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“How long”?
Many, many variables. In general, if he repeats his final 96 PA’s of Sept/Oct 2023, demote him.If Edman has to rescue SS, it snowballs in a bad way. Noot shifts to CF and Donovan is now an everyday corner OF’r. Both of our best utility guys are now holding down a starter role.
The roster now needs a utility infielder on the bench, and the least disruptive approach to the roster, is a utility SS who can start in place of Winn without affecting another role. A DeJong type acquisition.
If a Motter type makes the roster as U.I., we may see too much of Winn in the “how long” scenario.
Winn debuted August 1st, so the FO knows they have until mid July active, before service time becomes a consideration.
That’s about the time deadline trades start popping up, they could acquire a rental SS, and demote Masyn.
Three and-a-half months is a full support approach by the FO, if he’s playing like “how long”.
Judging the off-season so far, this doesn’t look like a front office making a serious effort to put a better team on the field.
We still have two likely HOF players at the corner infield positions. Gorman OPS’d .805 with 27 HR in 2023, at the age of 23. Contreras posted a 3.4 WAR and an OPS of .826 in 2023. We’re not sure what we’ve got with Winn yet but most agree that he has the potential for a long and expensive career. If Walker’s defense improves, he will be a special player. Let’s keep in mind that Albert Pujols was an outfielder when he first came up. Everybody in the baseball world loves Nootbaar because of his talent and aggressive play. Same for Edman. Burleson has hit, and hit some more, wherever he has played. Donovan is a GG utility player. And
Victor Scott is up and coming.Gray should be a decent TOR guy.
Lynn will be fun regardless of how good he pitches, and he should be pretty good.
Gibson should be fine, also, especially if our defense returns to form.
Mikolas and Matz have a point to prove this year.Now if they can just get Kershaw to show up in a Cardinals uniform sometime around the middle of next summer…….
It’s so much easier, and more fun, to be optimistic than pessimistic!
jj-cf-stl
Participant
If Edman has to rescue SS, it snowballs in a bad way. Noot shifts to CF and Donovan is now an everyday corner OF’r. Both of our best utility guys are now holding down a starter role.We have Carlson also, who could rebound, and Burleson, who could blossom. Palacious had an .823 OPS in 2023 too.
From a replacement POV, Prieto or Saggese could jump into those utility roles (albeit in more of a backup role than supersub) Streamer has Saggese as a 92 wRC+ player right now. That’s pretty good for a utility player. Likewise, Victor Scott could make the jump if a snowball situation comes up.
In fact, I would prefer that Winn start the year in AAA and come up after getting some confidence back, plus Edman and Nootbaar are far more valuable at SS and CF respectively.
That’s a lost of rebounding and hoping. The innings eaters do allow a lot of traffic on the bases. I am not optimistic about this team but then again I usually wrong in my predictions so print those world series tickets.
“It’s so much easier, and more fun, to be optimistic than pessimistic!”
That would seem to sum up the Mo philosophy. And the great thing about dreaming, it’s free!
Pads, even if Winn succeeds, I wouldn’t want Saggese in a bench role. Everyday somewhere. Same with Scott.
If Prieto is Sosa like, I’d prefer a vet we know has a higher floor. A plug and play DeJong type with a passable bat.
Someone proven on the bench might go well with the uncertainty of Herrera, Burly, Carlson and Palacios you mentioned.
How do the arbitration mechanics work with the Kittredge trade? I assume he was tendered by Tampa Bay. Are the Cardinals on the hook for whatever number that was, or do they swap new numbers before the arbitration season starts really soon?
-JoeYes he was tendered by Tampa. The deadline to exchange figures is January 12. The hearings will be from January 29 to February 16. If the Cardinals and Kittredge don’t come to an agreement before the hearing then the arbiter will decide the salary. He is expected to get around $2.5M.
This is going to be a lot to handle for Midwest League batters….
Springfield rotation: Hence
Roby
Bedell
Panaigua
Rajcic
(Hjerpe, arriving in May)Bullpen: Nunez
Svanson
Cornwell
Ralston
??Do we know why the Cardinals website…
https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/roster/nri
…does not list RHP Max Rajcic as a NRI and does not give a uniform number for LHP Packy Naughton?
-Joe
You would have to ask MLB, but my guess is their bookkeeping is sloppy. Both players with numbers are included on the official spring roster the Cardinals provided the media, and about which I covered in detail here.
Looks like the Cardinals signed a new arm last week.
Nick Raquet had been out of baseball since 2019 before latching on with the York Revolution in 2023 and going on to win Atlantic League co-pitcher of the year.
Really fun signing! https://t.co/CuRYqxcLRc
— Blake Newberry (@bt_newberry) January 22, 2024
We have signed C Jonathan Morales and LHP Nick Raquet to minor league contracts for the 2024 season.
Morales, 29, is a Puerto Rican native who has played in 632 games between the Braves and Rockies systems and has thrown out 51% of Triple-A base stealers since 2019. pic.twitter.com/b4Ewa1zmQB
— Cardinals Player Development (@CardsPlayerDev) January 22, 2024
DFA for Gomez.
We have claimed 1B/OF Alfonso Rivas off of waivers from the Angels.
OF Moisés Gómez has been designated for assignment.#ForTheLou pic.twitter.com/0UlELct85J
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) January 29, 2024
Our FO doesn’t seem to have a plan when it comes picking up other teams castoffs. We didn’t give Gomez a chance last year with all of the outfield injuries, Yet, we aqd a player who doesn’t have many standout qualities other than defensive versatility.
This year’s Taylor Motter?
Curious #stlcards transaction. Alfonso Rivas:
– Joins 6th MLB team in last 13 months.
– Is 2nd former Cubs LHH 1B/OF claimed off waivers this offseason.
– Went to the same high school as Tommy Edman.
Unpack it in a free article at The Cardinal Nation. https://t.co/m4Ufe4V8sO pic.twitter.com/FMVG5WhkHG
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) January 29, 2024
I’m beginning to get used to head scratchers this offseason. Alfonso might be slightly more useful than Gomez in that he has a bit higher floor, but he doesn’t fit our organization’s needs. And why not drop Buddy Kennedy? Gomez at least has one great tool. Maybe they’ll be able to trade him for more than a bucket of balls?
Lance Lynn, Buddy Kennedy, Matt Carpenter, and now Alfonso Rivas have all been surprising. Not a one of them makes much sense. I’m trying to come around a little on Lynn. The other transactions they’ve made I liked.
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