Home › The Cardinal Nation Forums › Open Forum › Set for 2022?
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Nathan Leopold Jr..
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September 27, 2021 at 12:17 pm #173721
By all means we need to go after Seager from the Dodgers to play SS. Absolutely.
The rest of the 2022 lineup and rotation/bullpen is pretty much set. Along with the departures of Carpenter, Miller, Fowler’s contract, and hopefully Carlos Martinez.
r/Esteemed Rat
September 27, 2021 at 1:17 pm #17372225 is correct as the needs. Before the great win streak all was evident in the needs for next year. Add bats and arms to the pitching. Can we really trust Hudson and JF with their injury history?
September 27, 2021 at 2:48 pm #173723“SS should be well covered with Sosa and Edman. Gorman will probably take over the 2B spot sometime in the first half of the season. Donovan gives us nice depth. DeJong no longer has a role IMHO”. Nolan Gorman is not playing 2B over Tommy Edman. That is insane…Edman makes the Cardinals go. Gorman’s role next year should be as a DH.
September 27, 2021 at 3:43 pm #173724We need another quality starter, a LH bat for DH, and better depth pieces. Schawrber and Scherzer would fit the bill but I don’t see the Cardinals spending enough to get both of them. As a matter of fact, history tells us that the Cards won’t win any bidding wars on any free agents worth having. We never do. It might be wise to see who out there would be available via trade.
September 27, 2021 at 3:58 pm #173725What does everyone think Scherzer is going to want?
2 yr/$50M?
3 yr/$100M?I’d consider the two year deal with him. But not three.
r/Esteemed Rat
September 27, 2021 at 5:58 pm #173729I don’t see sherzer going anywhere but west coast.
September 28, 2021 at 1:31 am #173733I don’t see him here. I think LA puts a huge offer on the table with Bauer basically done.
I just don’t see us for a front line starter. Maybe middle of the road.
We really need a lefthanded bat that can cover out tracks and that can play a jack of all role.
Bullpen is a must. They need a couple of arms imo. Maybe a closer to cover us. I like Gallegos in the 8th role and that’s where he should say.
September 28, 2021 at 7:32 am #173739Bullpen is a must. They need a couple of arms imo. Maybe a closer to cover us. I like Gallegos in the 8th role and that’s where he should say.
Bullpen arms are so volatile that it’s hard to spend free agent money on one that’s going to work out. I’d rather dumpster dive there and play “throw numbers at it,” tbh. We have Helsley and Hicks coming back, along with Reyes, Gallegos, Cabrera, Whitley, Woodford, Fernandez, plus some guys in Memphis that should be able to supplement. Personally I think Oviedo becomes a reliever and Thompson has shown he’s solid in relief as well even if he tends to blow up after a few innings.
All that said I’d be fine with McFarland/Garcia/Leblanc types there.
September 28, 2021 at 8:36 am #173741McFarland is a must sign in the offseason. Given his history before the Cards, I would think 1Y/2M would easily get it done, and he’s obviously comfortable in STL.
Other than that, a big LH bat to throw somewhere around Goldy, O’Neill and Arenado would be at the top of my list, Seager would be a nice dream, but if not him then a DH like Schwarber would be a nice second place prize.
At least one more starter should be on the list also, we saw this year, as almost every year, you can never have to much pitching. Lester and/or Happ I wouldn’t complain about to eat innings in the 4/5 spots. Oviedo needs additional time in AAA, Thompson and Liberatore definitely aren’t ready.
JF, Waino, Hudson, Mikolas, Happ/Lester and I’d also love to have KK back as a “flex” option.
September 28, 2021 at 8:54 am #173742Oviedo needs additional time in AAA, Thompson and Liberatore definitely aren’t ready.
I wouldn’t put Libby in the “definitely not ready” category like the others. He actually had a pretty solid season and finished well with ERAs under 3 in each of the last two months. I don’t think he’s ever going to have those dominating stats, but I also could see him being a mid rotation guy for a long time for us.
Oviedo and Thompson, I agree. I think they’ll get run as starters in Memphis next year but both may ultimately be relievers. I like Rondon more than either to be a rotation member long term.
September 28, 2021 at 10:03 am #173743As far as payroll flexibility, (this is simply from COTS), they have $90M committed for 2022, that includes buyouts, etc. A ballpark guess is right around $20M for arb cases, with JF and TON being the big spends there. So let’s assume $110M is locked up and assume they are expecting no Covid restrictions for all 81 home games.
$162M was the 2019 OD payroll, if 3 years later they can tack on 5% to that number they would be around $170M as a budget leaving them $60M to spend.
I’d like to assume $2M for McFarland, $1M for Garcia, $6M for Happ or Lester. That leaves $50M+ for an actual impact player.
If you’ve watched the games, and witnessed a lot of empty seats, it doesn’t seem the excitement to go to a game is there for the random fans. That being said, I don’t think adding a name brand SS or a SP is out of the question.
For them to keep spending power in the future, and to take advantage of some “opportunistic” options in the latter parts of the offseason, Schwarber for DH/5th OF might not be an awful idea…
September 28, 2021 at 10:07 am #173744Once again, Rick Hummel nails it:
Q: The Cardinals weren’t as bad as they played for most of the season and now are on a historic hot streak that probably masks some deficiencies. 162 tends to do that. So, what’s the big takeaway for next season?
A: They don’t have to make big lineup changes. The outfield is good. The infield is good. Yadier Molina is back. Improve the starting pitching and re-work the bullpen a bit. And, of course, improve the bench, although some members of that group might be serving as designated hitters.
September 28, 2021 at 10:16 am #173745If you’ve watched the games, and witnessed a lot of empty seats, it doesn’t seem the excitement to go to a game is there for the random fans. That being said, I don’t think adding a name brand SS or a SP is out of the question.
This is a big one for me. You can bring back the core, sign Waino, Yadi, Kim and get a little improvement from Carlson And Arenado to offset some decline from O’Neill and Goldy (not major, but it’s hard to expect them to be as good next year as they were this year) and have another 87-90 win, Wild Card type team. Or you can grab a couple of impact players and potentially make it a 92-95 win team. The fans know the difference between a team really trying and one that is shooting for above average. Adding a SS, OF or front line starter does that.
September 28, 2021 at 10:20 am #173746I’ll also add that walk years have consequences in $$ amounts. Schwarber probably costs you almost what a Conforto does and here are their OPS+ the last 5 years:
Schwarber 99, 117, 122, 88, 146
Conforto 148, 122, 127, 156, 95I can tell you which I’d rather have and I’d happily pay $5M more a year for it.
September 28, 2021 at 11:44 am #173747to offset some decline from O’Neill and Goldy (not major, but it’s hard to expect them to be as good next year as they were this year)
I can see some decline from Goldy, but expect O’Neill to be even better in the next couple of years. He is just approaching the age where his career should peak in performance. If healthy, he should break the 40 home run mark in the next couple of years.
We have a nice core of players who should be better in the next few years in addition to O’Neill as well, Bader, Carlson, Sosa, Hudson, and perhaps Knizner and Reyes. So while we will likely see some decline in Goldy, Waino, Molina and possibly Arenado, we have guys who should be better.
I expect Carlson will be the most improved of the group over the next couple of seasons.
September 28, 2021 at 3:30 pm #173750If Goldy could figure out how to start a season like he finishes most seasons, he would be better than awesome. That could offset any general decline he’ll experience in the next couple years due to aging.
September 28, 2021 at 8:29 pm #173806I would caution not to be swept away by this winning streak. It has put them in the playoffs but there are things to be done for 2022.
1. SS All-star caliber/big offensive player
2. Closer
3. DH I would like Pujols to face left handers and Pederson to face right handers. Pederson could play the outfield if there was an injury. Pujols could play first if Goldschmidt were to be injured.
4. Quality starter
5. Better bench
6. Carpenter and Martinez must take a hike. -
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