Trade Ideas/Acquisition Ideas/Non-Cards Rumors – 2021-2022

[Cardinals27]

Desclafani might be a good signing. Lots of ground balls, and he had his best year. And probably wouldn’t cost but $15 to $18 mill a year, for maybe 3 years?

[thejager]

I am torn. I agree with Descalfani being a nice look. But…that was Desclafani from last year… the history before that is pretty murky and injury riddled…

I am not sure I am comfortable handing out a 3yr deal after 1 good bounceback year for guy like him. We did that with Mikolas and it has been mixed results to bad results at best

2yrs and team option? maybe…

Though i think we are either looking at a top of the line Ace no-doubters (and I dont think Stroman is one) and whatever they want… or 1yr deals with the excuse of Libertore and all the kids being why

[Cardinals27]

I am wondering if Reyes could be a trade chip. Unless he can transition to a starter, his value is that of a set up reliever. He still has 2 years of team control, and a lot of upside.

[gscottar]

I would definitely put Reyes on the trade market to see what kind of return he could fetch.

[14NyquisT]

I doubt that Reyes gets traded with the way the pitching depth looks at this point in time.

[CardsFanInChiTown]

Not much baseball news to talk about these days, but A) the Cards need a lefty MOTOB to break up Goldy, TON and Arenado, B) I got to spend a little time with a few Cards fans this weekend for football reasons and I’m 1,000% sold on the Cards needing Schwarber for the DH and 4/5th OF spot…. (if by some miracle the DH doesn’t happen I retract this entire post)

Based on MLBtraderumors projections, which actually are usually fairly close, they project him at 4/70M. The Cardinals (on Cots) are projected at $144, and fans should be back to normal in 2022. I assume? I am 50 times more worried about getting car-jacked or mugged than getting Covid……

At 17.5M that still puts them less than last year, just around $162, add in 5% over the last 3 seasons and they should easily have a payroll around $175-180.

Going into the playoffs with: Edman(SS), Goldy, Schwarber(DH), Arenado, TON, Carlson, Gorman(2B), Yadi wouldn’t be half bad….. and still plenty of dollars left for a lefty reliever and a 5th starter.

[stlcard25]

If we were gonna spend that kind of money on a bat, I’d rather have one that can play the field. Give me Michael Conforto. Yes, the OF/DH can be shuffled enough to give everyone opportunity to play.

[thejager]

I don’t want to touch Schwarber, unless he wants to play Catcher again. A DH only guy is not my style nor does it seem the Cards FO

I’d love Conforto, solid hitter

but i’d also consider a Haniger trade and they seem flush with OF prospects and showed interest in Suzuki so they may want to cash in a bit on Haniger as he ends his contract

Haniger isn’t perfect, but would be a nice all-rounder

I don’t expect a FA signing, but if we do i’d rather go big on Story or Correa, they seem like more sure things

I feel a low hanging fruit guy like David Peralta or Dickerson etc. might be the best FA signing we can expect for the offense

A trade feels like the thing Moz will do (and might have had time to work on in the stoppage).

[gscottar]

I don’t think we will see a Schwarber or Conforto type of signing because of the money and the fear of blocking someone like Gorman or Yepez who could get DH/OF ab’s. A more likely signing would be a Brad Miller type of player.

[thejager]

I really don’t like Miller but i get the appeal…

however i think his multi position ability is a bit stretched at this point in his career…he was pretty horrendous on defense with the Cardinals

I feel like Donovan fulfills the multi-tool player that combined with Edman is enough flex

Gorman at 3b/2b/OF maybe, and Yepez 1b/3b/OF is plenty too

I’d much rather look for a veteran rotational OFer that can provide some leadership and solid hitting and all around game

But again, SS is the main weakness in the lineup…whether people like it or not… it is either filled with solid defense in DeJOng with a bat that has declined for 3 years with little to prove it is going to get better, or a better defender with one decent year in limited time and questionable pedigree, or Edman…who really doesn’t play SS much and just won a GG at 2b over the guy who won it before him…he’s a more sure bet for hitting expectations, but at SS he is a question mark

A big SS takes care of all the uncertainty, and provides even more flex for all positions (if we get the DH)

C-Yadi
1-Goldy
2-Edman
SS-Story/Correa
3-Arenado
LF-ONeill
CF-Bader
RF-Carlson
DH-DeJong/Gorman/Yepez…flavor of the day/week/month

bench:
C/1-Knizner
1/3/OF-Yepez
2/3-Gorman
SS/2/3-Sosa
OF-Noot

In this scenario it creates opportunity for the DH spot to be who deserves it, or an opportunity to get reps or fix things

Without another sure hitting thing in the lineup (SS or elsewhere), There will be a position with a major question mark on production, to go with questionable contribution from C, CF, and DH as well. That is far too many hopes and dreams to provide a consistent offense

Just like last year we will go into the year with hopes for turnarounds and no one getting worse or injured….and just like last year we will have a sporadic offense that couldn’t hit for a month at a time

That 17 game win streak is diluting the horror and insulting of an offense that was out there especially early on..

[stlcard25]

I don’t think we will see a Schwarber or Conforto type of signing because of the money and the fear of blocking someone like Gorman or Yepez who could get DH/OF ab’s. A more likely signing would be a Brad Miller type of player.

I agree that I don’t think we will…but I actually think Conforto would make our team considerably better. Bader will be due for a big raise in two years and O’Neill in three. I believe Conforto is gonna have some big years in the next 4 years, and the OF prospects don’t look nearly as surefire as the IF group. I don’t believe as much in Scwarbs, he had a good 2021 but that could be a fluke.

[gscottar]

I really don’t like Miller but i get the appeal…

however i think his multi position ability is a bit stretched at this point in his career…he was pretty horrendous on defense with the Cardinals

Well I said a Brad Miller type of player, not necessarily him. Colin Moran would fit the type also. And I was just stating what I think the Cardinals will do, not necessarily what I would do.

[Nathan Leopold Jr.]

Jager:

Perfect lineup…the only change I would make is DeJong has to go.

[gscottar]

How many of you would do a straight up trade of Paul DeJong for Craig Kimbrel?

[stlcard25]

Kimbrel is a potential pitfall due to his age, but at his best he’s still pretty good. Dejong is a change of scenery candidate, but he has something left in the tank I think. I wonder if he will bounce back next year, whether here or otherwise.

[Nathan Leopold Jr.]

Because Kimbrel only has one year, I’d say yes make the trade.

[jj-cf-stl]

Kimbrel is owed 1/16mil and PDJ is owed 2/17mil. The trade pushes all the PDJ $ onto the 2022 budget.

PDJ is owed 6mil in 2022, adding Kimbrel possibly spends our last offseason bullet, adding another 10mil spent.

In this scenario I’d rather keep PDJ and spend the 10mil cost in another trade or free agency.

[gscottar]

Our current payroll is $144.7M. Doing this deal would make it $154.7M. Assuming a payroll of $160-$165 we would still have a little room to maneuver but not a lot.

[CardsFanInChiTown]

I’m as big of a “Dewitt is cheap” and “raise the da** payroll” guy as anyone…. If there was ever going to be a go-for-it year this might be the year.

A) Likely Wainos last
B) Likely Yadis last
C) Flaherty only has two years left
D) Goldy and Nolan in their primes
E) TON showed what he can do
F) Plenty of payroll space left if they want to use it
G) Fans should be able to fully attend 81 games, they just need a reason to want to go
H) If you add inflation from 2019, ignoring 2020 and 21, at 5% they would be around $180M

[14NyquisT]

C) Flaherty may be gone before the two years.
F) Big “IF”. They may want to hold on to it to fill the spots vacated by Wainwright and Molina.
G) May still be a covid-19 variant problem.

[gscottar]

F) Plenty of payroll space left if they want to use it

We don’t know what their budget is. If it is going back to the pre-pandemic budget of 2019 then they have around $20M to spend. If their budget is right up against the CBT, which they have never came close to, then they would have $50M or $60M to spend.

[jj-cf-stl]

Yep, the budget went back to the 2019 level last season. If they match it again I agree there is 20mil unspent.

[14NyquisT]

DeWitt doesn’t know what to do with all that $$.

[CardsFanInChiTown]

I’ve been shot down on my “Sign Schwarber” for a MOTheO bat….. but they do need a lefty to break up Goldy, TON and Arenado… Any good ideas on that? DH/part time OF is probably the best financial option

[stlcard25]

In a dream world, it would be Conforto. He’s going to rake somewhere this year, and it would be nice if it were in St Louis. But he’s more the starter type. I dunno, maybe his defense slips another notch and he becomes more of a DH. But I’d love that bat on the team.

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