What would our estimated payroll be?

[Cardinals4Life]

What would our estimated payroll be if this happened?

Trade Arenado, Nootbaar, Burleson, Gorman
Sign Framber Valdez
Sign Kyle Tucker
Sign Eugenio Suarez


Donovan LF
Wetherholt 2B
Tucker RF
Suarez 3B
Contreas 1B
Herrera DH
Crooks C
Winn SS
Scott II CF

Bench: Church, Saggese, Pages

Valdez
Gray
Traded for P
Liberatore
McGreevy

Pen: O'Brien, Granillo, Svanson, Romero, Graceffo, Leahy, 2 orher spots

Can this team be afforded? Is this team a WS contender?

I think yes, but need someone to tell me the estimated cost and why it wouldn't be a contender?
Thanks!

[Jatalk]

Can cost be determined? How much of Arenados contract do you have to eat and signing free agents at how much?

[Jatalk]

Estimated annual cost

Suarez $15mill
Tucker $40 mill
Valdez $30 mill

[ramfandan]

Nope.. the plan for 2026 is to get rid of higher contracts not to then add new high cost deals.

Nice thought but not the plan Bloom has mentioned.
Maybe he could surprise but not holding my breath.

[Banner29]

Nope.. the plan for 2026 is to get rid of higher contracts not to then add new high cost deals.

Nice thought but not the plan Bloom has mentioned.
Maybe he could surprise but not holding my breath.

We don’t have a lot of higher contracts left. Mostly just Arenado and Sonny. And both might be traded.

I won’t hold my breath either. But maybe Dewitt is wanting to bring some fan excitement(ticket sales back) and might surprise us all

[Cardinals4Life]

Estimated annual cost

Suarez $15mill
Tucker $40 mill
Valdez $30 mill

Ok, so what would that look like with what we have coming back? Is that doable financially?

[Cardinals4Life]

Nope.. the plan for 2026 is to get rid of higher contracts not to then add new high cost deals.

Nice thought but not the plan Bloom has mentioned.
Maybe he could surprise but not holding my breath.

I got that. Just wondering what this would look like and if it would be financially possible? An alternative way to reshape the Cards in ine offseason.

[Talkin' Baseball]

This is interesting as a thought exercise, but if it is more than that, why do you guys do this to yourselves?

[Cardinals4Life]

This is interesting as a thought exercise, but if it is more than that, why do you guys do this to yourselves?

Because we love the Cardinals and believe there is a way to fix this mess much, much quicker. We don't accept that we went from a 180M payroll annually to suddenly dropping to below 100M. We don't believe that building an entire team internally will ever produce the desired results that us diehard fans expect. We don't think you have to SUCK to make yourself a better team.

Clear out some clutter, make a couple of smart trades, and sign a few key free agents and we are back in the ballgame. (BTW, this doesn't ruin our minor league pipeline development either!)

[Youboughtit]

Estimated annual cost

Suarez $15mill
Tucker $40 mill
Valdez $30 mill

Ok, so what would that look like with what we have coming back? Is that doable financially?

$75m currently on books before arb. To trade Arenado and get any return will have to eat most of his contract. Your proposal makes payroll about $185m without a closer. The reason this team is not competitive is the self imposed budget by ownership. 2006-2011 payroll was top 11 on opening day and top 10 end of season. That figure is now $220m. In 2022 the Cardinals payroll was $178m and Forbes projected a $48m profit. This season with a $128m payroll the profit is expected to be $2m. If the owner wants to make $ he’s going to have to spend to show the fans he’s committed to win and that cost is a top 11 payroll. The home raised role players are good. Add the stars. $100m should kick start them back into a top contender

[Cardinals4Life]

Estimated annual cost

Suarez $15mill
Tucker $40 mill
Valdez $30 mill

Ok, so what would that look like with what we have coming back? Is that doable financially?

$75m currently on books before arb. To trade Arenado and get any return will have to eat most of his contract. Your proposal makes payroll about $185m without a closer. The reason this team is not competitive is the self imposed budget by ownership. 2006-2011 payroll was top 11 on opening day and top 10 end of season. That figure is now $220m. In 2022 the Cardinals payroll was $178m and Forbes projected a $48m profit. This season with a $128m payroll the profit is expected to be $2m. If the owner wants to make $ he’s going to have to spend to show the fans he’s committed to win and that cost is a top 11 payroll. The home raised role players are good. Add the stars. $100m should kick start them back into a top contender

Ok, thank you for doing the math for me!
So 185 without a closer (guessing they would go with O'Brien).

That payroll is certainly doable. It is 2025 for crying out loud. Money goes up every year. That's economics. 185M should have been the number 4-5 years ago.

Does this lineup make us a legitimate force? Does it detract from having young players being developed in our minors? Why can't this be done and fix the rebuild right now?

[Youboughtit]

Estimated annual cost

Suarez $15mill
Tucker $40 mill
Valdez $30 mill

Ok, so what would that look like with what we have coming back? Is that doable financially?

$75m currently on books before arb. To trade Arenado and get any return will have to eat most of his contract. Your proposal makes payroll about $185m without a closer. The reason this team is not competitive is the self imposed budget by ownership. 2006-2011 payroll was top 11 on opening day and top 10 end of season. That figure is now $220m. In 2022 the Cardinals payroll was $178m and Forbes projected a $48m profit. This season with a $128m payroll the profit is expected to be $2m. If the owner wants to make $ he’s going to have to spend to show the fans he’s committed to win and that cost is a top 11 payroll. The home raised role players are good. Add the stars. $100m should kick start them back into a top contender

Ok, thank you for doing the math for me!
So 185 without a closer (guessing they would go with O'Brien).

That payroll is certainly doable. It is 2025 for crying out loud. Money goes up every year. That's economics. 185M should have been the number 4-5 years ago.

Does this lineup make us a legitimate force? Does it detract from having young players being developed in our minors? Why can't this be done and fix the rebuild right now?

Well it depends on chemistry but with Wetherholt also it gives them a more balanced roster and takes Chicago down a notch. I would say 90 wins and battling with the Brewers.

Winn SS
Wetherholt 2B
Tucker RF
Suarez 3B
Hererra DH
Contreras 1B
Donovan LF
Crooks C
Scott CF

Bench Segesse Pages Church ?


Sp
Valdez
Gray
Mid tier FA
Doyle (after all star break)
Libertore
McGreevy
Pallante

Like
Ai have said all along its ownership holding their roster back. They simply don’t want to spend to what it takes to win. The recipe has stayed the same for this market. The Owner has changed his commitment.

[Cardinals4Life]

Estimated annual cost

Suarez $15mill
Tucker $40 mill
Valdez $30 mill

Ok, so what would that look like with what we have coming back? Is that doable financially?

$75m currently on books before arb. To trade Arenado and get any return will have to eat most of his contract. Your proposal makes payroll about $185m without a closer. The reason this team is not competitive is the self imposed budget by ownership. 2006-2011 payroll was top 11 on opening day and top 10 end of season. That figure is now $220m. In 2022 the Cardinals payroll was $178m and Forbes projected a $48m profit. This season with a $128m payroll the profit is expected to be $2m. If the owner wants to make $ he’s going to have to spend to show the fans he’s committed to win and that cost is a top 11 payroll. The home raised role players are good. Add the stars. $100m should kick start them back into a top contender

Ok, thank you for doing the math for me!
So 185 without a closer (guessing they would go with O'Brien).

That payroll is certainly doable. It is 2025 for crying out loud. Money goes up every year. That's economics. 185M should have been the number 4-5 years ago.

Does this lineup make us a legitimate force? Does it detract from having young players being developed in our minors? Why can't this be done and fix the rebuild right now?

Well it depends on chemistry but with Wetherholt also it gives them a more balanced roster and takes Chicago down a notch. I would say 90 wins and battling with the Brewers.

Winn SS
Wetherholt 2B
Tucker RF
Suarez 3B
Hererra DH
Contreras 1B
Donovan LF
Crooks C
Scott CF

Bench Segesse Pages Church ?


Sp
Valdez
Gray
Mid tier FA
Doyle (after all star break)
Libertore
McGreevy
Pallante

Like
Ai have said all along its ownership holding their roster back. They simply don’t want to spend to what it takes to win. The recipe has stayed the same for this market. The Owner has changed his commitment.

I agree. Nothing has changed for us to be competitive, except the ownership desire to spend money.

[Ozziesfan41]

Why would they come to St. Louis anyway? All three will have a lot of interest from good teams the Yankees and dodgers will be in on Tucker why would he sign with the cardinals instead of one of them? Same with Valdez. They would want to sign with top tier teams who can outbid the cardinals

[Cardinals4Life]

Why would they come to St. Louis anyway? All three will have a lot of interest from good teams the Yankees and dodgers will be in on Tucker why would he sign with the cardinals instead of one of them? Same with Valdez. They would want to sign with top tier teams who can outbid the cardinals

Money talks. If you want someone, go get them.

[Talkin' Baseball]

This is interesting as a thought exercise, but if it is more than that, why do you guys do this to yourselves?

Because we love the Cardinals and believe there is a way to fix this mess much, much quicker. We don't accept that we went from a 180M payroll annually to suddenly dropping to below 100M. We don't believe that building an entire team internally will ever produce the desired results that us diehard fans expect. We don't think you have to SUCK to make yourself a better team.

Clear out some clutter, make a couple of smart trades, and sign a few key free agents and we are back in the ballgame. (BTW, this doesn't ruin our minor league pipeline development either!)

I accept this as a good answer, but it also makes my point- it's just a thought exercise. There are many approaches available to address problems and this is one of them. It could work, but the Cardinals have told us they are going down a different path. Believe them.