Sorting Out The Catchers

[sikeston bulldog2]

Currently the Cardinals have 4 catchers on their roster of 37 players (Herrera is listed as a catcher). Additionally, they will need to add Leonardo Bernal to the roster this month. Having 5 catchers on your 40 man roster is a bad idea, so some work needs to done.

How Many Catchers Are Needed in St. Louis?
Ideally, two catchers on the 26 man roster should be enough. They recently added Bryan Torres to the 40-man roster. If he sticks in St Louis I could see him being an emergency third catcher. He caught in 78 games for 545 innings in the minors, and surprisingly threw out 47% of would-be base stealers. So, I’m going with 2 rostered catchers and Torres as a backup plan.

Deciding Who Stays
It would not be my pick, but according to Katie Woo’s reporting the Cardinals seem intent on having Ivan Herrera catch 60-80 games for the Cards this season. I trust Katie, so whether I like it or not, Herrera stays on the roster as a catcher.
I like Yohel Pozo, but I don’t see any way he can stay on the roster with this many catchers. My hope would be that he could be dropped from the roster and signed to a minor league contract and sent to Memphis as a catcher-in-waiting, in the event of injury. Whether that happens or not, he has to be dropped from the roster.

Now the debate- We have Pedro Pages and Jimmy Crooks who were both on the roster at the end of the season, as well as Leonardo Bernal who ended the year at AA. Only two of them should remain on the 40-man roster, and if Herrera is a catcher, only one should remain on the 26-man roster. One catcher needs to go.

Who Needs To Go?
If you want to trade one of the catchers, they all have almost identical trade value. Jimmy Crooks 13.3M, Pedro Pages 11.2M, and Leonardo Bernal 11.2M. If we still have Bernal, he needs to go to AAA. Can you really send Crooks back to AAA with Bernal there, or hold Bernal back at AA? In my mind, Bernal is the catcher of the future in St Louis. I know some disagree, but that’s how I see it. He isn’t just better than Crooks defensively- he was judged to be better than all minor league catchers defensively. He has more pop in his bat than Crooks. He is a switch hitter. He is younger than Crooks as well. He could be here for 10-12 years if we can keep him. So, I send Bernal to Memphis next season. That leaves Pages and Crooks for the second catcher in St Louis next season- the other one gets traded. I don’t have a strong preference on that. It would be dependent on the preferences of the receiving team.

There you have it- 3 Catchers on the 40 man- Herrera, Pages or Crooks, and Bernal. (By the way- I expect the Herrera experiment to fail and whoever is left of Pages and Crooks will end up backing up Bernal)

Agree about Herrera. I like Pages so depending who fits in AAA trade one of the young guys.

I think pages has decent power. Maybe a 15-20 homer guy at DH.

[Melville]

Herrera will not start 60+ games at catcher next year.
The pitchers simply will not allow it.
Pages / Crooks should share starting duties in 2026.
Bernal should be traded to acquire talent at other positions of greater need - he is squeezed by others ahead and others behind.
Rodriguez is closing fast and should be considered the developing heir to follow Pages / Crooks.
Easy.
Obvious.
Correct.

Well thought out opinion.
But then....you just couldn’t RESIST adding the last three words could you Sideshow? LOL
Keep reading!
Keep learning!

He should have stopped at easy. He missed it on Bernal.

While comical he does need some new material.
Can only lean on the same one liners for so long.

Never about me.
Only and always about the game.
And providing perfect analysis of it.

[Cusecards]

Herrera will not start 60+ games at catcher next year.
The pitchers simply will not allow it.
Pages / Crooks should share starting duties in 2026.
Bernal should be traded to acquire talent at other positions of greater need - he is squeezed by others ahead and others behind.
Rodriguez is closing fast and should be considered the developing heir to follow Pages / Crooks.
Easy.
Obvious.
Correct.

Well thought out opinion.
But then....you just couldn’t RESIST adding the last three words could you Sideshow? LOL
Keep reading!
Keep learning!

He should have stopped at easy. He missed it on Bernal.

While comical he does need some new material.
Can only lean on the same one liners for so long.

Never about me.
Only and always about the game.
And providing perfect analysis of it.

Ah yes.....more classic Sideshow Clown hypocrisy LOL
BTW....you’ve never given me credit for the perfect nickname I have given you!
Now THAT is perfect analysis.

[mattmitchl44]

I expect they deal one of Pages or Crooks. Beyond that I don't know.

[rockondlouie]

I'd toss Pages into any deal C. Bloom makes as a throw in, his ability to handle a pitching staff was vastly overrated (they stunk).

[Goldfan]

Who is the best CATCHER? Not hitter…..CATCHER
Put that guy behind plate then find Herrera a spot in order whether at DH or LF

[Talkin' Baseball]

I'd toss Pages into any deal C. Bloom makes as a throw in, his ability to handle a pitching staff was vastly overrated (they stunk).

If you want to package him, that's fine, but he doesn't need to be a throw-in. He has value. Baseball Trade Values ranks his surplus value at 11.2M. Here are some similarly valued players the Cards could use from teams that could use a catcher:
Jo Adell (Angels) 13
Hunter Barco (Pirates) 11.3
Triston Casas (Red Sox) 13.5
Yolfran Castillo (Rangers) 11.5
Welbyn Francisca (Guardians) 9.3
Drew Gilbert (Giants) 13.4
Gary Glen Hill (Rays) 13.6
Brody Hopkins (Rays) 9.9
Santiago Suarez (Rays) 11.6
Mitch Keller (Pirates) 9.2
Luis Perales (Red Sox) 11.6
There are also lesser valued players that could help. Don't give him away.

[rockondlouie]

I'd toss Pages into any deal C. Bloom makes as a throw in, his ability to handle a pitching staff was vastly overrated (they stunk).

If you want to package him, that's fine, but he doesn't need to be a throw-in. He has value. Baseball Trade Values ranks his surplus value at 11.2M. Here are some similarly valued players the Cards could use from teams that could use a catcher:
Jo Adell (Angels) 13
Hunter Barco (Pirates) 11.3
Triston Casas (Red Sox) 13.5
Yolfran Castillo (Rangers) 11.5
Welbyn Francisca (Guardians) 9.3
Drew Gilbert (Giants) 13.4
Gary Glen Hill (Rays) 13.6
Brody Hopkins (Rays) 9.9
Santiago Suarez (Rays) 11.6
Mitch Keller (Pirates) 9.2
Luis Perales (Red Sox) 11.6
There are also lesser valued players that could help. Don't give him away.

I've used BTV's for years, sometimes they hit and other times they're way off.

On Pages (IMO) they're way, way off.

.635 OPS/78 OPS+

He's nothing more than a backup catcher.

In a stand alone he'd bring back nothing but a lotto ticket prospect.

To me he's a toss in (if the other team would even want him) when/if Bloom makes a bigger deal involving Donny or S. Gray.

JMO

[BrockFloodMaris]

Currently the Cardinals have 4 catchers on their roster of 37 players (Herrera is listed as a catcher). Additionally, they will need to add Leonardo Bernal to the roster this month. Having 5 catchers on your 40 man roster is a bad idea, so some work needs to done.

How Many Catchers Are Needed in St. Louis?
Ideally, two catchers on the 26 man roster should be enough. They recently added Bryan Torres to the 40-man roster. If he sticks in St Louis I could see him being an emergency third catcher. He caught in 78 games for 545 innings in the minors, and surprisingly threw out 47% of would-be base stealers. So, I’m going with 2 rostered catchers and Torres as a backup plan.

Deciding Who Stays
It would not be my pick, but according to Katie Woo’s reporting the Cardinals seem intent on having Ivan Herrera catch 60-80 games for the Cards this season. I trust Katie, so whether I like it or not, Herrera stays on the roster as a catcher.
I like Yohel Pozo, but I don’t see any way he can stay on the roster with this many catchers. My hope would be that he could be dropped from the roster and signed to a minor league contract and sent to Memphis as a catcher-in-waiting, in the event of injury. Whether that happens or not, he has to be dropped from the roster.

Now the debate- We have Pedro Pages and Jimmy Crooks who were both on the roster at the end of the season, as well as Leonardo Bernal who ended the year at AA. Only two of them should remain on the 40-man roster, and if Herrera is a catcher, only one should remain on the 26-man roster. One catcher needs to go.

Who Needs To Go?
If you want to trade one of the catchers, they all have almost identical trade value. Jimmy Crooks 13.3M, Pedro Pages 11.2M, and Leonardo Bernal 11.2M. If we still have Bernal, he needs to go to AAA. Can you really send Crooks back to AAA with Bernal there, or hold Bernal back at AA? In my mind, Bernal is the catcher of the future in St Louis. I know some disagree, but that’s how I see it. He isn’t just better than Crooks defensively- he was judged to be better than all minor league catchers defensively. He has more pop in his bat than Crooks. He is a switch hitter. He is younger than Crooks as well. He could be here for 10-12 years if we can keep him. So, I send Bernal to Memphis next season. That leaves Pages and Crooks for the second catcher in St Louis next season- the other one gets traded. I don’t have a strong preference on that. It would be dependent on the preferences of the receiving team.

There you have it- 3 Catchers on the 40 man- Herrera, Pages or Crooks, and Bernal. (By the way- I expect the Herrera experiment to fail and whoever is left of Pages and Crooks will end up backing up Bernal)

I suspect that Bloom is open to trading two of Pages, Pozo or Crooks this offseason as parts of a package to get some pitching and a RH HR-hitting OFer.

[HorseTrader]

Currently the Cardinals have 4 catchers on their roster of 37 players (Herrera is listed as a catcher). Additionally, they will need to add Leonardo Bernal to the roster this month. Having 5 catchers on your 40 man roster is a bad idea, so some work needs to done.

How Many Catchers Are Needed in St. Louis?
Ideally, two catchers on the 26 man roster should be enough. They recently added Bryan Torres to the 40-man roster. If he sticks in St Louis I could see him being an emergency third catcher. He caught in 78 games for 545 innings in the minors, and surprisingly threw out 47% of would-be base stealers. So, I’m going with 2 rostered catchers and Torres as a backup plan.

Deciding Who Stays
It would not be my pick, but according to Katie Woo’s reporting the Cardinals seem intent on having Ivan Herrera catch 60-80 games for the Cards this season. I trust Katie, so whether I like it or not, Herrera stays on the roster as a catcher.
I like Yohel Pozo, but I don’t see any way he can stay on the roster with this many catchers. My hope would be that he could be dropped from the roster and signed to a minor league contract and sent to Memphis as a catcher-in-waiting, in the event of injury. Whether that happens or not, he has to be dropped from the roster.

Now the debate- We have Pedro Pages and Jimmy Crooks who were both on the roster at the end of the season, as well as Leonardo Bernal who ended the year at AA. Only two of them should remain on the 40-man roster, and if Herrera is a catcher, only one should remain on the 26-man roster. One catcher needs to go.

Who Needs To Go?
If you want to trade one of the catchers, they all have almost identical trade value. Jimmy Crooks 13.3M, Pedro Pages 11.2M, and Leonardo Bernal 11.2M. If we still have Bernal, he needs to go to AAA. Can you really send Crooks back to AAA with Bernal there, or hold Bernal back at AA? In my mind, Bernal is the catcher of the future in St Louis. I know some disagree, but that’s how I see it. He isn’t just better than Crooks defensively- he was judged to be better than all minor league catchers defensively. He has more pop in his bat than Crooks. He is a switch hitter. He is younger than Crooks as well. He could be here for 10-12 years if we can keep him. So, I send Bernal to Memphis next season. That leaves Pages and Crooks for the second catcher in St Louis next season- the other one gets traded. I don’t have a strong preference on that. It would be dependent on the preferences of the receiving team.

There you have it- 3 Catchers on the 40 man- Herrera, Pages or Crooks, and Bernal. (By the way- I expect the Herrera experiment to fail and whoever is left of Pages and Crooks will end up backing up Bernal)

I suspect that Bloom is open to trading two of Pages, Pozo or Crooks this offseason as parts of a package to get some pitching and a RH HR-hitting OFer.

I think they can only trade one of them for now. They need to wait to see if Ivan can catch before trading two of them.

Two things to keep in mind, one Pages (I think) has minor league option left. The second, Pozo might make it through waivers

[riff raff]

I'll go with this scenario.

Crooks as the primary catcher. Herrera as the backup.
Herrera can be the primary DH and when he catches Gorman will DH.
That way you can get Herrera a full season of at bats.

Pages traded. Pozo has no real value. Bernal in Memphis.

[An Old Friend]

I expect they deal one of Pages or Crooks. Beyond that I don't know.

Yeah I'd move Pages.

Herrera + Crooks in catcher tandem with Herrera seeing some time at DH and maybe LF - will be interesting to see if he can be competent behind the plate. I have my doubts.

Bernal at AAA, keep Pozo in org in case Herrera can't catch - then I'd go with Pozo + Crooks.

No planning needs to be done for Rodriguez for at least two years IMO. Maybe he forces his way in 2028 but even that is early.

[hullie]

Bloom will make a decision and move at least one of the catchers this winter. Mo would've sat around with his thumb up his (donkey) and then moved Pozo to CF and tried to make Herrera a starting pitcher.

Dude he’s gone. You don’t have to mention him anymore

[Talkin' Baseball]

I expect they deal one of Pages or Crooks. Beyond that I don't know.

Yeah I'd move Pages.

Herrera + Crooks in catcher tandem with Herrera seeing some time at DH and maybe LF - will be interesting to see if he can be competent behind the plate. I have my doubts.

Bernal at AAA, keep Pozo in org in case Herrera can't catch - then I'd go with Pozo + Crooks.

No planning needs to be done for Rodriguez for at least two years IMO. Maybe he forces his way in 2028 but even that is early.

Herrera needs to play a position. If he isn't catching put him in LF- not just occasionally, but every time. Make it clear to him, the team, and anyone else watching that if he is not a catcher, his position is LF. He is simply too young and too athletic to be clogging up a roster at DH or 1B.

[mattmitchl44]

I expect they deal one of Pages or Crooks. Beyond that I don't know.

Yeah I'd move Pages.

Herrera + Crooks in catcher tandem with Herrera seeing some time at DH and maybe LF - will be interesting to see if he can be competent behind the plate. I have my doubts.

Bernal at AAA, keep Pozo in org in case Herrera can't catch - then I'd go with Pozo + Crooks.

No planning needs to be done for Rodriguez for at least two years IMO. Maybe he forces his way in 2028 but even that is early.

Herrera needs to play a position. If he isn't catching put him in LF- not just occasionally, but every time. Make it clear to him, the team, and anyone else watching that if he is not a catcher, his position is LF. He is simply too young and too athletic to be clogging up a roster at DH or 1B.

I think you certainly keep working to try to find Herrera a position where can be at least close to ML average defensively. The good news is that, even if that doesn't happen for him, his bat is certainly interesting enough to have value even if he's a DH.

[JackClark]

Pages has value and should be traded this off season. Herrera will not catch that much and should be your emergency catcher. I see him as a DH/LF in 2026 and a first baseman in the future. I could see Bernal being the starter in 27, Crooks as the backup and periodic DH, Herrera at first, and Rodriguez as a potential 3B or DH in the future.