St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak didn't mince words when asked about the team's offseason needs a few months back. They plan to pursue pitching, and the starting rotation needs quite a bit of work.
The Cardinals traded away Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery at the deadline. Adam Wainwright will retire. There are far more many questions than answers on this Cards pitching staff.
With that in mind, St. Louis will be in the market for aces like Aaron Nola. In fact, Nola has already been connected to the Cardinals via free agency. Per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cards will pursue Nola as well as Sonny Gray, among others. They need at least three new starting pitchers, after all.
Aaron Nola struggles for Phillies in Game 6
While there's still time to turn his outing around, Nola gave up three runs in the second inning and drew the ire of fans in the city of brotherly love. Nola could very well be making his last start as a Phillie if the Diamondbacks are able to come back from their current deficit and win the NLCS, but we're a long ways away from that.
Nola is a capable pitcher at his best, but his regular-season numbers left much to be desired. Nola made 32 starts but had an ERA of 4.46. That's not what the Cards or any team would expect from a top-of-the-rotation talent.
Yet, the price tag for the 30-year-old remains high. Reliable pitching is tough to come by, and no team knows this like the Cardinals. Ending his Phillies career on a rough note would benefit St. Louis more than fans might think. It would perhaps dissuade Dave Dombrowski from giving Nola a blank check, and instead open up a rough negotiating process that would hurt the Phils chances of keeping their ace.
That's when the Cardinals could swoop in, and give Nola what he's worth. One bad outing would not define his career.
