3 innings in his 28 starts during the regular season while also winning 13 games.

St. Louis needs somebody to lead the rotation, even if they decide to rebuild. And if a rebuild is the direction they choose to go, then they should at the very least try to avoid another 90-loss season, which they had in 2023.

We'll see how they attack this process and who will ultimately be traded.

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