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Year 2021 Tyler O’Neill – .286/.352/.560/.012
– 34 HR
– 15 SB
– 6.3 WAR
– GGYear 2021 Juan Soto – .313/.465/.534/.999
– 29 HR
– 9 SB
– 7.1 WARTrade Tyler O’Neill???
667 – Are you thinking that we can trade O’Neill and play Burleson in LF?
I see Liberatore as having a great curveball. But his other pitches lack late movement. There’s plenty of time for him to get better.
The luxury tax threshold is currently at $230M.
Padres (2022 payroll) – $234M
Astros – $200M (The Astros market is about the same size
as the Cardinals’ market. Per SPOTRAC the
Cardinals payroll is at $179M)
Yankees – $262M
Dodgers – $274M
Mets – $289M
Red Sox – $234MOrioles – Still rebuilding. They’re not trading the top
prospects that they’ve been painfully acquiring.
Mariners – Maybe.
Giants – They don’t have enough talent for a big trade.
Rangers – ditto Giants
Toronto – Their payroll already at $191M and they need to
extend Guerrero and Bichette.I’m not saying that there isn’t another club that could muscle up and do the deal, but it’s not obvious who that would be. It looks like the Cardinals are it. And with all the talk about the Cardinals being the front runner, you have to think that they have already made a respectable offer to the Nats to rent Soto for a couple of years.
My notes on the draft:
1. drafted 3 LH pitchers with their first three picks.
2. drafted 13 pitchers overall…. 4 LHP and 9 RHP.
3. drafter 1 catcher, 2 middle infielders, 4 outfielders….
3 left-handed batters and 4 right-handed battersEvidently, the Cardinals got the memo about their pitching in the minors.
I don’t know what Flores was thinking after reading cranny’s list of the 5 pitchers who look like, at best, diamonds in the rough. Flores and his staff aren’t dumb, so maybe it’s a change in strategy. Maybe they’re looking at body size and intangibles while thinking that they could fix whatever else needs fixing. Just guessing. Only time will tell.
I don’t think the Cardinals have much competition in their pursuit of Soto. I just don’t see who else might make a big play for him.
If Boras already turned down a 15 year, $440M offer for Soto, then I’d say there is only a very minuscule possibility of him staying in St. Louis.
There’s a pretty strong rumor that Soto will be traded within the next two weeks. I get the impression that someone, possibility the Nats’ owner, wants Soto moved now.
I have thought that the recent losses were largely due to not having Yadi behind the plate. I think that, if we make a run at it in the second half of the season, Yadi will turn it on and be a big contributor. I’m looking forward to having him back. And, I agree that he’s probably dealing with a midlife crisis. He was so committed, so dedicated to his game, and the game. And it’s all ending. He’ll eventually be fine. After all, life begins at 40, or so they say.
One of the announcers at the Home Run Derby stated that Soto WILL be traded within the next two weeks. He didn’t say which team he thought Soto would be traded to.
If Soto ends up in St. Louis, I don’t believe it will be because we overpaid. MO typically overpays for free agents, but his trades are usually fair for both sides. If it happens, there’s going to be some pain. But I don’t think that pain will extend out to Walker, Winn, Herrera, and hopefully, not to Hence. I can’t see them trading Pallante or Graceffo, either. I think that there are teams that would consider Burleson untouchable given his stats and rapid rise through the system. Burleson, Malcolm Nunez, and a pitcher should be enough given that Soto is a 2 year rental.
I heard that, too. They also said that there has never been a player like Soto being shopped with 2.5 years left before free agency. This is just a guess. But it could be that the Nats are trading him because they’re pissed. Soto is their pride and joy, the face of their franchise. They made an aggressive offer to sign him up long term, and Boras told them to flake off. Again, I’m just guessing, just trying to figure this out. One more thing….just sayin’….the Goldschmidt trade and the Arenado trade were both impossible.
There always seems to be some mystery team that comes out of the blue to land a player like Soto. But it’s hard to figure which team that would be. The usual culprits are the Dodgers and Yankees, but they’re already up against the luxury tax. And besides, both of those teams are way ahead in their Division. So who is going to make an overwhelming offer for Soto since he is, for sure, a 2 year rental? The Nationals don’t have to trade him, but if they don’t, they get nothing when he leaves. If the Cardinals were not in the ‘win now’ mode, I don’t think they would give up a player like Burleson for a 2 year rental.
If they would acquire Soto, and assuming that Walker and a few others are untouchable, would they have enough talent left to acquire a pitcher?
Here’s an analysis of Soto’s possible trade destinations.
I like Bader a lot. but his plantar fasciitis has me worried. Supposedly, it takes 2 months to 2 years for it to heal, and then after it’s healed, I think you can get it back. Pujols had to deal with it when he was in Anaheim, and maybe that’s why his production was down. If Bader is okay, there is a logjam in the outfield. If he’s not okay, then think of an outfield of O’Neill, Carlson, and Soto for the next two years. Then Walker can take over RF.
I’m thinking that they’re going to offer Hjerpe less than his slot value of $3.18M, which would mean that they’re saving bonus pool money for later in the draft. Just speculating….
Soto is a 2 year rental for any team that will not meet Boras’ contract demands, which likely means all 30 MLB teams. If the Cardinals were to offer Burleson, McGreevy, and Malcolm Nunez for Soto, who’s going to beat that offer? Traditionally, there is always a sleeper team that is committed to acquiring a certain player no matter what, but so far there’s no indication of which team that would be.
Drafts are really hard. You only get a very few players in each draft that become Major League players. Here’s a look at the past four drafts….
2018 draft – Major League players…
Nolan Gorman
Brendon Donovan
Lars NootbaarHopeful..
Griffin Roberts2019 draft – Major League players…
Zack Thompson
Andre PallanteHopefuls…
Connor Thomas
Tony Locey2020 draft – This was a ridiculous draft which the statheads would probably designate as an outlier.
2021 draft – Best of class so far…
Michael McGreevy
Gordon GraceffoHopeful…
Trent BakerOut of sight, but not out of mind…
Josh Baez
Alec WillisI also looked at the 2017 draft where the Cardinals did not have a first or second round draft choice and was surprised that 27-year-old Kramer Robertson appears to be the only player from that draft to make it to the Bigs, and it was for only one AB so far.
If I missed any favorites, let’s just add them in.
If only they hadn’t futzed around with Hicks in yesterday’s game, he could have come in and gotten us out of this mess.
If they can’t find a pitcher like Castillo or a healthy Montas, then I’d just as soon go with Pallante, Woodford, Liberatore for that 5th rotation spot.
Heres how players in the 2018 ranking were acquired compared to how players in the 2022 ranking were acquired. Wouldn’t that be something if they could pull off another draft like that 2020 draft!
2018 top 100
Reyes – signed as free agent in 2012
Flaherty – 2014 draft
Carson Kelly – 2012 draft
Knizner – 2016 draft
Bader – 2015 draft
O’Neill – acquired by trade in 2017
Adolis Garcia – signed as free agent in 20172022 Top 100
Walker – 2020 draft
Liberatore – acquired by trade in 2020
Winn – 2020 draft
Burleson – 2020 draft
Graceffo – 2021 draft
Herrera – signed as free agent in 2018
Hence – 2020 draft2020 draft (players not yet ranked)
LJ Jones – 2020 draft (Looks like LJ is up and coming.)
Ian Bedell – 2020 draft (https://www.prospectslive.com/scoutingreports/ian-bedell)Things do tend to even out over time. Hopefully, that means that there’s a wicked winning streak coming up…. hopefully.
They threw $1.2M at Wittgren and got next to nothing for it. When something like this happens, I hate it because it always feels like it’s my money they pissed away.
I think Burleson has to be part of any trade for a front line pitcher like Castillo. I saw a rumored proposal of Burleson, Liberatore, and Bedell for Castillo. Just a guess….but I don’t think they’ll trade Bedell. He’s out of the University of Missouri and Bedell kind of worked with the Cardinals organization when they were signing other players that they drafted in 2020. When a player shows any kind of loyalty, or expresses a desire to be with their organization, the Cardinals have a very strong tendency to stick with that player no matter what.
