The St. Louis Cardinals are rebuilding around their young core. By now, we all know this – especially a fanbase hungry for a winner. Nonetheless, that same fanbase is understanding, and arguably some of the more intelligent baseball fans in the country. They know that the 2024 core of Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt and more wasn’t going to cut it. Moving on from one, if not both those players was the right call.
However, if there’s been one area of concern for the Cardinals, it’s pitcher development. There’s a reason the St. Louis farm system underwent a bit of an overhaul this winter, and it’s due to their lack of a homegrown ace. Yes, Adam Wainwright turned out okaya few decades back, but the likes of Jack Flaherty look better elsewhere. Rather than calling up the next Wainwright – or another All-Star caliber pitcher – the Cardinals are forced to spend from an already-lite payroll.
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Thankfully for St. Louis, there was one affordable ace on the market this winter in 23-year-old Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki. Sasaki can only be signed with international bonus pool money, and due to his amateur status, will not be taking home a Yoshinobu Yamamoto-sized deal. Because of this, he has no shortage of suitors. Per Sasaki’s agent Joel Wolfe, Sasaki is taking a slightly different stance than Japanese stars he has represented in the past.
“He doesn’t seem to look at it in the typical way that other players do,” Wolfe said. “He has a more long-term, global view of things. I believe Roki is also very interested in the pitching development and how a team is going to help him get better, both in the near future and over the course of his career. He didn’t seem overly concerned about whether a team had Japanese players on their team or not, which, in the past, when I represented Japanese players, that was sometimes an issue. That was never a topic of discussion.”
The Cardinals don’t make the cut, especially if Sasaki is prioritizing pitcher development and organizational structure. Chaim Bloom is taking over for Mozeliak next winter, and the Cards farm system has to prove itself as fully functional. And, as previously mentioned, pitcher development isn’t exactly a strength of this group.
Mozeliak and St. Louis never really had a chance, and compared to Sasaki’s five finalists – Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Padres and Rangers, per Ken Rosenthal – the Cards have a lot of catching up to do as an organization.
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