The St. Louis Cardinals missed the postseason for the second straight year after finishing 2024 with an 83-79 record. Now, they will look to focus their energy on player development.
This means a rebuild is coming, and it could begin as soon as the World Series reaches its conclusion. Key players will be traded, and the team will cut costs.
However, Katie Woo of The Athletic noted that St. Louis could keep a veteran starter around for 2025. Kyle Gibson has a $12 million club option for next season.
For this to happen, the Cardinals would have to trade a few members of their current rotation. This includes Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz, both of whom performed poorly in 2024.
Matz has some value as a starter and reliever and could be dealt, but Mikolas is making significant money and will be hard to trade.
Gibson started 30 games for the Cardinals this year. In those 30 starts, the 37-year-old right-hander went 8-8 with a 4.24 ERA while pitching 169 2/3 innings.
He could still be a viable source of veteran innings for St. Louis next year if he’s retained. All St. Louis would have to do is pick up his club option in the coming days after the World Series.