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As for the MLB free agents I would be interested in Nola, Urias, Giolito, and maybe Montgomery. One or two out of that group would be good.
No need wasting time on Ohtani. His price will be way out of our league.
I hate the idea of a major free agent signing. With a white-hot passion.
The Cardinals over the past seven or eight years have almost certainly been the very worst team in the sport at evaluating free agents. Would anyone here dispute that point?
I guess a painful, morbid recap is necessary for those with an irrational need to watch the Redbird front office make the same mistake over and over and over and over again. I am sorry, but you are forcing me to do this. Forgive me.
M. Leake
D. Fowler
B. Cecil
G. Holland
A. Miller
L. Gregerson
S. Matz
W. ContrerasThat’s well north of $250 million, plus a pair of first round draft picks mind you, for what, a grand total of maybe six or seven WAR so far? (I lack the intestinal fortitude to do the math.) And we should throw Marcell Ozuna in there for good measure, because his disastrous acquisition obviously reflects the same exact problem, which is an utter inability to determine what major leaguers to add to the team. (It took no brains to “evaluate” Arenado and Goldschmidt.)
And one next-to-last thing. Those myriad pitching failures? They came when the team had a much better manager and much better pitching coach.
If the club is forced to get a free agent, make it someone from overseas like Mikolas or Final Boss, both of whom provided excellent value, particularly in their maiden season under the Arch. But here’s the thing: only get a guy if he’s had *real* success overseas.
Not someone who has a high spin rate or large fastball or unusual horizontal movement. Nonononono. I mean someone who has a low ERA. Because that actually wins baseball games.
Bob, I hear you on the poor track record on signings of late. I’d argue against throwing the baby out with the bath water, however. There have been plenty of successful free agent signings by other teams. I’d say the Cards have been overly cautious in free agency and went with the middling route when the big splash may have worked out fine.
All that aside, how would you recommend the Cards try to compete next year? I don’t think firing Marmol and the coaching staff suddenly gets you an extra 10-15 wins. There simply isn’t enough prime talent to compete here in St Louis, and the farm can’t backfill. That’s why people are hoping to grab a free agent or two to fill out the rotation.
“Definitely sign a top free-agent pitcher in the off-season…no doubt about it.”
Only if he comes with a money back guarantee. How much are DeGrom, Scherzer, Verlander, and Rodon being paid this year? Roughly $150,000,000 and for what? I invite anyone advocating a “top free agent pitcher” signing to tally their contributions this season. It ain’t pretty.
No. The thing to do is make multiple trades, and one Mikolas-type signing if there’s anyone like that available. The Cards are like an NFL team with four good running backs and a crap defensive line. You find a way to trade from your rather absurd surplus to acquire an essential need.
Our starting rotation next year is going to be really, really bad without getting 2 or 3 solid guys in here.
2024 Rotation
1) FA/trade
2) FA/trade
3) Miles
4) FA/trade
5) Matz/Libby/McGreevy/GraceffoThey definitely have the trade chips now between the overstock of position players as well as all of the prospects that they’ve added over the last 72 hours.
Bob, Wainwright and Carpenter both missed time while under sizable contracts. It happens all the time with pitchers. The Cardinals still need to target the top end free agent pitchers. Without a Nola or Urias type starting pitcher, 2024 won’t be pretty, also.
We need at least 2 starting pitchers this off season. We should be able to get by with 2 plus what we currently have. That buys us time until we have some prospects ready in the middle of the season.
Who would you like to see the Cards go for this winter? I would say Nola and Snell. Or in a Cardinal fantasy, Nola, Snell and Hader. Let’s face it, the odds of the Cardinals shelling out for Ohtani are anorexic and none.
1) Julio Urías (SP) Age: 26; 2022 WHIP: 0.960
2) Aaron Nola (SP) Age: 29; 2022 WHIP: 0.961
3) Shohei Ohtani (SP, DH) Age: 28; 2022 WHIP: 1.012
4) Luis Severino (SP) Age: 28; 2022 WHIP: 1.000
5) Clayton Kershaw (SP) Age: 34; 2022 WHIP: 0.942
6) Blake Snell (SP) Age: 30; 2022 WHIP: 1.203
7) Josh Hader (RP) Age: 28; 2022 WHIP: 1.280
8) Jordan Montgomery (SP) Age: 30; 2022 WHIP: 1.093
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