Your Under the Radar Suggestions

[Melville]

I usually have a thought when it comes to under the radar suggestions (I nailed the Goldy trade idea the last day of the 2018 season long before it was even rumored).

But this coming offseason I'm clueless since I don't know how much payroll money BDWJr is going to give C. Bloom to work with.

Could be as low as a sub -$100M payroll?

or

Will it be closer to the $135M range?

Great topic TB, I'll return after the GM meetings with some thoughts.

Exactly right.
As was illustrated many, many times, I knew Mo better than Mo knew Mo.
But things have changed.
There simply are not enough indicators as of yet to clarify the DeWitt / Bloom vision.
Of course, I know exactly what Bloom SHOULD do - but it is far too early to predict what he WILL do.
That said, we do know they must add starting pitchers because at this moment the Cardinals simply do not have the 6 rotation arms that are needed (5 in the rotation, one waiting in the wings).
Keep an eye on 31-year-old German Marquez.
He will be looking for a 1-year deal to rebuild his value and a pitcher friendly location such as STL might appeal to him.
And he will be cheap.
And if he does bounce back, he could be a July trade piece for whoever signs him.
Do I recommend signing him?
No.
Does he fit the profile of what STL might be looking for?
Quite possibly.

[scoutyjones2]

Here is a challenge for the Cardinal faithful on a slow baseball day. Who can you find that could be a hidden gem for the Cardinals- someone under the radar that isn’t being talked about? Rules of engagement- must cost less than 2M in cash, or the player being sent to acquire them must be making less than 2M. By definition, these are not stars, but players who could make valuable contributions, or fill specific holes.

Here are three examples of what I am talking about: an outfielder, an infielder, and a pitcher.

An Outfielder- Marco Luciano (Giants)
He is 24 years old and was the Giants top prospect in 2021 and 2022 as a shortstop. He got 2 trial runs in SF and couldn’t cut it at short and didn’t hit. Currently he is not even a top 30 prospect for them. Last season he spent the whole season at Sacramento (AAA) playing LF and a little 1B. The Giants didn’t even call him up when they traded Yaz and their other outfielders were struggling. He is now out of options and can’t be sent back to the minors. The Giants have to either non-tender him, keep him on the ML roster, or DFA him.
Why is he interesting? He hits right-handed and the Cardinals need that. His best tool is power. Luciano has excellent bat speed and high exit velocities. He hit 23 HR last season which is more than anyone from top to bottom in the Cardinal organization. While his batting average was poor (.214) and his strikeouts abysmal (30.4%) he had a reasonable on base percentage of .335, due to a high walk rate. For reference, his OBP was higher than Winn, Walker, Gorman, Nootbaar, Pages, and Arenado. Of his 99 hits, 45 went for extra bases. He had a reasonable .748 OPS- but here is the interesting part- his OPS against left-handed pitching was .986. The Cardinals need that. Last year we had on the roster at different times Michael Siani, Garrett Hampson, Jose Barrero, and Ryan Vilade. I would rather take a chance on someone like this.

An Infielder-Ty France (FA)
Primarily a 1B, he has also played some 2B and 3B. He won a GG at 1B this season. At different times in his career he has shown some pop in his bat. He would be interesting if the Cardinals traded more players than they thought they would, for instance if they were to trade Contreras and Burleson (or even just Contreras). He could be a one year bridge without being a black hole on offense or defense. Spotrac estimates his next contract to be an AAV of 1.6M.

A Pitcher-RJ Petit (Tigers)
Petit is a BIG boy. He is a 6’8” 300 lb relief pitcher. He is a 26 year-old pitching at AAA. He touches 98 mph on the gun and has an excellent slider. This year at AAA he struck out 79 in 66.1 innings. He had a WHIP of 1.06. The Tigers needed to roster him last year to protect him from the Rule V draft and didn’t. They will need to do that this season, or risk losing him. So far they haven’t. If they don’t, I would pick him up. We have room on our ML bullpen to keep him up all season.

What do you think of those? What suggestions do you have?

no thank you on all of them

Some poster here is going to have a problem with every player on every roster - usually that will be Scouty.

How so? These aren't players on the roster...they are suggestions that I don't agree with pursuing.

[ICCFIM2]

He will probably cost more than $2M, but a guy I would like the Cards to explore is Dustin May. He has always been hurt. At one point, he appeared to be a TOR type guy. If they could somehow someway get him on a deal where the Cards got him on say 1 year deal where he made $2-4M, had a team option for $15M and a $-21M buyout, I would give that a shot. If he fails, it is not a lot of money. If he is successful, the Cards may have a 1 - 2 knockout punch at the top of the rotation in 2027 with Doyle and May.

[rockondlouie]

I usually have a thought when it comes to under the radar suggestions (I nailed the Goldy trade idea the last day of the 2018 season long before it was even rumored).

But this coming offseason I'm clueless since I don't know how much payroll money BDWJr is going to give C. Bloom to work with.

Could be as low as a sub -$100M payroll?

or

Will it be closer to the $135M range?

Great topic TB, I'll return after the GM meetings with some thoughts.

Exactly right.
As was illustrated many, many times, I knew Mo better than Mo knew Mo.
But things have changed.
There simply are not enough indicators as of yet to clarify the DeWitt / Bloom vision.
Of course, I know exactly what Bloom SHOULD do - but it is far too early to predict what he WILL do.
That said, we do know they must add starting pitchers because at this moment the Cardinals simply do not have the 6 rotation arms that are needed (5 in the rotation, one waiting in the wings).
Keep an eye on 31-year-old German Marquez.
He will be looking for a 1-year deal to rebuild his value and a pitcher friendly location such as STL might appeal to him.
And he will be cheap.
And if he does bounce back, he could be a July trade piece for whoever signs him.
Do I recommend signing him?
No.
Does he fit the profile of what STL might be looking for?
Quite possibly.

rbis and I discussed G. Marquez years ago, he was always one of his favorite targets.

I'd also keep an eye on D. May.

Agree 100%, Bloom will be looking for starters on one year deals.

Possibly those coming off an injury as well.

Dewitt won't spend much this offseason so Bloom is really going to have to dig deep to find value.

[Melville]

He will probably cost more than $2M, but a guy I would like the Cards to explore is Dustin May. He has always been hurt. At one point, he appeared to be a TOR type guy. If they could somehow someway get him on a deal where the Cards got him on say 1 year deal where he made $2-4M, had a team option for $15M and a $-21M buyout, I would give that a shot. If he fails, it is not a lot of money. If he is successful, the Cards may have a 1 - 2 knockout punch at the top of the rotation in 2027 with Doyle and May.

May would be worth a try, certainly.