Are we still excited about Bloom?

[Wattage]

I'm just not impressed so far. I guess we will see how these pitchers turn out. He seems to think we can develop pitchers.

As of now it looks like we will have 40 pitchers and 0 hitters on the team. Thats a bold strategy, Cotten

It's just getting harder and harder to root for this franchise. I need to start taking up Summer hobbies

I am anyone that thinks they were going to get top prospects for gray or Contreras are delusional. He’s got a good strategy stockpiling a lot of major league ready arms to compete for rotation spots and to give them options to bring up replacements if a starter isn’t pitching well some can also go into the bullpen he’s also stockpiling raw low level starters that can have high upside. The more starters you have the more likely it is some of them are going to be good. It’s a good strategy

Ok but where do you see any offense coming from on this roster? IH, Burleson I guess but nothing after that.

1. Cardinals are not gonna compete in 2026. Never were.
2. Burleson, herrera, possibly jj in 2027. Thats not a bad start. We will see what other moves happen between now and then

[ecleme22]

I am. Not every deal will be my favorite, but overall this will go well.

If it goes well it will be in spite of some of the deals. A lot of our future production will come from our own draftees and internal development as well as FA signings. Some of these trade returns look like window dressing.

So far we have less than 1 war from all the players we got back at the deadline in 2023. I didn’t love those trades then and now it’s clear they haven’t moved needles but the same posters who love all Blooms trades defended all those as well with the usual - better than nothing excuse.

Bottom line, if it doesn’t move needles in big ways, it’s not worth getting excited about or buying tickets.

So most rebuilding trades are like the 2023 deadline? Okay…

We were told at the time to be excited for Drew Rom and others, who actually had a better K ratio than Hunter Dobbins in the minors. Where is he now? I guess Saggese is nice for Shadybait

I’ve seen enough years of nothing I’m not getting excited until these guys actually do something impressive at a positive WAR level. Enough of this potential to maybe be something less than Sonny Gray ever was if all the stars align.

The question is if we are excited about Bloom. I’m not yet. I guess if he fired Oli and replaced him with a manager that’s actually won playoff games like a John Farrell, that would be a little bit exciting.

No one wants Farrell

[Dicktar2023]

Life is a lot easier when you just accept that Bloom is not at all interested in the 2026 roster. That should have been clear when he traded Gray.

Tearing things down isn't pretty, but at least he's not half-assing it.

Have we moved into tank job territory? Or is there more room to go? This is really the only way to acquire that elite young talent

Yeah, we're getting there.

Bloom might consider acquiring a MLB player or two in exchange for Donovan.

[ICCFIM2]

Life is a lot easier when you just accept that Bloom is not at all interested in the 2026 roster. That should have been clear when he traded Gray.

Tearing things down isn't pretty, but at least he's not half-assing it.

Have we moved into tank job territory? Or is there more room to go? This is really the only way to acquire that elite young talent

Yeah, we're getting there.

Bloom might consider acquiring a MLB player or two in exchange for Donovan.

I doubt that happens. ML teams that are intending to contend, are not going to want to trade off the ML roster, at least not a player with a lot of upside. They do need to aim to get at least 1 high level hitting prospect back for Donovan and not just pitching. Otherwise we are not going to have enough open minor league rotation spots for the pitchers to pitch.

In fact, if we go back to Seattle as the trade partner, Arroyo BTV 20 and Montes BTV 24.6 totaling 44.6 for Donovan BTV 32.5 and Romero BTV 4.1 totaling 36.6 might be the right trade proposal. The Cards would then have 4 hitters, Wetherholdt, Montes, Arroyo and J. Baez that should be ready for the majors in 2026 or 2027. If 3 of the 4 stick, then the Cards are starting to have a line-up. If not, its going to be a long rebuild...

[RamFan08NY]

Not really sure what some were expecting for a declining 6 inning pitcher and an overpriced catcher that doesn’t catch.

Don’t watch much baseball, do ya?

What's that even mean? What Hornet stated is true. All summer long posters on here were complaining about Grays inability to go deep in games, and how WC was over paid.
I love the idea of loading up on pitching prospects. Bound to hit on 1 or 2 of them.

+1 it was gray isn’t an ace can’t pitch in the heat Contreras is a bad apple causing problems and he’s not that good and can’t stay healthy now it’s how could they trade them and not bring back star players and prospects!

Oz, this isn’t dumping…..it’s REBUILDING watch and learn…….
Not 24hrs after our enlightening discussion yesterday…….WC is dumped and couldn’t even get rid of it all….
I guess you’re going tell me these “prospects” are the future!! Watch and learn

Yes stock piling young talent is what rebuilding is lol I see you’re still too dumb to figure out what a rebuild is

Serious question Oz. You believe what has been acquired so far is going help get this team back to playoffs in the future? I mean that’s what this is really about.

Nobody knows, one way or the other when discussing prospects. It's ignorant for anyone to say that they will help, or won't help. What I can say, I am excited that we might have a GM in place who says, "we're letting the young guys play".

Question for you Goldfan. Did you like Moe's plan of year after year signing 35, 36, 37 year old pitchers to 1 or 2 year deals? How about giving Mikolas that crazy extension? How long were we screaming for Mcgreevy and Gracefo to get a look.

Time will tell if these newly acquired guys will pan out and get them to the playoffs, but to say factually that they won't, or will is just plain ignorant.

It sounds like you dont like the youth movement, which is fine. Thats your stance. I personally like the approach because its obvious that the aging vet approach didn't work. Im excited for the next moves, and even though it might result in a down year in 26, I'm excited to see the young players getting a chance. Even in losing, it may be fun.

[blackinkbiz]

I'm just not impressed so far. I guess we will see how these pitchers turn out. He seems to think we can develop pitchers.

As of now it looks like we will have 40 pitchers and 0 hitters on the team. Thats a bold strategy, Cotten

It's just getting harder and harder to root for this franchise. I need to start taking up Summer hobbies

Donovan's a stud. He needs to bring back a highly-rated prospect or MLB talent.

Gray and Willy LongCon, dude... those were probably the 2 most frustrating busts of offseason overpay acquisitions the Cards made during Mo's twilight seasons. I will not miss either of them and I'm surprised we got anything more than salary dumps on them.

And what someone else said about judging prospects is right. They're basically wild cards, at least in this freakin' org they are. Who knows who will be good. Certainly isn't the bums we've had to suffer through the last few years.

[Swuhgen]

Stockpiling a bunch of pitchers. The Minor League system was woefully short.

Hitters are a dime a dozen to find.

Really?
lol
Wasn’t easy for the Cards to find

[woofy25]

He got 2 pitchers who are going to be in the rotation next year, along with a 22 year old and a 19 year old who are both turning some heads, for a 36 year old at the end of his career, and who many around here said was a #3 at best, and a 33 year old 1B/DH who a lot of people hear complained about how Mo was an idiot for signing in the first place.

Yes. Far better strategy than Gibson/lynn.
The two guys traded so far simply weren’t that valuable.

[OldRed]

I'm just not impressed so far. I guess we will see how these pitchers turn out. He seems to think we can develop pitchers.

As of now it looks like we will have 40 pitchers and 0 hitters on the team. Thats a bold strategy, Cotten

It's just getting harder and harder to root for this franchise. I need to start taking up Summer hobbies

He has about 10 years' worth of cleanup work to do.

[alw80]

I'm just not impressed so far. I guess we will see how these pitchers turn out. He seems to think we can develop pitchers.

As of now it looks like we will have 40 pitchers and 0 hitters on the team. Thats a bold strategy, Cotten

It's just getting harder and harder to root for this franchise. I need to start taking up Summer hobbies

So far, so good. Stockpiling pitching is the right move. This is an exciting time for StL especially compared to the last 10 years of do nothing and hope we get lucky. This franchise finally has direction.

[sikeston bulldog2]

I'm just not impressed so far. I guess we will see how these pitchers turn out. He seems to think we can develop pitchers.

As of now it looks like we will have 40 pitchers and 0 hitters on the team. Thats a bold strategy, Cotten

It's just getting harder and harder to root for this franchise. I need to start taking up Summer hobbies

He has about 10 years' worth of cleanup work to do.

Correct. And some here simply do not grasp the level the franchise has fallen. You can’t use the same template as the past ten years, it’s too brittle and is th exact model that got us in this deep.

So since we are in deeper, it takes longer to climb out. Simple physics.

[alw80]

Stockpiling a bunch of pitchers. The Minor League system was woefully short.

Hitters are a dime a dozen to find.

Really?
lol
Wasn’t easy for the Cards to find

Are they a dime a dozen? No, but they're usually better investments than pitchers. This is the right way to go about the rebuild.

[sikeston bulldog2]

Stockpiling a bunch of pitchers. The Minor League system was woefully short.

Hitters are a dime a dozen to find.

Really?
lol
Wasn’t easy for the Cards to find

Are they a dime a dozen? No, but they're usually better investments than pitchers. This is the right way to go about the rebuild.

Why are they a better investment- durability. Injury composition?

[alw80]

Stockpiling a bunch of pitchers. The Minor League system was woefully short.

Hitters are a dime a dozen to find.

Really?
lol
Wasn’t easy for the Cards to find

Are they a dime a dozen? No, but they're usually better investments than pitchers. This is the right way to go about the rebuild.

Why are they a better investment- durability. Injury composition?

Pitchers are expensive and get hurt and miss a lot of time.

[BleedingBleu]

I'm just not impressed so far. I guess we will see how these pitchers turn out. He seems to think we can develop pitchers.

As of now it looks like we will have 40 pitchers and 0 hitters on the team. Thats a bold strategy, Cotten

It's just getting harder and harder to root for this franchise. I need to start taking up Summer hobbies

Depends on what we thought we were supposed to grade him on. The team is very obviously tanking, now. They are selling their aging stars for minor league grapeshot in the hopes that the vast quantity of pellets in the cannonball directed at 2028 hits a desired target.

Thus far, the Farm has progressed, new personnel have been hired, substantial investments have been made in the development of prospects, and he’s done what they couldn’t do last offseason. This all sounds like Chaim has done a great job.

The Cardinals have been very open of their desires to move on from Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray, & Willson Contreras. That goes back to last year when they spent the entire offseason paralyzed by their inability to move either of them. The latter two professed a desire to stay and Nolan vetoed a trade to Houston. Under Bloom, two of the three were moved to the Red Sox.

At this point, Nolan is more likely to accept any trade. However, should he remain firm on his desires to stick with St Louis, the Cardinals might just deal Donovan, instead. They’ve only stated how they wouldn’t move Nolan in a salary dump, and that they’d trade Brendan Donovan for a “haul.” None of that is a certainty.

What it does mean is that Nolan is more likely to accept any deal out of town rather than face what is shaping up to be a slog of a 2026 campaign. If they move Nolan first, maybe they keep Donovan? Does it really matter?

I’d argue it doesn’t really matter at this point. The team was going to be bad regardless if they kept all 4. Attendance will decline further, and it’s “arguable” whether the 78-84 club will noticeably degrade or not. To me, there’s way too many unknown variables to suggest it will improve.

However, maybe Gray’s, Contreras’, & Arenado’s contributions in 2025 can be replaced by young, existing players like Matthew Liberatore (26), Michael McGreevy (24), Nolan Gorman (26-3B), Jordan Walker (24-LF), Victor Scott (25-CF), Masyn Winn (23-SS), and Alex Burleson (27-1B) maturing into the players they were expected to be now that they’re more aligned with positions that optimize their skillsets.

Maybe more established players have career years, like Brendan Donovan (29) or Pallante (27) returns to 2024 form. Nootbaar (28-RF) & Ivan Herrera (26-C), stays healthy for once. Jojo, Thompson, Hjerpe, secure the Left-side of the bullpen while Leahy, O’Brien, & Svanson secure the right-side.

Who fuquing knows? That’s an awful lot of uncertainty that needs to go right, though.

[MrPostman01]

I was shocked to learn there are very few rh power hitting prospects in the entirety of baseball.