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Surely DeWitt can cough up a few $’s for a couple decent bullpen arms….whats the projected payroll next year like $45 million tops.
If they want to get better they need at a minimum, a top of the line Starting Pitcher and 2-3 relievers.
There Offense I am not quite sure….they have some good young building blocks for the first time in a while with Bernal at Catcher, Weatherholt at 2nd, Walker in OF, Josh Baez in the OF. I can see Raniel Rodriguez at 1B in the future or Bernal at first and Rodriguez at catcher. Winn I see as mainly the #9 hitter with his defense unless his offense picks up. Then you would have Burlesson, Herrera and Church and I guess Blaze Jordan to round out the line up.
I would think Pete’s development at AA or AAA will be interesting to follow next year as I see him as pretty key for 2028 in CF.
But at some point they need top of the rotation Starteing pitchers either thru development or sign at least 1 in free agency and they have to improve their Bullpen, especially the right hand side.
Right or wrong, I see the Cardinals trying to develop their own top of rotation guy rather than singing a free agent.
The last FA pitcher they signed that was worth his salt was named Chris Carpenter and they got him for $200K. I don’t foresee anything close to that happening real soon.
They got lucky with Carpenter. He overcame his injuries and became a a true top of rotation pitcher.
They sure did. Good fortune smiled on the Cardinals regarding quite a few players from that era. Pujols, Molina and Wainwright were all outstanding bargains early in their careers.
Padres leading Cubs 7-0 after 5. They were trying to get by for cheap. If only they had spent a measly 100M$, or so, for pitching, things might be looking different for them now. They need to get serious during this coming offseason.
I’m going to stop posting this evening. I’m getting nastier and nastier by the minute.
Right or wrong, I see the Cardinals trying to develop their own top of rotation guy rather than singing a free agent.
I think BDW figured out buying guys only works if he is willing to eat a contract that isn’t working. Which he’s not.
Shane Bieber would be an interesting target as well. He’s a much greater injury risk than May, but he has a Cy Young to his name and based on past performance, perhaps a higher ceiling than May.
Maybe I’m being too optimistic here but the May signing, coupled with the Granillo/Soriano swap earlier this season, really demonstrates the new FO’s ability to evaluate pitching talent. Ultimately, whoever they sign, I do hope that we take on another SP project next season so we can leverage that capability into some more prospects at the deadline. All we have to lose is BDW’s money!
There is only a couple free agent starting pitchers I could see being a good fit and those have some question marks, but I have real doubts DeWitt is going to spend any money on the team especially for next year with a lockout looming.
So it may come down to Matthews/Cijntje/Doyle developing into a #1 or a #2 type starter by the 2028 season.
I know that system development continues to be the objective, but I hope that 26 games behind is not going to be considered an acceptable result next year.
Would 14 games behind the brew crew be acceptable?
Winning over 100 games isn’t easy and it doesn’t always equate to success in the postseason either as we know well. I mean the 3 times we did it ourselves in the last 22 year gave us no fall classic hardware.
They need to get the pitching developed more than anything. It appears we have some hitting coming soon. Hopefully not in 2028 due to a stoppage.
Whenver I see this guy’s name I always think of that nice looking blonde receptionist who couldn’t speak a word of English, but could really demonstrate some nice dance moves…”Bialystok & Bloom…Bialystok & Bloom”…Zero really thought the world of that girl.
The things I would like to see happen this off-season:
1. Trade Ivan Herrera for the best possible MLB SP, 3B or CF.
2. Trade Andre Pallante for the best possible MLB or MLB-ready SP, 3B or CF that we didn’t get in the Herrera trade.
3. Sign a guy better than I project Pallante to be for the rotation…which is a 4/5 type. So a 3/4 guy like May was. Maybe even May himself, if he would accept a 1 or 2 year deal.
4. Sign at least one decent reliever.
The net increase of salary here would probably be in the $10-15M range, depending on the guys signed and what you get for Herrera and Pallante. I think it would at least get you within spitting distance of making the playoffs next year, which would be a nice springboard into 2028.
I imagine the FO hopes 40 HR hitting Jesus Baez will be ready for a ML look some time later next season. It sounds like they are thinking 3B, which is a logical spot for him. They aren’t going to block it.
At Memphis or Springfield we have Doyle, Cijntje, Franklin, Hjerpe and there is also Dobbins, Fitts, Roby and Fajardo. Guys to compete this spring and guys ready to filter up later. We should have better rotation depth and more guys to try in the pen. I doubt they will sign a substantial starter.
Outfield is the soft spot, especially CF. But Baez is unproven and Walker was getting sideways all second half and not doing anything about it. We could use outside help there and a couple pen guys who might have good years but could easily be let go. Who they might trade off the roster or from the system depends on the value of whoever they are targeting. I think they will approach it that way rather than what can we get for this guy or that guy.
If they feel compelled to trade Burleson, I think they will want a top of rotation guy in return. It’s hard to imagine anyone trading a bonafide rotation #1 or #2. But I guess it’s not impossible.
We could bring in a veteran 3B for one year while Jesus Baez plays at AAA. He wouldn’t be blocked.
We currently do not have a legitimate starting caliber 3B or CF ready for the big leagues next year. I appreciate guys like Saggese, Jordan, Church, and Scott but they are bench players in my opinion. Same with Fermin. He is a bench player.
FWIW, I agree with you, gscottar. Bench players on a playoff team, but maybe short-term starters on a non-contender.
We could bring in a veteran 3B for one year while Jesus Baez plays at AAA. He wouldn’t be blocked.
We currently do not have a legitimate starting caliber 3B or CF ready for the big leagues next year. I appreciate guys like Saggese, Jordan, Church, and Scott but they are bench players in my opinion. Same with Fermin. He is a bench player.
The 3B could even be a two year player. I’m not even sure who would be feasible, but for one of Herrera or Pallante we should have a shot to get someone reasonable. Maybe they could be the platoon bat with Jordan or Saggese.
I totally agree about all the bench guys. They have some limited value, but they aren’t starting caliber, let alone building pieces.
Like I’ve said before, you can have one dead weight position and still field a winning team. If you’ve got 2 or 3, forget it. This team has 3, sometimes 4 or 5 dead weight spots in the lineup and that’s just a huge burden to overcome. They need to figure out LF, and find a 3B, CF, and make sure there’s enough bat for DH. Winn is a bit fragile at SS. That’s plenty of stuff to work on in the next few years, the pitching side notwithstanding.
If you kept 9/10 of the fluid roster we currently play and go get one more good solid starter who can last 7, and two bullpen arms with a decent track record who don’t walk people or throw the ball to the backstop once every outing, we’d be winning about 8 more games a year, maybe 10. That’s playoff territory.
What would that cost? 15M?
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