STLtoday.com

Melville wrote: ↑26 Nov 2025 12:16 pm

rockondlouie wrote: ↑26 Nov 2025 10:22 am Agree w/others JoJo likely part of a package w/Donny if C. Bloom is to land a young major league starter w/years of control.

Of the one-year guys, I'd take a shot at:

Dustin May
Tyler Mahle

May is interesting.

If indeed the intent is to sign young starters and grow them, or sign mid- level pitchers for a couple of years, how do one year deals fit into that? Seems a bit counter intuitive.

Melville wrote: ↑26 Nov 2025 12:14 pm Giolito is someone Bloom might look into.
He is probably going to land a 2 or 3 year deal - perhaps 30M for 2 years or 40M for 3 - with 2 years being the more probable.
Could cover innings through July - and be a useful trade piece at the deadline if all works out.
Yes, there is some injury risk - but it is a risk Bloom might be willing to take.

I understand that the probability of what I would like to see is very low.

I just do not believe the issues or needs will go away in one season nor do I think that they should go forward
with some abstract timeline before bringing in a pitcher that matters. I wouldn't hesitate to bring in a guy
that's worthy of a 3-4 year contract. Get some buy in, stability, whatever we want to call it. Temporary
guys may or may not bring value to teammates. That's easily said about everyone I guess. BUT,
It follows your reasoning for wanting to keep Gray until the deadline and my reasoning of him not going to be
here long enough and turning SG into more than 1 pitcher. Get somebody who puts some skin in the organization. 2 years minimum

The Cards don't have a successful prior pitcher in the dugout, a K. Gibson, Lance Lynn type to help as a coach.
All these arms will not succeed in a short time frame, get a consistent voice that's been there and
done it. They just saved $20 million with SG, and as of now next seasons payroll is ridiculously low.
This doesn't derail any master plan. There so much more than stuff and velo for these guys to learn.

Gio may well qualify, projected 2/$32 at MLBTR, but obviously my opinion on flipping him isn't there. Littell 2/24, would be fantastic, Eflin all have some appeal at 2+ seasons. And I'd spend a little more to get them. Kelly or Bassitt
or ok but a bit older and may stay where they are.

Leverage the one season of SG into Littell or Gio or Eflin for 2+. Fitts and Clarke to me makes it a very nice trade with
the upside of helping who makes the rotation. Spend those recent savings. You might get an upgrade
in the rotation over 2025.

Again improbable.

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑26 Nov 2025 13:52 pm

zuck698 wrote: ↑26 Nov 2025 13:45 pm

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑26 Nov 2025 12:45 pm These are the SP's interesting to me:

Low cost
Tyler Mahle- Very effective when healthy. RHP. Projected contract 5.6M
Jose Quintana- Just keeps plugging along. Effective year after year. Durable. LHP. Projected contract 3.4M
Jordan Montgomery- Good with Yankees. Good with Cardinals. Good with Rangers. Not good with D-backs. Suspect he was hurt before he went down. Could take up innings in the second half of the season. LHP. Projected contract 2.65M
Dusitn May- RHP. Projected contract 3.9M

More costly
If the Cardinals are of a mind to spend a bit more and move up a tier, consider this.
Zac Eflin- RHP Projected contract 16.3M


Complete flier
Alek Manoah- Spring training non-roster invite.

You could do a lot with 10-15M. Why would a pitcher come to St Louis? #1 The opportunity to pitch. The Cardinals need at least 3 SP. #2 Good defense behind them. #3 A pitcher friendly park to put up good numbers for their next contract. #4 Even though you start the season on a team not focused on winning, if you perform, you will almost certainly end the season on a team playing for prizes.

The projected 2026 salaries are courtesy of Spotrac.

I like the idea of taking a flyer on signing a couple of the lower priced guys vs a guy like Elfin. Heck at those prices sign May, Mahle, and Montgomery and you would only have 12 million invested in all 3 of them vs. the 16mil for Eflin. Spread the risk and hope 1 or 2 of them exceed expectations.

That's my thought too. There are 1458 innings to cover.

Yep. On 1-2 year contracts. Bring 'em on.

I HOPE they sign 2 make good veterans coming off bad years to 1-2 year contracts. So if one is rocking again they flip him at the break. In either case I do not want to load too many innings on the kids. That can be destructive to development as much as no opportunity

imetsatchelpaige wrote: ↑26 Nov 2025 14:45 pm

Melville wrote: ↑26 Nov 2025 12:16 pm

rockondlouie wrote: ↑26 Nov 2025 10:22 am Agree w/others JoJo likely part of a package w/Donny if C. Bloom is to land a young major league starter w/years of control.

Of the one-year guys, I'd take a shot at:

Dustin May
Tyler Mahle

May is interesting.

If indeed the intent is to sign young starters and grow them, or sign mid- level pitchers for a couple of years, how do one year deals fit into that? Seems a bit counter intuitive.

Buying low on a one year bounce back candidate who could help the team compete next year or who be a nice deadline piece to gain more prospects aligns very well with what Bloom wants to accomplish next year.

I'm pretty sure Pallante is now the veteran ace of the staff.