Join columnist Jeff Gordon for his live St. Louis sports chat at 1 p.m. Friday
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Hi, Jeff. I think it is fair to say that Jeff Albert and his team have had success with sole players and a lack of success with others. Would it be reasonable to pick up one or more players who have had success in the past but are terrible now, so bad that they are getting cut and might be willing to sign a two-way contract, at least for a while. Joey Gallo comes to mind, as it appears that the Yankees are getting ready to show him the door, but there will be others. -
Joey Gallo could be an interesting buy-low candidate, but more likely for a team in a hitter’s park like the Great American Band Box. He will need a mental reset after this season because he lost patience at the plate and started hacking at everything. Previously he was a three true outcomes guys, drawing some walks to go with the homers and strikeouts. This season his plate discipline vanished.
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Yep, and it's is in the playoff chase once again, despite suffering a slew of injuries. A number of top prospects and promising young veterans have stepped up to keep the team viable. That speaks well of the player development progress on John Mozeliak's watch. The Cardinals are producing the sort of young talent that other teams produce only through deliberate losing. That the Cardinals have built up so much promising talent while contending for playoff berths each year is impressive.
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Based on Matter's chat board, you really got Mizzou fans panicking with your comment about Mizzou and others getting kicked out of the SEC. What was the back story on that comment? Seems you need a few Mizzou's in there - who wants to play Alabama and Georgia every game?
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College sports is a free-for-all. By now you should expect the unexpected. If conferences are willing to go to extremes to add powerful programs, it stands to reason that at some point they will also move on from programs that no longer add big value. That’s just common sense. The rest of the SEC has seen all those empty seats at Missouri football and basketball games. If the SEC doesn’t want to build a huge quantity of schools – which would spread the media dollars thinner – then it may choose to build more quality.
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The stated goal of this team was to contend again this season. As the Cardinals' front office did last season, it will look for improvements ahead of the trade deadline. In this case the injuries to Steven Matz, Jack Flaherty and Alex Reyes have created more urgency to add starting pitching. As for the Soto scuttlebutt, the Cardinals will always check in when a superstar is shopped. Given the development of their top prospects, they have a lot of assets that other teams covet – much more so than usual.
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Those are excellent examples of pitchers in the second tier. Ideally the Cardinals will add two starters to move in behind Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas and Dakota Hudson. Trouble is, the demand for starting pitching these days exceeds supply by a lot. Teams will have to overspend.
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Independent talent evaluators love those two. Masyn Winn is a bit trickier to project, since his modest exit velocities leave some concern about his hit tool despite his results. But his foot speed and arm speed are elite. If he doesn’t blossom a starting-caliber hitter as he matures physically, then perhaps he could become a utility infielder/pitcher. Such a concept would have seemed ridiculous a few years ago, but the way teams use relievers these days the extra arm on the roster could come in handy.
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I agree. And word in the marketplace is that the Nationals want at least six pieces to make a Soto trade. That horribly mismanaged franchise has very little talent down on the farm. It is trying to undo years of incompetence with one big move. The Nationals have no shot at contending during what’s left of Soto’s contract. So that makes sense. On the other hand, wouldn’t the next owner rather start out with a superstar on the roster so he can sell some tickets and merchandise?
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There is a comparison there for sure, but Soto is under contract for two seasons after this while Aaron Judge can become a free agent. And . . . I can't see the Yankees trading Judge. They are in it to win it this year and the organization will make a big push to re-sign him after the season.
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What kind of FA deal would you expect Ohtani to land? Since he's a 2way player I could see his agent advocating for 2x all-star pay so 60M/year. However that seems extreme. I could see 50M/year. Downside is that if he gets injured you're out two players instead of one.
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I do not believe $60 million per year is extreme for Ohtani. He is a great hitter who is also a great pitcher and he takes up just one roster spot while producing at both. And he's highly marketable. I am still astounded that he signed early for modest money rather than playing the system for a huge payday on his first MLB contract.
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Jeff, what percentage would you put on this being the last season fans see Arenado in a Cardinals uniform? If Freddie Freeman can get 6/$162 from the Dodgers, then Nolan can easily command more than the 5/$144 left on his contract coming off a likely 6 WAR season. It seems unlikely the Cards outbid the Mets or any team looking to give Arenado a raise when both Gorman and Walker can play 3rd. Plus, Nolan opting out gets Colorado off the hook for the $20M it still owes the Cardinals, because morons run the Rockies, making a new deal even more expensive for the team. Add in Arenado’s public comments about being frustrated with the team’s Wild Card or Bust mentality and it seems hard to envision him leaving money on the table to come back barring a miraculous postseason run.
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If another team wants throw crazy money at Nolan Arenado for the back half of his career, starting in his 32-year-old season, so be it. The Cardinals are committed to winning, which is why they outperform peer franchises by miles. Arenado knows what it's like playing for a franchise that isn't committed to winning. But the Cardinals are never going to spend like the New York Mets, the Los Angeles Dodgers or even the current version of the San Diego Padres. That much is true.The threat of Arenado using his opt-out clause is another reason to hang on to Nolan Gorman, who could replace him at third base -- or stick at second base so Brendan Donovan can play third and Jordan Walker can move comfortably to the outfield. What the Cardinals don't want to do is trade away Gorman and his power potential AND lose Arenado. The only way to overcome that would be to sign shortstop Xander Bogaerts as a free agent and move Tommy Edman back to second base.
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I’ve been one of John Mozaliak’s biggest critics in these weekly chats. I’ve simply grown weary of the consistency model where a winning season is an acceptable goal. And the belief that the starting pitching is fine as long as everything goes right is downright insane with the front office having learned nothing from last year. Yet, I will not fault the organization if they take a pass on Soto. Wash is attempting to hold the Cards hostage with handing over just about their entire farm system, arguably one of the best in baseball, for a supposedly hot shot hitting star batting .245, that will play here for 2+ seasons. I tell Wash to go find another sucker to deal with. We need pitching. Period. Tell me I’m crazy.
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That's a good take. This team needs pitching and more pitching. Juan Soto is a luxury item at this point. Not only would he cost the Cardinals assets that would be better used for pitching, the rental nature of his addition could set the team up for a big fall down the road. I can't imagine a scenario where Scott Boras negotiates as Soto contract extension in St. Louis. Scott is a master as using free agency to maximum advantage and some day he could set records with Soto.
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Jeff, I think when you get the opportunity to acquire someone of the ilk of Juan Soto, you have to make a serious effort to get him. Is it risky to give away players like Masyn Wynn and/or Jordan Walker, Gordon Graceffo, Michael McGreevy or Tink Hence? Sure, but there are no guarantees their current performances will translate at the major league level. Look back at all the “can’t miss” prospects the Cardinals have had in the past several years. How many of them are All-Star caliber players? Alex Reyes, Luke Weaver, Carson Kelly, Magneuris Siera, Randy Arozarena, Andrew Knizner, Justin Williams, Elehuris Montero… the list goes on. Sometimes I think we have a much higher opinion of our prospects than other teams do.
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Of those players you mentioned, Randy Arozarena IS a pretty good player, as he showed in that epic playoff run for the Rays. Alex Reyes was an elite prospect who couldn't keep healthy. Carson Kelly is a pretty good player, although injuries have held him back. Other than Reyes and maybe Kelly, I don't believe any of the guys you listed earned the sort of high MLB-wide prospects ranking that Jordan Walker has.And why do you keep good prospects? Often they produce, as the Cardinals have seen with Tommy Edman, Dylan Carlson, Dakota Hudson, Jack Flaherty (between injuries), Jordan Hicks (ditto), Harrison Bader, Brendan Donovan, Juan Yepez, Nolan Gorman . . .
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Wanted to float a trade past you. Artemi Panarin for Vladdy Tarasenko and a conditional third round pick in 2023. Panarin is close friends with Buchnevich from their time in NY together. Their stats are almost identical, they’re the same age. NY would have to eat roughly $4.5m in salary as well. It’s more of a “change in scenery” trade.
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Jeff, have young, controllable hitters move ahead of young pitching as the current currency of choice in baseball today? The Yankees had to spend three pitching prospects to rent the slap hitting Andrew Benintendi to play in any games not north of the boarder, and national beat writer are saying the Cards could get Tarik Skubal or Pablo Lopez straight up for Nolan Gorman. Has the volatile nature of pitching made it a less tolerable assets to the risk adverse hedge managers that run MLB teams?
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Pablo Lopez straight up for Nolan Gorman? That seems hard to believe. But, yes, pitchers get hurt. It's what they do. GMs can't help but see them as more temporary assets. Hitters are far more likely to produce predictable returns over long periods of time. The Cardinals certainly view it that way when it comes to free agency or acquire-and-sign moves. Bill DeWitt Jr. is way more willing to commit giant money to the Paul Goldschmidts and Nolan Arenados of the world than to pitchers.
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I know that Dickerson has shown a few flickers of life recently, but does he remain on the team only because of the cost they have already sunk in him. We've seen how young talent has revived this team. Isn't it time to wave goodbye to Dickerson in order to make room on the 40-man roster for Alec Burleson. In the same vein, we once saw how Kevin Siegrist jumped from AA to the MLB and saved the Cardinals. How about we save some prospects and give Gordon Graceffo a chance to pitch for the Cardinals? His stats in a hitter's league are impressive. Goodbye to Tj McFarlane if they need room on the 40.
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I believe the trade deadline will alleviate whatever 40-man roster crunch management sees. If Burleson is still in the organization come Wednesday, I second the motion to get him some big-league at bats. Gordon Graceffo could also help down the stretch if this team is unable to make multiple pitching upgrades.
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The whole staff has to evaluate trade equations, which could mean dozens and dozens of variables involving many potential trade partners. I imagine the list of serious Cardinals trade targets is well into double digits.As for Juan Soto, everybody in the Cardinals' baseball operation already knows who he is and what he does.
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