- This topic has 1,131 replies, 47 voices, and was last updated 5 months, 4 weeks ago by
.
-
Posts
-
“Current priority 1, 2 and 3″…Johnny’s always talked out of both sides of his mouth. Now he’s talking out of all three sides…Old Johnny’s a genuine corker!
Mo is a generational talent.
Johnny’s spot on when he claims that Matz provides depth to the rotation. You can’t hardly get any lower.
Yeah, me too, KCB. And for all I know, we may even win a few games…It’s baseball, so anything can happen. At any rate, at least it’ll be warm by the time the fellas start playing games that count in the standings.
The latest reports have Bregman to the Tigers, Red Sox or Blue Jays. Boras may not get his $200 million, though…
No, they could talk to one another every day and it wouldn’t matter one iota. What is needed is for one of them to find a team acceptable to Arenado that will take him at a price acceptable to the Cardinals.
Actually, it matters a great deal.
The Cardinals haven’t heard any interest from any clubs since Arenado voided the deal to Houston. Prior to that, the Yankees, Houston, Kansas City and at least one other mid-market team had expressed interest in Arenado.
The Yankees proposal was so bad, that the Cardinals let it be known to the whole world they didn’t even take it to Arenado, even though it would have reduced their overall financial commitment by at least 42% and put them in a much stronger place to achieve their goal of unloading as much salary as possible. And, if you look at Stroman’s performance away from Yankee stadium, you see a very strong case as to why he is much better than his numbers suggest.
Kansas City Royals, when they checked in, the Cardinals also did not approach Arenado, because they did not “think” he would accept a trade to them. Upgrade their 3B and add an outfielder with some thump (say Grichuk), they start to look like a really good squad…
Houston – why were the Cardinals engaged deep into trade discussions with them without consulting Arenado first? They weren’t on his six-team wish list, which was public by that point. Yet the Cardinals did not think it prudent to check in with Arenado to see if he would accept a trade? So, they get all the way to the finish line and Arenado has to void the deal. Arenado is pointed to as the guy who blew up a perfectly good deal, instead of the Cardinals being the ones who didn’t even talk to the guy with a full NTC about whether he would accept a trade.
And the Cardinals are left wondering why nobody will inquire about a trade for Arenado…
Mo also said today that trading Arenado is their current priority 1, 2 and 3.
It’s such a priority that Mo is waiting patiently by the phone for teams to call him after Bregman signs somewhere.
Is he waiting patiently on the country clubs back nine? Wait, did he leave his phone in his locker again?
So, let’s say the Cardinals do work out a trade for Arenado before the season begins.
Who do we think will play 3b? Gorman with Donovan settling in over at 2b?
Now, let’s say the Cardinals do NOT work out a trade involving Arenado and he’s still on the 40 man.
I understand they are still paying his full salary at that point but – if they are truely committed to the reset – then why can’t or won’t they do it anyway? Sure if you play Arenado and he’s hot that might help you move him at the deadline but what if he stinks?
As Roy Hobbs manager once said, “I’ve got to pay him but I don’t have to play him.”
The Cardinals never operate that way though. If they are committed to paying a guy, they play him even when there are better options. But with Arenado, most likely he will still be pretty good and worth playing. I doubt he sinks to DeJong level.
It is a shame we couldn’t get the Dodgers to take Arenado. They are up to over a $500 million payroll for 2025 counting luxury tax. Arenado’s money would have pocket change to them.
If Nado leaves then there is a 99.99% chance that Gorman will be at 3B.
If Nado stays then I agree with the others that he will get the majority of reps at 3B but I also agree with ZTR that Gorman should get some reps there as well. The Cardinals have insinuated that 2025 is going to be a year to see what they have in certain youngsters so they should follow that up by actually doing it. Nolan Arenado is never going to lead the Cardinals to postseason glory. In fact it is highly unlikely that he will ever play in another postseason game again in a Cardinal uniform. He is doing nothing but impeding the reset. If he isn’t traded this winter you can bet they will try again in July.
Arenado is impeding nothing, this Bills doings. NTC’s have an expiration date. Knee-jerk doesn’t get to change the dates when he wants.
He is doing what he is entitled to do but I don’t know to what end. He claims he wants to play for a winner. Who do you think will win more games in 2025, Houston or St. Louis?
Cardinals aren’t waiting on Bregman
“The Cardinals believed they had an agreeable trade in place with Houston, but Arenado vetoed the move,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold wrote Monday. “Since, the market has slowed as free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman has yet to make a decision on where he’ll sign. Several of the teams that have interest in Bregman also have interest in Arenado, and there are at least two teams that would re-engage if the Cardinals prove willing to pick up more of Arenado’s salary.”
So, according to Cardinals PR Man Derrick Goold, the Cardinals aren’t actually waiting on Bregman to sign elsewhere to trade Arenado.
They are waiting on the Cardinals to realize they have to pay down more of Arenado’s salary to move a player who declined from 7.7 WAR to 2.5 WAR in two years. The team that fleeced the Colorado Rockies for $51 million for an in-his-prime Arenado, refuses to budge from their $15-20 million line for a rapidly declining player.
So much for moving Arenado being priorities one, two and three.
It is a stare down as to who blinks first. Interested teams want the Cards to drop their asking price because they know the Cards are desperate. The Cardinals are saying they don’t have to trade him to try to appear less desperate. The Cards are waiting for Bregman to decide so they can try to work a better deal with one of the losers. Mo basically said this at WWU this past weekend.
This is not an exact quote, but here is what I wrote as I listened to Mozeliak live.
Free agent market is slowing down Arenado process. Under bidders (for free agent Alex Bregman) might have more interest.
Nothing new to see here.
P.S. My guess is that those who are most anxious to see a trade will be the first to criticize them for giving him away for nothing. Personally, I am not angry at the Cardinals for trying to get the best deal possible. Yes, they are not in a great situation, but it isn’t clear to me how the communication of the Houston trade was botched.
Cardinals Winter Warm-Up – In Their Words: Saturday, 1/18/25
Bill is waiting to sell. Reports are he’d pay down 15mil this offseason on the total. By the deadline, if Nado is still here, Bill will have already paid 18mil against the total. Financially the prime acquisition date for a buyer is at the deadline when his aav is ~15mil remaining. If he doesn’t tank….
P.S. My guess is that those who are most anxious to see a trade will be the first to criticize them for giving him away for nothing
I was dumb enough to consider him an asset at the beginning of this fiasco. At this point I don’t care how much of his salary they pay as long as he is gone.
was dumb enough to consider him an asset at the beginning of this fiasco. At this point I don’t care how much of his salary they pay as long as he is gone.
Unfortunately for you the ownership does.
They’d rather pay nothing but the smear campaign was on and it was flat out disgraceful. Boston IMO is the most likely spot due to them being not on his NTC.
If they are that desperate to pay down some money then ok guys throw 15 million to the tigers “if he allows” or to Boston. They won’t get anything I’m return of value and the bunch of basic fans in our base will be caterwauling how Bowtie screwed this up.
We all know they don’t want to do that but might be forced to pay more. Bobby Bonilla the hell out of it. Seems to work in LA. Lol
Unfortunately for you the ownership does.
I should have expounded a bit. I don’t know NA anymore than I know any other player. It’s not character assassination. Let’s just assume he’s a great guy. And let’s assume if he stayed, he would be one of the 2 best everyday players. But he’s just a really bad fit at this point for the Cardinals. That’s because he’s in the way of a proper rebuild. So is Contreras. But unlike Arenado, Contreras wants to stay here.. And I think it’s fair to say Contreras is more engaged with the young players.
If you are a fan that believes we can still compete this year, (my son insists they will win the division, and he literally studies metrics and trends. In other words he gambles on baseball) than you completely disagree with my view, which is ok. I respect both sides.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.