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Cardinals4Life wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 14:14 pm

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 11:16 am We're down to about a week until pitchers and catchers report- maybe 10 days for position players. According to Spotrac, there are 111 free agents who remain unsigned. In the next week I think you will see a scramble of players looking to secure spots and teams who finally decide their plans A, B, and C aren't going to work. There will be some productive players in this group. As it relates to the Cardinals, I would have some level of interest in these players:

Starting pitchers- I would like to see the Cardinals sign any one of these three pitchers; Griffin Canning, Jose Quintana, or German Marquez. According to Spotrac, the expected contracts for these pitchers is GC 4.7M, JQ 3.4M, and GM 3.2M. Their projections have tended to be a little lower than actual signings this offseason. My preference would be to sign Jose Quintana. Put Quintana in the rotation and find a new home for Andre Pallante. Richard Fitts either goes into the Steven Matz role from last year, or goes to Memphis to stay stretched out.

As a second starting pitcher move, I would try to sign Jordan Montgomery. He won't pitch until the second half of the season. He can pitch if Quintana is flipped, the staff experiences injury, or young pitchers hit innings limits. His estimated contract is 2.6M. I would offer less than that with an incentive for innings pitched that would get him there, or offer a 2 year deal knowing that would make him easy to move.

Left-handed relief pitcher- Joey Lucchesi. He is a 33 year-old lefty who pitched for SF last season. He made it into 38 games and pitched to a 3.76 ERA. Spotrac estimates his contract at 1.7M. (As an aside, he pitched in college for Southeast Missouri State in Cape)

RHH outfielder- Miguel Andujar or Randall Grichuck. Andujar is not a good fielder anywhere, but he is a good bat against left-handed pitching and he plays all the right spots. He plays 1B, 3B, LF, and RF. Three of those are occupied by left-handed hitters, so he could spell them. His contract is estimated to be 6.1M. More and more I would be willing to pass on signing a position player, but if I did, it would be Andujar.

Bottom line- I would try to sign Quintana (3.4M), Montgomery (2.6M), and Lucchesi (1.7M). Total 7.7M. If you move Pallante, you would relieve 4M.

Why would we want Jordan Montgomery?
If he is hurt until the 2nd half, he isn't even a flippable piece. Give the spot to one of the youngsters before wasting $ and a spot on him.

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 14:26 pm

Cardinals4Life wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 14:14 pm

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 11:16 am We're down to about a week until pitchers and catchers report- maybe 10 days for position players. According to Spotrac, there are 111 free agents who remain unsigned. In the next week I think you will see a scramble of players looking to secure spots and teams who finally decide their plans A, B, and C aren't going to work. There will be some productive players in this group. As it relates to the Cardinals, I would have some level of interest in these players:

Starting pitchers- I would like to see the Cardinals sign any one of these three pitchers; Griffin Canning, Jose Quintana, or German Marquez. According to Spotrac, the expected contracts for these pitchers is GC 4.7M, JQ 3.4M, and GM 3.2M. Their projections have tended to be a little lower than actual signings this offseason. My preference would be to sign Jose Quintana. Put Quintana in the rotation and find a new home for Andre Pallante. Richard Fitts either goes into the Steven Matz role from last year, or goes to Memphis to stay stretched out.

As a second starting pitcher move, I would try to sign Jordan Montgomery. He won't pitch until the second half of the season. He can pitch if Quintana is flipped, the staff experiences injury, or young pitchers hit innings limits. His estimated contract is 2.6M. I would offer less than that with an incentive for innings pitched that would get him there, or offer a 2 year deal knowing that would make him easy to move.

Left-handed relief pitcher- Joey Lucchesi. He is a 33 year-old lefty who pitched for SF last season. He made it into 38 games and pitched to a 3.76 ERA. Spotrac estimates his contract at 1.7M. (As an aside, he pitched in college for Southeast Missouri State in Cape)

RHH outfielder- Miguel Andujar or Randall Grichuck. Andujar is not a good fielder anywhere, but he is a good bat against left-handed pitching and he plays all the right spots. He plays 1B, 3B, LF, and RF. Three of those are occupied by left-handed hitters, so he could spell them. His contract is estimated to be 6.1M. More and more I would be willing to pass on signing a position player, but if I did, it would be Andujar.

Bottom line- I would try to sign Quintana (3.4M), Montgomery (2.6M), and Lucchesi (1.7M). Total 7.7M. If you move Pallante, you would relieve 4M.

Why would we want Jordan Montgomery?
If he is hurt until the 2nd half, he isn't even a flippable piece. Give the spot to one of the youngsters before wasting $ and a spot on him.

I hear what you are saying. I think his ETA is June. (I'm willing to go to whatever lengths are necessary to make sure Andre Pallante never needs to start a game here again)

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 14:19 pm

woofy25 wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 13:30 pm

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 11:16 am We're down to about a week until pitchers and catchers report- maybe 10 days for position players. According to Spotrac, there are 111 free agents who remain unsigned. In the next week I think you will see a scramble of players looking to secure spots and teams who finally decide their plans A, B, and C aren't going to work. There will be some productive players in this group. As it relates to the Cardinals, I would have some level of interest in these players:

Starting pitchers- I would like to see the Cardinals sign any one of these three pitchers; Griffin Canning, Jose Quintana, or German Marquez. According to Spotrac, the expected contracts for these pitchers is GC 4.7M, JQ 3.4M, and GM 3.2M. Their projections have tended to be a little lower than actual signings this offseason. My preference would be to sign Jose Quintana. Put Quintana in the rotation and find a new home for Andre Pallante. Richard Fitts either goes into the Steven Matz role from last year, or goes to Memphis to stay stretched out.

As a second starting pitcher move, I would try to sign Jordan Montgomery. He won't pitch until the second half of the season. He can pitch if Quintana is flipped, the staff experiences injury, or young pitchers hit innings limits. His estimated contract is 2.6M. I would offer less than that with an incentive for innings pitched that would get him there, or offer a 2 year deal knowing that would make him easy to move.

Left-handed relief pitcher- Joey Lucchesi. He is a 33 year-old lefty who pitched for SF last season. He made it into 38 games and pitched to a 3.76 ERA. Spotrac estimates his contract at 1.7M. (As an aside, he pitched in college for Southeast Missouri State in Cape)

RHH outfielder- Miguel Andujar or Randall Grichuck. Andujar is not a good fielder anywhere, but he is a good bat against left-handed pitching and he plays all the right spots. He plays 1B, 3B, LF, and RF. Three of those are occupied by left-handed hitters, so he could spell them. His contract is estimated to be 6.1M. More and more I would be willing to pass on signing a position player, but if I did, it would be Andujar.

Bottom line- I would try to sign Quintana (3.4M), Montgomery (2.6M), and Lucchesi (1.7M). Total 7.7M. If you move Pallante, you would relieve 4M.

Would these signings turn the Cardinals into a WC contender? This would be the equivalent of Lynn and Gibson. Patchwork signings. This does not work. This does not work. This does not work.

Of course they wouldn't. There is no move the Cardinals could make that would make them a contender this year. Should they do nothing? These moves help cover innings and keep younger players from being overused/exposed out of necessity.

Cardinals4Life wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 14:57 pm

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 14:26 pm

Cardinals4Life wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 14:14 pm

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 11:16 am We're down to about a week until pitchers and catchers report- maybe 10 days for position players. According to Spotrac, there are 111 free agents who remain unsigned. In the next week I think you will see a scramble of players looking to secure spots and teams who finally decide their plans A, B, and C aren't going to work. There will be some productive players in this group. As it relates to the Cardinals, I would have some level of interest in these players:

Starting pitchers- I would like to see the Cardinals sign any one of these three pitchers; Griffin Canning, Jose Quintana, or German Marquez. According to Spotrac, the expected contracts for these pitchers is GC 4.7M, JQ 3.4M, and GM 3.2M. Their projections have tended to be a little lower than actual signings this offseason. My preference would be to sign Jose Quintana. Put Quintana in the rotation and find a new home for Andre Pallante. Richard Fitts either goes into the Steven Matz role from last year, or goes to Memphis to stay stretched out.

As a second starting pitcher move, I would try to sign Jordan Montgomery. He won't pitch until the second half of the season. He can pitch if Quintana is flipped, the staff experiences injury, or young pitchers hit innings limits. His estimated contract is 2.6M. I would offer less than that with an incentive for innings pitched that would get him there, or offer a 2 year deal knowing that would make him easy to move.

Left-handed relief pitcher- Joey Lucchesi. He is a 33 year-old lefty who pitched for SF last season. He made it into 38 games and pitched to a 3.76 ERA. Spotrac estimates his contract at 1.7M. (As an aside, he pitched in college for Southeast Missouri State in Cape)

RHH outfielder- Miguel Andujar or Randall Grichuck. Andujar is not a good fielder anywhere, but he is a good bat against left-handed pitching and he plays all the right spots. He plays 1B, 3B, LF, and RF. Three of those are occupied by left-handed hitters, so he could spell them. His contract is estimated to be 6.1M. More and more I would be willing to pass on signing a position player, but if I did, it would be Andujar.

Bottom line- I would try to sign Quintana (3.4M), Montgomery (2.6M), and Lucchesi (1.7M). Total 7.7M. If you move Pallante, you would relieve 4M.

Why would we want Jordan Montgomery?
If he is hurt until the 2nd half, he isn't even a flippable piece. Give the spot to one of the youngsters before wasting $ and a spot on him.

I hear what you are saying. I think his ETA is June. (I'm willing to go to whatever lengths are necessary to make sure Andre Pallante never needs to start a game here again)

I hear ya on the Pallante thing!

Can we go:

Liberatore
May
McGreevy
Dobbins
Fitts/Leahy

No Pallante!

Mathews as first guy up.

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 14:26 pm

Cardinals4Life wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 14:14 pm

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 11:16 am We're down to about a week until pitchers and catchers report- maybe 10 days for position players. According to Spotrac, there are 111 free agents who remain unsigned. In the next week I think you will see a scramble of players looking to secure spots and teams who finally decide their plans A, B, and C aren't going to work. There will be some productive players in this group. As it relates to the Cardinals, I would have some level of interest in these players:

Starting pitchers- I would like to see the Cardinals sign any one of these three pitchers; Griffin Canning, Jose Quintana, or German Marquez. According to Spotrac, the expected contracts for these pitchers is GC 4.7M, JQ 3.4M, and GM 3.2M. Their projections have tended to be a little lower than actual signings this offseason. My preference would be to sign Jose Quintana. Put Quintana in the rotation and find a new home for Andre Pallante. Richard Fitts either goes into the Steven Matz role from last year, or goes to Memphis to stay stretched out.

As a second starting pitcher move, I would try to sign Jordan Montgomery. He won't pitch until the second half of the season. He can pitch if Quintana is flipped, the staff experiences injury, or young pitchers hit innings limits. His estimated contract is 2.6M. I would offer less than that with an incentive for innings pitched that would get him there, or offer a 2 year deal knowing that would make him easy to move.

Left-handed relief pitcher- Joey Lucchesi. He is a 33 year-old lefty who pitched for SF last season. He made it into 38 games and pitched to a 3.76 ERA. Spotrac estimates his contract at 1.7M. (As an aside, he pitched in college for Southeast Missouri State in Cape)

RHH outfielder- Miguel Andujar or Randall Grichuck. Andujar is not a good fielder anywhere, but he is a good bat against left-handed pitching and he plays all the right spots. He plays 1B, 3B, LF, and RF. Three of those are occupied by left-handed hitters, so he could spell them. His contract is estimated to be 6.1M. More and more I would be willing to pass on signing a position player, but if I did, it would be Andujar.

Bottom line- I would try to sign Quintana (3.4M), Montgomery (2.6M), and Lucchesi (1.7M). Total 7.7M. If you move Pallante, you would relieve 4M.

Why would we want Jordan Montgomery?
If he is hurt until the 2nd half, he isn't even a flippable piece. Give the spot to one of the youngsters before wasting $ and a spot on him.

I hear what you are saying. I think his ETA is June. (I'm willing to go to whatever lengths are necessary to make sure Andre Pallante never needs to start a game here again)

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 11:16 am We're down to about a week until pitchers and catchers report- maybe 10 days for position players. According to Spotrac, there are 111 free agents who remain unsigned. In the next week I think you will see a scramble of players looking to secure spots and teams who finally decide their plans A, B, and C aren't going to work. There will be some productive players in this group. As it relates to the Cardinals, I would have some level of interest in these players:

Starting pitchers- I would like to see the Cardinals sign any one of these three pitchers; Griffin Canning, Jose Quintana, or German Marquez. According to Spotrac, the expected contracts for these pitchers is GC 4.7M, JQ 3.4M, and GM 3.2M. Their projections have tended to be a little lower than actual signings this offseason. My preference would be to sign Jose Quintana. Put Quintana in the rotation and find a new home for Andre Pallante. Richard Fitts either goes into the Steven Matz role from last year, or goes to Memphis to stay stretched out.

As a second starting pitcher move, I would try to sign Jordan Montgomery. He won't pitch until the second half of the season. He can pitch if Quintana is flipped, the staff experiences injury, or young pitchers hit innings limits. His estimated contract is 2.6M. I would offer less than that with an incentive for innings pitched that would get him there, or offer a 2 year deal knowing that would make him easy to move.

Left-handed relief pitcher- Joey Lucchesi. He is a 33 year-old lefty who pitched for SF last season. He made it into 38 games and pitched to a 3.76 ERA. Spotrac estimates his contract at 1.7M. (As an aside, he pitched in college for Southeast Missouri State in Cape)

RHH outfielder- Miguel Andujar or Randall Grichuck. Andujar is not a good fielder anywhere, but he is a good bat against left-handed pitching and he plays all the right spots. He plays 1B, 3B, LF, and RF. Three of those are occupied by left-handed hitters, so he could spell them. His contract is estimated to be 6.1M. More and more I would be willing to pass on signing a position player, but if I did, it would be Andujar.

Bottom line- I would try to sign Quintana (3.4M), Montgomery (2.6M), and Lucchesi (1.7M). Total 7.7M. If you move Pallante, you would relieve 4M.

HorseTrader wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 15:45 pm

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 11:16 am We're down to about a week until pitchers and catchers report- maybe 10 days for position players. According to Spotrac, there are 111 free agents who remain unsigned. In the next week I think you will see a scramble of players looking to secure spots and teams who finally decide their plans A, B, and C aren't going to work. There will be some productive players in this group. As it relates to the Cardinals, I would have some level of interest in these players:

Starting pitchers- I would like to see the Cardinals sign any one of these three pitchers; Griffin Canning, Jose Quintana, or German Marquez. According to Spotrac, the expected contracts for these pitchers is GC 4.7M, JQ 3.4M, and GM 3.2M. Their projections have tended to be a little lower than actual signings this offseason. My preference would be to sign Jose Quintana. Put Quintana in the rotation and find a new home for Andre Pallante. Richard Fitts either goes into the Steven Matz role from last year, or goes to Memphis to stay stretched out.

As a second starting pitcher move, I would try to sign Jordan Montgomery. He won't pitch until the second half of the season. He can pitch if Quintana is flipped, the staff experiences injury, or young pitchers hit innings limits. His estimated contract is 2.6M. I would offer less than that with an incentive for innings pitched that would get him there, or offer a 2 year deal knowing that would make him easy to move.

Left-handed relief pitcher- Joey Lucchesi. He is a 33 year-old lefty who pitched for SF last season. He made it into 38 games and pitched to a 3.76 ERA. Spotrac estimates his contract at 1.7M. (As an aside, he pitched in college for Southeast Missouri State in Cape)

RHH outfielder- Miguel Andujar or Randall Grichuck. Andujar is not a good fielder anywhere, but he is a good bat against left-handed pitching and he plays all the right spots. He plays 1B, 3B, LF, and RF. Three of those are occupied by left-handed hitters, so he could spell them. His contract is estimated to be 6.1M. More and more I would be willing to pass on signing a position player, but if I did, it would be Andujar.

Bottom line- I would try to sign Quintana (3.4M), Montgomery (2.6M), and Lucchesi (1.7M). Total 7.7M. If you move Pallante, you would relieve 4M.

Why those three pitchers and not Zack Littel? Understand, I don't have a problem with your ideas, just wondering

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 15:03 pm

Cardinals4Life wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 14:57 pm

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 14:26 pm

Cardinals4Life wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 14:14 pm

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 11:16 am We're down to about a week until pitchers and catchers report- maybe 10 days for position players. According to Spotrac, there are 111 free agents who remain unsigned. In the next week I think you will see a scramble of players looking to secure spots and teams who finally decide their plans A, B, and C aren't going to work. There will be some productive players in this group. As it relates to the Cardinals, I would have some level of interest in these players:

Starting pitchers- I would like to see the Cardinals sign any one of these three pitchers; Griffin Canning, Jose Quintana, or German Marquez. According to Spotrac, the expected contracts for these pitchers is GC 4.7M, JQ 3.4M, and GM 3.2M. Their projections have tended to be a little lower than actual signings this offseason. My preference would be to sign Jose Quintana. Put Quintana in the rotation and find a new home for Andre Pallante. Richard Fitts either goes into the Steven Matz role from last year, or goes to Memphis to stay stretched out.

As a second starting pitcher move, I would try to sign Jordan Montgomery. He won't pitch until the second half of the season. He can pitch if Quintana is flipped, the staff experiences injury, or young pitchers hit innings limits. His estimated contract is 2.6M. I would offer less than that with an incentive for innings pitched that would get him there, or offer a 2 year deal knowing that would make him easy to move.

Left-handed relief pitcher- Joey Lucchesi. He is a 33 year-old lefty who pitched for SF last season. He made it into 38 games and pitched to a 3.76 ERA. Spotrac estimates his contract at 1.7M. (As an aside, he pitched in college for Southeast Missouri State in Cape)

RHH outfielder- Miguel Andujar or Randall Grichuck. Andujar is not a good fielder anywhere, but he is a good bat against left-handed pitching and he plays all the right spots. He plays 1B, 3B, LF, and RF. Three of those are occupied by left-handed hitters, so he could spell them. His contract is estimated to be 6.1M. More and more I would be willing to pass on signing a position player, but if I did, it would be Andujar.

Bottom line- I would try to sign Quintana (3.4M), Montgomery (2.6M), and Lucchesi (1.7M). Total 7.7M. If you move Pallante, you would relieve 4M.

Why would we want Jordan Montgomery?
If he is hurt until the 2nd half, he isn't even a flippable piece. Give the spot to one of the youngsters before wasting $ and a spot on him.

I hear what you are saying. I think his ETA is June. (I'm willing to go to whatever lengths are necessary to make sure Andre Pallante never needs to start a game here again)

I hear ya on the Pallante thing!

Can we go:

Liberatore
May
McGreevy
Dobbins
Fitts/Leahy

No Pallante!

Mathews as first guy up.

I'm thinking kind of like that, except I want to slip Quintana into that Fitts/Leahy role. I'd like to see Fitts either in the long relief/spot starter role or stretched out at Memphis, and Leahy in the bullpen.

woofy25 wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 13:30 pm

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 11:16 am We're down to about a week until pitchers and catchers report- maybe 10 days for position players. According to Spotrac, there are 111 free agents who remain unsigned. In the next week I think you will see a scramble of players looking to secure spots and teams who finally decide their plans A, B, and C aren't going to work. There will be some productive players in this group. As it relates to the Cardinals, I would have some level of interest in these players:

Starting pitchers- I would like to see the Cardinals sign any one of these three pitchers; Griffin Canning, Jose Quintana, or German Marquez. According to Spotrac, the expected contracts for these pitchers is GC 4.7M, JQ 3.4M, and GM 3.2M. Their projections have tended to be a little lower than actual signings this offseason. My preference would be to sign Jose Quintana. Put Quintana in the rotation and find a new home for Andre Pallante. Richard Fitts either goes into the Steven Matz role from last year, or goes to Memphis to stay stretched out.

As a second starting pitcher move, I would try to sign Jordan Montgomery. He won't pitch until the second half of the season. He can pitch if Quintana is flipped, the staff experiences injury, or young pitchers hit innings limits. His estimated contract is 2.6M. I would offer less than that with an incentive for innings pitched that would get him there, or offer a 2 year deal knowing that would make him easy to move.

Left-handed relief pitcher- Joey Lucchesi. He is a 33 year-old lefty who pitched for SF last season. He made it into 38 games and pitched to a 3.76 ERA. Spotrac estimates his contract at 1.7M. (As an aside, he pitched in college for Southeast Missouri State in Cape)

RHH outfielder- Miguel Andujar or Randall Grichuck. Andujar is not a good fielder anywhere, but he is a good bat against left-handed pitching and he plays all the right spots. He plays 1B, 3B, LF, and RF. Three of those are occupied by left-handed hitters, so he could spell them. His contract is estimated to be 6.1M. More and more I would be willing to pass on signing a position player, but if I did, it would be Andujar.

Bottom line- I would try to sign Quintana (3.4M), Montgomery (2.6M), and Lucchesi (1.7M). Total 7.7M. If you move Pallante, you would relieve 4M.

Would these signings turn the Cardinals into a WC contender? This would be the equivalent of Lynn and Gibson. Patchwork signings. This does not work. This does not work. This does not work.

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 11:16 am We're down to about a week until pitchers and catchers report- maybe 10 days for position players. According to Spotrac, there are 111 free agents who remain unsigned. In the next week I think you will see a scramble of players looking to secure spots and teams who finally decide their plans A, B, and C aren't going to work. There will be some productive players in this group. As it relates to the Cardinals, I would have some level of interest in these players:

Starting pitchers- I would like to see the Cardinals sign any one of these three pitchers; Griffin Canning, Jose Quintana, or German Marquez. According to Spotrac, the expected contracts for these pitchers is GC 4.7M, JQ 3.4M, and GM 3.2M. Their projections have tended to be a little lower than actual signings this offseason. My preference would be to sign Jose Quintana. Put Quintana in the rotation and find a new home for Andre Pallante. Richard Fitts either goes into the Steven Matz role from last year, or goes to Memphis to stay stretched out.

As a second starting pitcher move, I would try to sign Jordan Montgomery. He won't pitch until the second half of the season. He can pitch if Quintana is flipped, the staff experiences injury, or young pitchers hit innings limits. His estimated contract is 2.6M. I would offer less than that with an incentive for innings pitched that would get him there, or offer a 2 year deal knowing that would make him easy to move.

Left-handed relief pitcher- Joey Lucchesi. He is a 33 year-old lefty who pitched for SF last season. He made it into 38 games and pitched to a 3.76 ERA. Spotrac estimates his contract at 1.7M. (As an aside, he pitched in college for Southeast Missouri State in Cape)

RHH outfielder- Miguel Andujar or Randall Grichuck. Andujar is not a good fielder anywhere, but he is a good bat against left-handed pitching and he plays all the right spots. He plays 1B, 3B, LF, and RF. Three of those are occupied by left-handed hitters, so he could spell them. His contract is estimated to be 6.1M. More and more I would be willing to pass on signing a position player, but if I did, it would be Andujar.

Bottom line- I would try to sign Quintana (3.4M), Montgomery (2.6M), and Lucchesi (1.7M). Total 7.7M. If you move Pallante, you would relieve 4M.

BrockFloodMaris wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 17:04 pm

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 11:16 am We're down to about a week until pitchers and catchers report- maybe 10 days for position players. According to Spotrac, there are 111 free agents who remain unsigned. In the next week I think you will see a scramble of players looking to secure spots and teams who finally decide their plans A, B, and C aren't going to work. There will be some productive players in this group. As it relates to the Cardinals, I would have some level of interest in these players:

Starting pitchers- I would like to see the Cardinals sign any one of these three pitchers; Griffin Canning, Jose Quintana, or German Marquez. According to Spotrac, the expected contracts for these pitchers is GC 4.7M, JQ 3.4M, and GM 3.2M. Their projections have tended to be a little lower than actual signings this offseason. My preference would be to sign Jose Quintana. Put Quintana in the rotation and find a new home for Andre Pallante. Richard Fitts either goes into the Steven Matz role from last year, or goes to Memphis to stay stretched out.

As a second starting pitcher move, I would try to sign Jordan Montgomery. He won't pitch until the second half of the season. He can pitch if Quintana is flipped, the staff experiences injury, or young pitchers hit innings limits. His estimated contract is 2.6M. I would offer less than that with an incentive for innings pitched that would get him there, or offer a 2 year deal knowing that would make him easy to move.

Left-handed relief pitcher- Joey Lucchesi. He is a 33 year-old lefty who pitched for SF last season. He made it into 38 games and pitched to a 3.76 ERA. Spotrac estimates his contract at 1.7M. (As an aside, he pitched in college for Southeast Missouri State in Cape)

RHH outfielder- Miguel Andujar or Randall Grichuck. Andujar is not a good fielder anywhere, but he is a good bat against left-handed pitching and he plays all the right spots. He plays 1B, 3B, LF, and RF. Three of those are occupied by left-handed hitters, so he could spell them. His contract is estimated to be 6.1M. More and more I would be willing to pass on signing a position player, but if I did, it would be Andujar.

Bottom line- I would try to sign Quintana (3.4M), Montgomery (2.6M), and Lucchesi (1.7M). Total 7.7M. If you move Pallante, you would relieve 4M.

Because of the inning limits on young pitchers, I think Bloom will sign another veteran starter, and probably a reliever. I hope he stays away from signing any bats. We need to sort out who is a AAAA hitter and who is a legit MLB hitter this year. We've got a lot of guys just hanging around right now, especially utility-types. We need to make some room on the 40-man and on the active roster for some AAA hitters to get promoted.

Goldfan wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 18:11 pm I’d like the understand the theory behind this?
This team is going nowhere this season…..all listed are going to do nothing to add to team…..so why not just play the kids?? There’s some Siani out there in the minors….stick him in OF
ALL these arms we’ve been hearing about for YEARS…..let them pitch…..it’s now or never…..

11WSChamps wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 18:30 pm

Goldfan wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 18:11 pm I’d like the understand the theory behind this?
This team is going nowhere this season…..all listed are going to do nothing to add to team…..so why not just play the kids?? There’s some Siani out there in the minors….stick him in OF
ALL these arms we’ve been hearing about for YEARS…..let them pitch…..it’s now or never…..

I thought last year was now or never?

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 14:19 pm

woofy25 wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 13:30 pm

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 11:16 am We're down to about a week until pitchers and catchers report- maybe 10 days for position players. According to Spotrac, there are 111 free agents who remain unsigned. In the next week I think you will see a scramble of players looking to secure spots and teams who finally decide their plans A, B, and C aren't going to work. There will be some productive players in this group. As it relates to the Cardinals, I would have some level of interest in these players:

Starting pitchers- I would like to see the Cardinals sign any one of these three pitchers; Griffin Canning, Jose Quintana, or German Marquez. According to Spotrac, the expected contracts for these pitchers is GC 4.7M, JQ 3.4M, and GM 3.2M. Their projections have tended to be a little lower than actual signings this offseason. My preference would be to sign Jose Quintana. Put Quintana in the rotation and find a new home for Andre Pallante. Richard Fitts either goes into the Steven Matz role from last year, or goes to Memphis to stay stretched out.

As a second starting pitcher move, I would try to sign Jordan Montgomery. He won't pitch until the second half of the season. He can pitch if Quintana is flipped, the staff experiences injury, or young pitchers hit innings limits. His estimated contract is 2.6M. I would offer less than that with an incentive for innings pitched that would get him there, or offer a 2 year deal knowing that would make him easy to move.

Left-handed relief pitcher- Joey Lucchesi. He is a 33 year-old lefty who pitched for SF last season. He made it into 38 games and pitched to a 3.76 ERA. Spotrac estimates his contract at 1.7M. (As an aside, he pitched in college for Southeast Missouri State in Cape)

RHH outfielder- Miguel Andujar or Randall Grichuck. Andujar is not a good fielder anywhere, but he is a good bat against left-handed pitching and he plays all the right spots. He plays 1B, 3B, LF, and RF. Three of those are occupied by left-handed hitters, so he could spell them. His contract is estimated to be 6.1M. More and more I would be willing to pass on signing a position player, but if I did, it would be Andujar.

Bottom line- I would try to sign Quintana (3.4M), Montgomery (2.6M), and Lucchesi (1.7M). Total 7.7M. If you move Pallante, you would relieve 4M.

Would these signings turn the Cardinals into a WC contender? This would be the equivalent of Lynn and Gibson. Patchwork signings. This does not work. This does not work. This does not work.

Of course they wouldn't. There is no move the Cardinals could make that would make them a contender this year. Should they do nothing? These moves help cover innings and keep younger players from being overused/exposed out of necessity.