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I took a shot at my post-draft Top 50. I mostly focus on the four full season affiliates and the top recent draftees.
1. Rainiel Rodriguez
2. Quinn Mathews
3. Joshua Baez
4. Leo Bernal
5. Liam Doyle
6. Jurrangelo Cjntje
7. Mason Molina
8. Brycen Mautz
9. Tanner Franklin
10. Trevor Condon11. Yhoiker Fajardo
12. Jesus Baez
13. Won-Bin Cho
14. Jacob Odle
15. Ty Van Dyke
16. Brandon Clarke
17. Ixan Henderson
18. Tre Richardson
19. Jack Gurevitch
20. Tai Peete21. Tegan Kuhns
22. Sammy Hernandez
23. Luis Gastelum
24. Max Rajcic
25. Hancel Rincon
26. Cooper Hjerpe
27. Blaze Jordan
28. Pete Hansen
29. Ryan Campos
30. Rocco Maniscalo31. Tink Hence
32. Tekoah Roby
33. Blake Aita
34. Braden Davis
35. Chen-Wei Lin
36. Deniel Ortiz
37. Chase Davis
38. Travis Honeyman
39. Dawson MOntesa
40. Brayden Smith41. Ryan Mitchell
42. Andrew Williamson
43. Yairo Padilla
44. Jalin Flores
45. Jose Suarez
46. Josh Kross
47. Caden Ferraro
48. Cade Crossland
49. Dee Kennedy
50. Cal RandallHM Jack Martinez
HM Ryan Weingartner
HM Yordalin Pena
HM Nelfy Ynfante
HM Cade McGee
HM Brandt Thompson
HM Michael DattaloI doubt if they call up Baez before mid-August because of service time issues. That way he could still be considered a rookie next year and eligible for the PPI pick.
I think the rebuild will be over before the 2028 season. The farm should be well stocked with high end talent, many of it close to being MLB ready if not sooner, and all of the old Gray, Contreras, and Arenado dead money will be gone. By 2028 it will be time to be aggressive about putting together a contender capable of making a deep run. At least that is the way I see it.
I think the difference between us and the Reds or Pirates is that the Cardinals do have a history of Top 15 and maybe Top 10 payrolls. The Reds and Pirates do not. When our team is ready to win again I think we will increase payroll accordingly. I view that as being in 2028. In the meantime we should keep stockpiling as much young talent as possible.
I have been a staunch supporter of Herrera for quite some time but I am starting to come around on jnevel’s idea of including him in the tradeable asset list. He really isn’t an everyday catcher. He might be able to play 1B but we already have one. Carrying a full time DH on your roster does limit flexibility unless he is putting up an OPS of at least .850.
Ivan’s carrying card has been his bat but even that has been diminshed this year. It looks to me like he is swinging for the fences too often instead of focusing on line drives. He has enough power for his line drives to leave the yard.
I guess I would put him in the same category as O’Brien. Not aggressively looking to trade him but would definitely consider a good offer in order to stockile more talent.
Not trading players and letting the players on the team see how far they go impacts the future exactly zero.
I doubt if Bloom sees it that way. He wants to stockpile as much young talent as possible to increase the chances of hitting it big on some of them.
When did the Cardinals sell out the farm to make the playoffs?
What tradeable assets do we have this year?
Mo did some dumpster dive buying a few times but some of his most egregious moves were poorly thought out extensions, signing free agents who declined the QO which cost us draft picks, and of course the Ozuna trade. Those were moves that did deplete the budget and farm system and we gained very little from it. In other words, the exact opposite of what we should be doing now.
I think we have discussed our current tradeable assets plenty already. They are May, Romero, Noot, and O’Brien. We might possibly add Herrera to that list.
Somewhere in the organization is a person concerned with the value of the product they are trying to sell.
In my opinion the product in 2026 has been better than expected. Most reasonable fans would not have predicted us to be tied for a wild card spot on July 20.
The laser focus in the organization should be making sure the product in 2027 and 2028 and 2029 is such that makes us a world series contender instead of hoping and praying for the third wild card spot.
We seldom can see into the future, but we have had a glimpse of a world without O’Brien and Romero. Excuse me while I go and elbow my way up to the ticket window.
Some were saying the same thing when Helsley got shipped out.
Regardless, Bloom has bigger fish to fry than trying to worry about which team is going to sweep us 2-0 in the wild card round. He is concerned about 2027 and 2028.
We have been on the periphery of a wild card spot the last few years and I always wanted us to go for it but was repeatedly told that selling out the farm in order to just get squashed by the big boys was why we were in the situation we were in in the first place.
I heard that so many times that I now believe it. I think we should sell. The only way around it is if Bloom could somehow buy and sell at the same time. That is a tough needle to thread though.
I wish Brandon Clarke well but I don’t get too excited about 103. The main thing is he getting outs or not. I remember when everyone was hyperventilating about Jordan Hicks and his velocity. He had some good moments but he is now with is fifth organization at age 29.
He will be eligible to come of the IL on July 29. Assuming he comes off the IL as soon as he is eligible he would have about a week to prove to other teams he is good to go before the August 3 trade deadline. That is doable if there are no setbacks or complications.
I am doing the Box Combo from Raising Cane’s again. That is 4 chicken tenders and sauce, frenchfries, cole slaw, potato salad, Texas Toast, and a Diet Mountain Dew.
Hopefully we can beat the snakes again tonight.
I think that I might have said this before. But here it is again. I hate battling and battling to win a game only to have the win given away in the 9th inning. I absolutely do not want to trade O’Brien.
I don’t like it either mud. No one does. But I think Bloom is trying to think a couple of years down the road by stockpiling as much talent as possible. Do they have to trade O’Brien? No they don’t but I think it would be wise to listen to the offers. He may be at peak value right now.
Not having a pretty good closer makes for a long season for the fans and probably for the players too. I don’t think they will increase the chance of that without a real good reason.
I don’t think 2026 is Bloom’s highest priority. He wants to stockpile as much talent as possible for the next several years. Maybe winning games right now is the priority of the DeWitt’s but if it is then why did they hire Bloom and tell him to build something sustainable for the future? That would be mixed messages.
O’Brien is a 31 year old reliever with an injury history having the season of his life. It might be wise to cash in on that before the clock strikes midnight.
The matter of a replacement is not my discussion or focus as I don’t see that as a major reason to keep or trade him.
I was addressing a specific question from LACardFan regarding who the replacement would be which is why I mentioned it.
Being cost controlled matters in determining O’Briens value.
Being cost controlled doesn’t determine if the Cardinals are able to develop a replacement or not. Those are two different issues.
There are a few truly elite closers out there like Mason Miller but most late inning guys are a dime a dozen and can be replaced. O’Brien is an all star this year. Next year he may get shelled. I would rather trade him while he is an all star since we aren’t trying to win a championship this year anyway.
If you trade O’Brien, who is the closer next year? You know the Cardinals won’t spend money on a free agent closer…
They will find or develop someone like they always do. Kind of like when people were freaking out over trading Helsley. Few people considered O’Brien a good replacement but he was.
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.