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They should hold out to get the best possible deal by leveraging teams against each other….if that doesn’t work they can just re sign him….surely cheapskate DeWitt can afford Donovan’s contract.
Some taller players take more time, Walker at 6-6 is only 23 so my guess he will be given a lot of opportunity this year especially as this team will be lucky to win 72 games, it’s not like they have anyone at AAA that is ready to take a corner OF spot.
Both Walker and Gorman need to get back to their 2023 form…this is big year for both of them.
They have slashed payroll in the last 2 years nearly $80 million plus, it really depends are they just going to hover at or below $100 million or are they going to spend some money at some point on some key players.
They have a lot of needs, especially a front of the rotation Starting Pitcher and at minimum 2 OF’s that can hit consistently….they will need an infield bat if they ship Donovan
Cardinals have cut roughly $86 million in payroll in 2 years according to Spotrac, even w/ them paying Gray and Contreras $24 million ($20 mill Gray/$4mill Contreras) total this year.
As of now the current 40 man will make around $86 million, with the likely trades of Donovan and Romero they save at a minimum $12 million. Then if they ship Arrenado they may save 1/2 his deal so possibly $8 million
That may put them at 2004 payroll levels
Cardinals saved $64.5 million on the Gray/Contreras trades over the life of their deals, and a $26 million saving this year ($15 million Gray/ $11 million Contreras)
Gray was owed $35 million this year and they owed him $5 million if they declined option next year, Cardinals paid $20 million
Contreras was owed $19 million this year and $42.5 million over the rest of his deal, Cardinals paid $8 million
May is going to end up their highest paid player at $12 million….they have to be in a cash crunch with this regional TV deal blowing up.
As for not contending till 2028 that could be true, but I don’t think ticket paying fans are going to tolerate them not putting any money in the team for 3 years in a row (2025/2026/2027) As bad as they were this last year they were in Wild Card contention for quite some time 3-5 games out.
I just don’t see this ultra urgency to do a deal unless they get a great package. They could always sign him to a new contract, but they have time and need not rush it for some mid level prospects in my opinion.
I may be totally wrong on this but I am kind of sick of DeWitt acting so broke that he has to eat 3 meals a day at the homeless shelter
The thing they got going for them is they absolutely don’t need to trade him, he isn’t making big money and is productive, so unless they are blown away they can keep him…he and Weatherholt are pretty interchangeable at 2nd and 3rd.
I would think it would take a top Starting pitching prospect at AA or AAA, maybe the more teams will up what they will give up.
Arrenado is getting shipped most likely so he is out of the picture at 3rd…Gorman is going to need a lights out Spring to show he is anymore than a reserve player.
From what I read he lost quite a bit of weight after the esophagus surgery…quote below is from ESPN article
While May’s sinker velocity dipped from its peak of 98 mph to 94.5, the 6-foot-6 May was trying to regain the 40 pounds he lost in the first three weeks after the surgery. May bulked up from 185 pounds to around 205 during the season, and in the time since he has added another 15 pounds, leaving him just five short of his previous playing weight.
Seems like trying to catch lightning in a bottle, but at lest they are taking a chance, I am asssuming it is similar to Gibson/Lynn deals with some incentives
Hopefully someone asks ownership a little about their finances, mainly the local TV deal…. they dropped from $75 million to $58 million with the restructuring of Bally/Diamond in 2024, but the Cardinals also own 30% equity share in Fan Duel Sports Midwest….seems like that 30% equity is not calculated in when they discuss the impact the new TV deal had on them and then also the dramatic cut in their payroll from 2024 to 2025 and then in to 2026.
The 5 catchers are Pages and Pozo who are perennial backups….Herrera who gets hurt when he plays catcher and cannot throw, and then a player at AA that looks a decent prospect and they also have at A ball who is a top prospect who is not on the 40 man….they also released and resigned Pozo so he is easily expendable.
I think a lefthanded hitting catcher like Crooks that was really good in AA and solid in his first year in AAA and is under control would hopefully get a better look for a team that appears to be going nowhere this year
Why would they trade Crooks…he is under control at mlb avg salary for many years, if he makes the ML team, last year was his first year at Memphis
I will be surprised if they spend the $20 mill on anyone, there payroll cut in the last 2 years is pretty drastic….almost looks like they are cutting payroll to sell the team (which I hope is the case)
Looks like they save $15 million this year and then $5million next year with the buyout if they decided not to retain Gray ….so they paid Boston $20 million but saved $20 million over the 2 years.
Now the problem is they have no veteran presence in the rotation and the starting 5 is shakier than an old wooden roller coaster
Liberatore
McGreevyPallante
Fitz
Leahy
RobyIt sure sounds like they are trying to get payroll down to the $100-110 million range
Arrenado they probably have to pay 1/2 his remaining salary; he makes $16 mill this year,and I think has 2 more years left after 2026, the Rockies may be on the hook still for some. I would definitely trade and eat up to 50% of his deal
Gray they probably have to pay some of his, he makes $35 mill this year, assume they would have to pay around $10 million….I assume the Cardinals are going to have a young rotation, a vet may help but if they can get something decent I could see it
Donovan is projected around $6 million, can’t see trading him unlesss they get a pretty decent starting pitcher in return
Nootbar is projected around $5-5.5 million…not sure he is tradable with his surgery on his heels but I would trade him if he gets healthy
If they get rid or Arrenado, Gray and Nootbar for around those figures they would save around $38 million
Their current projected payroll with all those named-above on the team is around $135 million according to Sportrac for 2026
Weatherholt played some 3b at Memphis at end of the year…..Winn may not be Ozzie Smith but he is still pretty darn good and young and cheap….him and Weatherholt are pretty good building blocks…along with Donovan on the infield
May be impressed with his work with the DR team in winter ball he took to a title, they had a pretty young team….also the Orioles President of Baseball was a scout with the Cardinals when
Pujols played in St. LouisThey saved about $40 million or so in payroll from 2024 to 2025, other than some hires in player development what else did they do, I think they said they were going to upgrade their facilities for development but never heard if they did
Dewitt’s dream is probably trading Gray and only having to pay 5-7 million of his salary, then resigning Mikolas for $10 million
The cardinals basically saved $4 million on the Matz deal…it’s a little scary that it was that much of a priority when if they finished 5 games over .500 they could have been in the playoffs…to me just shows they are focused on money/profits than winning games at least for this year….Think that is why they also saw a drop of 750,000 in attendance.
My take away is the Organization is not serious about winning, if you are…. you sure do have an idea on budget and potential cost of players (starting Pitchers you may want to try and sign) for 2026. The 2026 Rotation has more holes than Swiss cheese. What have they been doing this past several months, they surely were not planning for the playoffs.
Marmol gets another year, the guy has done nothing the last 3 years that give you any confidence that he can be a winning manager ….he is 23 games under .500 the last 3 years. This decision makes no sense, why would Bloom not want his own Manager, there is no way Marmol impressed him by finishing 6 games under 500 (they played like they were 20 games under the last 2 months)….this has to be them not wanting to buy him out of his final year. If Bloom is so enthralled with Marmol why didn’t they extended him 2-3 years.
I don’t see anything to get excited about if I am a casual fan or any type of a fan, it’s just more of the same stuff they have been peddling the last few years, no wonder attendance was down 750,000 fans this last year.
