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WaltsSuccessor wrote: ↑26 Feb 2026 21:52 pm

renostl wrote: ↑26 Feb 2026 15:12 pm

WaltsSuccessor wrote: ↑26 Feb 2026 14:29 pm @HorseTrader

This also come out of MLBTR like a week ago from Steve Adams:

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/02/ ... rters.html

Cardinals were listed a possible destination

Yes, the Cardinals are rebuilding. No, that shouldn’t stop them from opportunistically adding some veteran innings at a lower-than-expected price. If anything, it could work to their advantage. Starting pitching is always in demand at the deadline, and a Giolito or Littell on a reasonable short-term deal could hold trade appeal.

If not that, bringing in some quality innings simply lessens the need to lean too heavily on young arms before they can handle it. For those who prove they can, they’ll have another veteran mentor from which to learn.

At present, the St. Louis rotation includes Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy, Dustin May, Andre Pallante and Kyle Leahy, who’ll be converting from a relief role. There are some notable prospects on the horizon, Quinn Mathews and Tink Hence in particular, and the Cards picked up a pair of potential plug-and-play rotation options in separate trades sending Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras to Boston. Richard Fitts (Gray) and Hunter Dobbins (Contreras) both have big league experience.

The Cards have a fair number of arms already in house, but president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom said in late December (already having signed May as a free agent) that the Cardinals were still on the lookout for another arm. There’s a lot of volatility on this staff, and the one free-agent pickup they’ve made (May) has the spottiest injury history of all. From a payroll perspective, they obviously have more than enough room after shedding significant portions of the Gray, Contreras and Nolan Arenado deals (plus trading Brendan Donovan‘s $5.8MM salary).

IMO Leahy and Pallante are both the kind of guys you bring in after an injury or two.
Fitts is ahead of them. Hence still isn't projectable as a SP. Mathews perhaps will shine.

IF it works that direction the rotation is Libs, MM, May, Fitts, and Dobbins vs Mathews.
There's room for Littell. Probably more room than there was for Urias.

Dobbins isn’t full healed yet from ACL surgery and Mathew’s isn’t ready yet IMO. He had a pretty rough 2025 minor league season. He needs to earn a spot still.

I think Littell would be great to provide some quality innings to give some young guys more development time in the minors.

@woofy25
The problem with the “play ALL the kids to see what you’ve got” theory is that doesn’t put them in the best position to succeed. Especially pitchers. They’re either not ready or can’t handle that workload yet. You go into a season where you’re expecting innings loads from multiple SPs that they’ve never sniffed, you’re setting up to fail or get hurt. And grind up your BP.

If Littell pitches well, he’s a hot commodity at the deadline. Get some more prospects. Then hopefully Dobbins or Mathew’s are ready for a call up. That serves 2026’s agenda perfectly.