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No, 25, they care about winning. Because that leads to more cash. But they want to do it internally. Long term contracts with free agents haven’t worked.
No, 25, they care about winning. Because that leads to more cash. But they want to do it internally. Long term contracts with free agents haven’t worked.
That’s because they are flaming idiots when it comes to the kind of players they pursue. The Dexter Fowlers and Mike Leakes are the worst kind of free agents to pursue, where they are being paid over value to produce average results. Then they fail because there’s literally no upside to a player like that and they naturally decline to below replacement level.
There are high $$, long term guys on the market every year (including this one) whose deals will pan out better than either of those deals ever had any chance to. Why? Because those players are paid like 4-5 WAR players and they have 5+ WAR upside. If they “fail,” they are 2-3 WAR, average players whereas those other guys “fail,” they become valueless replacement players.
I think the current trend is to try to find 3 WAR players but only pay them as a 1 WAR player. Only the smartest front offices can pull this off though. I am talking about players like Adam Duvall. He puts up a .772 OPS, 38HR, 113 RBI, 3.1 WAR, and was paid $2M.
That was why I was on Robbie Ray the last few years. He was paid little and probably will win the AL Cy Young. Do you trust the Cards FO to make the right call on any of those low hanging fruit types? I don’t.
Do you trust the Cards FO to make the right call on any of those low hanging fruit types? I don’t.
Probably not although they did well with Garcia, McFarland, LeBlanc, Happ, and Lester. They just waited a bit too long.
They may not be able to pull it off like the Giants, Rays, and others but I get the sense that is what they want to try to do.
Good post, gscottar. They are indeed good at finding good players for reasonable dollars that contribute to the winning tradition.
I know I am in the minority on here but I have always been fine with them not going big on the free agent market. Too many of those guys have not worked out over the years for the teams that got them and I hate seeing so much money tied up on players that do not live up to their potential. I have had to see enough wasted salary space with Fowler, Carp and Carlos. I am happy we are not paying Albert, Heyward or Stanton salaries.
For whatever crazy reason, it seems like the Cards have done much better through the trade market. I don’t get it.
The Cardinals haven’t done enough due diligence before signing a free agent. Leake had his own agenda. Dexter was an attitude issue. Miller was on a downslope. Etc., Etc., Etc.
stlcard25
That was why I was on Robbie Ray the last few years. He was paid little and probably will win the AL Cy Young. Do you trust the Cards FO to make the right call on any of those low hanging fruit types? I don’t.
Signing low-hanging fruit or diamonds in the rough are the Cardinals’ front office best attribute.
Starting with Lohse and Ludwick in 08, Piniero in 09. The series of closers like Mujica in 12, Neshek in 14, Oh in 16, and Norris in 18. Both Mikolas in 18 and Kim in 20 were excellent pickups and there is more depending on the level of ‘low-hanging fruit’ that you decide, like getting Freese for Edmonds, or Lackey for Craig, Gyorko for Jay, or Gallegos for Adams in the trade department.
The thing they have been poor at are giving out extensions, which is hard to fault after Molina, Wainwright, Garcia, Carpenter, and Wong — morphing into the 2nd extension for some of these in addition to extensions for Craig, Piscotty, Martinez, Dejong, and Mikolas.
Also the non-diamond-in-the-rough FA signings haven’t worked out ~ Fowler, Cecil, Miller, Holland, and Leake.
To me, there’s a happy middle – finding some value in the free agency market at the high-end or the low-end, but staying out of the middle (although here I am championing for Jon Gray and Kyle Schwarber haha)
Actually got Yepez in the Adams trade. Gallegos came from the Yankees in the Luke Voit trade. But I agree for the most part. Trades seem to have worked out a bit better for the Cards, with an exception of the Ozuna trade. Gave up way too much young talent for an injured player because we were desperate for a big bat.
This is a very realistic outlook for the offseason. Don’t expect a lot of spending.
2022 Payroll & Projected Budget
Where does the budget stand for 2022? Plus some predictions on what they might do. https://t.co/f6BoeRY7WQ pic.twitter.com/LQKZ6u3qvk
— viva el birdos (@vivaelbirdos) October 20, 2021
I don’t think $22M gets us Stroman, a reliever and a LH bat. If it did I’d be happy about it, though.
Starters – Jack, Dakota, Miles, Waino, and either Woody, Reyes, Libby, Kim, Happ, or Lester.
LH bat – Gorman, Donovan, Burleson.
Bullpen – Gallegos, Hicks, Garcia, Helsley, Woody if not starting, Reyes if not starting, Whitley, Fernandez, Cabrera(L), McFarland(L), Thomas(L).
Flaherty-Wainwright-Hudson-Mikolas-Happ/Woodford. If its not Woodford… he stays stretched out at Memphis.
Gallegos-Cabrera-Hicks-Garcia-Helsley-Reyes-Whitley-Fernandez-McFarland-Bosiokovic.
But let’s see how ST shakes out. Only four months away.
I’m not sure if Mo is going to move the needle much this off season. Maybe an experienced utility OFer and a bullpen piece or two.
I’ll say it again. The only position where there is no guaranteed spot is at SS. Look at the following, they are all locks:
C-Molina
1B-Goldschmidt
2B-Edman
3B-Arenado
LF-O’Neill
CF-Bader
RF-CarlsonThe only position that is NOT locked down is SS. That’s the only spot where we could see some kind of upgrade. If we make one or two marginal transactions to help the bench, bullpen, etc, we aren’t going to see much improvement unless the eight regulars improve upon last year’s numbers.
r/Esteemed Rat
Cardinals Claim Ljay Newsome From Mariners https://t.co/4Y0YqJLp5r pic.twitter.com/tvEsN5aW6E
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) October 22, 2021
So folks are assuming Edman cannot be an MLB starting SS so they could not add a second baseman?
I definitely think Edman could be an everyday SS.
Edman was an excellent SS at Stanford. He played SS for the Cardinals all the way up through AA ball. At AAA, he played some SS, but was moved over to 2B to increase his versatility, because DeJong was firmly planted at SS. Anyone who doesn’t think Edman can be a good SS hasn’t followed his career in depth.
It seems like a lot of people quickly typecast Edman as super utility guy. He’s done well at SS even at the MLB level when called upon. I wouldn’t assume that his breadth of positional skills means he lacks the depth to play everyday at any one position in the infield. He hasn’t looked as comfortable to me in the outfield.
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