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They could also have been more aggressive trading for the likes of Gore or Cabrera (giving up Doyle) or signing Gallen (giving up the draft pick)
Brian Walton
You cannot base this year on last year because the Cardinals pick later in 2026 due to their poor luck in the lottery. To be specific, in 2025, the #5 overall pick was worth $2.6 million more in cap money than the #13 overall pick. Also, they already had a Comp B pick last year so all three picks this year are not incremental. $20 million is way too high.Does the order reset around the 4th round, so we get the 8th pick of that round, for instance?
RPM seems like a dumb way to measure something that takes a half-second to reach home plate…so it’s 20 revolutions per fastball.
I will say though, it’s probably as dumb as MPH 😉
858booyah
Depends what you consider Top shelf. Matthews I don’t think is even in a top 100 list.
Mathews was at #41 on the top 100 list for BA last year. You can’t take it away, even if his prospect status has soured.
Hence was up to #47 and Roby up to #75
jj-cf-stl
ParticipantPaid – Annual
Our roster / outfield has been “reset” to the default setting. No contracts influencing playing time, just competition among the players to seperate themselves. Looking forward to the game threads!This is probably the least excited I’ve ever been for a season haha.
All he did was send off the big contracts. Pretty weak rebuild imo.
stlcard25
Participant
Arenado is being valued as a really bad player. Basically getting little to no salary relief and a complete flier prospect. $11M over two years, with no return, means he’s expected to net about 1 total WAR in two years. Hopefully for Nolan’s sake the mountain air will push a few of his fly balls over the fence and he’ll have a productive end of his career.$9M in relief in 2026 and like $3M in 2027?
It’s not terrible salary relief-wise.
Have to remember that he has a no-trade clause too.
mudville
The Cubs are definitely in win now mode. But what about their pitching? It looks good, but not really great. Who’s their stopper?
They have a pretty great staff for the next 1-2 years.
Imanaga, Boyd, Taillon, Cabrera, and Horton are a strong 1-5 group, with Steele coming in at some point before the all-star break. They have some nice depth too with Colin Rea as the swing man, plus Javier Assad and Ben Brown. 7 of these 9 had ERAs under 4.00 last year.
1982 willie
I dont think this pitcher was worth the trouble. But why the heck not.
He does hit high 90s on the fastball.
I think the big thing this signing can do is let Graceffo start the year in AAA. He needs a little more time there to iron things out imo. Or it’s a backup plan if Pushard doesn’t work out.
They also dropped Pages from 12.4 on 12/31 to 7.4 on 1/5 or a whole comp A pick without any real reason why he would drop so take that with a grain of salt.
BTV only values a Round A comp pick at 5, and a Round B at 2.5.
Pallante alone is valued at 12.9. Hansen at 3.3 or O’Brien at 4.5 would be the ballpark. I don’t know what Rajcic is worth.
Cardinal in France
Those of us who can remember $1.50 grandstand seats and an affordable beer and a dog can understand the realities of modern life and a bygone age but that don’t mean we have to love it. It’s hard to find anybody to feel sorry for in this situation … except for loyal fansThere were really cheap tickets this season. As low as $10 a game after fees. They also let you bring in your own hot dogs, or any food, and non alcoholic drinks.
Cardinals27
Imia should have been a target. Given that he probably would have been a one and done.
The opt-outs would not have been ok for a rebuilding franchise.
Likewise, my choice for the offseason addition, Tyler Mahle, signed with the Giants for just $10M over 1 year. Dustin May fills the same role though.
LACardFan
I really only see one fit for an Arenado trade this year, and that is to the Angels. And, yes, I believe the Cardinals would have to take a bad contract back. But yes, it puts the Cardinals in a more advantageous position.The Angels are already paying $38 million for Anthony Rendon. They are not looking to add another $19 million for a one WAR upgrade just so Arenado can play close to home. But if the Cardinals take back the contract of Jorge Soler ($16 million according to Cots), they are exchanging two years / $34 million of Arenado for one year/$16 million of Soler.
I mentioned Soler back in September. This is the easiest path to an Arenado trade. Soler can be penciled in as the RH option for DH and corner outfield. He’s had a 114 OPS+ over the last 3 years and an .860 OPS vs LH pitching in his career.
BTV has Soler at -6.1 in value and Arenado at -15.1. Arenado has $38M remaining over 2 years and Soler has $16M. So Arenado plus $10M likely gets it done.
Cardinals27
I might be more interested in Cintje if the Mariners had dropped the left handed side of his switch pitching. He needs to work on a consistent delivery.
I think it would be interesting if he gets hit with an injury to one arm though, and can just switch over, assuming the LH side becomes major league worthy.
Pushard (Rule 5) RHP
Kent RHP
Shuster LHP
Blewett RHPWill now factor in as well.
Is Thompson even healthy? Among LH relievers, he is in the same boat as Naughton for me.
I think someone will drop their starting role by seasons’ end between LHers: Mautz, Henderson, Mathews, and Hjerpe.
It’s probably going to come down to health and spring training performance among the bottom RH options: Roycroft, Fernandez, and Graceffo.
AlbertTheMachine
I do think Crooks may end up at Memphis again with Bernal in Springfield. Neither dominated their level and could use more time there with Herrera / Pages the catching duo with Pozo being the depth to let Crooks further develop. Rainiel will be in Peoria for at least half the year and then at the deadline they may be able to re-evaluate the situation.
Agreed.
Crooks in Memphis makes the most sense. I’d personally like to see Pages traded, but I can see why they want him (and Pozo) given Herrera’s lack of catching skill.
Bernal then at AA and Rodriguez at A+ Peoria. I don’t see a logjam.
I guess I blocked it out of my mind that that the pick used on Hence was part of the Liberatore/Arozarena trade.
Looks like Alika Williams is going nowhere also (our #37 pick that year that Tampa received)
They’ve obviously punted on 2026. I’m all for trading Donovan after the other two trades.
We don’t need infield help and he’s worth more in a trade to someone that needs a second baseman.
14NyquisT
ParticipantPaid – Annual
The funny thing is that Donovan is the guy that the Cards are trying to add to the team. Their looking for someone who can play the OF as well as several INF positions. They are looking for a RH hitter but his value trumps that. Don’t trade Donovan! Get a RH hitter with some power to play CF.He is a great player for the younger guys to emulate. You can’t run a bunch of 21/22 year olds out there without some stability in the order. They need leaders. He has more value in St. Louis than anywhere else.
NyquisT over here advocating for signing Harrison Bader!
We go LRLR through the first 9 as of now. If you take Donovan out (L), he’s likely replace with Gorman (L), and if you take Arenado (R) out, he’s replaced by Saggese (R) or Pages (R).
Donovan
Herrera
Burleson
Arenado
Nootbaar
Walker
Wetherholt
Winn
ScottNootbaar may start the year on the DL too, but likely is replaced by Church.
Without Donovan/Arenado:
Nootbaar/Church
Herrera
Burleson
Walker
Gorman
Saggese
Wetherholt
Winn
ScottAlso they may keep Wetherholt in the minors and Gorman just starts in the first place.
1toughdominican
It sure does. The 402nd and 113th overall draft picks will be the next two Redbird players to be inducted into the HOF. There’s a better than decent chance that they’ll both become members of the same HOF class, and the 402nd pick will almost undoubtedly be a unanimous selection. “Scouting counts”…
I wonder how skewed the #402 pick in baseball is WAR-wise across all of baseball over the last 30 years, just from one player.
Defintely.
osuagec
MLB.com has already installed Fajardo as the Cardinals 9th best prospect.FYI…Clarke was earlier put as the 7th best.
Also Brian posted that Aita was going to be #28th in the Red Sox rankings so we need to slot them in.
I think I would put Fajardo at #10, ahead of the Roby, Hence, Hjerpe trio.
Baseball America
Blake Aita was set to rank 28th in the Red Sox system entering 2026.
Now, he heads to the Cardinals.
His best pitch is a sweeper with above-average potential.
Dobbins was ranked #11 heading into 2025. So we got roughly the #9, #11, and #28 prospects from them. Plus Fitts was up to #10th and Clarke at #5.
Mrperkins
I thought I read Dobbins wasn’t expected back at the start of the year due to his surgery. I look at him more as a mid-season audition/replacement for when a starter goes down for injury or ineffectiveness if he looks ok rehabbing At Memphis first. It’s not like he has a long history to fall back on. The real 8 million dollar prospect may have been the Venezuelan hurler.
That would be very surprising for an ACL tear that was repaired in July. He should be fine for pitching by March/April. I’ve torn my ACL twice and was cleared around 6 months, March is 7 months post-op.
Bob Reed
Donovan is not a “super-sub.” He is an above average MLB regular whose defensive versatility also adds value beyond his simple WAR numbers, which are plenty good in and of themselves.“Would anyone trade Brendan Donovan and Riley O’Brien to Seattle for two Top 100 prospects in Michael Arroyo (No. 63) and Jurrangelo Cijntje (No. 90), plus the Mariners’ Round B Comp Balance Pick?”
I absolutely would not make that trade. Because Donovan & O’Brien are in no way redundancies.
Donovan’s versatility is nice, but should be used more in the case of injury because he is, by far, most valuable playing 2B regularly, in which case he is redundant due to Wetherholt’s timeline.
