The St. Louis Cardinals are a team that could use a legit ace at the top of the rotation.

That could be said about a good chunk of the teams around the league. When it comes to the Cardinals, they have young pieces all over the place and elite pitching prospects at the top of the farm system just waiting for their chance in the bigs. As the Cardinals wait for their top prospects, like Liam Doyle, Tanner Franklin, Jurrangelo Cijntje, Brandon Clarke and Tekoah Roby to reach the majors, they could use a veteran to help carry the load in the meantime. But that doesn't mean that all speculation out there makes sense. For example, CBS Sports listed St. Louis as a potential landing spot for two-time All-Star Freddy Peralta.

"No. 5. RHP Freddy Peralta," CBS Sports' Mike Axisa wrote. "Potential landing spots: Braves, Cardinals, Cubs. It has been a roller coaster year for Peralta, who flopped with the Mets, rebounded with the Rays, then faced the Brewers (his former team) in the World Series and lost. The post-deadline stint with Tampa salvaged Peralta's free agent year. They made several adjustments, most notably raising his arm angle and getting him to pitch exclusively from the stretch, and the result was a livelier fastball and also better command."

What Should St. Louis Do This Winter?

The Cardinals need a veteran starter, preferably towards the top of the rotation, but St. Louis isn't likely to go out and hand out a nine-figure deal this winter. Right now, Spotrac has Peralta's projected market value set at just over $201 million across seven years.

Peralta is great. He had a 3.25 ERA in 10 starts down the stretch with the Tampa Bay Rays and he has a 3.71 career ERA in nine big league seasons. But St. Louis isn't at a point in its rebuild just yet to go out and give a deal like that. Even if his deal ends up being half of the projection at just over $100 million, that doesn't seem likely for St. Louis just yet.

The other two teams mentioned for Peralta were the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Cubs. The Braves won 94 games and the Cubs won 89 games. St. Louis won 77 games and isn't one pitcher away from contending for a World Series title.

So, while it would make a lot of sense for St. Louis to add a pitcher, Peralta isn't the guy right now. Someone like Shane Bieber or even Nick Martinez would make a lot more sense at this point in St. Louis' rebuild.