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If the Cardinals are going to be on the hook for most of his salary anyway why not let him play 3rd base 1 more year?
Who is he blocking? Not Gorman.
Saggesse can play 2b, Donovan to the of because surely Walker will spend next year at AAA.
1b Contreras
2b Saggesse
SS Wynn
3b Arenado
C Pages / ?
If Donovan
Cf Scott II
Rf Burleson / Herrera
DH Herrera ) BurlesonNootbar of
Crooks or Pozo
Fermin
ChurchI guess at some point Wetherholt comes up hopefully?
I don’t know – that lineup won’t really scare anyone.
Reminiscent of a lineup of which the two primary threats were Greg Jeffries and Todd Zeile. I can’t recall too many opposing pitchers that flinched.
I mean, I was ready to move on from Arenado before this year but- after seeing what we (don’t) have to replace home with and considering that the Cards will be paying most of his salary to move him – at this point just keep him I guess…
I’d like to think there will be a trade and / or FA signing for a rh power hitting outfielder but that probably means one of Nootbar or Donovan is gone.
I’m not willing to die on the above roster hill. It was just a late night exercise in trying to read the tea leaves for 2026.
If Mo was staying i would put money on Wetherholt at 3B on opening day. Don’t know about that with Bloom. Arenado seems the only other possibility.
As to the outfield we could use more functional CF and corner. It might not take huge money to upgrade over what we have.
My money would be on Wetherholt being the starter at 2B on opening day. Winn will be at SS for years to come.
Either Arenado or Gorman will probably be traded. They don’t fit on the roster together. The one that stays will be at 3B. Donnie will probably be in LF.
I wouldn’t get too worked up about wether the lineup in 2026 is going to be frightening to opponents or not because we already that it won’t be. It will probably look a lot like this year. I don’t see many major additions until some of the big contracts (Nado, Gray, Contreras) are off the books.
With Gorman playing third everyday for awhile it was obvious how much worse defensively he is than Arenado. And his bat has not progressed either. I figure he will likely be dealt this off season as teams will at least want a guy that maybe can get better. Thus Arenado will be back at third, with the club hoping they can make a deal for him at the deadline.
Didn’t Goold supposedly say a few weeks ago that the Redbirds will not be spending in free agency?
Yes he and every other columnist has been saying this for quite some time.
Gorman has enough reps in ML to establish that he is a marginal bench player on anything put a threadbare roster. On a bad roster he could play 2B or 3B until other arrangements could be made. He is, IMO, a rung better than the dumpster dive versions of that guy who are always available every winter. Given the water under the bridge, nobody is going to obtain him as a guy who might get better.
I’m sure there is a long line of GMs out there desperate for a .210 hitter and mediocre fielder. That is if the bottom of the barrel has not already been over-scraped.
Gorman and Walker both are victims of the optimized swing approach to hitter development. ML staffs learn to pitch around that swing. All they can do is try taking more pitches hoping pitchers will have to put one in their wheelhouse. But pitchers will just risk giving them the occasional walk. Its not like they will be putting them on ahead of a fearsome masher. When an optimized swing is all you got, it is easily nerfed by ML opposition. Hopefully, guys coming up like Josh Baez will not have the same fatal flaw.
Sometimes people overthink things.
Is pitch recognition not the most important skill a hitter can have?
I know they have a microscopically ridiculously small fraction of a second to decide to swing or not.
The hitting skill set / reflexes / hand-eye coordination of a professional baseball player is exceedingly rare and even more so for a big leaguer – but – you either have this God given talent or you do not.
To me, if you have the skill set AND you practice, study opposing pitchers, and take care of your body – hitting at this level seems to be as much a state of mind and confidence thing as much as anything else.
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