Bobo's here. We've got some ballplayers, so let's go!
Sure, they have a few logjams to deal from if the right opportunity arises. There isn't much in the starting pitching market right now, but it appears that a fair number of relievers could shake loose by Aug,. 2
I don't think at this point of his career Freeman is going to crawl into a corner and hide if he got pitched inside. The man is on a heater.
Time may be running out of Drew VerHagen, contract or no contract. Oliver Marmol is openly frustrated with him and this team can't afford to have dead weight in the bullpen. I would not be surprised to see VerHagen become a good big league pitcher, but the Cardinals don't have the time to invest in that project. They need to fortify their bullpen. When Steven Matz returns, something will have to give.
Gallegos still has good velocity, but he lacks command with all of his pitches. The man needs a reset. The All-Star break can't come quickly enough. We touched on VerHagen and T.J, McFarland is in a similar spot. The Cardinals are running out of time with these guys. They have internal options and there will certainly be external bullpen options in the market.
The tricky part, of course, is that truly upgrading this roster would mean displacing Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina in the midst of their reunion tour. This team needs offense from the catcher spot and who knows what Yadier can add when he finally returns -- or how much he can even play. And while Albert has perked up at the plate, his roster spot would be an obvious place to upgrade if the Cardinals were trying to go "all in" to win this season.
The Cardinals have burned many relievers through excessive use. They can't afford to do that to Ryan Helsley, who might be their only dependable high-leverage reliever right now.
I have no idea of which Cardinals have been vaccinated.
He's still young, but this organization is very aggressive when it comes to pushing players up the ladder. The smarter play may be to promote Walker for, say, the final month to give him a taste of the next level. In the meantime, he could keep learning and building confidence. But like I said, the Cardinals are aggressive.
Maybe there is a blockbuster move coming if another team offers up a scoring forward for, say, Torey Krug. Otherwise the could suffer some offensively. Kyrou will need to take it up one more notch and both Robert Thomas and Brayden Schenn will have to shoot more. Brandon Saad could see more power-play time and that could allow him to push his numbers a bit.
He's always ready, but he tried to so some things around the draft and didn't get anywhere. There are a lot if teams jammed up with salary cap issues right now.
Managers want players to be honest. If a pitcher is tapped out, he's tapped out. Sending him back out anyways leads to two things -- bad results on the mound and injuries. Jack Flaherty wanted the ball, wanted to cut short his rehab stint, wanted to pitch in the big leagues, wanted to take on the world . . . and where did that get him? Bad results on the mound and more injury. So you pat him on the back for not backing down . . . but you wonder when he will pitch again. Would you rather have a guy with a Braveheart attitude or a guy who can stay on the active roster and produce?
Armstrong wanted to sign his back-up goaltender to a one-year deal to keep his future options open. Lindgren left for a three-year deal. Greiss got what he got -- which was not much for a veteran goaltender -- because of his career success. His numbers in Detroit are easily discounted because that team was so bad. Nick Leddy was minus-33 with the Winged Wheel and plus-3 wearing the Note.
Doug Armstrong said he tried to offload salary at the NHL Draft but he couldn't. He doesn't do buyouts, as a rule, and he also declines to give a team assets just to take a contract off of his hands. But I agree with you, taking extreme measures to keep David Perron for the money/term he got in Motown would have been worth whatever cap headache that created for 2023-24.
One, the team had few relief options at that point and, two, Fernandez has pitched well this year. Even after his rough outing teams are hitting just .224 against him this season.
No lessons to learn. Paul DeJong guy didn't hit, so he went to the bench last year. He got another chance this season and didn't hit, so he went to the minors. This is what happens when you don't hit and the team has other options. Even if you have a nice contract, at some point production counts. The Cardinals have a few guys in that spot right now.
Cabrera allowed a single, threw a wild pitch and walked a guy. He struck out one batter, but he retired the other on a lineout. So he was not exactly in lockdown mode. As for Helsley, you have no idea what sort of condition his arm and shoulder were in at that moment.
He's exactly what Gates wants in a player. He has length and versatility. He is a rated four-star by both Rivals and 247 Sports. He will need to get stronger to defend at the Power 5 level, but he is built to play fast.
The Cardinals still need to backfill their organizational pitching, so Gabriel Hughes (Gonzaga), Cade Horton (Oklahoma), Cooper Hjerpe (Oregon State) and Chase DeLauter (James Madison) are mid- to late-first-round options. Baseball America had them taking Oklahoma shortstop Peyton Graham and Keith Law suggested outfielder Drew Gilbert of Tennessee.
In today's NHL, your defensemen must be mobile and excellent moving the puck. A physical defenseman who can't move with quickness and agility in coverage is going to get burned. I agree that Leddy did not profile as a defensive defenseman when he came here, but the coaches really liked his work. His skating translated in coverage. But I also agree that four years looks like an overspend.
Yes, well, it's another year in contention while excellent young pitchers move up the organizational ladder. Getting guys back after the All-Star break will help, the days off after the break will help, the softer schedule after the break will help and, yes, a few pitching additions (internal or external) would help.
