Will Bloom do something similar to the Betts trade with Donovan?

[Melville]

By no means am I comparing Betts and Donovan in terms of trade value but Bloom coupled Betts with David Price who was making $32 million a year with 2 years remaining on his contract and his talent had fallen to far below that number.

Could Donovan be coupled with either Arenado or Gray to try to get the other team to take on a lot of salary? Perhaps in the deal we get a prospect and some international signing money and with the money saved we sign a free agent?

That would diminish the return for Donovan which would defeat the purpose of dealing him to begin with.

100% correct but that's exactly what he did with Betts and he has indicated he is looking to deal Gray and Arenado along with Donovan.

The way to trade N/A is to simply eat money.
STL traded him once already and can easily do so again.
N/A is owed less now than he was then, and exactly as I predicted N/A realized the blunder he made in refusing to report.
He will gladly leave this time.
As for Gray, the CORRECT BASEBALL DECISION is to keep him.
There is zero upside to trading him this off-season.
The correct trade pieces are Mootbaar (as I alone have correctly advised for the past 4 seasons), Walker, Mathews, and Bernal - along with a handful of others who could complement assorted trade packages.
Donovan should move to LF and be offered a reasonable 3 year extension - and if he does not sign it, he should be moved in July.
This stuff ain't hard.
We are about to learn if Bloom is smart enough to see it.

I don't know enough about Bernal but Nootbaar brings nothing in return. Same with Walker. Mathews walked 74 in 99 innings. The only potential bright spot is if Bloom is changing the overbearing front office knows everything attitude and possibly Walker will revert to his rookie year before they sent him down to change/ruin his swing. Nootbaar would be a trade simply to clear a roster spot. Could Mathews learn how to throw strikes? Doubt he will bring much in return until and unless he does.

Arenado would be to clear roster space. Unless they can hit a home run in a Donovan trade I'd keep him with an infield of Donovan, Winn, Wetherholt and Contreras or Hererra or Burleson at 1B depending on possible trades.

I believe Contreras would bring good return. Gray is still a legit starter although no longer an ace but his contract is probably going to get him traded.

Scotch-Mel is wrong about all of this except Aranado. Noot, Walker, and Matthews have no real trade value. We would be giving them away. Donovan has value. Bernal is not the catching prospect they trade. Melville likes Crooks.

Some helpful clarifications.
I am never for or against any player.
I merely provide unbiased and accurate analysis.
1. Removing Mootbaar immediately makes the team better - the return is not relevant (a book of postage stamps would suffice).
2. Mathews does have real value - one tough year does not change the fact he is still a top 5 prospect in their system.
3. Concerning Walker, I have advised trading him in a package (he is only 23 and still has value due to his potential ceiling) - but that should be accompanied by ADDING a quality outfielder AND repurposing Herrera as an outfielder (as I alone have been saying for 3+ yeas) as well.
4. I do not "like Crooks" over Bernal - instead I correctly recognize Crooks is going to get the first look in 2026 and Rodriguez is closing quickly on Bernal on the depth chart - thereby making Bernal the most logical of the 3 to trade at this moment in time.
These are quite simply the strategically CORRECT BASEBALL DECISIONS for Bloom.
We shall soon see if he is smart enough to do so.

[IndCard75]

First of all Donovan isn’t Betts. Secondly I think people are underestimating how much DeWitts want to dump money and want Gorman to be at 3B.

My for fun predictions.

Arenado and Donovan are traded this offseason.

Crooks Pages are the catchers in 2026.

Bernal is the catcher of the future.

The trade this offseason is Donovan and Arenado to Boston for Duran. Possibly some prospects added on each side. Boston is losing Bregman. Arenado and Story are buddies. Boston has outfield depth.

[ScotchMIrish]

By no means am I comparing Betts and Donovan in terms of trade value but Bloom coupled Betts with David Price who was making $32 million a year with 2 years remaining on his contract and his talent had fallen to far below that number.

Could Donovan be coupled with either Arenado or Gray to try to get the other team to take on a lot of salary? Perhaps in the deal we get a prospect and some international signing money and with the money saved we sign a free agent?

That would diminish the return for Donovan which would defeat the purpose of dealing him to begin with.

100% correct but that's exactly what he did with Betts and he has indicated he is looking to deal Gray and Arenado along with Donovan.

The way to trade N/A is to simply eat money.
STL traded him once already and can easily do so again.
N/A is owed less now than he was then, and exactly as I predicted N/A realized the blunder he made in refusing to report.
He will gladly leave this time.
As for Gray, the CORRECT BASEBALL DECISION is to keep him.
There is zero upside to trading him this off-season.
The correct trade pieces are Mootbaar (as I alone have correctly advised for the past 4 seasons), Walker, Mathews, and Bernal - along with a handful of others who could complement assorted trade packages.
Donovan should move to LF and be offered a reasonable 3 year extension - and if he does not sign it, he should be moved in July.
This stuff ain't hard.
We are about to learn if Bloom is smart enough to see it.

Mel,

You knew Mo better than he knew himself. That was obvious. What about Bloom?

I recently posted this:
"As was illustrated many, many times, I knew Mo better than Mo knew Mo.
But things have changed.
There simply are not enough indicators as of yet to clarify the DeWitt / Bloom vision.
Of course, I know exactly what Bloom SHOULD do - but it is far too early to predict what he WILL do."
Bottom line.
I do not know Bloom....yet.
But I will.
And I will know what he will think and what he will do before he does.
In time.
But first, I will need some opportunity to observe.
Bloom may blossom and he may fade.
Let's see what happens.

Mozeliak's biggest shortcoming was failing to accurately assess his own prospects. It's clear to me some of those prospect for veteran deals were done under pressure from LaRussa and/or DeWitt Jr. Mozeliak's role in not realizing those prospects were future MLB stars.

LaRussa's epically bad trade in Arizona involving Enciarte/Swanson for Shelby Miller was evidence of what he was pushing for and DeWitt's comments when Matheny was fired are evidence of what he was pushing for. The sell off in late July was 100% Bloom and I believe evidence that DeWitt III is now making decisions. DeWitt Jr would never have gone along with a rebuild.

Mozeliak also bought into analytics and appeared to be heavy handed in forcing that on the franchise. The decision to retain Marmol can only be explained by a couple moves Bloom made. He got rid of a "game planner" position and an assistant hitting and assistant pitching coach. The curious (to me) decision to retain Marmol and most of his coaches is evidence that Bloom didn't think Marmol was entirely free to make his own decisions. The bizarre use of Pallante in August made sense when I saw the news about the "game planner". It wasn't only Pallante who was left in a game when he was being shelled.

[Ronnie Dobbs]

When did he indicate this?

Good question. I don't remember it.

He actually indicated the exact opposite. DeWitt was quoted by Katie Woo earlier in the offseason that he would be willing to eat more contract for a better return on any trades.

Katie Woo of The Athletic reports that the ownership will now be more willing to eat money in trades, in order to extract greater returns.

That reporting aligns with comments this week from Chaim Bloom, the new president of baseball operations. “As far as cash being a lever on the trade front, that should never be off the table,” he said, per Woo. “Obviously, you’d prefer not to do that, but you could end up in a situation where adding cash to make a preferred deal work just makes sense.”

[Cardinals4Life]

By no means am I comparing Betts and Donovan in terms of trade value but Bloom coupled Betts with David Price who was making $32 million a year with 2 years remaining on his contract and his talent had fallen to far below that number.

Could Donovan be coupled with either Arenado or Gray to try to get the other team to take on a lot of salary? Perhaps in the deal we get a prospect and some international signing money and with the money saved we sign a free agent?

That would diminish the return for Donovan which would defeat the purpose of dealing him to begin with.

100% correct but that's exactly what he did with Betts and he has indicated he is looking to deal Gray and Arenado along with Donovan.

The way to trade N/A is to simply eat money.
STL traded him once already and can easily do so again.
N/A is owed less now than he was then, and exactly as I predicted N/A realized the blunder he made in refusing to report.
He will gladly leave this time.
As for Gray, the CORRECT BASEBALL DECISION is to keep him.
There is zero upside to trading him this off-season.
The correct trade pieces are Mootbaar (as I alone have correctly advised for the past 4 seasons), Walker, Mathews, and Bernal - along with a handful of others who could complement assorted trade packages.
Donovan should move to LF and be offered a reasonable 3 year extension - and if he does not sign it, he should be moved in July.
This stuff ain't hard.
We are about to learn if Bloom is smart enough to see it.

Mel,

You knew Mo better than he knew himself. That was obvious. What about Bloom?

I recently posted this:
"As was illustrated many, many times, I knew Mo better than Mo knew Mo.
But things have changed.
There simply are not enough indicators as of yet to clarify the DeWitt / Bloom vision.
Of course, I know exactly what Bloom SHOULD do - but it is far too early to predict what he WILL do."
Bottom line.
I do not know Bloom....yet.
But I will.
And I will know what he will think and what he will do before he does.
In time.
But first, I will need some opportunity to observe.
Bloom may blossom and he may fade.
Let's see what happens.

Thank you

[2ninr]

That would diminish the return for Donovan which would defeat the purpose of dealing him to begin with.

100% correct but that's exactly what he did with Betts and he has indicated he is looking to deal Gray and Arenado along with Donovan.

The way to trade N/A is to simply eat money.
STL traded him once already and can easily do so again.
N/A is owed less now than he was then, and exactly as I predicted N/A realized the blunder he made in refusing to report.
He will gladly leave this time.
As for Gray, the CORRECT BASEBALL DECISION is to keep him.
There is zero upside to trading him this off-season.
The correct trade pieces are Mootbaar (as I alone have correctly advised for the past 4 seasons), Walker, Mathews, and Bernal - along with a handful of others who could complement assorted trade packages.
Donovan should move to LF and be offered a reasonable 3 year extension - and if he does not sign it, he should be moved in July.
This stuff ain't hard.
We are about to learn if Bloom is smart enough to see it.

I don't know enough about Bernal but Nootbaar brings nothing in return. Same with Walker. Mathews walked 74 in 99 innings. The only potential bright spot is if Bloom is changing the overbearing front office knows everything attitude and possibly Walker will revert to his rookie year before they sent him down to change/ruin his swing. Nootbaar would be a trade simply to clear a roster spot. Could Mathews learn how to throw strikes? Doubt he will bring much in return until and unless he does.

Arenado would be to clear roster space. Unless they can hit a home run in a Donovan trade I'd keep him with an infield of Donovan, Winn, Wetherholt and Contreras or Hererra or Burleson at 1B depending on possible trades.

I believe Contreras would bring good return. Gray is still a legit starter although no longer an ace but his contract is probably going to get him traded.

Scotch-Mel is wrong about all of this except Aranado. Noot, Walker, and Matthews have no real trade value. We would be giving them away. Donovan has value. Bernal is not the catching prospect they trade. Melville likes Crooks.

You think I am the same person as Melville?

There's only 1 Mel and you aren't it.

That's correct. Perhaps you should re-read what I posted. It wasn't the same as Melville.

I ws agreeing with you. I do know about Bernal. Mel insists they're trading him and keeping jimmi Crooks. Bernal is better defense by far and switch hit.

Okay. Do you think Hererra will be able to catch after the arm surgery or was he bad at throwing out runners prior to the injury?

I am baffled by it. He ((Herrera) wasn't just bad. I don't see how this surgery transforms him into a good defensive catcher. The only thing I can figure is he asked and they're accommodating him. Maybe he plays until Bernal is ready.Bernal is the best defensive catcher we have in the system. His offense tailed off last year, or I would say he had a shot out of spring training. I don't see them trading Herrera, but it's more likely than Bernal.

I think Hererra is either a DH or 1B going forward. One reason I could see a Contreras deal. I'd move him before I moved Burleson or Hererra and we might get something in return.

Agree 100. I like Willi but he's short term and you can get something back.

[2ninr]

By no means am I comparing Betts and Donovan in terms of trade value but Bloom coupled Betts with David Price who was making $32 million a year with 2 years remaining on his contract and his talent had fallen to far below that number.

Could Donovan be coupled with either Arenado or Gray to try to get the other team to take on a lot of salary? Perhaps in the deal we get a prospect and some international signing money and with the money saved we sign a free agent?

That would diminish the return for Donovan which would defeat the purpose of dealing him to begin with.

100% correct but that's exactly what he did with Betts and he has indicated he is looking to deal Gray and Arenado along with Donovan.

The way to trade N/A is to simply eat money.
STL traded him once already and can easily do so again.
N/A is owed less now than he was then, and exactly as I predicted N/A realized the blunder he made in refusing to report.
He will gladly leave this time.
As for Gray, the CORRECT BASEBALL DECISION is to keep him.
There is zero upside to trading him this off-season.
The correct trade pieces are Mootbaar (as I alone have correctly advised for the past 4 seasons), Walker, Mathews, and Bernal - along with a handful of others who could complement assorted trade packages.
Donovan should move to LF and be offered a reasonable 3 year extension - and if he does not sign it, he should be moved in July.
This stuff ain't hard.
We are about to learn if Bloom is smart enough to see it.

I don't know enough about Bernal but Nootbaar brings nothing in return. Same with Walker. Mathews walked 74 in 99 innings. The only potential bright spot is if Bloom is changing the overbearing front office knows everything attitude and possibly Walker will revert to his rookie year before they sent him down to change/ruin his swing. Nootbaar would be a trade simply to clear a roster spot. Could Mathews learn how to throw strikes? Doubt he will bring much in return until and unless he does.

Arenado would be to clear roster space. Unless they can hit a home run in a Donovan trade I'd keep him with an infield of Donovan, Winn, Wetherholt and Contreras or Hererra or Burleson at 1B depending on possible trades.

I believe Contreras would bring good return. Gray is still a legit starter although no longer an ace but his contract is probably going to get him traded.

Scotch-Mel is wrong about all of this except Aranado. Noot, Walker, and Matthews have no real trade value. We would be giving them away. Donovan has value. Bernal is not the catching prospect they trade. Melville likes Crooks.

You think I am the same person as Melville?

There's only 1 Mel and you aren't it.

Never about me.
Only and always about the game.

Glad you woke up Mel. Had me worried for a minute. Love it that you never take this stuff personally.

[Melville]

By no means am I comparing Betts and Donovan in terms of trade value but Bloom coupled Betts with David Price who was making $32 million a year with 2 years remaining on his contract and his talent had fallen to far below that number.

Could Donovan be coupled with either Arenado or Gray to try to get the other team to take on a lot of salary? Perhaps in the deal we get a prospect and some international signing money and with the money saved we sign a free agent?

That would diminish the return for Donovan which would defeat the purpose of dealing him to begin with.

100% correct but that's exactly what he did with Betts and he has indicated he is looking to deal Gray and Arenado along with Donovan.

The way to trade N/A is to simply eat money.
STL traded him once already and can easily do so again.
N/A is owed less now than he was then, and exactly as I predicted N/A realized the blunder he made in refusing to report.
He will gladly leave this time.
As for Gray, the CORRECT BASEBALL DECISION is to keep him.
There is zero upside to trading him this off-season.
The correct trade pieces are Mootbaar (as I alone have correctly advised for the past 4 seasons), Walker, Mathews, and Bernal - along with a handful of others who could complement assorted trade packages.
Donovan should move to LF and be offered a reasonable 3 year extension - and if he does not sign it, he should be moved in July.
This stuff ain't hard.
We are about to learn if Bloom is smart enough to see it.

I don't know enough about Bernal but Nootbaar brings nothing in return. Same with Walker. Mathews walked 74 in 99 innings. The only potential bright spot is if Bloom is changing the overbearing front office knows everything attitude and possibly Walker will revert to his rookie year before they sent him down to change/ruin his swing. Nootbaar would be a trade simply to clear a roster spot. Could Mathews learn how to throw strikes? Doubt he will bring much in return until and unless he does.

Arenado would be to clear roster space. Unless they can hit a home run in a Donovan trade I'd keep him with an infield of Donovan, Winn, Wetherholt and Contreras or Hererra or Burleson at 1B depending on possible trades.

I believe Contreras would bring good return. Gray is still a legit starter although no longer an ace but his contract is probably going to get him traded.

Scotch-Mel is wrong about all of this except Aranado. Noot, Walker, and Matthews have no real trade value. We would be giving them away. Donovan has value. Bernal is not the catching prospect they trade. Melville likes Crooks.

You think I am the same person as Melville?

There's only 1 Mel and you aren't it.

Never about me.
Only and always about the game.

Glad you woke up Mel. Had me worried for a minute. Love it that you never take this stuff personally.

I appreciate your contribution here as well.