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I’d rather have a prospect pitch those innings too, unless Mikolas pitches in line with his $18.5 million salary. Then I’d rather see him help win the Central this coming season
As long as the subject is pitchers, legend has it that Red once walked out to the mound to tell Bob to IBB the next hitter and Bob replied, “I can put him on with one pitch.”
I still wonder who’s going to replace Kittredge. He was key last year. There are still some good relief pitchers on the market as free agents. Why wait for the Arenado fiasco to play out to make a move or two?
The problem with trying to solve a relief issue is that bullpen pitchers are highly volatile. You never know if a guy will be good or not, as they only pitch maybe 50 innings. So making a move to shore up what he did is not a sure thing. We could have the 2025 “Kittredge” on the roster right now, but will not know until things get under way.
They hedged their bets last season by signing both Kittredge and Middleton.
Proven major leaguers. Hope they do the same this season with a couple of signees on 1 year contracts.Zero in on right handed relievers who pitched well in 2024 and are willing to sign a one year contract with a club option for 2026. Maybe the market needs to move more toward the opening of ST, when some of these guys just want to land a job for 2025.
bccran, you know you are getting desperate when you have to try to defend the record of Matz, especially his time in STL which is which has been atrocious. He and Brett Cecil are two of Mo’s worst signings and that is saying something.
I still wonder who’s going to replace Kittredge.
My guess is it will be Ryan Fernandez. He makes the perfect salary as a setup man for a rebuilding club.
They hedged their bets last season by signing both Kittredge and Middleton.
Proven major leaguers. Hope they do the same this season with a couple of signees on 1 year contracts.They were trying to win in 2024. That doesn’t appear to be the highest priority in 2025.
If they can move Arenado they might add a cheap free agent reliever. Otherwise, the roster is pretty much set.
Bill told Mo if he has roster needs, fill them in the Arenado trade 😉
Kidding aside, to take on Arenado’s contract, other clubs may insist we take salary back (Stroman). Maybe it’s 2/10mil on a reliever with the next club? Flexibility now, adds wiggle room if a deal does present itself.
Last minute I could see them adding, especially if a few of our arms have unexpected issues. It appears the patience to let this play out all offseason, has won the day. Maybe someone they like falls thru the cracks near opening day, about maxes my opening day hopes of adding.
When Marx came back from injury in September, he had a WHIP of 0.960 in
6 appearances. He has talent. He just needs to somehow stay healthy.I know and maybe this year he’ll stay healthy but – are you willing to bet on it? Not me. Missouri is the ‘show me’ state after all.
If Matz stays healthy, Noot stays healthy, Contreras stays healthy, Gorman rebounds, Walker rebounds, Mikolas rebounds, Arenado rebounds (if he is here), Pallante blossoms, McGreevy blossoms, and a few other things happen it could be a great season.
Sounds like a lot of hope and not much reality.
Not to one-up you, but what if it falls together next season, just as poorly as it fell apart last season? There’s a chunk of the roster left. Just one hot month early…TBD
Last season was a winning season. Just didn’t win quite enough. You can thank Goldy and Arenado for that.
Let’s examine the odds of what GScottar put out there:
Matz Stays Healthy – His past shows he is hurt most seasons and he’s extremely unlikely to clear 120 innings. But, Matz is nearly irrelevant to the equation in my opinion. Whether he is hurt or not doesn’t change anything. It would be nice if he could be an effective bullpen option in my opinion, but he’s not needed.
Noot Stays Healthy – Evidence again is against this happening. He says he’s focused on it, but I don’t think this is something that’s likely to be helped much by focusing. It could happen, but odds are we’re going to get 350-500 at bats.
Contreras Stays Healthy – He’s generally been healthy throughout his career and now that he’s not a catcher and getting hit with the bat while trying to frame pitches, this one feels likely. This is one of the main reasons he is now 1B/DH.
Gorman Rebounds – Gorman has proven he can hit for stretches of time and that he can be terrible for stretches. I’m not sure what the odds are here. He’s probably better than last year, but I’m not sure he’ll be good enough to be impactful.
Walker Rebounds – I’m actually fairly confident this one is going to happen. I’m just not sure if we’ll see it right away or not. Walker dominated in the minors prior to last season and was a very good major league hitter his first season. Yes, we have a whole season of evidence against him last season. I don’t think that was the real Walker though.
Mikolas Rebounds – This one seems extremely doubtful. Mikolas doesn’t have the stuff he did his first couple seasons. I’m just hoping he equals last season and provides more than 10 quality starts. Being as good as last season would be fine though.
Arenado Rebounds – Maybe a little. But probably not by much. His swing is too slow now so he’s not pulling the ball like he once did. I’d count on him being what he was last season and at best, just marginally better.
Pallante Blossoms – He did look really good in a relatively small sample size of starts last season. I’m always nervous when he’s on the mound because righties still tend to hit him solidly. Overall though, the Cardinals just need him to be as good or better than Lynn/Gibson. I’m pretty confident that happens.
McGreevey Blossoms – Anyone’s guess here is as good as mine. He was splendid in a few starts in 2024. But AAA McGreevey was generally just ok. His adjustments late season seem to have helped but hitters will adjust as well. He just needs to be as good as Lynn/Gibson. I’d put those odds around 50/50.
There are lots of other factors too. Catcher defense, relative health of players, Winn repeating his offense and improving his throws, CF offense, bullpen volatility without Kittridge. If everything goes right, this is a really solid team. It probably won’t happen that way. But with a new Spring, we get a new hope.
Won’t everything pretty much fall into place if Walker and Gorman fulfill their potential and Arenado rebounds?
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