Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I’m pretty sure you got what I was trying to describe. Another way of describing it could be ‘Does a team as a whole play better because of certain intangibles like veteran presence and exceptional defense by other players?’ I know Goldschmidt was really on his toes when he saw a ball hit anywhere in the vicinity of Arenado.
I completely agree that every fan has the privilege to assess a possible or completed player transaction in whatever way works best for them.
It’s already past midnight here, so Happy New Year from the Great Midwest.
Is there such a thing as team WAR? I don’t think so. But maybe there should be. It would seem that a player who brings this thing called ‘veteran presence’, or a player who brings Gold Glove caliber defense would merit Wins Above Replacement for a team. Obviously, this is very subjective and maybe impossible to verify. But there’s been talk for years about veteran presence, and I would think adding Gold Glove defense might have a similar sort of impact. Now I’m not advocating that the Mariners take on Arenado anymore. There is nothing to suggest that they have any interest in that for several reasons. Clearly, that ship has sailed. There’s been a lot of debate using WAR on this thread, and on many other threads as well. I’m only stating that, IMO, the metric of WAR is somewhat overvalued. It’s very objective, very logical, and people like working with it. But it’s often given an excessive amount of importance, IMHO. Just wanted to get that off my chest.
Nice show. Glad Kyle will be back. Love those times when he unleashes that unbridled optimism. Brian and Kyle are a dynamic duo.
Maybe the Cardinals can package some of their excess pitching for that right handed bat? Seriously. Looking forward to next week’s show to hear how Brian and Kyle sort out our minor league pitching.
Very thoughtfully written, Stlcard25. That really sums it up. Thanks.
Now, do you know something that we don’t know about?
Okay, NyquisT, maybe I’m overvaluing the current rankings by TCN and the Community TCN. But I think I’m seeing several possible stars in the, say, top 25. I’m thinking Wetherholt, Doyle, Matthews*, Bernal, Clarke, Crooks, J. Baez, Hjerpe. Just to name a few that appear to be future MLB regulars. Plus, there is a lot of star potential scattered up and down the top 50, IMO. A lot of it. More so than in TCN 2025 ranking and TCN 2024 ranking, IMO. I just checked my Guides for those years.
*If Matthews doesn’t learn to grip the AAA baseball and get back the improved velo he had at AA, he might not be ranked so high going into 2027.
When you look at the Cardinals’ system, it’s not unrealistic to think that St. Louis may be only a few short years from possibly winning their 12th World Series.
Happy Holidays to all!
I see Bernal as our everyday catcher for the foreseeable future. For the time being, showcase Crooks. Start giving RR some reps in the outfield. If that’s not realistic, see how RR looks at first base. And if that’s not a realistic alternative, someone will have to come up with a Plan B.
So it’s shaping up like another slow day.
I like your trade proposal, CFIC. But it sure seems unlikely that WDWJr would be willing to eat $25M of Arenado’s salary. And Seattle simply can’t afford to pay more than $5M of Arenado’s salary. Besides, the Seattle brain trust is playing hard ball in that they have designated Sloan as being untouchable. I just can’t see Donovan going to Seattle. The Mariners will go with what they’ve got and hope for the best. And Donovan will go wherever Bloom can get the best deal.
I didn’t mention it this time, but I still think Donovan could be the key to moving Arenado, especially if the Red Sox don’t sign Bregman. The return would likely not be on par with one of Seattle’s top pitching prospects, but it could be a way of moving Arenado. Everything is speculative until something happens.
I guess Eric A Longenhagen is basing his commentary on Baez’ history, not on the possibility that a player really can bust out at any time. He should read Kyle’s assessment and read a more reserved assessment by Brian before running his mouth. Still keeping my fingers crossed and it’s not hurting my fingers a bit.
Seattle has $15.5 million of room, and Donovan is only projected to cost $5.5 million…
I was thinking that Seattle would only have $9.5M left which would effectively stop the Cardinals from putting together a bigger package. I don’t think Donovan alone is enough to bring back one of Seattle’s top pitching prospects. Adding Romero might be enough. But he’s Arb Eligible which will very likely bring him a big raise. Could double what he’s currently getting which would bring him into the $5M – $6M range, and reduce the Mariners’ available cash to around $4.5M. Come to think of it, Donnie is headed to arbitration, also. That would likely use up almost all of the remainder of Seattle’s available cash and there would not be anything meaningful left to get the Mariners through the rest of the season. Anyway, that’s my thinking on it, LACF.
A 2025, AA Josh Baez is exactly what the Cardinals need. Keeping my fingers crossed.
It does make sense not to add Baez to the 40 man roster now so he can keep getting better during the projected 2027 work stoppage. Same goes for any other player on the cusp of MLB.
jj, you’re living proof that there are more than one angle on all proposals.
14Nyquis, just a reminder that the Cardinals have been trying to find a suitable, hopefully, long term replacement for Ozzie for decades. Winn wears uniform #0 out of respect for Ozzie Smith.
I’m disagreeing with two posters at the same time. Proof, once again, that it’s a very slow time of the year. Wish Bregman would make up his mind so Bloom could get back to business.
There are still pundits that say Seattle makes the most sense for Donovan to be traded. But that just doesn’t add up financially. The Mariners only have $15.5M to work with and an acquisition of Donovan would take up $5.5M of that. So a trade involving Donovan could not be expanded. The Cardinals’ hands would be effectively tied to a one-for-one trade. The Cardinals are looking for pitching, and the Mariners are very unlikely to be willing to offer top tier pitching in a one-for-one trade. The Cardinals will continue to look elsewhere, and the Mariners will go with what they’ve got.
Agee that it’s a very slow time of the year.
Sorry for the passing on a false report. I guess Stroman’s agent is trying to drum up some interest. Not only can’t you trust what you read, with AI being used the way it is, you can’t even trust anything you see on the internet anymore either.
Bloom signed Marcus Stroman. His knee was hurting in 2025 and he had a bad year. He could work out of the Cardinals bullpen, and possibly even close for the Cardinals. That should be easier on his knee. If so, that would free up Romero for trade and they wouldn’t have to rely on O’Brien or another pitcher with limited experience. This is pure speculation. But anyone who has had knee pain knows that there is no way that any athlete could be effective working off of a knee that’s screaming at him/her all the time.
Greyghost – What do you mean ‘it’s not like they have anyone at AAA….’? Koperniak is chomping at the bit. Rumor has it that he slept with his uniform on all offseason so he could be the first player to the Cardinals’ training complex each morning. And were it not for his being an elite sleeper to secure the second base job, Brian Torres would undoubtedly push his way to the front of the line vying for a corner outfield job.
I’m pretty sure Walker is going to be in RF again, ZTR. But I feel your pain. To combat my disillusionment with Walker, I remind myself that he’s still only 23 years old and that, when he first came up, he stood in at the plate like he was daring the pitcher to throw to him. Unfortunately, he turned out to be a paper tiger in that regard. Hopefully, he worked and worked to get better this past offseason.
I didn’t know that the change in the baseball itself going from AA to AAA can cause a drop in a pitcher’s velocity. I guess this is why Matthews had a drop in velocity at AAA in 2025. I was down on Matthews, but now I’m hopeful again. You guys put together a great WWW especially since this has been slow week for MLB. Thanks.
I want to add that what typically happens is the lower revenue owners start bellyaching about how they can’t afford being on strike so long, and the highest revenue owners say ‘We don’t care about the cost of what the players want. Let’s play ball.’ So In the end, the players get what they want. And the strike/lockout comes to an end. There’s little reason to think that history won’t repeat itself this time. Meanwhile the fans keep paying and paying.
Yes. There have been times when the owners see the writing on the wall and settle before the pain starts to set in.
I hate to see a work stoppage because the owners always lose, and prices for fans always keep rising. The players have nothing to lose by not playing, whereas the Cardinals, for example, have at least 401 staff, by mudville’s count, who are not on strike and have to be paid unless ownership is willing to dismantle the whole organization. Yes. There is always the possibility of something different this time. But the history of these negotiations says otherwise.
How about if we don’t trade Romero for now?He could be worth a fortune in prospects at the trade deadline.
gscottar -Thanks for posting. Now I understand why you, and others, want to see Wetherholt at 2B. You’re thinking that all of our potential second baseman are utility players and because of that, Gorman will have to play third base and Wetherholt will have to play second place in order to get enough offense into the lineup to win. I get it. But I would say that it greatly complicates things if one of those second baseman impresses at spring training. I’m thinking Saggese, in particular, because he’a put up some very good minor league stats.
Regarding Donovan and Arenado together in a trade package, I completely agree that adding Arenado, because of his huge contract, to a package with Donovan will lower Donovan’s return. But I’m thinking that the Cardinals are going to have add an incentive in order for another team to be willing to take on Arenado’s contract.
There will be no stars
Wetherholt, Winn, and Herrera, and possibly Burleson, may not be All Stars yet, but all four have star power.
Arenado is going to be a salary dump.
Agreed. They also need a place for Wetherholt to play, IMO. I know that there are those who are dead set on Wetherholt playing second base. But if that happens, we have at least four very good second baseman that are going to get little to no play at second base. If Bregman doesn’t sign with the Red Sox, they have a void to fill at third base. If the Cardinals can package Donovan and Arenado in a trade to the Red Sox, they would get the salary dump that they want. And the Red Sox might very well be getting a third baseman that could push them over the top. It makes all kinds of sense, IMO. What would prevent this trade from happening would be the Red Sox demanding that the Cardinals eat too much of Arenado’s salary, or the Cardinals demanding too much return in terms of players.
