Cardinals Ranked 9th

[woofy25]

That’s crazy that we can be ranked #1 by one and number 9 and 11 by others. Wow. I had higher expectations for Clarke ranking as well. Hope he’s more than a closer.

It's not crazy. It's spot on with the reliability of any of this rankings garbage. Their predictions on prospects are marginally better than guys on the couch.

[TheFantasyStud]

I just hope that some of the money saved is quickly reinvested and that we shoot for the playoffs as soon as this year. I agree that had we kept Contreras and Gray and added another top pitcher or two we could have competed. I don't have a problem with Contreras and Gray moving on if we add some better long term talent.

[brock118]

I just hope that some of the money saved is quickly reinvested and that we shoot for the playoffs as soon as this year. I agree that had we kept Contreras and Gray and added another top pitcher or two we could have competed. I don't have a problem with Contreras and Gray moving on if we add some better long term talent.

I think you will be sorely disappointed. They won't be "shooting" for the playoffs until after the CBA is figured out. The TV thing has DeWitt running scared on future income and he has slashed payroll accordingly, whether you agree with that or not, that is what is happening. Once they have a more accurate account on TV revenue or a new deal in place we will and the CBA is figured out we will be in "rebuild limbo".

[pitchingandefense]

So Quinn Mathews went from a take notice 200K season to #150 prospect ranking? He's 25 so there really is no longer a reason to wait any longer on him.

Mathews revenge tour incoming. He’ll be top three in the MLB rotation by the end of 2026.

[ICCFIM2]

The amount of people that don’t realize Dewitt has dumped as much salary as he can in order to protect his precious profit while the tv deal is in limbo is too darn high.

This is not a rebuild. The team has received 0 top 100 prospects and only 1 top 200 prospect from dumping salary. Dewitt has chosen to turn the team into a clone of the Royals, Twins, Reds, etc. - crying poor as a small market while pocketing 10’s of millions of dollars of guaranteed profit every year.

And sure, the team has JJ Wetherholt coming, but at the same time, 2 picks later in the draft the Pirates drafted what is considered to be a generational talent. So the team likely screwed up the Wetherholt pick too.

They also received 2 ML pitchers, Fitts and Dobbins, who if they were eligible to be ranked as prospects, Fitts would likely have been around 175 and Dobbins may or may not have made the top 200. Fitts FV was 45, same as McGreevy. Dobbins last year at Boston went 4-1 with a 4.13 ERA and 3.87 FIP in 11 starts and 61IP. Those pitchers are not nothing returns. In fact, I would rather watch either of them pitch as of now than see another year of Mikolas. They are younger and have some upside.

Fajardo who was not ranked, is only 19 and his stats in the minors while limited, show quite a bit of upside. Essentially Bloom made two trades where he received a Michael McGreevy type pitcher and an upside pitcher for 2 aging veterans. Lets see how they do.

[CCard]

Nice

First step in this re-tool is to build up the farm system

The first step was cutting payroll! Clarke is the only one on the list that wasn't already in the Cardinals system.

Do you think it would have been better to keep Gray, WC and Nado around during a couple more non competitive years, clogging up the roster and keeping us in the sustained mediocrity that Mo made his legacy?

What makes you think they'll be competitive after a few years? The reality is they traded away their best pitcher and their best hitter for next to nothing. Just dumping salary for now reason other than the owner wants to save his pocket change. They should have kept Gray and Contreras, then went out and got another top tier starter( maybe two) and a run producing outfielder. Then tell Walker and Noot they have to fight it out for playing time. Put Gorman at third and tell him if he strikes out a third of the time he'll be replaced at the all-star break. This team could have competed for a playoff spot if they'd done that. But they gutted the team in preparation for the CBA strike which will most likely happen and to position themselves better for the draft. A disgrace is what it is.

But you think they would have been comparative after a few years if they kept arenado Contreras and gray lol. I mean sure you can they should have two all star and mvp level bats and a number one and two starter and all that who wouldn’t want that but it was never going to happen. And you actually think that telling Gorman and walker that they will suddenly be better as if they haven’t been trying? lol put down the bottle

1. I never said keep Arenado. He played his way off of the team.
2. When you give a player a hard goal, they'll either figure a way to succeed or you replace them. Pretty simple concept. Perform or go away.
3. The only reason they don't have two top tier starters is because they don't want to pay the cost. Simple as that, they have the money easily.
4. Contreras was the middle of the order bat and they traded him. They could have gotten a decent bat on the market but they don't want to win.
5. You the koolaid drinker makes it easy for Dewitt to pull these shenanigans. They should pay you and give you a box of chapstick.

[Alex Reyes Cy Young]

The amount of people that don’t realize Dewitt has dumped as much salary as he can in order to protect his precious profit while the tv deal is in limbo is too darn high.

This is not a rebuild. The team has received 0 top 100 prospects and only 1 top 200 prospect from dumping salary. Dewitt has chosen to turn the team into a clone of the Royals, Twins, Reds, etc. - crying poor as a small market while pocketing 10’s of millions of dollars of guaranteed profit every year.

And sure, the team has JJ Wetherholt coming, but at the same time, 2 picks later in the draft the Pirates drafted what is considered to be a generational talent. So the team likely screwed up the Wetherholt pick too.

This is a frightening take.

[2ninr]

Nice

First step in this re-tool is to build up the farm system

The first step was cutting payroll! Clarke is the only one on the list that wasn't already in the Cardinals system.

Do you think it would have been better to keep Gray, WC and Nado around during a couple more non competitive years, clogging up the roster and keeping us in the sustained mediocrity that Mo made his legacy?

What makes you think they'll be competitive after a few years? The reality is they traded away their best pitcher and their best hitter for next to nothing. Just dumping salary for now reason other than the owner wants to save his pocket change. They should have kept Gray and Contreras, then went out and got another top tier starter( maybe two) and a run producing outfielder. Then tell Walker and Noot they have to fight it out for playing time. Put Gorman at third and tell him if he strikes out a third of the time he'll be replaced at the all-star break. This team could have competed for a playoff spot if they'd done that. But they gutted the team in preparation for the CBA strike which will most likely happen and to position themselves better for the draft. A disgrace is what it is.

I call it a solid plan to be competitive moving forward. This team was declining as fast as Nolan Arenado. How much further would we fall if we continued to throw good money after bad?

[CCard]

Nice

First step in this re-tool is to build up the farm system

The first step was cutting payroll! Clarke is the only one on the list that wasn't already in the Cardinals system.

Do you think it would have been better to keep Gray, WC and Nado around during a couple more non competitive years, clogging up the roster and keeping us in the sustained mediocrity that Mo made his legacy?

What makes you think they'll be competitive after a few years? The reality is they traded away their best pitcher and their best hitter for next to nothing. Just dumping salary for now reason other than the owner wants to save his pocket change. They should have kept Gray and Contreras, then went out and got another top tier starter( maybe two) and a run producing outfielder. Then tell Walker and Noot they have to fight it out for playing time. Put Gorman at third and tell him if he strikes out a third of the time he'll be replaced at the all-star break. This team could have competed for a playoff spot if they'd done that. But they gutted the team in preparation for the CBA strike which will most likely happen and to position themselves better for the draft. A disgrace is what it is.

I call it a solid plan to be competitive moving forward. This team was declining as fast as Nolan Arenado. How much further would we fall if we continued to throw good money after bad?

Maybe you don't understand how baseball works. You have to pay for top talent. Teams that pay for top talent win. Teams that don't, rarely do.

[2ninr]

Nice

First step in this re-tool is to build up the farm system

The first step was cutting payroll! Clarke is the only one on the list that wasn't already in the Cardinals system.

Do you think it would have been better to keep Gray, WC and Nado around during a couple more non competitive years, clogging up the roster and keeping us in the sustained mediocrity that Mo made his legacy?

What makes you think they'll be competitive after a few years? The reality is they traded away their best pitcher and their best hitter for next to nothing. Just dumping salary for now reason other than the owner wants to save his pocket change. They should have kept Gray and Contreras, then went out and got another top tier starter( maybe two) and a run producing outfielder. Then tell Walker and Noot they have to fight it out for playing time. Put Gorman at third and tell him if he strikes out a third of the time he'll be replaced at the all-star break. This team could have competed for a playoff spot if they'd done that. But they gutted the team in preparation for the CBA strike which will most likely happen and to position themselves better for the draft. A disgrace is what it is.

I call it a solid plan to be competitive moving forward. This team was declining as fast as Nolan Arenado. How much further would we fall if we continued to throw good money after bad?

Maybe you don't understand how baseball works. You have to pay for top talent. Teams that pay for top talent win. Teams that don't, rarely do.

You clearly are one of those guys who refuse to acknowledge that once they get this mess straightened out, they will spend again. Or maybe refuse to acknowledge the mess itself. We aren't in the tier of organizations who can buy our way out of mistakes. So maybe you are the one who doesn't understand how it works unless you are the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Phillies.

[BrockFloodMaris]

Nice

First step in this re-tool is to build up the farm system

The first step was cutting payroll! Clarke is the only one on the list that wasn't already in the Cardinals system.

Do you think it would have been better to keep Gray, WC and Nado around during a couple more non competitive years, clogging up the roster and keeping us in the sustained mediocrity that Mo made his legacy?

What makes you think they'll be competitive after a few years? The reality is they traded away their best pitcher and their best hitter for next to nothing. Just dumping salary for now reason other than the owner wants to save his pocket change. They should have kept Gray and Contreras, then went out and got another top tier starter( maybe two) and a run producing outfielder. Then tell Walker and Noot they have to fight it out for playing time. Put Gorman at third and tell him if he strikes out a third of the time he'll be replaced at the all-star break. This team could have competed for a playoff spot if they'd done that. But they gutted the team in preparation for the CBA strike which will most likely happen and to position themselves better for the draft. A disgrace is what it is.

I'm grateful I don't have to live inside your head. It sounds like a dark place.

[ScotchMIrish]

Not to throw too much shade but Caglianone was the #10 overall prospect. He hit .157 in 232 MLB plate appearances in 2025 at the age of 22. He could very well be a solid MLB player but most of these prospects are years away from playing in St Louis.

[CCard]

Nice

First step in this re-tool is to build up the farm system

The first step was cutting payroll! Clarke is the only one on the list that wasn't already in the Cardinals system.

Do you think it would have been better to keep Gray, WC and Nado around during a couple more non competitive years, clogging up the roster and keeping us in the sustained mediocrity that Mo made his legacy?

What makes you think they'll be competitive after a few years? The reality is they traded away their best pitcher and their best hitter for next to nothing. Just dumping salary for now reason other than the owner wants to save his pocket change. They should have kept Gray and Contreras, then went out and got another top tier starter( maybe two) and a run producing outfielder. Then tell Walker and Noot they have to fight it out for playing time. Put Gorman at third and tell him if he strikes out a third of the time he'll be replaced at the all-star break. This team could have competed for a playoff spot if they'd done that. But they gutted the team in preparation for the CBA strike which will most likely happen and to position themselves better for the draft. A disgrace is what it is.

I'm grateful I don't have to live inside your head. It sounds like a dark place.

LOL...What a useless post. Do us all a favor and stay in your own head.

[CCard]

Nice

First step in this re-tool is to build up the farm system

The first step was cutting payroll! Clarke is the only one on the list that wasn't already in the Cardinals system.

Do you think it would have been better to keep Gray, WC and Nado around during a couple more non competitive years, clogging up the roster and keeping us in the sustained mediocrity that Mo made his legacy?

What makes you think they'll be competitive after a few years? The reality is they traded away their best pitcher and their best hitter for next to nothing. Just dumping salary for now reason other than the owner wants to save his pocket change. They should have kept Gray and Contreras, then went out and got another top tier starter( maybe two) and a run producing outfielder. Then tell Walker and Noot they have to fight it out for playing time. Put Gorman at third and tell him if he strikes out a third of the time he'll be replaced at the all-star break. This team could have competed for a playoff spot if they'd done that. But they gutted the team in preparation for the CBA strike which will most likely happen and to position themselves better for the draft. A disgrace is what it is.

I call it a solid plan to be competitive moving forward. This team was declining as fast as Nolan Arenado. How much further would we fall if we continued to throw good money after bad?

Maybe you don't understand how baseball works. You have to pay for top talent. Teams that pay for top talent win. Teams that don't, rarely do.

You clearly are one of those guys who refuse to acknowledge that once they get this mess straightened out, they will spend again. Or maybe refuse to acknowledge the mess itself. We aren't in the tier of organizations who can buy our way out of mistakes. So maybe you are the one who doesn't understand how it works unless you are the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Phillies.

Translation....We're in the tier of organizations that can't afford to field a competitive team so let's sell of the top talent and tank it for a few years while we save up DeWitt's pocket change. LOL...You boot lickers ever get tired of tasting shoe leather?

[Ozziesfan41]

Nice

First step in this re-tool is to build up the farm system

The first step was cutting payroll! Clarke is the only one on the list that wasn't already in the Cardinals system.

Do you think it would have been better to keep Gray, WC and Nado around during a couple more non competitive years, clogging up the roster and keeping us in the sustained mediocrity that Mo made his legacy?

What makes you think they'll be competitive after a few years? The reality is they traded away their best pitcher and their best hitter for next to nothing. Just dumping salary for now reason other than the owner wants to save his pocket change. They should have kept Gray and Contreras, then went out and got another top tier starter( maybe two) and a run producing outfielder. Then tell Walker and Noot they have to fight it out for playing time. Put Gorman at third and tell him if he strikes out a third of the time he'll be replaced at the all-star break. This team could have competed for a playoff spot if they'd done that. But they gutted the team in preparation for the CBA strike which will most likely happen and to position themselves better for the draft. A disgrace is what it is.

I call it a solid plan to be competitive moving forward. This team was declining as fast as Nolan Arenado. How much further would we fall if we continued to throw good money after bad?

Maybe you don't understand how baseball works. You have to pay for top talent. Teams that pay for top talent win. Teams that don't, rarely do.

You clearly are one of those guys who refuse to acknowledge that once they get this mess straightened out, they will spend again. Or maybe refuse to acknowledge the mess itself. We aren't in the tier of organizations who can buy our way out of mistakes. So maybe you are the one who doesn't understand how it works unless you are the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Phillies.

Translation....We're in the tier of organizations that can't afford to field a competitive team so let's sell of the top talent and tank it for a few years while we save up DeWitt's pocket change. LOL...You boot lickers ever get tired of tasting shoe leather?

Sold top talent? lol none of the players they traded were in the top 100 players in MLB

[CCard]

Nice

First step in this re-tool is to build up the farm system

The first step was cutting payroll! Clarke is the only one on the list that wasn't already in the Cardinals system.

Do you think it would have been better to keep Gray, WC and Nado around during a couple more non competitive years, clogging up the roster and keeping us in the sustained mediocrity that Mo made his legacy?

What makes you think they'll be competitive after a few years? The reality is they traded away their best pitcher and their best hitter for next to nothing. Just dumping salary for now reason other than the owner wants to save his pocket change. They should have kept Gray and Contreras, then went out and got another top tier starter( maybe two) and a run producing outfielder. Then tell Walker and Noot they have to fight it out for playing time. Put Gorman at third and tell him if he strikes out a third of the time he'll be replaced at the all-star break. This team could have competed for a playoff spot if they'd done that. But they gutted the team in preparation for the CBA strike which will most likely happen and to position themselves better for the draft. A disgrace is what it is.

I call it a solid plan to be competitive moving forward. This team was declining as fast as Nolan Arenado. How much further would we fall if we continued to throw good money after bad?

Maybe you don't understand how baseball works. You have to pay for top talent. Teams that pay for top talent win. Teams that don't, rarely do.

You clearly are one of those guys who refuse to acknowledge that once they get this mess straightened out, they will spend again. Or maybe refuse to acknowledge the mess itself. We aren't in the tier of organizations who can buy our way out of mistakes. So maybe you are the one who doesn't understand how it works unless you are the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Phillies.

Translation....We're in the tier of organizations that can't afford to field a competitive team so let's sell of the top talent and tank it for a few years while we save up DeWitt's pocket change. LOL...You boot lickers ever get tired of tasting shoe leather?

Sold top talent? lol none of the players they traded were in the top 100 players in MLB

Gray and Contreras weren't top talent? You're delusional.