Tell me the difference from buying premium talent now or next year

[Carp4Cy]

the problems with buying talent is uncertainty...

the club has no idea who will be available.
some may resign at the last minute with their existing club....some may take the QO....or no one satisfies the criteria of what the club needs most ......not to mention the age factor as most will be over 30 or very close

then.....if the club gets past all that......the player has to agree to come here

a valuable free agent will have several offers.....some from winning organizations...what the allure of STL currently??

unless you want the club to ridiculously overpay......insert your own Sonny Gray joke here

building from within allows the club control their future personnel decisions

They aren't doing a very good job of building within.
I'd say the fanbase most likely will need to wait until the next decade to see any semblance of a winner here.

I don’t disagree that they have done a poor job of building….perhaps the bloom regime will be more accomplished

It has several years for the club to sink to this level…..it’s not going to be resurrected in a year or two

Sure it should. Boston went worst to first in a single year twice. We are already on year 3 of resetting. Allowing for more years on top of that is just excuses for failure.

[Carp4Cy]

Lots of money coming off the books (just under $40M) + BDWJr needs to add another $20M to that total.

Give C. Bloom $60M to work w/and I bet he'd fix Mo's screwed up roster.

I wonder what the FA market looks like.
I haven't checked.
Man, they've run this team so far into the ground, it will be hard to convince anyone to sign even.

Here ya' go bully!

https://www.mlb.com/news/baseball-s-nex ... nt-classes

These are not the RH power hitters you are looking for.

Tucker and Schwarber and *yawn* on everybody else. Also *yawn* on the starting pitching.

The Cardinals won't be built through FA. They also are not competing for a deep run in the playoffs in 2026. Get used to it now.

Frankly, I’m OK with them not competing for a deep run in 26 — providing that there’s progress. No more treading water, playing to be just good enough, etc. Have a plan, be transparent about what the plan is, follow through on the plan, show improvement, and they’ll get the fans back.

How is that progress working out so far?

Libby has taken a step forward this year. Scott as well but he’s no team leader.
Lots of players treading water. Using up the cheap years of Winn and Donovan.
Hererra (hurt a lot), Willson, Gray, about the same year to year - adequate starters but not enough around them. Same with Burly.
Noot, Walker, Gorman, Pallante, King, Saggese, Pages either arent taking steps forward or have gone backwards. And there’s no reason to expect 2026 to magically mark massive progress for that group. There just isn’t enough projectable talent there to wait around for. Not going to happen.
JJW and hopefully Doyle are about the only franchise changers in the minors. McGreevey could be added to the rotation but I don’t see him as a massive upgrade over Pallante from 24. Matthews is no sure thing and Roby/Hence anre constantly hurt. So we still need 2 more to replace Fedde and Mikolas.
My point is that JJW and Doyle should be ready in 26, and there’s no massive talent behind them to be worth waiting for. So this is the generation we need to build around. We won’t be drafting 7 or 5 again anytime soon.
Several holes, Lots of $ coming off the books, plenty of dry powder. Waiting of the system isn’t going to fill all those holes. 2026 is where we need to invest in outside talent to suppliment the keepers in this system, because waiting any longer will just cost of years of those few who already are producing and the minors behind our top 2 will never be at the level of those we’ve lost - Nolan and Goldie in their primes, Wainwright in his prime and gray.

[BrummerStealsHome]

Tell me the difference from buying premium talent now or next year

Price and availability

[Carp4Cy]

Tell me the difference from buying premium talent now or next year

Price and availability

Fair reason. But maybe some of that talent should come now and some in the offseason. Not everyone who is available now will be available in the off-season- so it needs to work both ways.

[CCard]

Tell me the difference from buying premium talent now or next year

Price and availability

Fair reason. But maybe some of that talent should come now and some in the offseason. Not everyone who is available now will be available in the off-season- so it needs to work both ways.

Indeed. Put the talent that you can get on the field and who knows what will happen. But not putting the talent on the field is a sure fire way to lose.

[rockondlouie]

Lots of money coming off the books (just under $40M) + BDWJr needs to add another $20M to that total.

Give C. Bloom $60M to work w/and I bet he'd fix Mo's screwed up roster.

I like your optimism, but I don't think this team is 60 million away from running with Milwaukee and Chicago. I agree with the others that we need more developed talent first. If this were six, seven years ago, then I think 60 million sets up nicely.

To your point, though, if Gorman and Burly can keep their consistency, and if Scott can take a step forward and finish the year hitting around .250, and if Walker can show us SOMETHING...then I'd change my tune. To my mind, though, that's a LOT to ask for, and a lot to hope breaks right. And that's just the hitting.

Do both!

You can NEVER, EVER draft & develop alone a championship team, even the Dodgers go outside their system for multiple star players.

Bloom/Cerfolio have repaired the broken minor league system!

Now BDWJr needs to give Bloom the payroll he needs to fill in the missing pieces via trades and FA.

JMO

I definitely don't disagree with doing both, but I don't think this offseason is the time to do it.

Here's my thinking:

The only prospect that I feel somewhat confident in making the next step next season is JJ. That probably covers you at second base. And allows Donovan to move to third, possibly (if Gorman isn't the answer), or LF (if Noot is traded--and he should be. Or if Herrera doesn't move out there).

First base? I like Contreras there. He's been above average on defense, and his bat is fine. But he also is getting older.

Shortstop. Winn, for sure, though his bat hasn't been that great this year. But you'd be hard pressed to find a better fit defensively here.

Third base...who the heck knows. Nado is still a glove juggernaut. But that bat stinks. Maybe Gorman? Maybe Donovan?

The outfield is a mess. I feel comfortable with Burly. Scott is at least defensively able, and has periods where his bat plays. What happens with left field? Herrera? Donovan? Where's Walker at? What's Baez doing for the rest of this year and spring of next? To me, this is the biggest blunder of Mo's past several years.

Depending on how the outfield shakes out, I expect Herrera/Burly/Gorman to take DH.

And the pitching...oof.

Gray will likely return. Hopefully he'll be closer to what he's been during his time here rather than his past couple starts.
Mikolas and Fedde will need to be replaced. You've got to figure McGreevy gets one of those jobs.
Pallante...probably fine if he's actually the #4 or #5 instead of the #3 that he's forced to be.
Libby...Fine with him, but it's also fair to wonder if this year's innings load affects him going into next season.

I feel oddly fine about the bullpen. Good relievers can always be found, and it's a position that you should invest SOME in, but the less the better.

One area that I hope they're planning to drop money in is the starting pitching. Gray's fading, Libby is inexperienced, McGreevy will be, and it wouldn't be the end of the world if Pallante wasn't there. Especially with Doyle on the way, I want a STRONG ace to show him the ropes.

JJW and Doyle perhaps Bernal are the only prospects down below I have confidence could be game changers w/in the system.

Bloom has a big job repairing this roster mess Mo is leaving him.

Going to take a smart hire to be the next Manager, some great trades and BDWJr giving him the payroll he needs to sign free agents.

At least we're coming out of the dark knowing Mo is gone and it better be Oli too.

Should be exciting to see what Bloom does come October.