Yamamoto ....Imanaga...Come on Bloom, get us one like these.

[ramfandan]

Do we have the money to outbid the big money teams?

If $$$ wee comparable , would you pick Southern California sunny weather year round ocean location , , outdoor pool usable 12 months per year OR would you prefer St. Louis ?

[AZ_Cardsfan]

Do we have the money to outbid the big money teams?

If $$$ wee comparable , would you pick Southern California sunny weather year round ocean location , , outdoor pool usable 12 months per year OR would you prefer St. Louis ?

Lets not forget nonstop flights to Japan from LAX.

[ScotchMIrish]

Do we have the money to outbid the big money teams?

If $$$ wee comparable , would you pick Southern California sunny weather year round ocean location , , outdoor pool usable 12 months per year OR would you prefer St. Louis ?

And pay California taxes? If dollars were equal I'd take Florida or Texas with no state income tax but dollars aren't usually equal.

[AZ_Cardsfan]

Do we have the money to outbid the big money teams?

If $$$ wee comparable , would you pick Southern California sunny weather year round ocean location , , outdoor pool usable 12 months per year OR would you prefer St. Louis ?

And pay California taxes? If dollars were equal I'd take Florida or Texas with no state income tax but dollars aren't usually equal.

Got to also factor in those areas might not offer a Japanese player the same endorsement opportunities and lets not forget playoffs and WS chances. Nothing in Florida with playoff aspirations every year.

Really the only competition for a guy like Yamamoto is San Diego or the Giants. Anyone else would need to outbid by a margin to make it all equal even with higher taxes. Well maybe NYY if they are willing to accept longer non-stops to Tokyo.

[Ozziesfan41]

Get in on some of this international pitching. The Cards don't seem to get that into that Asian market expect for and outfielder. That Yamamoto is the Dodgers best pitcher and it showed. Took a game in Toronto and they needed it badly.

Completely unfair to expect that from Bloom any more than it was to expect it from Mo.
Mootbaar was the guy who was going to get that done.

That’s a dumb take. Noot might be able to get them to consider St. Louis but with Dewitt keeping the wallet closed they were never going to sign for 5 or 10 million in St. Louis no matter how much they like noot

That claim was made by Moootbaar and the team.
Not me.

What claim did the team make? From everything I read they were willing to be in on him at 200 million but once it went higher they dipped out only an idiot would think Nootbaar could convince someone to take about 150 million less to sign with St. Louis. Noot could get them to listen to St. Louis but he wasn’t going to be able to get them to sign for millions less it’s just a dumb take for taking shots at noot for that but that is how you operate

[11WSChamps]

Funny how some people think it's just snap your fingers and you sign the guy who just threw one of the years best games. And he will ALWAYS do that for STL.

Of course signing him would mean STL missed the playoffs by only a game instead of where it finished. The laughs keep coming.

It’s funny that some think that those type players would sign with Stl at all…

A decade ago. Not now.

The team was relevant then.

[ScotchMIrish]

Do we have the money to outbid the big money teams?

If $$$ wee comparable , would you pick Southern California sunny weather year round ocean location , , outdoor pool usable 12 months per year OR would you prefer St. Louis ?

And pay California taxes? If dollars were equal I'd take Florida or Texas with no state income tax but dollars aren't usually equal.

Got to also factor in those areas might not offer a Japanese player the same endorsement opportunities and lets not forget playoffs and WS chances. Nothing in Florida with playoff aspirations every year.

Really the only competition for a guy like Yamamoto is San Diego or the Giants. Anyone else would need to outbid by a margin to make it all equal even with higher taxes. Well maybe NYY if they are willing to accept longer non-stops to Tokyo.

All good points. I'm probably dreaming but perhaps in 2027 the small and medium market franchise band together and get a serious MLB payroll cap. That would open things up for more teams to compete for good players - and for world series titles.

[82birds]

Yamamoto is fine but he’s no Mikolas

ROFLAO

[CCard]

Get in on some of this international pitching. The Cards don't seem to get that into that Asian market expect for and outfielder. That Yamamoto is the Dodgers best pitcher and it showed. Took a game in Toronto and they needed it badly.

Completely unfair to expect that from Bloom any more than it was to expect it from Mo.
Mootbaar was the guy who was going to get that done.

To begin with Nootbaar isn't a pitcher. And he's not really from Asia. He was born and raised in California. I did expect that from Mo. I've been outspoken about Imanaga going to the Cubs without even an offer from the Cards. Any time there's a top name star that's posted from Asia, the Cards never even attempt to get them. I would expect Bloom to do it but he's hog-tied by DeWitt. So here we are watching Asian stars win accolades around baseball. The one time they even really did anything was signing So Taguchi. He played okay and had some big hits for the Cards but he's not the caliber of Imanaga or Yamamoto.

[AZ_Cardsfan]

Do we have the money to outbid the big money teams?

If $$$ wee comparable , would you pick Southern California sunny weather year round ocean location , , outdoor pool usable 12 months per year OR would you prefer St. Louis ?

And pay California taxes? If dollars were equal I'd take Florida or Texas with no state income tax but dollars aren't usually equal.

Got to also factor in those areas might not offer a Japanese player the same endorsement opportunities and lets not forget playoffs and WS chances. Nothing in Florida with playoff aspirations every year.

Really the only competition for a guy like Yamamoto is San Diego or the Giants. Anyone else would need to outbid by a margin to make it all equal even with higher taxes. Well maybe NYY if they are willing to accept longer non-stops to Tokyo.

All good points. I'm probably dreaming but perhaps in 2027 the small and medium market franchise band together and get a serious MLB payroll cap. That would open things up for more teams to compete for good players - and for world series titles.

We can hope. I suspect because of the competing issues and clans we don't see a hard cap. I think it ends up with a higher luxury tax cap and harsher penalties for going over plus a mandatory minimum. They could also cost draft picks for signing free agents at a certain price point. I don't know there are things they might get thru. I just don't see the have not teams having the clout to push the union and rich clubs into a hard cap.

[dugoutrex]

Do we have the money to outbid the big money teams?

If $$$ wee comparable , would you pick Southern California sunny weather year round ocean location , , outdoor pool usable 12 months per year OR would you prefer St. Louis ?

And pay California taxes? If dollars were equal I'd take Florida or Texas with no state income tax but dollars aren't usually equal.

couldn't pay me to live in Florida or Texas

[2ninr]

Do we have the money to outbid the big money teams?

If $$$ wee comparable , would you pick Southern California sunny weather year round ocean location , , outdoor pool usable 12 months per year OR would you prefer St. Louis ?

And pay California taxes? If dollars were equal I'd take Florida or Texas with no state income tax but dollars aren't usually equal.

Got to also factor in those areas might not offer a Japanese player the same endorsement opportunities and lets not forget playoffs and WS chances. Nothing in Florida with playoff aspirations every year.

Really the only competition for a guy like Yamamoto is San Diego or the Giants. Anyone else would need to outbid by a margin to make it all equal even with higher taxes. Well maybe NYY if they are willing to accept longer non-stops to Tokyo.

All good points. I'm probably dreaming but perhaps in 2027 the small and medium market franchise band together and get a serious MLB payroll cap. That would open things up for more teams to compete for good players - and for world series titles.

We can hope. I suspect because of the competing issues and clans we don't see a hard cap. I think it ends up with a higher luxury tax cap and harsher penalties for going over plus a mandatory minimum. They could also cost draft picks for signing free agents at a certain price point. I don't know there are things they might get thru. I just don't see the have not teams having the clout to push the union and rich clubs into a hard cap.

You want to expound on that?

[cardinalsfever44]

What is the appeal for a top free agent from Asia to come to St. Louis? The Cardinals would have to vastly overpay, and I doubt even then a top Asian free agent would come to St. Louis.

The Cards need to focus on those 2nd tier guys.

[ScotchMIrish]

Do we have the money to outbid the big money teams?

If $$$ wee comparable , would you pick Southern California sunny weather year round ocean location , , outdoor pool usable 12 months per year OR would you prefer St. Louis ?

And pay California taxes? If dollars were equal I'd take Florida or Texas with no state income tax but dollars aren't usually equal.

Got to also factor in those areas might not offer a Japanese player the same endorsement opportunities and lets not forget playoffs and WS chances. Nothing in Florida with playoff aspirations every year.

Really the only competition for a guy like Yamamoto is San Diego or the Giants. Anyone else would need to outbid by a margin to make it all equal even with higher taxes. Well maybe NYY if they are willing to accept longer non-stops to Tokyo.

All good points. I'm probably dreaming but perhaps in 2027 the small and medium market franchise band together and get a serious MLB payroll cap. That would open things up for more teams to compete for good players - and for world series titles.

We can hope. I suspect because of the competing issues and clans we don't see a hard cap. I think it ends up with a higher luxury tax cap and harsher penalties for going over plus a mandatory minimum. They could also cost draft picks for signing free agents at a certain price point. I don't know there are things they might get thru. I just don't see the have not teams having the clout to push the union and rich clubs into a hard cap.

Unfortunately you are probably right but I think we are nearing a breaking point. Small market teams are essentially on welfare.

[AZ_Cardsfan]

Do we have the money to outbid the big money teams?

If $$$ wee comparable , would you pick Southern California sunny weather year round ocean location , , outdoor pool usable 12 months per year OR would you prefer St. Louis ?

And pay California taxes? If dollars were equal I'd take Florida or Texas with no state income tax but dollars aren't usually equal.

Got to also factor in those areas might not offer a Japanese player the same endorsement opportunities and lets not forget playoffs and WS chances. Nothing in Florida with playoff aspirations every year.

Really the only competition for a guy like Yamamoto is San Diego or the Giants. Anyone else would need to outbid by a margin to make it all equal even with higher taxes. Well maybe NYY if they are willing to accept longer non-stops to Tokyo.

All good points. I'm probably dreaming but perhaps in 2027 the small and medium market franchise band together and get a serious MLB payroll cap. That would open things up for more teams to compete for good players - and for world series titles.

We can hope. I suspect because of the competing issues and clans we don't see a hard cap. I think it ends up with a higher luxury tax cap and harsher penalties for going over plus a mandatory minimum. They could also cost draft picks for signing free agents at a certain price point. I don't know there are things they might get thru. I just don't see the have not teams having the clout to push the union and rich clubs into a hard cap.

You want to expound on that?

What part? Why?

[ScotchMIrish]

Do we have the money to outbid the big money teams?

If $$$ wee comparable , would you pick Southern California sunny weather year round ocean location , , outdoor pool usable 12 months per year OR would you prefer St. Louis ?

And pay California taxes? If dollars were equal I'd take Florida or Texas with no state income tax but dollars aren't usually equal.

Got to also factor in those areas might not offer a Japanese player the same endorsement opportunities and lets not forget playoffs and WS chances. Nothing in Florida with playoff aspirations every year.

Really the only competition for a guy like Yamamoto is San Diego or the Giants. Anyone else would need to outbid by a margin to make it all equal even with higher taxes. Well maybe NYY if they are willing to accept longer non-stops to Tokyo.

All good points. I'm probably dreaming but perhaps in 2027 the small and medium market franchise band together and get a serious MLB payroll cap. That would open things up for more teams to compete for good players - and for world series titles.

We can hope. I suspect because of the competing issues and clans we don't see a hard cap. I think it ends up with a higher luxury tax cap and harsher penalties for going over plus a mandatory minimum. They could also cost draft picks for signing free agents at a certain price point. I don't know there are things they might get thru. I just don't see the have not teams having the clout to push the union and rich clubs into a hard cap.

You want to expound on that?

I can't speak for AZ but I'll render my opinion. It used to be a team signing a type A free agent - similar to today's qualifying offer free agent - was they lost their first round pick and the team that lost the free agent got your first round pick. Now that has changed and penalty and compensation are not as significant. They also put limits on how much teams can spend in the draft and international signings. That was done because the Pirates were spending more than any other team on draft picks and international signings while maintaining a low payroll.

The change was made because the union and big money teams complained. Instead of more parody they went in the opposite direction. 2027 is a crucial year for MLB.