Pondering a full teardown and what the 2025 Cardinals would look like, Part II

Last time out, we looked at the lineup, and now it's time to talk pitching

Last time out, I looked at what a Cardinals post-teardown lineup might look like if aligned with my precious and very important preferences, and now it’s time to give the same treatment to the rotation along with a touch of bullpen discussion. Let me repeat that I don’t think such a deep strip-mining is likely mostly because the Cardinals seem to cherish the middle ground above all else. This isn’t necessarily unwise, depending on the specific circumstances, but it does make one prone to half-measures. What follows, then, is likely to be more drastic than what actually occurs. 

I’ll say at the outset that reshaping the rotation in light of the organizational reset and devotion of resources to rebuilding player-development infrastructure is, to my thinking, more complicated. That’s because there are many forking paths to get to where the Cardinals may or may not be going. I’m going to endorse one of those paths that, again, assumes the Cardinals’ front office leans into a deeper rebuild. 

Let’s start out by ticking off my preferred rotation for the start of 2025 or thereabouts: