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Mud, Pallante should be pitching in India, not the cards or even Rockies rotation.
Agree, unless his fairy godmother does something to him over the offseason. I listed him as being in the Opening Day starting rotation because the organization doesn’t have anybody to take his place as it stands now. I said in my post that they must acquire at least one quality starter. The truth be told is that they need at least two quality starting rotation pitchers. Because of that, I think Donovan has to be trade bait. And Contreras should be shopped for a staring pitcher, also. I see Arenado as a salary dump if they can pull it off. But I hate to see Arenado go. I just hate it.
I think Thompson working out of a bullpen depends almost entirely on whether he can get his curveball over reliably. If he can’t’, then he needs to be a starter so that he can have time to work his way around the BBs.
#43. Cesar Prieto
#44. Michael Watson
#45. Keiverson Ramirez
#46. Max RajcicIMO, all of these players have a legitimate chance of seeing some major league action.
Trading Donovan all depends on what they can get for him. If they can trade Donovan for a #2 or a #3 pitcher that they can drop into the Cardinals’ starting rotation right away, they almost have to do it, IMO. And after that, they would still need a Lynn/Gibson type pitcher to tide them over.
Dohm to Springfield already? I hope so. Maybe Dohm and Davis switch places? Also, if healthy and in top shape, Zack Thompson will have to get his last look in 2026. Since 2026 will be his fifth year with the organization, I could see the Cardinals challenging him by starting him out as high as Springfield. Thanks for posting.
Hopefully, they will be able to rework the rotation over the next two years. Matthews, Fitts, Hjerpe, Roby, Henderson, Lin, Mautz, and Hence ought to be able to help them with that. And add the newly acquired Brandon Clarke and add Liam Doyle to the mix.
The Cardinals just need to find ways to get by the next couple of years.I generally agree with Cards667’s comment above. Baseball costs too much to the fans. Instead of worrying about how much the ball clubs are making, just lower the cost of everything from tickets to player salaries.
It’s just as absurd that a player should get $800K, minimum, for playing baseball for a year as it is for an organization to make many many millions of dollars for a year of owning a team. In fact, the idea that a player should get as much money as they get is arguably more absurd than a team making all those millions. The team has a whole lot of money tied up. The player has no money tied up. Forbes, at least at one time, had the Cardinals valued at $2.55B. The return for the organization on the team owners’ investment of $2.55B is likely not worth the risk. The owners might just as well sell the team and take the $2.55B and put it in a mutual fund or something.
Who’s fault is it? It’s the players’ fault for blackmailing the fans into paying them so many millions of dollars. And it’s, equally, the owners’ fault for paying it. And it’s the fans’ fault, also. It’s the fans’ fault for allowing it all to happen.
The finances of everything related to MLB are shameful. The players, the owners, and the fans are going to have to figure out what to do about it.
Starting rotation at start of 2026 season:
Liberatore
Pallante
McGreevy
LeahyChomping at the bit:
Matthews
FittsMaybe later:
Hjerpe
RobyNot to be ignored:
Henderson
Lin
Mautz
HenceThe Cardinals absolutely must find at least one more rotation-quality starter whether by free agency or by trade.
No way to find out. But when the team is running a ‘negative operating profit’ as Jnevel suggested, does WDWJr have to go panhandling for cash from his investor buddies, or do the Cardinals have a rainy day fund to cover those down years when they happen?
‘Borrowing against the equity’ makes the most sense.
That would be similar to panhandling in that the ownership group would be spending part of their equity to keep the team afloat.One thing that I think is undeniable is that the Cardinals are being revamped and reestablished, top to bottom. And WDWJr’s fingerprints are all over it. When he bought the team, he paid a salvage yard price for it because that’s all it was worth. He turned the team into a model of success, and now it looks like he’s turning it into a new model of success. Glad to have him around.
(It’s been a slow day so far.)
I can hardly think of anything more deflating than going into the ninth with a lead, and leaving the ninth with a loss. Right now JoJo is the only reliever the Cardinals have that they can pretty much count on. I’d just as soon extend JoJo for a few years and keep him. Or, at the very least, keep him until the trade deadline.
Koperniak has a better chance to be a big leaguer than most voted on right now.
I agree with this. But Koperniak is something of an outlier in that he’s almost 28 years old and did not impress in 2025. I didn’t give up on Koperniak. I decided to stop voting for him rather than saddling him with a ranking this far past where I think he belongs.
Count me into the group that says ‘Managers don’t matter’ although I do believe that mangers do matter, but not as much as some people think they do. That said, I would never dare to cross the statistics gods. I will submit that resurrecting TLR by waving $$$$$ in front of his nose didn’t help the White Sox much. And LaRussa has been touted as being one of the greatest managers ever. Personally, I like Oli and how he tries to work with the organization as part of its team of personnel who are trying to win games by each contributing their personal expertise to a brain trust. I like the way Oli is willing to give prospects a chance and how he tries to bring them along with coaching and encouragement. I never liked how TLR, and his prodigious ego, were forever playing mind games with players and with the front office. Matheny and Shildt had their draw backs, too. Oli Marmol will have a whole lot of very promising talent falling into his lap in the next couple of years. He’ll be getting better and better as a manager as that happens.
37. Ethan Young Similar to Cade Crossland but LH.
38. Cade Crossland Similar to Ethan Young but RH.
39. Michael Watson Search ‘Michael Watson’ at TCN.(I’m taking Koperniak out of my ranking because I don’t think he should be ranked this far out.)
BW – I like having some sort of understanding of the how and why of changes when they are happening, especially when they are changes that will impact the future. Your response clarifies a lot. Thanks.
bling – Your theory makes perfect sense. Thanks for passing it along.
I really enjoy the quite different opinions of you and Kyle.
ATM – Me, too.
Kyle appears to be taking a more emotional, eyes wide approach for his assessments. I really like that a lot. Also, like the balance Brian’s levelheaded, stat and history driven approach brings. And that’s not to say the two of them couldn’t switch off if they felt like it., not sure if that was directed towards me or not
ChiTown – Not an attack or anything like that. Just wanted to lighten things up a bit. As it stands right now, I don’t see how they can keep Burly out of LF, and I’m hoping Josh Baez forces his way out of Memphis sooner rather than later. We’ll see.
I always enjoy reading about your thoughts on various issues with the Cardinals.
I would be interested to know who is the brains behind this. Bloom may very well be the one with a vision. But I wonder who is making these personnel decisions in the St. Louis Cardinals Player Development and Performance Department. How do they find the guys announced to TCN in this piece, guys like Dalton Hurd, Casey Demko, Jason Eary, etc? I’m guessing that they hear about them on the ‘grapevine’. Also, wondering if this added focus on player development and performance is something they’re patterning from other organizations.
5-6) Any RF and LF on planet earth with power
22 year old Josh Baez’ line for 2025 ….
.271/.374/.509/.883 16 HR 273 AB26 year old Alec Burleson’s line for 2025 ….
.290/.453/.459/.801 18 HR 497 AB
(The eye test tells me that Burleson’s fielding has improved to an acceptable level.)At least something got done now rather than still talking about it, and waiting for something to happen in the middle of March, 2026.
Nice to see the pitching organized. If a good share of the potential is realized, the St. Louis fan base is going to be loving Cardinal baseball again.
31. Andrew Dutkanych IV After coming back from his surgery before the 2024 draft, Dutkanych only pitched
17 innings all season long in 2025, and, understandably, had control issues.
32. Nate Dohm
33. Ethan YoungThe 2026 season should say a lot about all three of these pitching prospects.
I don’t think I’ve ever deliberately posted something that was disrespectful on your website. Inappropriate? Maybe that, a time or two. And, my inappropriate posts got appropriately deleted. I admire the thoughtfulness and the thoroughness and the integrity that you both put into your work. You both call it the way you see it. Thanks, again.
Max Rajcic – #44
This is fun.
Kyle sounds mad. He sounds like he bet the entire ranch on his horse to win. But the poor horse barely made it to the finish line.
Brian, on the other hand, sounds like Napoleon reveling in his exploits and victories while trying to dismiss the nagging possibility that he may one day meet his Waterloo.
Thanks to both of you. This is great. I love it.
And by the way, a ranking of #44, for reasons I can’t quite explain, seems kind of right.
