- This topic has 1,425 replies, 45 voices, and was last updated 2 days, 12 hours ago by
.
-
Posts
-
I think if we make trades before the deadline we should target relievers. Not that we don’t need better starters. Relievers may be easier to come by. Particularly we need lefties out of the pen.
I think we can make trades if we get a good offer.
How did that strategy work out for Mozeliak?
Mozeliak stopped trying to compete a long time ago.
In the early 2000’s, he and DeWitt defined trying to compete as making it into the playoffs. As playoffs expanded, they went with the lower barriers to entry to making the playoffs rather than saying “win the division” or “win a world series.”
He once had an analytics department that he allowed to walk and never rebuilt.
He sacrificed player development for MLB payroll.
He invested in marginal free agents to fill holes rather than upgrade the roster.
Mozeliak built his career on doing something as close to nothing as possible. And it worked for a long time. Then, the game passed him by.
Bloom can be expected to trade less years of control for more years of control. Other than that, if you want to guess what he might do, try to figure out Granillo for Soriano, especially as to pen moves, but not limited to that.
Given May’s 4-6 record and 4.70 ERA, unless they want to unload his salary or make way for someone else, I see no reason to trade him. I see a Nootbaar trade as a gut punch. I don’t see who’s next up to replace Romero for the eight inning. But I hope he does well wherever he winds up. He!s been a life saver for the Cardinals many times.
I’ve been led to believe that the Cardinals are already paying the lion’s share of Sonny Gray’s salary, so what are the chances of the Cardinals renting his right arm for a couple of months for not a whole lot more money than they’re already paying out to shore up the 5 man? I think this team could qualify for bonus baseball with Gray as a member of the rotation.
I strongly agree with LACARD and MUD. Mozeliak and DeWitt tore this team down. Some guys were shipped out to avoid paying higher salaries. That must be a trait of the DeWitt family business operations.
Luckily for them several players on the present roster are over-achieving and putting some fans in the seats at Busch.
The situation here is not dire but a couple of injuries could spell serious problems as we can’t put a lot of faith in AAA prospects to find early success in Busch. They will get their chances perhaps at cost of winning games.Trying to keep it as real as the preceding comments that are spot on.
While we may not trade anyone before the deadline, we surely will move and upgrade some of our starting pitchers currently on our roster. Mathews is now ready in my mind, with Mautz getting close. Dobbins is also ready. Molina might be ready next year. May getting traded, or leaving as a free agent seems likely, so there’s one spot opened. Some pitchers like Liberatore, Pallante, and Leahy may not be back next year, or moved to the bullpen. They need to keep the pipeline flowing with promotions and trades.
Gscottar – I disagree on Gray. It’s hard to trade him again (I’m sure you meant May!). You are probably right on the rest. Nootbaar will take a strong offer though. Otherwise, they will keep him at least until the offseason.
I asked this on another thread. Why trade O’Brien now? He isn’t even arb-eligible until 2028. Very different contract situation from the others.
I think it comes down to risk/reward for O’Brien. If someone else values him very highly (higher than us), trade him because relievers have a lot of risk and relievers over 31 have even more. But don’t trade him just to get anything we can get – he’s not like Romero where you might as well trade him given his contract will be up.
Gscottar – I disagree on Gray. It’s hard to trade him again (I’m sure you meant May!). You are probably right on the rest. Nootbaar will take a strong offer though. Otherwise, they will keep him at least until the offseason.
Yes I meant May.
I asked this on another thread. Why trade O’Brien now? He isn’t even arb-eligible until 2028. Very different contract situation from the others.
If he were a starter or a position player I think he would be a definite keep but relievers are so notoriously fickle. His trade value may never be higher than it is now.
My overall feeling of why the Cardinals will sell is just listening to what Bloom says. He has been asked about this numerous times and every time his stock answer is something like “we aren’t going to make any moves for short term gain”. Every time he says this. At some point we should probably believe him.
Guess I am in the minority here. Giving up 4 1/2 controllable years of an inexpensive All-Star (even though he is a closer) does not feel nearly as aligned with the Cardinals plans as trading away those with only 1/2 or 1 1/2 years of control remaining. Seems straightforward to me.
My overall feeling of why the Cardinals will sell is just listening to what Bloom says. He has been asked about this numerous times and every time his stock answer is something like “we aren’t going to make any moves for short term gain”. Every time he says this. At some point we should probably believe him.
I don’t love it, but Bloom’s take has basically been “we are tearing it down to the studs to save the Dewitts some long term cash, aiming to be a small market team like Cleveland or Milwaukee, and we aren’t going to let anyone stop us from doing it.” It’s a tough market, trying to time your window to compete every so often, but the Cards’ roster is set up to move anything not nailed down for more than a couple of years this summer. It’ll be a bummer if the team comes out of the break playing well and getting back into the playoff race, only to trade away several important pieces that will guarantee that they can’t make October.
I think it would take a big offer to trade O’Brien. I would trade the all star closer for a top 100 prospect, and a AAA reliever, preferably left handed. I doubt anyone would do that though. Maybe Nootbaar for a teams top 15 prospect. Romero and May should fetch a prominent prospect close to the majors. But I wouldn’t want to trade them all. Baez and Mathews would have to be deemed MLB ready.
I like O’Brien a lot but I don’t think trading a 31 year old reliever is very controversial, especially if he could bring back a haul. Replacing O’Brien would be much easier than replacing some others we have that have value.
I won’t enjoy it if the team fades in August and September but I think Bloom is determined to focus on 2028 and 2029 instead of 2026.
One of the most painful things that can happen in a game for me is to battle and battle through 8 innings only to lose the game in the 9th.
I don’t want to trade O’Brien. Nothing to debate. Nothing to argue about. I don’t want to trade him.
If someone is willing to offer exceptional value for any of our guys, of course I’d listen. Is O’Brien irreplaceable? Probably not. So if someone offers a top 100 prospect and something else intriguing for him, why not? At least in the scenario where we are trading May, Romero and possibly even Nootbaar in the next month, it’s not like the team will lock down a whole lot of games down the stretch anyway.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.