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Well, we are seeing McGreevy and Graceffo on the big league radar now.
But what’s going on with Hence and Mathews nowadays?
Hence is on the IL again. He just can’t stay healthy.
Mathews started the year hurt but has now pitched 40 innings at AAA but with very average results. I don’t know if either of these guys can be counted on to be in STL next year.
What’s in name? Everything…With a name like, Tink, I’d expect him to be extremely delicate. Sounds like glass…
“baptism by fire”
Mikolas and Fedde need the boot, but is AAA ready? Helsley and Matz could/should be traded.
That’s 4 arms that need brought up by Aug 1st, and their results the last 60-ish games will be a good indicator of our offseason needs.Highly restricted and confidential…Any unauthorized disclosure would obviously cause, “exceptionally grave damage” to Johnny and Willie Jr’s. hide and seek playtime fun…
Can the farm cover 2 starters and 2 relievers?
McG and Leahy, and at least two relievers for Matz and Helsley? Move on. We are getting bullpen starts from Mikolas and Feede anyhow.Can the farm cover 2 starters and 2 relievers?
The second part is easy. Absolutely the farm can cover 2 relievers. Granillo can be called up. Svanson can be called up. Graceffo can stay. Done. You also have Ryan Fernandez who has been better of late and then Mr. Wild One in Munoz and Mr. Wild 2 in Roycroft. Roby or Matthews would also be options or Hence if he ever gets healthy.
2 starters is more challenging. McGreevey gets a spot for sure. And then???? Michael Gomez as a fill-in I guess? I think it would be irresponsible for it to be Roby yet and probably be irresponsible for it to be Matthews. There is no one else. Expect Mikolas to stay put because he is reliably healthy. I think they trade Fedde for very little return and trade Matz for very little as well or maybe a bit more if they eat some of his remaining salary. It could be 3 relievers gone (Matz, Helsley, Maton) and 1 starter (Fedde). There’s probably a chance Gorman or Arenado or Burleson or Pozo is traded as well. I don’t think it would be more than 1 of the first 3 though.
Ty for the update J. I consider those four pitchers I mentioned as a wash of field value. We could throw numbers at it and the starters IP would dominate, but no reason to if they are headed out.
McG and bullpen starts wont be any worse than Mikolas/Fedde. If they are, so what. We still learn of our youth and 2026 needs, at mlb.
The season isn’t over at the deadline. What if we got better? A .526 win% by the all-star break is nothing to brag about. Isn’t that the plan? Get better? At least try.
Revenue has to be down so any ‘get better’ move will have to be payroll neutral. Our Bill is not going to take his eye off the bottom line.
Jnevel is probably right about the pitching. I could see them moving Fedde, Helsley, Maton, and Matz for modest returns. Gray will stay. Mikolas will probably stay on the roster until the end of the year. He has a NTC and doing a DFA to eat the remainder of his contract is not a typical Cardinal move.
As for the position side it gets trickier. Contreras isn’t going anywhere. Will Nado finally waive his NTC? I doubt it. Would the Cards trade someone like Noot, Gorman, Walker, or Burly for young pitching? I guess it is possible but such a bold move isn’t really the Cardinal way. They like low hanging fruit and path of least resistance moves.
Typical Cardinal moves have landed the organization where we are today. Mikolas NTC can be DFA’d, but if there is no farm depth to replace him….. It’s not like our forum members are lining up their top 2 choices for SP from the farm.
They spent a week thinking on the Feede / Mikolas implosions, and did nothing. That is typical.
On the topic of starters, I looked at our five main starters and compared their winning percentages to the team’s total winning percent, and looked at their ERA+. Based on those basic stats I gave them a traditional school type grade.
Below are the numbers. The first number is the pitcher’s winning percentage compared to the team. So for Sonny Gray, he is 9-3 for a .750 winning percentage. The club is 51-46, a .526 percentage, thus Sonny’s record is .224 above the team record. The second number is ERA+, and finally the grade.
Simply put, we have had one excellent starter over the first half, one okay guy, and three not-so-good-to-terrible guys.
Fedde needs to be waived, and hopefully Mikolas can be jettisoned and bring a fungo bat and some practice balls in return. Pallante has looked good at times, and not good at times. He’s probably better suited in the role Matz has right now. Libby looks like he will be a reliable mid-rotation guy, but still needs to get more reps under his belt.
Barring an acquisition, wish we could move on from those bottom two and put McGreevy and maybe Graceffo in the rotation, and then in 2026 move Roby and or Mathews up with Pallante going to Matz’ job as the middle/long relief guy.
Gray: +.224, 118, Grade A
Pallante: -.026, 92, Grade C-
Liberatore: -.064, 100, Grade C
Fedde: -.276, 86, Grade F
Mikolas: -.081, 84, Grade D-PS – Formatting looks good and much cleaner on my screen, but does not translate to the posted version.
That’s good work, BikeMike. I’ve been hoping to find a starter better than Gray (who’s really more a #2) for a while. Guys like Hence and Mathews (and now Doyle) have that potential, but it will be time to show they can do it soon enough.
I’m not really sure who would be available via trade if we were to dangle Donovan or take nibbles on Noot. There are some starters available this off season who have helped their earning potential (Valdez, Suarez, King) and some guys who’ve hurt theirs (Cease, Gallen, Buehler, Eflin) along with some guys that I don’t see us taking any chance on (Flaherty, Fedde).
Would the Cards trade someone like Noot, Gorman, Walker, or Burly for young pitching?
The outfield looking to next year is threadbare even without moving anyone. Same with 3B coverage. There isn’t much in the way of everyday left side infield arms. The pitching side is similar. You still have to field a team, so what can you trade?
The last name Mathews on the jersey of a LH’ed Redbird pitcher reminds me of LH’er Greg Mathews who won 11 games for the NL pennant winning ’87 Cardinal team. Then there was T.J. Mathews who was a Cardinal for a minute or two in the 90’s. I’m not entirely sure if it’s a good idea for a pitcher’s first two initials to be, “T.J.”
I agree Bling. The team can afford to trade 1 of Gorman, Arenado or Burleson. They can afford to trade Pozo. They could of course afford to trade Fermin or Baker or Hampson or Koperniak or Siani if there were takers. And, they could potentially dangle Saggese given Wetherholt’s ascension. I guess they could trade Walker but I don’t think that would happen. And that’s about it. After that, you’re probably making next year’s team worse. Donovan, Nootbaar, Scott, Winn, Contreras, and probably Pages for continuity sake all are kind of untouchable and needed for next season unless someone really wants to overpay for them. Herrera is an interesting case. If someone was willing to pay full value for the player Herrera has been this season when he’s been healthy, I’d consider taking that deal. That could be a really good player coming back our way.
Salary relief on Mikolas is non-existent. DFA, or play him out, is paid in full. His NTC blocks any trade.
Thanks for projecting forward on the starters Mike.
25, they have to buy next season just keep the budget flat. A one year pillow contract for a FA SP needing to re-establish his previous value, would fit next to Gray. Then do the buy/sell at the deadline.
Of those mentioned, Donovan, Burleson or Herrera would be tradable. The rest mentioned in previous comments would not be. And I wouldn’t trade those 3. I am torn on trading Helsley. Elite closers are hard to find I’d looked to extend him.
Will bringing McGreevy up at or near the deadline effect his service time or manipulation of such time if he’s thrown in the rotation the rest of the season?
Just ride it out with Mikolas and remember the hard lessons learned with him and Carpenter about handing out extensions like those in desperation. Someone will need to eat innings anyway if they do trade Fedde, Matz, Maton, and/or Helsley.
25, they have to buy next season just keep the budget flat. A one year pillow contract for a FA SP needing to re-establish his previous value, would fit next to Gray. Then do the buy/sell at the deadline.
It’s possible that they are not looking to keep the same budget?? Dewitt may be easing the ole payroll into true small market status long term.
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