St. Louis Cardinals
There was no small amount of joy in Braves Country this season as the Cardinals' imploded in on themselves. Expected to be significant favorites to compete in the NL Central in 2024, the Cardinals' devil magic final ran out and their rotation got exposed in a big way in route to a last place finish in the Central with a 71-91 record.
Expectations in St. Louis are too high for a longer term rebuild. The Cardinals have the money, an offense that should be good in the short-term, and a very clearly defined need to add multiple starting pitchers. That may mean that the names at the top of the market (Ohtani, Snell, Montgomery) could be out of reach, but a guy like Gray who won't cost as much looks like a logical choice.
Ultimately, the Cardinals have a ton of choices here and once they sign that first arm, it will dictate the rest of the offseason. They have already been connected to Aaron Nola which, if that were happen, would likely take them out of the chase for Gray.
With the Cardinals' familiarity with Gray from his days with the Reds, their level of interest in him should be well-known soon. Cardinals' interest typically does get leaked and Gray is a big enough name to get asked about. However, it isn't hard to connect the dots here and it is likely that St. Louis is going to be in the hunt for him.