Your new #1 starter: lance Lynn

[jagtrader]

Yeah, guys who can pitch 180 innings with a decent K rate don’t often come on 1-year deals. They’re locked into Mikolas and Matz for 2025. The other starters they add will likely have longer contracts. Even if he has a 5 ERA, running Lynn out there is better than Drewsem Hoffenrommerse.

[MinorLeagueGuy]

The Return of the 1-Seam Fastball

[TGantz]

It is yet another PR blunder by the Cardinals. It really doesn't look good to talk about how you're going to get serious talent and fill 3 positions. Then modified that (after very few moves were made around the league and zero baseball was played to justify) to 2.5 starters. Then your first signing is a washed up guy who has frustrated the biggest fanbases in MLB and had like a 6.00 ERA last year. This leaves everyone to wonder if he's the top signing of their offseason or if he's just a filler at the bottom of the rotation. It certainly doesn't look cool.

Buuut I'm super relieved that they made a move at all. He's gonna eat up innings. I think the clubhouse could benefit from having him around. This is EXACTLY the type of signing that the successful Cardinals teams used to make that people point to as a genuis move later on. Last year they had pretty much everything go wrong. Maybe surrounding themselves with some winners like Lynn and Descalso, they're trying to bring back a winning culture. They could have done that by HIRING FRIGGIN SKIP SCHUMAKER instead of Oli.

[Jocephus]

Free Lance Right-Hander Finds Gainful Employment
by Michael Baumann
November 20, 2023

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/free-lance- ... mployment/

[Radbird]

Free Lance Right-Hander Finds Gainful Employment
by Michael Baumann
November 20, 2023

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/free-lance- ... mployment/

So why are the Cardinals giving Lynn an eight-figure guarantee?

Two reasons: First of all, one year and $10 million is the absolute entry-level, Kirkland Signature-brand price of major league starting pitching these days. Last winter, Kyle Gibson, who had nothing resembling Lynn’s professional track record, got that from the Orioles, who would rather dump a bag of cash into Baltimore Harbor than spend it on major league free agents.

If Lynn is cooked, and that’s a distinct possibility for a 36-year-old who’s coming off his lowest average fastball velocity in six seasons, the Cardinals are only out the minimum bet required to play at this table. If he’s not cooked, they have the option to keep him around for another season at a similar price.

This makes sense to me. Let the Lynnings begin!

[KenBoyer14]

When I consider they gave $17 million for 1 year of Wainwrong (actually it was 2-3 years of that mess), $10 million for Lance Lynn seems like a Black Friday steal. Yeah, still only enough to compete at the bottom of a weak division, but DeWitts don't care about winning anyway.

Now if they go out and get Yamamato, I might revise this post. (Pretty sure I won't have to do that.) ^%$#, I hate what the DeWitts have done to this once-proud franchise.

[CardsofSTL]

Where's Medwick's Ghost when you need him?

[ghostrunner]

What haltz said here is how I’m going to judge it.

but this better be the half in two and a half

[pioneer98]

I did see the part about on pace to add at the deadline but for some reason I thought the number was lower.

I guess I’m frustrated by the order of operations on this given the trauma response of Cardinals hot stove. If they already had two better starters signed and then picked up Lynn, I’d be elated. Instead, I’m wondering why you needed to jump the line for Lynn.

Mo implied or outright said they got stuck the other way around last year. Hard to talk a bounce back guy into coming on board when there's no clear rotation spot open.

I know he did, I just think he’s doing his PR work because it’s not like the Cardinals had a Cy Young candidate in the rotation either.

Lynn himself might not have been available in a month but a rough approximation certainly would have

Maybe, although I'm not sure there's anyone as likely to take the ball 30 times and strike out 10/9 for such a small guarantee, but either way, the worst part of this situation they've put themselves in is that they kind of need to just sign whoever they can so I think cardsofstl makes a good point that Lynn was willing to sign so you sign him.

That's why this has been so frustrating for over a year because we could see this coming and why that Scherzer tidbit was also so frustrating because for a variety of factors it's not as easy as just signing guys - the market is competitive, 20 teams at least are trying to sign starters, and there are factors beyond money. It's hard to acquire good MLB starters and they need to do it three times in one offseason.

This is why getting a starter via trade makes a lot of sense. I doubt they have the guts to make a blockbuster. If they make a trade I for a starter I could see it going 2 ways:
1) Another cheap guy with some upside because that is 100% always the kind of guy they go for
2) Whatever the pitcher equivalent of an Arenado or Goldschmidt trade is. This would be the blockbuster option but I doubt they pull the trigger on a trade like this for a pitcher.
Hoping for option 2 but believing we will get option 1.

[jagtrader]

Fangraphs nailed it. They have one starter who can confidently be expected to pitch 100 innings. You can’t wait around and hope to do slightly better than Lynn if Lynn is willing to sign this deal. There are too many other additions to be made. Maybe if they didn’t take a half-a-decade off from addressing the pitching this wouldn’t be their situation.