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zuck698 wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 16:33 pm

Ace wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 11:56 am Pretty good list here overall, I'll give you a pass on the 4 player misspellings I see so far.

Players here I don't think will be attainable: Ricky Tiedemann, Jared Jones, Spencer Jones, Josue Briceno.
Players unlikely to be traded but possible: Lazaro Montes, Hunter Barco, Khal Stephen, Colby Thomas, Ryan Sloan, Coby Mayo

We need pitching primarily, secondary target is OFs. These are the listed teams I'd be most interested in deals with:

Athletics - Colby Thomas, Gage Jump, Henry Bolte, Mason Barnett.
Guardians - Khal Stephen, Jace LaViolette, Braylon Doughty, Parker Messick
Mariners - Montes & Sloan are probably the only two that would make sense.
Padres - Cruz/Mayfield would be good targets.
Pirates - Hunter Barco could be in play in the right deal.
Rays - Johnson and Nichols are both names Cardinals would be interested in, Rays aren't quick to trade these types though. Santiago Suarez too.
Yankees - Lagrange or Hess

Don't see as much of a fit for Dodgers, D backs, Blue Jays, Tigers, Orioles, Royals or Red Sox.


Proposals:

1) Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar & Jojo Romero to Seattle for Montes and Sloan.
This would give Seattle 3 win now players at a reasonable price for their payroll. They have an excellent 1-5 SPs and have Kade Anderson next man up, they can afford to offer up Sloan.

2) Jimmy Crooks, Nathan Church & Pete Hansen to Rays for Suarez & Nichols.
Rays have no catching.

3) Nolan Gorman & Chen Wei Lin to Pirates for Hunter Barco.


Updated top 20 prospects:

Wetherholt
Montes
Doyle
Sloan
Rodriguez
Barco
Josh Baez
Bernal
Mathews
Clarke
Suarez
Hence
Padilla
Nichols
Roby
Hjerpe
Franklin
Jesus Baez
Henderson
Mitchell

Loaded. It's fun to dream right?

Give me number 3 Ace but with a caveat. Insert someone other than Lin. In my mind, while young, he is someone I would hate to give up on so early. I think he will have a chance to dominate with continued development. Barco has already had his TJ out of the way, so that is a plus. He responded great after the surgery. Let us corner the market on power throwing Lefty's. Love it. But try to sell them on Gorman's "unlimited power" and replace Lin with Mautz. Mautz is further along in his development and we are talking about Pirates management, so....

Ace wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 18:17 pm

zuck698 wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 16:33 pm

Ace wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 11:56 am Pretty good list here overall, I'll give you a pass on the 4 player misspellings I see so far.

Players here I don't think will be attainable: Ricky Tiedemann, Jared Jones, Spencer Jones, Josue Briceno.
Players unlikely to be traded but possible: Lazaro Montes, Hunter Barco, Khal Stephen, Colby Thomas, Ryan Sloan, Coby Mayo

We need pitching primarily, secondary target is OFs. These are the listed teams I'd be most interested in deals with:

Athletics - Colby Thomas, Gage Jump, Henry Bolte, Mason Barnett.
Guardians - Khal Stephen, Jace LaViolette, Braylon Doughty, Parker Messick
Mariners - Montes & Sloan are probably the only two that would make sense.
Padres - Cruz/Mayfield would be good targets.
Pirates - Hunter Barco could be in play in the right deal.
Rays - Johnson and Nichols are both names Cardinals would be interested in, Rays aren't quick to trade these types though. Santiago Suarez too.
Yankees - Lagrange or Hess

Don't see as much of a fit for Dodgers, D backs, Blue Jays, Tigers, Orioles, Royals or Red Sox.


Proposals:

1) Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar & Jojo Romero to Seattle for Montes and Sloan.
This would give Seattle 3 win now players at a reasonable price for their payroll. They have an excellent 1-5 SPs and have Kade Anderson next man up, they can afford to offer up Sloan.

2) Jimmy Crooks, Nathan Church & Pete Hansen to Rays for Suarez & Nichols.
Rays have no catching.

3) Nolan Gorman & Chen Wei Lin to Pirates for Hunter Barco.


Updated top 20 prospects:

Wetherholt
Montes
Doyle
Sloan
Rodriguez
Barco
Josh Baez
Bernal
Mathews
Clarke
Suarez
Hence
Padilla
Nichols
Roby
Hjerpe
Franklin
Jesus Baez
Henderson
Mitchell

Loaded. It's fun to dream right?

Give me number 3 Ace but with a caveat. Insert someone other than Lin. In my mind, while young, he is someone I would hate to give up on so early. I think he will have a chance to dominate with continued development. Barco has already had his TJ out of the way, so that is a plus. He responded great after the surgery. Let us corner the market on power throwing Lefty's. Love it. But try to sell them on Gorman's "unlimited power" and replace Lin with Mautz. Mautz is further along in his development and we are talking about Pirates management, so....

Fair enough, I would have said the same before this season. I watched Wei-Lin pitch more than any other minor league player. The pure "stuff" is good but not overpowering. The command/control wasn't there and took a big step back from the prior. I'd be more optimistic if he were younger, but he's the same age as Mautz and just had a poor year in A+ ball. He's the same age as Tekoah Roby and 3 years older than Liam Doyle. Another year of this, he'll be 25 heading into Spring Training 2027 and will fall off the top 30 list IMO. Rooting for the kid and hope he figures it out, but I'd have him and Mautz near the same ranking. He has more upside and certainly more risk at this point.

zuck698 wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 19:20 pm

Ace wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 18:17 pm

zuck698 wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 16:33 pm

Ace wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 11:56 am Pretty good list here overall, I'll give you a pass on the 4 player misspellings I see so far.

Players here I don't think will be attainable: Ricky Tiedemann, Jared Jones, Spencer Jones, Josue Briceno.
Players unlikely to be traded but possible: Lazaro Montes, Hunter Barco, Khal Stephen, Colby Thomas, Ryan Sloan, Coby Mayo

We need pitching primarily, secondary target is OFs. These are the listed teams I'd be most interested in deals with:

Athletics - Colby Thomas, Gage Jump, Henry Bolte, Mason Barnett.
Guardians - Khal Stephen, Jace LaViolette, Braylon Doughty, Parker Messick
Mariners - Montes & Sloan are probably the only two that would make sense.
Padres - Cruz/Mayfield would be good targets.
Pirates - Hunter Barco could be in play in the right deal.
Rays - Johnson and Nichols are both names Cardinals would be interested in, Rays aren't quick to trade these types though. Santiago Suarez too.
Yankees - Lagrange or Hess

Don't see as much of a fit for Dodgers, D backs, Blue Jays, Tigers, Orioles, Royals or Red Sox.


Proposals:

1) Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar & Jojo Romero to Seattle for Montes and Sloan.
This would give Seattle 3 win now players at a reasonable price for their payroll. They have an excellent 1-5 SPs and have Kade Anderson next man up, they can afford to offer up Sloan.

2) Jimmy Crooks, Nathan Church & Pete Hansen to Rays for Suarez & Nichols.
Rays have no catching.

3) Nolan Gorman & Chen Wei Lin to Pirates for Hunter Barco.


Updated top 20 prospects:

Wetherholt
Montes
Doyle
Sloan
Rodriguez
Barco
Josh Baez
Bernal
Mathews
Clarke
Suarez
Hence
Padilla
Nichols
Roby
Hjerpe
Franklin
Jesus Baez
Henderson
Mitchell

Loaded. It's fun to dream right?

Give me number 3 Ace but with a caveat. Insert someone other than Lin. In my mind, while young, he is someone I would hate to give up on so early. I think he will have a chance to dominate with continued development. Barco has already had his TJ out of the way, so that is a plus. He responded great after the surgery. Let us corner the market on power throwing Lefty's. Love it. But try to sell them on Gorman's "unlimited power" and replace Lin with Mautz. Mautz is further along in his development and we are talking about Pirates management, so....

Fair enough, I would have said the same before this season. I watched Wei-Lin pitch more than any other minor league player. The pure "stuff" is good but not overpowering. The command/control wasn't there and took a big step back from the prior. I'd be more optimistic if he were younger, but he's the same age as Mautz and just had a poor year in A+ ball. He's the same age as Tekoah Roby and 3 years older than Liam Doyle. Another year of this, he'll be 25 heading into Spring Training 2027 and will fall off the top 30 list IMO. Rooting for the kid and hope he figures it out, but I'd have him and Mautz near the same ranking. He has more upside and certainly more risk at this point.

Thanks for the in-depth reply. Admittedly, I haven't watched him as much as you have, but when I have seen him, I always was left with a feeling of darn, if this kid figures it out, look out! Nothing against Mautz at all, as he may be the one who eventually makes to the show and has a great career? Such a (bleep) shoot with young pitchers! I really like Barco's stuff, and was hoping to get him for less than Lin being included. Maybe it is his large presence on the mound, that makes he feel he has more of a chance than Mautz? Any way, great post Ace.

craviduce wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 11:44 am

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 11:12 am Hopefully the winter meetings will yield some helpful players for the Cardinals. How can we match up to get the most help possible?

Donovan- teams interested; Mariners, Dodgers, Yankees, Royals, Guardians, Tigers, Giants, Phillies?, Astros, Red Sox?, Pirates
Arenado- teams interested; Angels, Diamondbacks, Mariners?, Phillies?, Tigers, Athletics
Contreras- teams interested; Rangers, Padres, Mets, Guardians, Red Sox
Pages- teams interested; Rangers, Rays, Padres
Burleson- teams interested; Rays, Guardians, Red Sox, Padres, Rangers, Royals, Pirates
Nootbaar- teams interested; Royals, Dodgers, Philliies, Guardians, Rays, Pirates
Gorman- teams interested; Athletics?, Angels?, Pirates
Pallante- teams interested; Orioles?, Angels?, Athletics?, Tigers?
Romero- Any contender?
Others who could be included to finish out a deal; Chase Davis, Pete Hansen, Cesar Prieto, Matt Koperniak, and maybe even Ixan Henderson in the right deal.

What you can get, of course, will depend on who you are willing to give up from the list above. These are players that are interesting targets to me from other teams.

Athletics- Cobly Thomas OF, Ken Waldichuck LHP, Round B Comp
Blue Jays- Ricky Tiedemann LHP, Round B Comp
Diamondbacks- Hunter Cantron RHP, Jordan Lawler IF, Round A Comp
Dodgers- River Ryan RHP, Mike Sirota OF, Alex Freeland IF, Bobby Miller RHP
Guardians- Khal Stephen RHP, Patrick Messick LHP, Daniel Espino RHP. Round A Comp
Mariners- Ryan Sloan RHP, Lazaro Montes OF, Round B Comp
Mets- Jonah Tong RHP, Carson Benge OF
Orioles- Colby Mayo, Round A Comp
Padres- Humberto Cruz RHP, Kash Mayfield LHP
Pirates- Jared Jones RHP, Hunter Barco LHP, Round A Comp
Rangers- Alejandro Rosario RHP, Abimelec Ortiz 1B/OF, Yolfran Castillo SS/3B, AJ Russell RHP
Rays- Ty Johnson, TJ Nichols, Round B Comp
Red Sox- Luis Perales RHP, Franklin Arias IF
Royals- Kendry Chourio RHP, Ben Kudrna RHP, Round A Comp
Tigers- Josue Briceno 1B/C, Franyerber Montilla IF, Kelvis Salcedo RHP, Round B Comp
Yankees- Carlos Lagrange RHP, Spencer Jones OF, Ben Hess RHP

Where do you see a match?

I'd forego Tong for Benge....I'm salivating at the prospects of 6 years of Benge and Wetherholt in the same lineup.

Pipe Dream...I know. I would kick in something a little extra with Donovan for Benge....maybe a Peoria LHP, lord knows we have 90 of them. I wouldn't miss any of them...not 1 bit. Maybe a little regret with Davis, but that's if he can get the PC down each inning.

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 20:24 pm

craviduce wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 11:44 am

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 11:12 am Hopefully the winter meetings will yield some helpful players for the Cardinals. How can we match up to get the most help possible?

Donovan- teams interested; Mariners, Dodgers, Yankees, Royals, Guardians, Tigers, Giants, Phillies?, Astros, Red Sox?, Pirates
Arenado- teams interested; Angels, Diamondbacks, Mariners?, Phillies?, Tigers, Athletics
Contreras- teams interested; Rangers, Padres, Mets, Guardians, Red Sox
Pages- teams interested; Rangers, Rays, Padres
Burleson- teams interested; Rays, Guardians, Red Sox, Padres, Rangers, Royals, Pirates
Nootbaar- teams interested; Royals, Dodgers, Philliies, Guardians, Rays, Pirates
Gorman- teams interested; Athletics?, Angels?, Pirates
Pallante- teams interested; Orioles?, Angels?, Athletics?, Tigers?
Romero- Any contender?
Others who could be included to finish out a deal; Chase Davis, Pete Hansen, Cesar Prieto, Matt Koperniak, and maybe even Ixan Henderson in the right deal.

What you can get, of course, will depend on who you are willing to give up from the list above. These are players that are interesting targets to me from other teams.

Athletics- Cobly Thomas OF, Ken Waldichuck LHP, Round B Comp
Blue Jays- Ricky Tiedemann LHP, Round B Comp
Diamondbacks- Hunter Cantron RHP, Jordan Lawler IF, Round A Comp
Dodgers- River Ryan RHP, Mike Sirota OF, Alex Freeland IF, Bobby Miller RHP
Guardians- Khal Stephen RHP, Patrick Messick LHP, Daniel Espino RHP. Round A Comp
Mariners- Ryan Sloan RHP, Lazaro Montes OF, Round B Comp
Mets- Jonah Tong RHP, Carson Benge OF
Orioles- Colby Mayo, Round A Comp
Padres- Humberto Cruz RHP, Kash Mayfield LHP
Pirates- Jared Jones RHP, Hunter Barco LHP, Round A Comp
Rangers- Alejandro Rosario RHP, Abimelec Ortiz 1B/OF, Yolfran Castillo SS/3B, AJ Russell RHP
Rays- Ty Johnson, TJ Nichols, Round B Comp
Red Sox- Luis Perales RHP, Franklin Arias IF
Royals- Kendry Chourio RHP, Ben Kudrna RHP, Round A Comp
Tigers- Josue Briceno 1B/C, Franyerber Montilla IF, Kelvis Salcedo RHP, Round B Comp
Yankees- Carlos Lagrange RHP, Spencer Jones OF, Ben Hess RHP

Where do you see a match?

I'd forego Tong for Benge....I'm salivating at the prospects of 6 years of Benge and Wetherholt in the same lineup.

Pipe Dream...I know. I would kick in something a little extra with Donovan for Benge....maybe a Peoria LHP, lord knows we have 90 of them. I wouldn't miss any of them...not 1 bit. Maybe a little regret with Davis, but that's if he can get the PC down each inning.

Would you trade Burleson to the Mets to play 1B in place of Alonso even up for Benge? Their trade values are very similar.

craviduce wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 20:32 pm

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 20:24 pm

craviduce wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 11:44 am

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 11:12 am Hopefully the winter meetings will yield some helpful players for the Cardinals. How can we match up to get the most help possible?

Donovan- teams interested; Mariners, Dodgers, Yankees, Royals, Guardians, Tigers, Giants, Phillies?, Astros, Red Sox?, Pirates
Arenado- teams interested; Angels, Diamondbacks, Mariners?, Phillies?, Tigers, Athletics
Contreras- teams interested; Rangers, Padres, Mets, Guardians, Red Sox
Pages- teams interested; Rangers, Rays, Padres
Burleson- teams interested; Rays, Guardians, Red Sox, Padres, Rangers, Royals, Pirates
Nootbaar- teams interested; Royals, Dodgers, Philliies, Guardians, Rays, Pirates
Gorman- teams interested; Athletics?, Angels?, Pirates
Pallante- teams interested; Orioles?, Angels?, Athletics?, Tigers?
Romero- Any contender?
Others who could be included to finish out a deal; Chase Davis, Pete Hansen, Cesar Prieto, Matt Koperniak, and maybe even Ixan Henderson in the right deal.

What you can get, of course, will depend on who you are willing to give up from the list above. These are players that are interesting targets to me from other teams.

Athletics- Cobly Thomas OF, Ken Waldichuck LHP, Round B Comp
Blue Jays- Ricky Tiedemann LHP, Round B Comp
Diamondbacks- Hunter Cantron RHP, Jordan Lawler IF, Round A Comp
Dodgers- River Ryan RHP, Mike Sirota OF, Alex Freeland IF, Bobby Miller RHP
Guardians- Khal Stephen RHP, Patrick Messick LHP, Daniel Espino RHP. Round A Comp
Mariners- Ryan Sloan RHP, Lazaro Montes OF, Round B Comp
Mets- Jonah Tong RHP, Carson Benge OF
Orioles- Colby Mayo, Round A Comp
Padres- Humberto Cruz RHP, Kash Mayfield LHP
Pirates- Jared Jones RHP, Hunter Barco LHP, Round A Comp
Rangers- Alejandro Rosario RHP, Abimelec Ortiz 1B/OF, Yolfran Castillo SS/3B, AJ Russell RHP
Rays- Ty Johnson, TJ Nichols, Round B Comp
Red Sox- Luis Perales RHP, Franklin Arias IF
Royals- Kendry Chourio RHP, Ben Kudrna RHP, Round A Comp
Tigers- Josue Briceno 1B/C, Franyerber Montilla IF, Kelvis Salcedo RHP, Round B Comp
Yankees- Carlos Lagrange RHP, Spencer Jones OF, Ben Hess RHP

Where do you see a match?

I'd forego Tong for Benge....I'm salivating at the prospects of 6 years of Benge and Wetherholt in the same lineup.

Pipe Dream...I know. I would kick in something a little extra with Donovan for Benge....maybe a Peoria LHP, lord knows we have 90 of them. I wouldn't miss any of them...not 1 bit. Maybe a little regret with Davis, but that's if he can get the PC down each inning.

Would you trade Burleson to the Mets to play 1B in place of Alonso even up for Benge? Their trade values are very similar.

I'd trade them even up, yes. Would the Mets? I doubt it. The value seems a bit off, tbh.

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 20:35 pm

craviduce wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 20:32 pm

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 20:24 pm

craviduce wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 11:44 am

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025 11:12 am Hopefully the winter meetings will yield some helpful players for the Cardinals. How can we match up to get the most help possible?

Donovan- teams interested; Mariners, Dodgers, Yankees, Royals, Guardians, Tigers, Giants, Phillies?, Astros, Red Sox?, Pirates
Arenado- teams interested; Angels, Diamondbacks, Mariners?, Phillies?, Tigers, Athletics
Contreras- teams interested; Rangers, Padres, Mets, Guardians, Red Sox
Pages- teams interested; Rangers, Rays, Padres
Burleson- teams interested; Rays, Guardians, Red Sox, Padres, Rangers, Royals, Pirates
Nootbaar- teams interested; Royals, Dodgers, Philliies, Guardians, Rays, Pirates
Gorman- teams interested; Athletics?, Angels?, Pirates
Pallante- teams interested; Orioles?, Angels?, Athletics?, Tigers?
Romero- Any contender?
Others who could be included to finish out a deal; Chase Davis, Pete Hansen, Cesar Prieto, Matt Koperniak, and maybe even Ixan Henderson in the right deal.

What you can get, of course, will depend on who you are willing to give up from the list above. These are players that are interesting targets to me from other teams.

Athletics- Cobly Thomas OF, Ken Waldichuck LHP, Round B Comp
Blue Jays- Ricky Tiedemann LHP, Round B Comp
Diamondbacks- Hunter Cantron RHP, Jordan Lawler IF, Round A Comp
Dodgers- River Ryan RHP, Mike Sirota OF, Alex Freeland IF, Bobby Miller RHP
Guardians- Khal Stephen RHP, Patrick Messick LHP, Daniel Espino RHP. Round A Comp
Mariners- Ryan Sloan RHP, Lazaro Montes OF, Round B Comp
Mets- Jonah Tong RHP, Carson Benge OF
Orioles- Colby Mayo, Round A Comp
Padres- Humberto Cruz RHP, Kash Mayfield LHP
Pirates- Jared Jones RHP, Hunter Barco LHP, Round A Comp
Rangers- Alejandro Rosario RHP, Abimelec Ortiz 1B/OF, Yolfran Castillo SS/3B, AJ Russell RHP
Rays- Ty Johnson, TJ Nichols, Round B Comp
Red Sox- Luis Perales RHP, Franklin Arias IF
Royals- Kendry Chourio RHP, Ben Kudrna RHP, Round A Comp
Tigers- Josue Briceno 1B/C, Franyerber Montilla IF, Kelvis Salcedo RHP, Round B Comp
Yankees- Carlos Lagrange RHP, Spencer Jones OF, Ben Hess RHP

Where do you see a match?

I'd forego Tong for Benge....I'm salivating at the prospects of 6 years of Benge and Wetherholt in the same lineup.

Pipe Dream...I know. I would kick in something a little extra with Donovan for Benge....maybe a Peoria LHP, lord knows we have 90 of them. I wouldn't miss any of them...not 1 bit. Maybe a little regret with Davis, but that's if he can get the PC down each inning.

Would you trade Burleson to the Mets to play 1B in place of Alonso even up for Benge? Their trade values are very similar.

I'd trade them even up, yes. Would the Mets? I doubt it. The value seems a bit off, tbh.

I wonder?