Report: Cardinals have checked in on Rays' Archer

The St. Louis Cardinals don't appear to be putting their eggs in one basket this offseason, as they continue to show interest in Tampa Bay Rays closer Alex Colome and have also asked about the cost of ace Chris Archer, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The club has been busy in its pursuit of Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton but has been linked to free-agent starters Yu Darvish and Jake Arrieta, so it would make sense for the Cardinals to check in on Archer.

Starting rotation aside, St. Louis is in desperate need of help in the back end of the bullpen, and Colome has been on the team's radar after it cut ties with Trevor Rosenthal and Seung Hwan Oh.

Archer's name has been in trade rumors dating back to last winter, and it's appearing more likely the Rays will deal their cost-friendly ace. An argument can be made to keep the 29-year-old and wait until the season, though, as he is coming off an uncharacteristically poor second half, pitching to a 4.27 ERA with 14 home runs allowed in 15 starts.

Archer is owed $14 million over the next two seasons and then carries $9 million and $11 million team options in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Colome is coming off a strong season as the Rays' closer. He converted a league-high 47 saves despite seeing an unusual dropoff in strikeouts (58 in 66 2/3 innings compared to 71 in only 55 2/3 innings in 2016). He is arbitration-eligible and under team control until 2021.