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jj-cf-stl
If Willson wants to stay, catch him 😜
How you like them apples Mo?Sooo, who do you want at 1B? Burly? To keep him away from the outfield grass?
Is Herrera at DH? Arenado and Winn left side. Who is at 2B? The rook and Saggese (UI)? Noot, Donny and Scott outfield.
Catcher production upgrade.
Shame we can’t pitch. Sell!I prefer Burleson as the designated DH. Herrera at CA. If they trade one of Donovan or Nootbaar, then you can move Herrera or Burleson to the outfield some. I don’t know. None of them seem exciting at all.
Herrera or Burleson should never play the OF. Burly needs to be at 1B. Herrera should be at DH.
*Disclaimer: The above statement is my opinion.
We spent the season trying to keep Ivan off the IL. He now has the opportunity to be catcher1. I’ll take the over on “red flags”.
I didn’t realize Burleson was so bad in the outfield stat-wise. I’ll have to adjust my expectations there.
Herrera said he wanted to catch so I assume they are gonna try it one last time after his surgery.
A friend and I were waxing nostalgic the other day recalling when major league baseball had.300 hitters and 20-game winners, and players rubbed dirt on their hands and bat handles.
And pitchers sometimes purposely scuffed baseballs instead of tossing out every ball that touched the ground. And home plate umpires wore mattresses on their chests. And you could get a decent grandstand seat for $1.50.Can you still get Cracker Jack at the ball park?
ZTR
If Herrera is moved back to c then we still need a rh outfielder.
An under-the-radar free agent RH outfielder we should pursue is Miguel Andujar. He’s been above-average for 3 years running, won’t cost a lot, and can backup 3B if needed.
Fangraphs has us at 25th, as SP. BR has us 29th. Could we improve in-house just from eliminating Fedde and Mikolas? It’s a low bar for their replacements. The major problem is Pallante was just as bad, which is three-fifths of the rotation.
I can’t see them trading Gray this offseason unless the goal is 100 losses.You are on a good point. They’d probably like to trade Gray to save money, but the replacement cupboard is bare.
What $ Bill could reclaim on Gray, would be minimal after they buy down the amount he was backloaded, and that amount could be lost at the gate if/when it crashes.
We kept the FA’s until the deadline this season to max attendance and for credibility as pretenders. On the pitching side we need to add, not shoot our own foot.I still think trading Gray to save money is ridiculous considering we have zilch to replace him with. I mean are the Cardinals so cash strapped that they are shooting for their first sub $100M payroll since 2010?
2010!
I mean are the Cardinals so cash strapped that they are shooting for their first sub $100M payroll since 2010?
They would’ve already been there had they not been blocked by NTC’s.
If the Cardinals get down to that $100 million mark in total salary, I will jump on the bandwagon about the DeWitt’s lining their pockets. They can have a competitive team in 2026 with a reasonable team salary without sacrificing the future.
Dewitt’s dream is probably trading Gray and only having to pay 5-7 million of his salary, then resigning Mikolas for $10 million
I doubt BDW will go the Lynn-Gibson route to fill out the rotation. We will start the season wobbly and paper thin. My guess is this year’s AA standouts will speed through AAA and come up to fill holes as the season wears on.
I cannot see Bloom rushing guys thru the minors to fill the Major League roster. He was clear that there will be no short cuts. He will bring players up when he believes they are ready to compete successfully at the major league level.
I think the Cardinals will sign one or two free agents to fill out the rotation. They just will not be headline grabbing signings. I expect these players may not be the type you build around. Rather, just fulfill the short-term need.
Re: 100mil budget
Hadn’t heard this one. I’ll take the over.
Cots shows 134.5mil as the 2025 year end 40man. We finished 2024 at 178.3mil, a “reset” of 43.8mil in one season.
Nado has no surplus value. Gray is heavily backloaded and might have minimal surplus value. Trade both of those this offseason and the budget barely moves for 2026.
Willson draws 18mil the next two seasons. Trade him and Bill still needs to shave 16.5mil to get to 100mil. That’s the total rebuild poor Bill is trying to avoid.
The average EOY player budget for the NL Central in 2025 was 131.56mil.
The average EOY player budget for the NL and AL Central in 2025 was 126.51mil.
My guess is poor Bills player budget is in this range by the end of 2026.
According to my calculations our current 2026 payroll stands at $83.6M, not including arbitration. If you generously assign $30M to the arbitration guys (some could be non tendered and some could be traded) that brings us to $113.6M.
If you then start subtracting some of the money owed to Arenado, Gray, and Contreras they could easily get under $100M. We assume they would sign cheap free agents to fill the gaps but why do we assume that?
2026 opening day rotation:
Matthew Liberatore
Michael McGreevy
Kyle Leahy
Andre Pallante
Curtis TaylorOn standby:
Quinn Matthews
Aaron Wilkerson
Brycen Mautz
Pete Hansen
Ixan HendersonWe assume they would sign cheap free agents to fill the gaps but why do we assume that?
I think they would sign someone just to avoid the grievance, like they did with Maton this past year.
Personally, I hope that they keep Sonny. I see no reason that this lower payroll will help anyone or anything except BDW’s wallet.
I think they would sign someone just to avoid the grievance, like they did with Maton this past year.
I’m not sure that signing Maton had anything to do with a grievance. I kind of doubt it.
Here are the rules on the MLB Payroll Grievance:
To avoid a Major League Baseball Player’s Association (MLBPA) grievance, a team’s payroll must be at least 150% of its revenue-sharing take; otherwise, the burden of proof shifts to the team to show they are using the funds to improve on-field performance. While there’s no specific dollar amount, a payroll of around $105 million has been cited as a benchmark for teams receiving a significant revenue-sharing amount.
MLB’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) requires that teams receiving revenue sharing use those funds to “improve its performance on the field”. The CBA mandates that a team’s payroll be at least 150% of the revenue-sharing money they receive. If a team falls below this 150% threshold, the team must prove they are spending the revenue-sharing dollars correctly, rather than the MLBPA having to prove the team is not. Failing to meet the 150% benchmark doesn’t automatically trigger a penalty, but it significantly increases a team’s risk of facing a grievance from the MLBPA, according to Front Office Sports and The New York Times.
I have no idea how much revenue sharing the Cardinals receive. According to reports I have read the A’s and Marlins receive $70M per year which requires their CBT payroll to be $105M (150% or revenue). If the same applied to the Cardinals it would be easy for their CBT number to be $105 even if their 40 man number was under $100.
Here are my predictions as to what the Cardinals will do this off-season.
I’m expecting quite a few trades. Specifically they trade Arenado, Gray, Contreras, Nootbar and Pages.
In return they get one controllable starting pitcher and several minor league lottery tickets.I think they will sign at least 3 or 4 free agents including a rebound candidate starting pitcher, a veteran reliever and a right hand hitting outfielder. The reason is two fold. One it gives the appearance to the casual fans that they are trying to be competitive (rolling eyes) and second it gives some of the younger guys more time in the minors. I then expect these free agents to be dealt at the trade deadline to free up roster space for some of those younger guys.
I think they would sign someone just to avoid the grievance, like they did with Maton this past year.
They didn’t sign Maton to avoid a grievance, they signed him because he was cheap.
The only teams that “have” to spend are the welfare recipients, but the Marlins thumbed their nose at the whole grievance thing this year because the last grievance that was filed eight years ago has led to no consequences.
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