12xu wrote: ↑28 Jan 2026 10:43 am
The Cardinals don't need a DH. That is all Ozuna is at this point in time. He is also a first class jerk. Ivan Herrera will probably be the Cardinal DH most of the time.
The best RH batting FA OF still available are Miguel Andujar and Austin Hays. These two will not cost a lot, and have been mentioned many times as possible Cardinal targets on MLB trade rumors and on this forum. Andujar is the one I prefer.
Grichuk, Pham, and Starling Marte have also been mentioned but IMO those would be poor choices.
Agree we don't want Ozuna. Disagree that we don't need a DH.
Cards have yet to use the DH role properly since its inception in the NL. Herrera may have been the best use last year, but that was because injuries forced that move. Cards need a full time DH that can mash.
Pujols was the closest thing to it in 2022. What a fun development that was.
Ok, good point. Again, we lucked into that one, as he was not signed to be the primary DH.
But we do need to use the DH role as an actual position and get a guy that can freaking mash. Enough of trying to rotate guys through for days off and stuff. Bench players are not who you want as DH.
12xu wrote: ↑28 Jan 2026 10:43 am
The Cardinals don't need a DH. That is all Ozuna is at this point in time. He is also a first class jerk. Ivan Herrera will probably be the Cardinal DH most of the time.
The best RH batting FA OF still available are Miguel Andujar and Austin Hays. These two will not cost a lot, and have been mentioned many times as possible Cardinal targets on MLB trade rumors and on this forum. Andujar is the one I prefer.
Grichuk, Pham, and Starling Marte have also been mentioned but IMO those would be poor choices.
Agree we don't want Ozuna. Disagree that we don't need a DH.
Cards have yet to use the DH role properly since its inception in the NL. Herrera may have been the best use last year, but that was because injuries forced that move. Cards need a full time DH that can mash.
Agree we need a DH and have missed the boat thinking that 8 bats + bench Player = 9 starting bats. It doesn't.
But we did use Pujols as our primary DH in 2022 and had a great season. Since then, nothing.
I doubt they will spend much money on that RH bat plus unless they trade Donovan or Noot I don’t see that many available at bats.
They will wait to see if someone like Andujar falls to a cheap contract right before spring training maybe… Jmo
IndCard75 wrote: ↑28 Jan 2026 17:11 pm
I doubt they will spend much money on that RH bat plus unless they trade Donovan or Noot I don’t see that many available at bats.
They will wait to see if someone like Andujar falls to a cheap contract right before spring training maybe… Jmo
Nootbaar has but 2 seasons before FA at $5M+ and maybe $8M+?
Does replacing his window with Andujar make sense if still wanting to
leave room for others to emerge.
I think that could be a move that does make sense. Or keep both and turn the page elsewhere.
woofy25 wrote: ↑28 Jan 2026 09:52 am
If he was the last piece of the puzzle, then sure. But, he can't be the first piece. Hard pass.
Besides whose already here and JJW incoming, who IS the next piece of the lineup puzzle?
We've been missing so many pieces for so long, if feels like no one knows where to start. Just where not to.
If JJ pans out, then they have four position players who can help this team win offensively (as of today): JJ, Herrera, Burleson, and Donovan. Maybe JJ is a star but the other guys are complementary pieces. They need to find the stars that can hit 3-4 every day. If they do that, then they can live with Winn and Scott hitting 8-9. Well, maybe not Scott. He needs to be markedly better.
woofy25 wrote: ↑28 Jan 2026 09:52 am
If he was the last piece of the puzzle, then sure. But, he can't be the first piece. Hard pass.
Besides whose already here and JJW incoming, who IS the next piece of the lineup puzzle?
We've been missing so many pieces for so long, if feels like no one knows where to start. Just where not to.
If JJ pans out, then they have four position players who can help this team win offensively (as of today): JJ, Herrera, Burleson, and Donovan. Maybe JJ is a star but the other guys are complementary pieces. They need to find the stars that can hit 3-4 every day. If they do that, then they can live with Winn and Scott hitting 8-9. Well, maybe not Scott. He needs to be markedly better.
woofy25 wrote: ↑28 Jan 2026 09:52 am
If he was the last piece of the puzzle, then sure. But, he can't be the first piece. Hard pass.
Besides whose already here and JJW incoming, who IS the next piece of the lineup puzzle?
We've been missing so many pieces for so long, if feels like no one knows where to start. Just where not to.
If JJ pans out, then they have four position players who can help this team win offensively (as of today): JJ, Herrera, Burleson, and Donovan. Maybe JJ is a star but the other guys are complementary pieces. They need to find the stars that can hit 3-4 every day. If they do that, then they can live with Winn and Scott hitting 8-9. Well, maybe not Scott. He needs to be markedly better.
and 3 of the 4 bat LH.
I don’t particularly care about that. I just want guys who can hit at this point. I won’t be picky
woofy25 wrote: ↑28 Jan 2026 09:52 am
If he was the last piece of the puzzle, then sure. But, he can't be the first piece. Hard pass.
Besides whose already here and JJW incoming, who IS the next piece of the lineup puzzle?
We've been missing so many pieces for so long, if feels like no one knows where to start. Just where not to.
If JJ pans out, then they have four position players who can help this team win offensively (as of today): JJ, Herrera, Burleson, and Donovan. Maybe JJ is a star but the other guys are complementary pieces. They need to find the stars that can hit 3-4 every day. If they do that, then they can live with Winn and Scott hitting 8-9. Well, maybe not Scott. He needs to be markedly better.
Right - after watching that Pujols 2022 HR video, I'm reminded again that we need to increase our expectations. We can't just make excuses for this guy or that guys being "good enough" when no one on the team is great.
Pujols putting up MVP numbers was why we could survive a Brendan Ryan or So Taguichi in the lineup and still be a very good team. Though we were even better when we had Berkman or Duncan and Eckstien or Furcal instead.
If we don't have a Pujols then EVERYONE needs to be Above average to be a great team. No one can be a 85 OPS+ and pretend their glove makes them elite overall. Also we will need 9 everyday starters including a dedicated >130 OPS+ DH. Not just a bench glove player to fill in when someone else constantly rotates thru DH.
