lol you’re delusional if you think they were but cardinals fans vastly overrate cardinals playersCCard wrote: ↑30 Jan 2026 14:33 pmGray and Contreras weren't top talent? You're delusional.Ozziesfan41 wrote: ↑30 Jan 2026 13:51 pmSold top talent? lol none of the players they traded were in the top 100 players in MLBCCard wrote: ↑30 Jan 2026 13:29 pmTranslation....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?2ninr wrote: ↑30 Jan 2026 08:02 amYou 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.CCard wrote: ↑30 Jan 2026 05:59 amMaybe 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 wrote: ↑30 Jan 2026 05:16 amCCard wrote: ↑29 Jan 2026 14:54 pmWhat 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.BrockFloodMaris wrote: ↑29 Jan 2026 13:35 pmDo 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?Hoosier59 wrote: ↑29 Jan 2026 12:32 pmThe first step was cutting payroll! Clarke is the only one on the list that wasn't already in the Cardinals system.rockondlouie wrote: ↑29 Jan 2026 12:20 pm Nice
First step in this re-tool is to build up the farm system
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?
Cardinals Ranked 9th
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Ozziesfan41
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Re: Cardinals Ranked 9th
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renostl
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Re: Cardinals Ranked 9th
I totally agree with the moving of those players thus far. Clearing the slate, gained some possible2ninr wrote: ↑30 Jan 2026 08:02 amYou 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.CCard wrote: ↑30 Jan 2026 05:59 amMaybe 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 wrote: ↑30 Jan 2026 05:16 amCCard wrote: ↑29 Jan 2026 14:54 pmWhat 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.BrockFloodMaris wrote: ↑29 Jan 2026 13:35 pmDo 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?Hoosier59 wrote: ↑29 Jan 2026 12:32 pmThe first step was cutting payroll! Clarke is the only one on the list that wasn't already in the Cardinals system.rockondlouie wrote: ↑29 Jan 2026 12:20 pm Nice
First step in this re-tool is to build up the farm system
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?
players for 2026 and beyond. None of the players moved had a future here and objectively not
much of a future period.
There are assumptions here though. What will spend again really mean?
Seattle level, AZ level, the highest of all central division's teams? they won't lead like the Cubs IMO.
So KC, Detroit who won't be keeping the top player?
The point is we are guessing. The optimistic guess is near Cub level, pessimists say Pitt. CWS.
KC is at $142M. I think that they provide a guide where sometime they go by it by $20M
again a guess.
I don't think it makes a lot of sense to clean the slates and return immediately to a
bad system. We'll see I guess but returning to free agent spending with contract years
that go past 35 y/o would be surprising if done anytime soon,
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2ninr
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Re: Cardinals Ranked 9th
Exactly right. We rebuild than spend smart.renostl wrote: ↑30 Jan 2026 15:07 pmI totally agree with the moving of those players thus far. Clearing the slate, gained some possible2ninr wrote: ↑30 Jan 2026 08:02 amYou 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.CCard wrote: ↑30 Jan 2026 05:59 amMaybe 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 wrote: ↑30 Jan 2026 05:16 amCCard wrote: ↑29 Jan 2026 14:54 pmWhat 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.BrockFloodMaris wrote: ↑29 Jan 2026 13:35 pmDo 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?Hoosier59 wrote: ↑29 Jan 2026 12:32 pmThe first step was cutting payroll! Clarke is the only one on the list that wasn't already in the Cardinals system.rockondlouie wrote: ↑29 Jan 2026 12:20 pm Nice
First step in this re-tool is to build up the farm system
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?
players for 2026 and beyond. None of the players moved had a future here and objectively not
much of a future period.
There are assumptions here though. What will spend again really mean?
Seattle level, AZ level, the highest of all central division's teams? they won't lead like the Cubs IMO.
So KC, Detroit who won't be keeping the top player?
The point is we are guessing. The optimistic guess is near Cub level, pessimists say Pitt. CWS.
KC is at $142M. I think that they provide a guide where sometime they go by it by $20M
again a guess.
I don't think it makes a lot of sense to clean the slates and return immediately to a
bad system. We'll see I guess but returning to free agent spending with contract years
that go past 35 y/o would be surprising if done anytime soon,
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2ninr
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- Joined: 24 May 2024 15:04 pm
Re: Cardinals Ranked 9th
Triggered!CCard wrote: ↑30 Jan 2026 13:29 pmTranslation....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?2ninr wrote: ↑30 Jan 2026 08:02 amYou 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.CCard wrote: ↑30 Jan 2026 05:59 amMaybe 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 wrote: ↑30 Jan 2026 05:16 amCCard wrote: ↑29 Jan 2026 14:54 pmWhat 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.BrockFloodMaris wrote: ↑29 Jan 2026 13:35 pmDo 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?Hoosier59 wrote: ↑29 Jan 2026 12:32 pmThe first step was cutting payroll! Clarke is the only one on the list that wasn't already in the Cardinals system.rockondlouie wrote: ↑29 Jan 2026 12:20 pm Nice
First step in this re-tool is to build up the farm system
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?
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smilinjoefission
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Re: Cardinals Ranked 9th
Man I hope so...Cards needs a couple of these types to really take off.pitchingandefense wrote: ↑29 Jan 2026 20:32 pmMathews revenge tour incoming. He’ll be top three in the MLB rotation by the end of 2026.smilinjoefission wrote: ↑29 Jan 2026 14:58 pm 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.