hmoss859 wrote: ↑30 Aug 2026 20:38 pm
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??
No, not really C4L.
Just recognize a bit sooner than most when a player is J.A.G.
I never said that about J. Walker, M. Winn, JJW, Ivan, Burly, even Gorman (who is looking like he's J.A.G.).
But I was never on the Crooks, Saggese or Prieto bandwagon, they're all three J.A.G. to me so there was nothing for me to "bail" on.
As for Bernal, yes I want to see him get his shot but no I'm not on his "bandwagon" either since he's likely not a L-T solution either given we both know who's coming soon.
When the time comes, the wagon I'm driving belongs to R.R.
rockondlouie wrote: ↑31 Aug 2026 10:26 am
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.
Rosters expand to 28 Tuesday so maybe not?
That said, unless R.R. is Memphis bound I'd send Crooks down so he can catch FT.......maybe build back some trade value.
hmoss859 wrote: ↑30 Aug 2026 20:38 pm
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).
I agree with this strategy. What’s wrong with Bernal just passing Crooks up, for now. JC just isn’t yet ready for MLB. That is no tragedy and doesn’t mean we have to trade him right away.
C-Unit wrote: ↑30 Aug 2026 20:41 pmI 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.
Another point to be made is that Bernal is a better RHH than Left. So, him and Crooks make for a better tandem.
C-Unit wrote: ↑30 Aug 2026 20:41 pmI 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.
Yeah but then you get into a sticky situation whenever you want to call up Rodriguez. The only caveat being if Rodriguez can really play 3B full-time. Then I guess there would be no harm in seeing if Crooks makes steady progress at the MLB level. And there is a lot of playing time to go around in an MLB season. I do see your point. Even if you keep Crooks on the Memphis shuttle (Bernal and Rodriguez pass him up), he could still improve at some point.
C-Unit wrote: ↑30 Aug 2026 20:41 pmI 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.
Another point to be made is that Bernal is a better RHH than Left. So, him and Crooks make for a better tandem.
That is interesting but then you have Bernal as a short side platoon player?
C-Unit wrote: ↑31 Aug 2026 12:04 pmYeah but then you get into a sticky situation whenever you want to call up Rodriguez. The only caveat being if Rodriguez can really play 3B full-time. Then I guess there would be no harm in seeing if Crooks makes steady progress at the MLB level. And there is a lot of playing time to go around in an MLB season. I do see your point. Even if you keep Crooks on the Memphis shuttle (Bernal and Rodriguez pass him up), he could still improve at some point.
I understand that and I would bet that Rodriguez is going to be up sooner rather than later, so they will have to make a decision soon. I just think that they can wait and make the decision then. And who knows, maybe one of them tears their knee in the spring, and then it solves that problem for you.
Even worst case scenario, you have all three catchers on the roster, there is still 1B and DH. Bernal can play 1B. Herrera might be traded. You can find them ABs. There's minor league options too. If Crooks still sucks a few months into next year, send him down. Will his trade value be any less then as it is now?
I also saw your question about about Bernal being the short side of a platoon. I don't think it would be strict platoon, but I do think you would give him all ABs against LHP, plus ABs against RHP, if he is the 60% part of a 60-40 time share at catcher. I hope that makes sense.
C-Unit wrote: ↑31 Aug 2026 12:04 pmYeah but then you get into a sticky situation whenever you want to call up Rodriguez. The only caveat being if Rodriguez can really play 3B full-time. Then I guess there would be no harm in seeing if Crooks makes steady progress at the MLB level. And there is a lot of playing time to go around in an MLB season. I do see your point. Even if you keep Crooks on the Memphis shuttle (Bernal and Rodriguez pass him up), he could still improve at some point.
I understand that and I would bet that Rodriguez is going to be up sooner rather than later, so they will have to make a decision soon. I just think that they can wait and make the decision then. And who knows, maybe one of them tears their knee in the spring, and then it solves that problem for you.
Even worst case scenario, you have all three catchers on the roster, there is still 1B and DH. Bernal can play 1B. Herrera might be traded. You can find them ABs. There's minor league options too. If Crooks still sucks a few months into next year, send him down. Will his trade value be any less then as it is now?
I also saw your question about about Bernal being the short side of a platoon. I don't think it would be strict platoon, but I do think you would give him all ABs against LHP, plus ABs against RHP, if he is the 60% part of a 60-40 time share at catcher. I hope that makes sense.
That does make sense and 60% would be an agreeable percentage for a first year catcher.
I guess the bigger topic in a general sense is whether it's best to keep the roster "uncluttered" or if it's better to allow situations like that to come up. Use the depth to your advantage (never know when an injury like you say) and encourage competition.
I'll make one point I can see Herrera being traded at some point. But I'm not trading him because of Crooks.
C-Unit wrote: ↑31 Aug 2026 12:36 pmThat does make sense and 60% would be an agreeable percentage for a first year catcher.
I guess the bigger topic in a general sense is whether it's best to keep the roster "uncluttered" or if it's better to allow situations like that to come up. Use the depth to your advantage (never know when an injury like you say) and encourage competition.
I'll make one point I can see Herrera being traded at some point. But I'm not trading him because of Crooks.
Me neither. I would trade him more because of Bernal and Rodriguez.
I wouldn't give him up for cheap, but just like we talked about finding ABs, he could end up being the odd man out. He shouldn't catch. He gave it a good try, he's not as bad as some people say, but it's not working. I think it's affected his offense as well this year. He's not going to play 1B, Burleson is going to be the guy. They don't think he can play anywhere else, so he's a dedicated DH at that point. And I think we'll have guys that need rotated in and out of DH and occasionally 1B when Burleson needs a day.
But yea, I think I would look to trade Herrera, as much as I hate to do it.
C-Unit wrote: ↑31 Aug 2026 12:36 pmThat does make sense and 60% would be an agreeable percentage for a first year catcher.
I guess the bigger topic in a general sense is whether it's best to keep the roster "uncluttered" or if it's better to allow situations like that to come up. Use the depth to your advantage (never know when an injury like you say) and encourage competition.
I'll make one point I can see Herrera being traded at some point. But I'm not trading him because of Crooks.
Me neither. I would trade him more because of Bernal and Rodriguez.
I wouldn't give him up for cheap, but just like we talked about finding ABs, he could end up being the odd man out. He shouldn't catch. He gave it a good try, he's not as bad as some people say, but it's not working. I think it's affected his offense as well this year. He's not going to play 1B, Burleson is going to be the guy. They don't think he can play anywhere else, so he's a dedicated DH at that point. And I think we'll have guys that need rotated in and out of DH and occasionally 1B when Burleson needs a day.
But yea, I think I would look to trade Herrera, as much as I hate to do it.
Well put all of it. I agree there might be that point where it makes sense to move him. Well, I'm hoping for Rodriguez at 3B, Bernal at C, Herrera as the DH.
I have been making the case that if Herrera ends up primarily as a DH then the worst case scenario is you have a Yandy Diaz on your hands. You could be a lot worse off. Edit: you can even think about some alignments of Herrera in LF and Baez in CF. Maybe against LHP with Church on the bench.
cardinalsfever44 wrote: ↑31 Aug 2026 11:57 am
Crooks is a zero, worse defensively than Pages, and is only a couple years younger. I'd rather have Pages as a backup catcher than Crooks.
expansion starts on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, and cards are reportedly planning to promote top catching prospect Leo Bernal and right-handed relief pitcher Hancel Rincón to fill the two added spots. No one to be dfa, pages just won't ply much
