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“Welcome back, my friends
To the show that never ends
We’re so glad you could attend
Come inside! Come inside”I wonder how long Jordan’s leash is? He’s basically been gifted not only a roster spot but maybe be even a starting spot.
I’ll guess 4-6 weeks if he flops.
It would be such a great story if he finds his stroke and ends up as a dependable MOTO bat.
“Welcome back, my friends
To the show that never ends
We’re so glad you could attend
Come inside! Come inside”Nice call Blingboy. (My favorite band ever. I still marvel at the keyboard playing of Emerson.)
I guess our young roster looks good enough to start out with considering what we’re driving to accomplish. Pretty leery of Walker being on there opening day though, that spot had been truly earned by a couple others who had excelled this spring.
As we all know, in professional sports it’s kind of a tough world–put up some numbers, make yourself valuable to the team in some way, or you’re gone. I guess we’ll see what gets put up.I have to chuckle at the Velazquez thing. The Cardinals stated all winter that they wanted to find a RH OF with the understanding that they didn’t have much money to spend. Ok so they find a guy on a minor league contract who would not make more than the league minimum. He puts up an OPS of 1.116 in spring training and still doesn’t make the team…LOL
The stated reason was “well we didn’t want to lose any of our current players.” Uh….they did know that Velazquez wasn’t on the 40 man when they gave him the NRI right? Right?
I was absolutely disgusted when Velasquez didn’t make the 26 man. Saggese had options, he did nothing in the WBC or the exhibition game in Springfield. I am sure Velasquez’s confidence is shot. Bloom messed this up.
In a lost season I’m giving Bloom a long leash. I honestly am not surprised this happened considering they still have to make room for JJ. If they added Nelson they’d have to make room for 2 guys.
Walker will pass 5mil in career earnings this season. Bill will let Bloom know when its time to cut bait on that investment, or not.
I was in favor of bringing Velasquez up as well and thought the team would do so. In my opinion, having him over Saggese (or Fermin) gives us a better chance to do well than not having him.
That said, there are reasons not to bring him up. For one, the team isn’t in win-now mode (obviously). Velasquez is 27 and out of options. At 27, he’s a career .1 BWAR player in 552 at bats. Since he’s out of options, once he comes up, he can’t get sent back down. By putting him on the roster, someone else gets lost unless they can clear waivers. All that added up looks like he’s probably not part of the future core of the team. He probably just got hot in Spring Training hitting off some lower caliber pitchers. But . . . If he continues to play well against AAA pitching, then the team can assume it’s real and bring him up for Walker or if one of our make-shift left fielders doesn’t perform well or if someone goes to the 60-day IL. They potentially save an option year on Saggese. That’s their thought process and it’s at least reasonable. Like I said, I would have brought him up.
I was disappointed that Velazquez wasn’t added. He is the only outfielder not named Baez that has true thump. It makes for a very poor outfield group.
I understand all of the roster mechanics reasons of why bringing up Velazquez is a challenge but my point is that they knew all of that when they first brought him to camp. It is like they expected him to fail and be released but all of a sudden he puts up big numbers and the Cardinals are caught with that deer in the headlights look.
I mean chances are that Velazquez will eventually falter (I even predicted it in the bold predictions thread) but if any team in MLB could afford to find out it is the 2026 Cardinals. I guess we can bring him up later in the season and find out but why wait? Who exactly is currently on the fringe of the 40 man that we can’t live without?
Velazquez might be what the Rangers got in Adolis Garcia or he might be a flop. Let’s find out.
Who on the 40 man roster are we protecting? I can think of Fernandez, Prieto, and Roycroft can easily be replaced. In that Gastulem will likely pitch in St Lou this season the 2 relievers aren’t needed. And because we have many left handed infielders Prieto. I guess Fernandez and Roycroft have options. And credit Roycroft for a good spring. Although I still do not believe in his stuff.
I wanted Velasquez up as well but this is likely all about Noot and his possible placement on the 60 day IL. People are acting like we are competing when they forget this is a rebuild. Like there is a rush for Velasquez to be called up and if he really wanted to show them up he’d not gone 0-4 with 2 K last night in Springfield. Anything to piss and moan about when it comes to the owners and now Bloom. Lol
Also seems we have a portion of the fan base who want Tommy Saggese banished for his participation in the WBC. Still aren’t over 2023 WBC are we?
The Cardinals just spent the winter searching for a RH hitting outfielder. That was their lip service to the fans. So the fans see Velazzquez light it up in ST but he gets demoted. What changed? So we blame the fans for gulping down the FO worthless PR?
Did Walker and Scott push Velazquez to the minors? Hardly. Nothing on the field changed. So believing the FO to be transparent, or better yet honest, is way out there on the end of the limb. The Cardinals PR means nothing, and is more misleading than informative, by design.
It’s all a 40 man roster crunch, and also the fact LF is going to be Nootbaar as soon as he can. Until then it’s Church with Fermin and Saggese. Adding the versatility of OF to Saggese will only make him that much more valuable and being able to plug him in anywhere.
Obtaining a RH outfield bat for the opening day roster was the universal assumption. But getting one on a minor league contract expanded the possible scenarios, allowing greater rostering flexibility. Velasquez can be added any time, allowing other situations time to play out. Take your seats, its show time.
An interesting lefty arm became available from the Mets. Bryan Hudson was Dfa’d. I would pick him up. He might be more valuable when a Romero trade happens. He had a really good year with Milwaukee.
JJ is right. The team spent all winter saying they were focused on getting a RH OF bat, got one, then said nevermind. I don’t see the reason to blame the fans for calling them out on it.
I get that arguing over the 26th roster spot will probably determine if we win either 71 games or 72 games but so what? I like to see guys rewarded for performance.
#STLCards announced that 2B JJ Wetherholt had his contract selected from Memphis (AAA).
OF Lars Nootbaar (bilateral Haglund’s Deformity excision) was placed on the 60-day Injured List.
RHP Hunter Dobbins (ACL rehab) was placed on the 15-day IL, retroactive to March 22.
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) March 25, 2026
Some additional releases yesterday per transaction page:
03/25/26 – Peoria Chiefs released OF Andrew Sojka.
03/25/26 – Palm Beach Cardinals released RHP Charles Harrison IV.Already noted in Roster Matrix:
03/25/26 – FCL Cardinals released SS Yoerny Junco.
03/25/26 – FCL Cardinals released CF Romtres Cabrera.
03/25/26 – FCL Cardinals released SS Yancel Guerrero.Hudson had an abysmal spring: 4G, 3.3IP, 16.20ERA, 3BB, 5K
Granted that’s not a huge sample size even with his success at Milwaukee it was borderline. He had a nearly 1:1 BB/K ratio. I would pass on him.
The #stlcards Triple-A Memphis Redbirds announced their initial roster for the 2026 season. Who is active, who is on the IL and inactive and how many ranked prospects are there? Free article at The Cardinal Nation. https://t.co/hn19owYxSn
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) March 28, 2026
Wetherholt has had big impact so far. Especially as a NRI. The Cards could have held him in the minors for another year. But there was an opening at second after the Donovan trade.
I detail every player transaction across the #stlcards system all year long. Tuesday's moves affect Matt Pushard, Gordon Graceffo, Ian Bedell and Hunter Dobbins. https://t.co/H8n3hVYl7G pic.twitter.com/ymAHfZwlcz
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) March 31, 2026
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