Bernal called up ?

[Jatalk]

This should put to the end of Pedro Pages era

Hopefully they play Bernal and Crooks rest of way

However, I expect Oli will fight tooth and nail to keep Pages on the squad

Or Herrera never catches again. That’s the right choice.

8/14 Herrera
8/15 Pages
8/16 Crooks
8/17 Pages
8/17 Herrera
8/18 Pages
8/19 Crooks
8/20 Crooks
8/21 Pages
8/22 Crooks
8/23 Pages
8/24 OFF
8/25 Herrera
8/26 Crooks
8/27 Pages
8/28 Crooks
8/29 Crooks
8/30 Herrera

17 games
4 Herrera
6 Pages
7 Crooks

I could see him taking some starts from each. Maybe spells Burly at 1B occasionally too

Has IH played 1st base? My guess no or very little. Time to get real with IH. You are DH and in spring learn another position. Catching days done.

[hugeCardfan]

This should put to the end of Pedro Pages era

Hopefully they play Bernal and Crooks rest of way

However, I expect Oli will fight tooth and nail to keep Pages on the squad

I still think Pages would be a better choice to backup Bernal than Crooks, for 2027. With Bernal the clear starter. Crooks should be traded IMO.

It can’t be Pages. Oli will play him too much.

You have to remove him from Oli’s choices

if you say so
Pages barely plays now

So why keep him.

Pages is the veteran. He can work with Bernal better than another rookie could. What Bernal needs right now is someone in his corner. Pages can be that more than Crooks, who hasn't figured it out himself, could.

[Melville]

Not buying this.

Why wouldn’t you buy it? Rosters expand September 1st. He was the most logical callup with that expansion.

How many Catchers you gonna have on the roster? You only get a position player and a Pitcher.

Not unusual for a team to add a 3rd catcher in September.
The team had just Crooks and Pages.
Certainly appears that the team is getting ready to move on from DH Hererra in the off-season - exactly as I advised.

[OldRed]

How many catchers does a team need?

[rockondlouie]

This should put to the end of Pedro Pages era

Hopefully they play Bernal and Crooks rest of way

However, I expect Oli will fight tooth and nail to keep Pages on the squad

I still think Pages would be a better choice to backup Bernal than Crooks, for 2027. With Bernal the clear starter. Crooks should be traded IMO.

+1

Crooks (.179 .255 .336 .591) has no future here.

I've been wanting L. Bernal called up for weeks just to get his feet wet in MLB, Crooks sent back down to AAA with a long list of things to work on.

Then traded this offseason.

Pages stay's here until R.R. is ready backing up Bernal who needs to get a F-T shot in 2027.

[C-Unit]

This should put to the end of Pedro Pages era

Hopefully they play Bernal and Crooks rest of way

However, I expect Oli will fight tooth and nail to keep Pages on the squad

I still think Pages would be a better choice to backup Bernal than Crooks, for 2027. With Bernal the clear starter. Crooks should be traded IMO.

+1

Crooks (.179 .255 .336 .591) has no future here.

I've been wanting L. Bernal called up for weeks just to get his feet wet in MLB, Crooks sent back down to AAA with a long list of things to work on.

Then traded this offseason.

Pages stay's here until R.R. is ready backing up Bernal who needs to get a F-T shot in 2027.

There you go, and I know you've been anti-Pages.

Sending Crooks down at this point would NOT be good for trade value. I don't know that he was ever a high commodity. Just keep him up and put him on the block in the offseason. Hopefully he hits a few more HRs. Teams know we have a catcher excess.

I think we're just gonna have a million catchers for September 2026. Then we sort it out in the off-season. By that point, I think we would find ourselves fortunate to have a Pages on our hands in the early part of 2027 so just keep him around. Let him hang out in the dugout this September. He will be perfect as a backup catcher, and I am pretty sure our pitchers like throwing to him. They have more experience with him than they do Crooks.

Then, by the time R.Rodriguez shows up, that'll probably be the right time to move on from Pages. He will have done all we need him to do at that point.

[kscardsfan]

Not buying this.

Why wouldn’t you buy it? Rosters expand September 1st. He was the most logical callup with that expansion.

How many Catchers you gonna have on the roster? You only get a position player and a Pitcher.

Not unusual for a team to add a 3rd catcher in September.
The team had just Crooks and Pages.
Certainly appears that the team is getting ready to move on from DH Hererra in the off-season - exactly as I advised.

Appears that way. Has been a long time since he had a start behind the plate. What 12 hours? Exactly as you and only you advised.

[rockondlouie]

This should put to the end of Pedro Pages era

Hopefully they play Bernal and Crooks rest of way

However, I expect Oli will fight tooth and nail to keep Pages on the squad

I still think Pages would be a better choice to backup Bernal than Crooks, for 2027. With Bernal the clear starter. Crooks should be traded IMO.

+1

Crooks (.179 .255 .336 .591) has no future here.

I've been wanting L. Bernal called up for weeks just to get his feet wet in MLB, Crooks sent back down to AAA with a long list of things to work on.

Then traded this offseason.

Pages stay's here until R.R. is ready backing up Bernal who needs to get a F-T shot in 2027.

There you go, and I know you've been anti-Pages.

Sending Crooks down at this point would NOT be good for trade value. I don't know that he was ever a high commodity. Just keep him up and put him on the block in the offseason. Hopefully he hits a few more HRs. Teams know we have a catcher excess.

I think we're just gonna have a million catchers for September 2026. Then we sort it out in the off-season. By that point, I think we would find ourselves fortunate to have a Pages on our hands in the early part of 2027 so just keep him around. Let him hang out in the dugout this September. He will be perfect as a backup catcher, and I am pretty sure our pitchers like throwing to him. They have more experience with him than they do Crooks.

Then, by the time R.Rodriguez shows up, that'll probably be the right time to move on from Pages. He will have done all we need him to do at that point.

Actually sending Crooks down now would be the BEST thing for his trade value since he has little after his terrible showing in MLB.

Right now you wouldn't get more than a lotto ticket prospect w/a 1% chance of reaching MLB for him.

If he actually started hitting again in AAA, like he did before his call-up, then he might bring back an ok prospects this offseason or in 2027.

I'd rather have Pages backing up Bernal NOW, then again in 2027........staying here until R.R. is ready to assume F-T duties (possibly even longer if they deal Bernal too).

[zoiks]

I’m looking forward to us being the 1st MLB team to have the entire lineup in a game be all catchers. Pages has shown he can pitch.

[11WSChamps]

This should put to the end of Pedro Pages era

Hopefully they play Bernal and Crooks rest of way

However, I expect Oli will fight tooth and nail to keep Pages on the squad

I still think Pages would be a better choice to backup Bernal than Crooks, for 2027. With Bernal the clear starter. Crooks should be traded IMO.

+1

Crooks (.179 .255 .336 .591) has no future here.

I've been wanting L. Bernal called up for weeks just to get his feet wet in MLB, Crooks sent back down to AAA with a long list of things to work on.

Then traded this offseason.

Pages stay's here until R.R. is ready backing up Bernal who needs to get a F-T shot in 2027.

There you go, and I know you've been anti-Pages.

Sending Crooks down at this point would NOT be good for trade value. I don't know that he was ever a high commodity. Just keep him up and put him on the block in the offseason. Hopefully he hits a few more HRs. Teams know we have a catcher excess.

I think we're just gonna have a million catchers for September 2026. Then we sort it out in the off-season. By that point, I think we would find ourselves fortunate to have a Pages on our hands in the early part of 2027 so just keep him around. Let him hang out in the dugout this September. He will be perfect as a backup catcher, and I am pretty sure our pitchers like throwing to him. They have more experience with him than they do Crooks.

Then, by the time R.Rodriguez shows up, that'll probably be the right time to move on from Pages. He will have done all we need him to do at that point.

Correct.

Hitting a few more HRS against depleted AAA pitching due to call ups isn't going to enhance Crooks trade value.

His porous defense precludes any offense he might give you.

Only real value is as a throw in or sweetener in a multi player deal.

[rockondlouie]

Yes it's official

From mlbtradeumors.com:

The Cardinals will call up catching prospect Leo Bernal from Triple-A on Tuesday prior to their game with the Dodgers, Francys Romero reports. Bernal was already added to the 40-man roster last November in advance of the Rule 5 Draft, and he’ll take one of the two extra spots when the 26-man roster expands to 28 men on September 1.

[hugeCardfan]

Yes it's official

From mlbtradeumors.com:

The Cardinals will call up catching prospect Leo Bernal from Triple-A on Tuesday prior to their game with the Dodgers, Francys Romero reports. Bernal was already added to the 40-man roster last November in advance of the Rule 5 Draft, and he’ll take one of the two extra spots when the 26-man roster expands to 28 men on September 1.

So nobody goes down.

[C-Unit]

This should put to the end of Pedro Pages era

Hopefully they play Bernal and Crooks rest of way

However, I expect Oli will fight tooth and nail to keep Pages on the squad

I still think Pages would be a better choice to backup Bernal than Crooks, for 2027. With Bernal the clear starter. Crooks should be traded IMO.

+1

Crooks (.179 .255 .336 .591) has no future here.

I've been wanting L. Bernal called up for weeks just to get his feet wet in MLB, Crooks sent back down to AAA with a long list of things to work on.

Then traded this offseason.

Pages stay's here until R.R. is ready backing up Bernal who needs to get a F-T shot in 2027.

There you go, and I know you've been anti-Pages.

Sending Crooks down at this point would NOT be good for trade value. I don't know that he was ever a high commodity. Just keep him up and put him on the block in the offseason. Hopefully he hits a few more HRs. Teams know we have a catcher excess.

I think we're just gonna have a million catchers for September 2026. Then we sort it out in the off-season. By that point, I think we would find ourselves fortunate to have a Pages on our hands in the early part of 2027 so just keep him around. Let him hang out in the dugout this September. He will be perfect as a backup catcher, and I am pretty sure our pitchers like throwing to him. They have more experience with him than they do Crooks.

Then, by the time R.Rodriguez shows up, that'll probably be the right time to move on from Pages. He will have done all we need him to do at that point.

Correct.

Hitting a few more HRS against depleted AAA pitching due to call ups isn't going to enhance Crooks trade value.

His porous defense precludes any offense he might give you.

Only real value is as a throw in or sweetener in a multi player deal.

I wonder if Crooks was ever highly valued as a trade piece. A bigger question, I haven't taken the time to look at the other farm systems. Maybe it's not that uncommon for teams to have a million catching prospects and therefore they really are a dime a dozen. I don't know.

But I think if you keep Crooks up, and play Bernal/Crooks pretty much 50/50 for this September, you can at least try to portray it to the league that we really just have an embarrassment of riches and can't decide which one of our amazing catchers we want to play. It's not imperative either for Bernal to catch every single game this September. Yadi didn't catch every game in 2004. The biggest benefit for Bernal will be just being around the MLB club, and being around the MLB pitchers.

[Cardinals4Life]

This should put to the end of Pedro Pages era

Hopefully they play Bernal and Crooks rest of way

However, I expect Oli will fight tooth and nail to keep Pages on the squad

I still think Pages would be a better choice to backup Bernal than Crooks, for 2027. With Bernal the clear starter. Crooks should be traded IMO.

+1

Crooks (.179 .255 .336 .591) has no future here.

I've been wanting L. Bernal called up for weeks just to get his feet wet in MLB, Crooks sent back down to AAA with a long list of things to work on.

Then traded this offseason.

Pages stay's here until R.R. is ready backing up Bernal who needs to get a F-T shot in 2027.

Rock,

You give up on guys way too quick! Especially guys with sporadic playing time. Guys like Saggese, Crooks, Prieto have hardly had a long run. Sometimes they take time to adjust and get comfortable. Are you going to bail on Leo if he hits .150 the remainder of the season??

[Ronnie Dobbs]

I still think Pages would be a better choice to backup Bernal than Crooks, for 2027. With Bernal the clear starter. Crooks should be traded IMO.

Why? Pages doesn't really have the possibility of ever being good. Crooks does. And catching isn't like it was in the old days. Bernal won't be some ironman catcher like Yadi. You're probably looking at a 60-40 split, but the backup catcher is going to get a lot of starts. I'd rather that be someone with some upside than Pages.

No reason to give up on Crooks at this point. Catching is hard, especially for a young player. Also, there's no guarantee that Bernal isn't going to struggle like Crooks has, so hold onto the guy with upside.

[11WSChamps]

This should put to the end of Pedro Pages era

Hopefully they play Bernal and Crooks rest of way

However, I expect Oli will fight tooth and nail to keep Pages on the squad

I still think Pages would be a better choice to backup Bernal than Crooks, for 2027. With Bernal the clear starter. Crooks should be traded IMO.

+1

Crooks (.179 .255 .336 .591) has no future here.

I've been wanting L. Bernal called up for weeks just to get his feet wet in MLB, Crooks sent back down to AAA with a long list of things to work on.

Then traded this offseason.

Pages stay's here until R.R. is ready backing up Bernal who needs to get a F-T shot in 2027.

There you go, and I know you've been anti-Pages.

Sending Crooks down at this point would NOT be good for trade value. I don't know that he was ever a high commodity. Just keep him up and put him on the block in the offseason. Hopefully he hits a few more HRs. Teams know we have a catcher excess.

I think we're just gonna have a million catchers for September 2026. Then we sort it out in the off-season. By that point, I think we would find ourselves fortunate to have a Pages on our hands in the early part of 2027 so just keep him around. Let him hang out in the dugout this September. He will be perfect as a backup catcher, and I am pretty sure our pitchers like throwing to him. They have more experience with him than they do Crooks.

Then, by the time R.Rodriguez shows up, that'll probably be the right time to move on from Pages. He will have done all we need him to do at that point.

Correct.

Hitting a few more HRS against depleted AAA pitching due to call ups isn't going to enhance Crooks trade value.

His porous defense precludes any offense he might give you.

Only real value is as a throw in or sweetener in a multi player deal.

I wonder if Crooks was ever highly valued as a trade piece. A bigger question, I haven't taken the time to look at the other farm systems. Maybe it's not that uncommon for teams to have a million catching prospects and therefore they really are a dime a dozen. I don't know.

But I think if you keep Crooks up, and play Bernal/Crooks pretty much 50/50 for this September, you can at least try to portray it to the league that we really just have an embarrassment of riches and can't decide which one of our amazing catchers we want to play. It's not imperative either for Bernal to catch every single game this September. Yadi didn't catch every game in 2004. The biggest benefit for Bernal will be just being around the MLB club, and being around the MLB pitchers.

Agreed.