Non-Tender Candidate: Andre Pallante--would ya'?

[rockondlouie]

I think Bloom could find someone, on a one year deal, better than Pallante for that projected $3.4M especially if he's going to the bullpen.

Mo found P. Maton last year for $2M.

Perhaps a starter coming off an injury for a lot less than $3.4M ala D. May?

To me, that's an apples-oranges comparison.

They're both fruit, but Maton and Pallante's roles would be different. I don't think anyone would rely on Phil Maton for more than about an inning.

Mop up men are a dime a dozen, no way I'd pay Pallante $3.4M to throw up another 5.31 ERA.

He's J.A.G.

Cut the cord and move on.

If Mo was still here, I'd stay non-tender Pallante for sure. Just so he doesn't rely on Andre to be anything more than a long-reliever, spot starter. I think Pallante is a fine value at $3.4m in that BP role/7th-8th man up in rotation for injuries.

If we're banking on Pallante to fill out the rotation on opening day, the 2026 season is already toast. But Bloom doesn't appear that dumb. So keeping Pallante around as the insurance's insurance is fine with me.

Wouldn't be heartbroken either way.

But not at $3.4M, you can find better options (Pallante is about as low a bar as you get in MLB) for that kind of money.

[Cusecards]

I'd rather move Pallante into a long-relief role to see if he can prosper there.

Assuming the team moves Arenado and Gray, I'm not sure how much more money DeWitt and Co. need to save. 2026 is a wash. With that said, there's no need to bring King back. There has to be someone in the 314 that can put up a 5.0 K/9 rate whilst throwing left-handed.

My guess? Pallante gets phased out of the rotation to the BP. Where he has been successful in the past.
He has to be better than Roycroft(barf), Munoz, etc

[rockondlouie]

My guess? Pallante gets phased out of the rotation to the BP. Where he has been successful in the past.
He has to be better than Roycroft(barf), Munoz, etc

I keep seeing this cuse but he really wasn't "successful" in the pen' either:

Career as a RP
3.90 ERA
1.53 WHiP (This is the problem, you don't want RP's who come in and give up this extremely high number of Hits/Walks)
.277 .354 .393 .746 hitter slash against

As you can see opponents have a high .354 OB% against Pallante when he's pitched in relief.

He's J.A.G., easily replaced by a kid making ML minimum and that $3.4M allocated elsewhere.

JMO

[Melville]

Don't non-tender him.

Do try to trade him.

Correct.
Pitching always has value.
Pallante and King should be retained as trade pieces - particularly in larger packages.

[Cusecards]

My guess? Pallante gets phased out of the rotation to the BP. Where he has been successful in the past.
He has to be better than Roycroft(barf), Munoz, etc

I keep seeing this cuse but he really wasn't "successful" in the pen' either:

Career as a RP
3.90 ERA
1.53 WHiP (This is the problem, you don't want RP's who come in and give up this extremely high number of Hits/Walks)
.277 .354 .393 .746 hitter slash against

As you can see opponents have a high .354 OB% against Pallante when he's pitched in relief.

He's J.A.G., easily replaced by a kid making ML minimum and that $3.4M allocated elsewhere.

JMO

Hey Rock he may not make the team but I just see him as being light years better than Roycroft, Munoz, etc

[rockondlouie]

My guess? Pallante gets phased out of the rotation to the BP. Where he has been successful in the past.
He has to be better than Roycroft(barf), Munoz, etc

I keep seeing this cuse but he really wasn't "successful" in the pen' either:

Career as a RP
3.90 ERA
1.53 WHiP (This is the problem, you don't want RP's who come in and give up this extremely high number of Hits/Walks)
.277 .354 .393 .746 hitter slash against

As you can see opponents have a high .354 OB% against Pallante when he's pitched in relief.

He's J.A.G., easily replaced by a kid making ML minimum and that $3.4M allocated elsewhere.

JMO

Hey Rock he may not make the team but I just see him as being light years better than Roycroft, Munoz, etc

Those are some of the "deadwood" I keep referring to that I hope Bloom gets rid of, this team needs a good roster cleansing.

I don't ant to see anymore of Pallante, Roycroft, Munoz or Fernandez.

I'd DFA all four!

[Bomber1]

Can't wrap my head around people that want to cut starters on a team with no starters to begin with. They will not cut Pallante, they WILL trade Gray and thus will be begging for innings for next year through a couple new acquisitions already.

Pallante will be a 5th starter for a team with 3 or 4 5th starters next year (us). Gotta hope two of the kids turns a surprising corner next year to give our rebuild solid footing.

I agree with your thoughts, nice post.

[Cardinals4Life]

I think Bloom could find someone, on a one year deal, better than Pallante for that projected $3.4M especially if he's going to the bullpen.

Mo found P. Maton last year for $2M.

Perhaps a starter coming off an injury for a lot less than $3.4M ala D. May?

To me, that's an apples-oranges comparison.

They're both fruit, but Maton and Pallante's roles would be different. I don't think anyone would rely on Phil Maton for more than about an inning.

Mop up men are a dime a dozen, no way I'd pay Pallante $3.4M to throw up another 5.31 ERA.

He's J.A.G.

Cut the cord and move on.

Exactly.
He was also in his last stint in the Pen. He just isn't good. Move on.

[scoutyjones2]

Don't non-tender him.

Do try to trade him.

Correct.
Pitching always has value.
Pallante and King should be retained as trade pieces - particularly in larger packages.

Lol. No. They suck, like most of your posts. Just worthless.

[ClassicO]

From MLBTR.com:

The non-tender deadline is Friday evening. Teams need to decide whether they want to offer contracts to their arbitration-eligible (and pre-arbitration) players. Those who are not tendered contracts are sent directly into free agency without exposing them to waivers.

To be clear, this is not a list of players we (MLBTR.com) think are likelier than not to be non-tendered.

These are players we consider to have at least a 10-20% chance of being cut — a broad group who wouldn’t strike us as completely surprising.

As is the case each winter, MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz has projected salaries for the arbitration class.


These are the current Cardinals who made their list:

A. Pallante/Est. $3.4M in arbitration

J. King/ Est. $2.1M in arbitration


I'd DFA both and let C. Bloom re-invest that $5.5M.

Agree. Neither is worth the money or taking up a spot for someone who could actually develop into a very good player. These guys have no such hope.

[Strummer Jones]

My guess? Pallante gets phased out of the rotation to the BP. Where he has been successful in the past.
He has to be better than Roycroft(barf), Munoz, etc

I keep seeing this cuse but he really wasn't "successful" in the pen' either:

Career as a RP
3.90 ERA
1.53 WHiP (This is the problem, you don't want RP's who come in and give up this extremely high number of Hits/Walks)
.277 .354 .393 .746 hitter slash against

As you can see opponents have a high .354 OB% against Pallante when he's pitched in relief.

He's J.A.G., easily replaced by a kid making ML minimum and that $3.4M allocated elsewhere.

JMO

Hey Rock he may not make the team but I just see him as being light years better than Roycroft, Munoz, etc

Those are some of the "deadwood" I keep referring to that I hope Bloom gets rid of, this team needs a good roster cleansing.

I don't ant to see anymore of Pallante, Roycroft, Munoz or Fernandez.

I'd DFA all four!

Munoz already got claimed by the Reds.

[ClassicO]

Don't non-tender him.

Do try to trade him.

Correct.
Pitching always has value.
Pallante and King should be retained as trade pieces - particularly in larger packages.

Lol. No. They suck, like most of your posts. Just worthless.

It's incredible how Melville (and others) keep saying how we need to trade our chaff for others' wheat. What in the world do they think we can get back for guys like King and Pallante? Crazy. And adding lousy players to "packages" only makes the possible return worse!

[renostl]

I'd rather move Pallante into a long-relief role to see if he can prosper there.

Assuming the team moves Arenado and Gray, I'm not sure how much more money DeWitt and Co. need to save. 2026 is a wash. With that said, there's no need to bring King back. There has to be someone in the 314 that can put up a 5.0 K/9 rate whilst throwing left-handed.

My guess? Pallante gets phased out of the rotation to the BP. Where he has been successful in the past.
He has to be better than Roycroft(barf), Munoz, etc

IDK if the guy will ever be much more than his 2024.

That season his first start came on May 29th. He made 20 starts.
In 15 of those 20 he gave up 3 runs or less. 75% of his starts he kept the team competitive.
5 games with 0 runs, 8 games with 1 or 2 runs.
He seemed to respond to suggestions from Kyle Gibson, jmo.

In 2025 he made 31 starts, 19 with 3 runs or less. Dropping to a 61% competitive games.
3 games with 0 runs, 10 games with 1 or 2 runs.

Why all the stats? because using only era in todays game and with a SP who has
starts that blow up isn't a complete picture of his body of work. Like a RP with a couple
bad outings.

He needs to get back to 2024. He needs to improve his secondary pitches.
He does have stamina to throw innings. At $3.5 million that's a better #5/#6 than the previous
#5 at $18 million. The tiny $1-$2.5 million saved is irrelevant and likely not used.

Improve him if possible over throwing him away on a team that may need 4 more starters seems prudent.
The team was fortunate in 2025 with regard to SP injuries. Usually more are needed.
If he gets knocked around, then move on.

[Melville]

Don't non-tender him.

Do try to trade him.

Correct.
Pitching always has value.
Pallante and King should be retained as trade pieces - particularly in larger packages.

Lol. No. They suck, like most of your posts. Just worthless.

No one is arguing that either was good in 2025.
In fact, I was first to warn everyone (when I alone was not fooled) that what Pallante did in 2024 was not sustainable
But it does not change the fact that ANY healthy pitcher with some track level of even basic competence has value in MLB.
I don't want either back in STL, but it would be foolish to DFA them (particularly Pallante) since Bloom intends to be very active on the trade market and they could serve as package pieces .

[Talkin' Baseball]

Don't non-tender him.

Do try to trade him.

Correct.
Pitching always has value.
Pallante and King should be retained as trade pieces - particularly in larger packages.

Lol. No. They suck, like most of your posts. Just worthless.

No one is arguing that either was good in 2025.
In fact, I was first to warn everyone (when I alone was not fooled) that what Pallante did in 2024 was not sustainable
But it does not change the fact that ANY healthy pitcher with some track level of even basic competence has value in MLB.
I don't want either back in STL, but it would be foolish to DFA them (particularly Pallante) since Bloom intends to be very active on the trade market and they could serve as package pieces .

Correct.

[craviduce]

we need the innings...if you have a guy who can pitch the innings and cost the same as Pallante, then I'm listening.

If we're NTC the guy b/c "He suck bad"....remember it's 2026 and we're playing the role of the Pirates until 2028 begins. Pirates have a Skenes window that closes in 2 or 3 years, they're trying to compete now.