Riley O'Brien

[Melville]

If it isn't broken, don't fix it.
When July rolls around, if the team is still above .500, the CORRECT BASEBALL DECISION is to keep him.
That said, the off-season might be a very different story.
The Cardinals have a couple of other candidates for the role who are still emerging and depending on how they show by the end of the season, O' Brien could indeed be a smart trade chip next winter.

[rockondlouie]

I responded to you in the other thread huge but will repeat:

The reason you deal O'Brien is:
1) with all the injuries around MLB to closers he'll be a super hot commodity,

2) he's got four years of control after this season meaning the return could be really good and

3) he's going to be 32 yrs before STing opens in 2027 meaning he doesn't fit the L-T plan.

and I can add he's been injury prone and relievers can be volatile from one season to the next.


SELL HIGH!

[2ninr]

In my opinion everything is dictated by where the team is in the standings at the trade deadline. Hopefully they are in contention for the NLC and that to me would change how they handle the roster.

I'm 100% for staying on course to rebuild for the future. With one exception. If they continue to win AND fan interest increases and theres better attendance and enthusiasm from the Average fan, we shouldn't sell at the deadline unless it's a trade that improves us now. And I'm not saying trade any of our prospects.

[Jatalk]

If it isn't broken, don't fix it.
When July rolls around, if the team is still above .500, the CORRECT BASEBALL DECISION is to keep him.
That said, the off-season might be a very different story.
The Cardinals have a couple of other candidates for the role who are still emerging and depending on how they show by the end of the season, O' Brien could indeed be a smart trade chip next winter.

I don’t get the focus on who to trade and when. If the team is playing well and in wild card contention we should not trade anyone of our key players. Sure trade a catcher or an infielder or a Noot. But trading those making a true contribution makes no sense to me. Even a guy like May, keep him.

There are a limited number of players on our team that have what I would call a significant trade value. We aren’t trading those guys anyway.

Let’s focus on winning and not trading. There is time in the offseason to address rebuilding needs.

[icon]

AI sure knows how not to efficiently communicate. I'm not going to read that voluminous reply.

The bottom line is that if O'Brien pitches well this year, you keep him because he's cheap and has several years of control. That's all anybody needs to know.

[southgacard]

This really comes down to Bloom's time table and how much the organization feels ROB is out-producing his ability level. If Bloom thinks this re-build is rounding into form next season, that is a totally different thing than if he is shooting for 2029. I think ROB is a good reliever, but I don't know that I see him as an All-Star closer consistently. This may be a strike while the iron is hot kind of deal. I'd rather trade him in July than figure out he's a set-up man in the future. The previous comp of Duran is tricky. He was a higher end reliever with less control. If that same package comes along, it would be hard to pass up though.