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#1 is easy. Health. Specifically to the pitching staff.
#2 We can’t keep winning with negative rs/ra can we? Arenado and Goldy need to pick up the pace a lot.
#3 Mo needs to give us a real nice going away present. SP and another reliever.
The biggest key thus far has been the bullpen holding leads. That’s probably still going to be the case. But I agree that injuries is a major part of that. It’s kind of a 1a and 1b situation.
Staying healthy is doing nothing Bling. But there isn’t a team out there who wouldn’t bolster their pitching if given the opportunity.
“The Cardinals are a National League-best 33-18 since Mother’s Day”.
Don’t touch anything. Lock Mo in a closet.
Add a solid starting pitcher if you can; even if it’s a rental.
Add a RH OF bat if you can – or maybe just a solid RH bench bat – even if it’s just a rental.
If Nootbar and Edman both return, stay healthy, and are productive it could get real interesting for us Cardinal fans.
Its pretty impossible to improve the position player side with Crawford and Carp occupying two of the slots. If management is serious, that is what needs fixing.
I’m in agreement with bling on the state of the position players. Carpenter and Crawford are a bit of dead weight. Hopefully we can retire them both when Edman returns.
I still wouldn’t mind trying to upgrade the rotation, but if there’s not a legit guy better than what we have, I’m ok with rolling with the team we have. It’s working for now and even if we expect that we will eventually lose in the first round…it’s not like we would be a favorite against anyone even if we added a #4 or 5 starter.
Mo always tries to look to the future. So anticipate getting a player or two that will help this season and also in 2025.
He doesn’t always look to the future. LeBlanc, Happ, Lester, and Quintana were rental acquisitions in recent years. I am not expecting any kind of blockbuster deal but another starter and bullpen piece makes sense to me. We might as well double down on our strength, which is pitching. I think an impact bat will be easier to acquire in the offseason.
We are in a bit of a tough situation as we are more than a marginal player or two away from being really good. Yet we have a shot at post season and when you look at history, making the tourney can lead to a championship regardless of who played best over the season.
Thus it would be a mistake to trade a highly valued prospect, but then again it might just work out. 2011 is an example of that.
If I am Mo, I am not selling low on Walker, but would be looking at a pitcher to supplement the ‘pen.
The right handed bat we could use might already be here in Herrera, or possibly Edman.
Even though Edman and Noot are good, adding them to the mix after a long absence shakes things up. When you shake things up, you never know. Also Herrera. Potentially a lot of shakin goin on.
To me Herrera is nothing but a DH and he will have to get in line for those AB’s. I think he is surplus parts and could be traded.
There’s plenty of at bats for Herrera at DH next year. I would trade him, GScott, for value. Im not giving him away. We need a rh bat.
gscottar
To me Herrera is nothing but a DH and he will have to get in line for those AB’s. I think he is surplus parts and could be traded.
He’s perfectly fine as a backup catcher.
He’s perfectly fine as a backup catcher.
The way I look at it is Herrera probably has some trade value that we should maximize. I think Pages is the perfect backup catcher. Much better glove than Herrera.
I am okay trading Herrera if we get value back that will benefit more than just as a rental. But I don’t move him for a bullpen rental or something like that, as we need more than that.
Plus dealing him presents a problem should Contreras or Pages go down for awhile.
Herrera is a good DH-1B-3rd catcher. I don’t think anyone wants to concede SBs with there backup catcher.
It is kind of a two-sided coin. It may get down to which the Cardinals value more from their back up – defense or offense. A decent case could be made either way.
I will suggest, however, that Pages is more easily replaceable, as there are defense-first backup types on the free market aplenty each off-season. Good hitting catchers are rarer, I think.
But if they lean toward defense from the position, there will be a trade market for Herrera just as he is. I highly doubt Pages would draw much trade interest, however. That tells me a lot.
For my money, I’d keep all three for depth unless Herrera became key to a big deal. With Jimmy Crooks and Leonardo Bernal coming up through the system and rated among our top 10 prospects, one of them might be appealing in trade.
“But if they lean toward defense from the position, there will be a trade market for Herrera just as he is. I highly doubt Pages would draw much trade interest, however. That tells me a lot.”<
Well said. Just because the StL manager values Pages highly, that doesn’t mean he’s remotely as rare/valuable as Ivan Herrera, AKA Willson Contreras Lite. In terms of a trade, how about Herrera + Gorman + Jordan Walker for Luis Robert? Cards could sweeten it further with, say, Dylan Carlson and/or a mid-level pitching prospect. I think that’s a strong blend of present/future MLB talent; hard for the White Sox to pass on it, I’m guessing. And Robert is worth it.
Per Baseball-Reference, Luis Robert has been worth 5.1 WAR per 150 games over his career. For context, future HOFers Arenado and Goldschmidt have been worth 5.1 and 5.0, respectively.
So the Birds would be getting a Hall Of Fame level centerfielder — when healthy — who’s just 26 years old and due to earn less than $5MM over the rest of this season, then merely $18MM per year for the next three campaigns.
Edman returns to his Gold Glove position, and Donovan, Robert, and Noot occupy the outfield. Burley is DH until next year, when he takes over at first base.
Bob, that trade package would definitely get the attention of the White Sox. It would probably be an overypay by the Cardinals though so I would want the Sox to include Fedde.
As for the Herrera/Pages discussion I agree that defense first catchers are easier to find but I don’t see the need to even look since we have a good one in house (Pages) who is homegrown. My issue with Herrera, and this is probably my own fault, is that I never realized he was so compromised behind the plate especially when it comes to throwing runners out. I followed his minor league career on this site and don’t recall that being mentioned as an issue. My assumption was that since he was billed as the heir apparent to Yadi that meant he possessed the defensive qualities needed at the big league level. I was shocked to discover this year that that was not the case.
there are defense-first backup types on the free market aplenty each off-season.
Tres Barrera, Austin Romine, Matt Weiters, Francisco Pena.
Maybe we should hold on to Pages.
The Cardinals keep rolling on an off day by gaining a half game in the NLC standings as a result of a 1-0 Pirate’s victory over the Brewers. Paul Skenes, who was the winning pitcher of decision, worked 7 IP’ed and goes to 6-0 on the season. I typically check the box in 1-0 finals and noticed while checking this one that Pittsburgh manager Shelton decided to give the game to his BP after Skenes had worked 7 innings on 99 pitches. What’s remarkable is that Skenes was working on a no hitter thru 7 full when Shelton sat him down. Times sure have changed.
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