You get one trade- what do you do?

[Alex Reyes Cy Young]

Personally. Best available player / hitter in the minors AA on down for any player on this current roster not named Winn.

how about a 6'3" 220lb OFer swinging this: .291 .386 .888 11hr 34sb

Who is this?

Baez..Springfield

Hopefully he is a stud and joins the 2026 roster. Still hope they flip relievers for minor league talent.

[ClassicO]

Personally. Best available player / hitter in the minors AA on down for any player on this current roster not named Winn.

Winns expendable. JJ is coming

If JJ can legitimately play SS at a solid level then see ya Winn.

I've watched him, and - can he play SS, yes. Can he play it well enough to be in the top 2/3 of MLB shortstops? No.
Winn can't hit well enough, but, unlike Scott, he has the potential to improve. And he's 23.

[rockondlouie]

Slam dunk for me

RHH-ing

MOTO

OF

The OF is terrible. Walker, Scott, and Noot can't hit. Donny belongs on the dirt. They have no MOTO bat. The only bat in the minors with a chance to help is Baez, and he has to prove it for a longer period. Maybe moving Herrera there helps but they need to work him in the OF now (in-between games)!
The IF is passable, and they can't move NA and not likely WC, so we can live with light-hitting Winn and Donny at 2b until Westerholt comes, and they can move Donny back to super-utility. Lots of catchers.
They have to trade the FAs pitchers, or DFA them, and let some young arms get a runway this year, where finally, even the Pollyannas have figured out that this team is not going anywhere. It would be great to get a young arm, but everyone wants them.

Agree 100%

I hope Doyle is a stud but I'd rather draft hitters w/my 1st RD pick, trade or sign PROVEN major league pitchers.

And the OF's been terrible since M. Holliday!

Put a RHHing, MOTO hitting OF'er in this lineup to go w/I. Hererra & WillyC and we've got something!

That MOTO hitter can affect 150+ games.

A FOTR starter only 30+ at best.

Give me the stud RHHing, MOTO OF'er 100 out of 100 times.

JMO

[ClassicO]

Slam dunk for me

RHH-ing

MOTO

OF

The OF is terrible. Walker, Scott, and Noot can't hit. Donny belongs on the dirt. They have no MOTO bat. The only bat in the minors with a chance to help is Baez, and he has to prove it for a longer period. Maybe moving Herrera there helps but they need to work him in the OF now (in-between games)!
The IF is passable, and they can't move NA and not likely WC, so we can live with light-hitting Winn and Donny at 2b until Westerholt comes, and they can move Donny back to super-utility. Lots of catchers.
They have to trade the FAs pitchers, or DFA them, and let some young arms get a runway this year, where finally, even the Pollyannas have figured out that this team is not going anywhere. It would be great to get a young arm, but everyone wants them.

Agree 100%

I hope Doyle is a stud but I'd rather draft hitters w/my 1st RD pick, trade or sign PROVEN major league pitchers.

And the OF's been terrible since M. Holliday!

Put a RHHing, MOTO hitting OF'er in this lineup to go w/I. Hererra & WillyC and we've got something!

That MOTO hitter can affect 150+ games.

A FOTR starter only 30+ at best.

Give me the stud RHHing, MOTO OF'er 100 out of 100 times.

JMO

Where, oh where can he be? Other than the impossibility of adding Tucker, I don't see a path toward one, unless they luck out on a trade for a young guy who may develop. 3b Eugenio Suárez is the only FA who seems to fit as a MOTO, but that assumes Arenado is traded. Bellinger may be available, but it seems his name has been there every off-season and the Cards aren't interested.

They can spend on one SP out of guys like Michael King, RHP Brandon Woodruff, or oft-injured LHP Ranger Suárez.

This team screwed the pooch when they didn't sign Imanaga or Lugo (many on this board, including us, wanted this badly).

[NorthernBird]

- Adolis and Ward are more of the same

- Alcantara is having a terrible year after not pitching last year and regressing significantly in 2023. That's a "no" for me unless you move someone minimal and bring back Dave Duncan

- Nathan is intriguing based on the past two years, but he's almost 30 and has only pitched 160 innings once in a season, then 147 in 2022, and 135 last year. Seems like another Glasgow with a worse arm?

- Pablo Lopez has hit just under 200ip the past 3 years, which is awesome and the rest of his peripheries look good as well. However, his salary reflects that, he only has 1 more year on the deal and he just hit the 60-day IL with a shoulder strain... Red flags there.

Of those on your list, Buxton is under contract on a team friendly deal through the end of 2028, and may be the best of the bunch. He's on a ~8 WAR pace this year and, outside of 2023, he's shown MOTOB potential since 2020. The biggest red flag here is his durability, missing roughly half the games every year... However, he's been healthy this year.

[sikeston bulldog2]

Slam dunk for me

RHH-ing

MOTO

OF

The OF is terrible. Walker, Scott, and Noot can't hit. Donny belongs on the dirt. They have no MOTO bat. The only bat in the minors with a chance to help is Baez, and he has to prove it for a longer period. Maybe moving Herrera there helps but they need to work him in the OF now (in-between games)!
The IF is passable, and they can't move NA and not likely WC, so we can live with light-hitting Winn and Donny at 2b until Westerholt comes, and they can move Donny back to super-utility. Lots of catchers.
They have to trade the FAs pitchers, or DFA them, and let some young arms get a runway this year, where finally, even the Pollyannas have figured out that this team is not going anywhere. It would be great to get a young arm, but everyone wants them.

Agree 100%

I hope Doyle is a stud but I'd rather draft hitters w/my 1st RD pick, trade or sign PROVEN major league pitchers.

And the OF's been terrible since M. Holliday!

Put a RHHing, MOTO hitting OF'er in this lineup to go w/I. Hererra & WillyC and we've got something!

That MOTO hitter can affect 150+ games.

A FOTR starter only 30+ at best.

Give me the stud RHHing, MOTO OF'er 100 out of 100 times.

JMO

Where, oh where can he be? Other than the impossibility of adding Tucker, I don't see a path toward one, unless they luck out on a trade for a young guy who may develop. 3b Eugenio Suárez is the only FA who seems to fit as a MOTO, but that assumes Arenado is traded. Bellinger may be available, but it seems his name has been there every off-season and the Cards aren't interested.

They can spend on one SP out of guys like Michael King, RHP Brandon Woodruff, or oft-injured LHP Ranger Suárez.

You have now defined the issue- where o where is he. That’s why I tabled the Tucker thread. No one else is available that fits the narrative in this discussion.

So since we need one each year, we now turn to a pitcher option. Trade for one of the aforementioned mentioned Aces. Gotta make both moves, timing dictates which comes first.

[scoutyjones2]

Slam dunk for me

RHH-ing

MOTO

OF

The OF is terrible. Walker, Scott, and Noot can't hit. Donny belongs on the dirt. They have no MOTO bat. The only bat in the minors with a chance to help is Baez, and he has to prove it for a longer period. Maybe moving Herrera there helps but they need to work him in the OF now (in-between games)!
The IF is passable, and they can't move NA and not likely WC, so we can live with light-hitting Winn and Donny at 2b until Westerholt comes, and they can move Donny back to super-utility. Lots of catchers.
They have to trade the FAs pitchers, or DFA them, and let some young arms get a runway this year, where finally, even the Pollyannas have figured out that this team is not going anywhere. It would be great to get a young arm, but everyone wants them.

Agree 100%

I hope Doyle is a stud but I'd rather draft hitters w/my 1st RD pick, trade or sign PROVEN major league pitchers.

And the OF's been terrible since M. Holliday!

Put a RHHing, MOTO hitting OF'er in this lineup to go w/I. Hererra & WillyC and we've got something!

That MOTO hitter can affect 150+ games.

A FOTR starter only 30+ at best.

Give me the stud RHHing, MOTO OF'er 100 out of 100 times.

JMO

Where, oh where can he be? Other than the impossibility of adding Tucker, I don't see a path toward one, unless they luck out on a trade for a young guy who may develop. 3b Eugenio Suárez is the only FA who seems to fit as a MOTO, but that assumes Arenado is traded. Bellinger may be available, but it seems his name has been there every off-season and the Cards aren't interested.

They can spend on one SP out of guys like Michael King, RHP Brandon Woodruff, or oft-injured LHP Ranger Suárez.

This team screwed the pooch when they didn't sign Imanaga or Lugo (many on this board, including us, wanted this badly).

Buxton.

Or trade for Colby Thomas

[rockondlouie]

Slam dunk for me

RHH-ing

MOTO

OF

The OF is terrible. Walker, Scott, and Noot can't hit. Donny belongs on the dirt. They have no MOTO bat. The only bat in the minors with a chance to help is Baez, and he has to prove it for a longer period. Maybe moving Herrera there helps but they need to work him in the OF now (in-between games)!
The IF is passable, and they can't move NA and not likely WC, so we can live with light-hitting Winn and Donny at 2b until Westerholt comes, and they can move Donny back to super-utility. Lots of catchers.
They have to trade the FAs pitchers, or DFA them, and let some young arms get a runway this year, where finally, even the Pollyannas have figured out that this team is not going anywhere. It would be great to get a young arm, but everyone wants them.

Agree 100%

I hope Doyle is a stud but I'd rather draft hitters w/my 1st RD pick, trade or sign PROVEN major league pitchers.

And the OF's been terrible since M. Holliday!

Put a RHHing, MOTO hitting OF'er in this lineup to go w/I. Hererra & WillyC and we've got something!

That MOTO hitter can affect 150+ games.

A FOTR starter only 30+ at best.

Give me the stud RHHing, MOTO OF'er 100 out of 100 times.

JMO

Where, oh where can he be? Other than the impossibility of adding Tucker, I don't see a path toward one, unless they luck out on a trade for a young guy who may develop. 3b Eugenio Suárez is the only FA who seems to fit as a MOTO, but that assumes Arenado is traded. Bellinger may be available, but it seems his name has been there every off-season and the Cards aren't interested.

They can spend on one SP out of guys like Michael King, RHP Brandon Woodruff, or oft-injured LHP Ranger Suárez.

This team screwed the pooch when they didn't sign Imanaga or Lugo (many on this board, including us, wanted this badly).

Yea no Goldy going to fall into their laps this time.

Don't remind me about Imanaga, what a mis by Mo.

While the majority in here were pining for Yamamoto (pipedream) I kept posting "Go after Imanaga"!

[AZ_Cardsfan]

Yea no Goldy going to fall into their laps this time.

Don't remind me about Imanaga, what a mis by Mo.

While the majority in here were pining for Yamamoto (pipedream) I kept posting "Go after Imanaga"!

I hope we just didn't know and in the background they made an effort. He was far to reasonable price versus upside to pass on.

[rockondlouie]

Yea no Goldy going to fall into their laps this time.

Don't remind me about Imanaga, what a mis by Mo.

While the majority in here were pining for Yamamoto (pipedream) I kept posting "Go after Imanaga"!

I hope we just didn't know and in the background they made an effort. He was far to reasonable price versus upside to pass on.

From what Bernie said after he signed w/the scrubs they didn't.

[45s]

Youth

I know the poster is just giving examples, but those players are….or soon to be….on the wrong side of 30.

Best available…..and young..

[IndCard75]

I’m still of the opinion we should still be rebuilding.
So hypothetically I’m trying to do something like Hels and Matz
for the best OF prospect I can get. There is still enough teams in the playoff hunt it shouldn’t be hard to find a trade partner.
For example:
Hels Matz to Tigers for Max Clark. He just got promoted to AA. Unfortunately he hits LH.

The Dodgers also have a couple decent OF prospects.

I would think we should be able to get a top 10 prospect plus a couple top 50 for Hels Matz.

[AZ_Cardsfan]

I’m still of the opinion we should still be rebuilding.
So hypothetically I’m trying to do something like Hels and Matz
for the best OF prospect I can get. There is still enough teams in the playoff hunt it shouldn’t be hard to find a trade partner.
For example:
Hels Matz to Tigers for Max Clark. He just got promoted to AA. Unfortunately he hits LH.

The Dodgers also have a couple decent OF prospects.

I would think we should be able to get a top 10 prospect plus a couple top 50 for Hels Matz.

Agreed. This team isn't worth adding to. Instead bite the bullet and deal off assets that are gone next year anyway.

[JDW]

I’m still of the opinion we should still be rebuilding.
So hypothetically I’m trying to do something like Hels and Matz
for the best OF prospect I can get. There is still enough teams in the playoff hunt it shouldn’t be hard to find a trade partner.
For example:
Hels Matz to Tigers for Max Clark. He just got promoted to AA. Unfortunately he hits LH.

The Dodgers also have a couple decent OF prospects.

I would think we should be able to get a top 10 prospect plus a couple top 50 for Hels Matz.

On another thread, saw someone mention the Yankees prospect Spencer Jones. Don't know much about him but he's at AAA and doing well it looks like. Wonder what it would take? Yankees might be kind of desperate to try and improve their team for the stretch.

[Goldfan]

Since Lankford the Cards haven’t been able to produce an OFer
All All-Star types have been FA or trade…..

[Youboughtit]

Personally. Best available player / hitter in the minors AA on down for any player on this current roster not named Winn.

how about a 6'3" 220lb OFer swinging this: .291 .386 .888 11hr 34sb

Who is this?

Baez..Springfield

Let him develop correctly. Don’t rush him like Walker