What do Cardinals do if they keep winning ?

[ramfandan]

This question was a segment on the MLB NOW show on MLB Network this morning.

Host Brian Kenny comments along with Tom Verduci & Jake Peavy below :

JP : 'I think you 'add' ! You see what their young players can do without expectations on them. I love their pitching. Pitchers behind Sonny Gray have really surprised me Fedde, Pallante, Liberatore . Mikolas is like two years ago.

BK: on payroll (Graphic) Since 2019 , they have gone from 7th to 19th this year. I wonder if they have a surge in them if they see themselves as contenders.

TV: I like the fact they didn't bust out the budget this winter. What they did is they gave 'runway' to all their young players. Don't bring in some veterans who are stopgap guys. These guys know if they go 0 for 4 they are in the lineup the next day. Brendan Donovan ermerged. Victor Scott , I saw him in spring training. That is a completely different swing. Give him credit for the adjustments he has made. Liberatore I never liked him in the bullpen. I always wanted him in the rotation. Leave him there ..let him run. I like what the Cardinals are doing. Let's let this think play out.
I disagree with Jake. Come trade deadline, I would think about guys like Fedde /Helsley and see what I could get for them. (Graphic also had Maton, Matz, and Mikolas on it too)

BK: I see the Cardinals running out of space. Even if they win 86-89 .. tough to beat out the tough East /West teams Are they better than DBacks, Giants, Padres, and the Phillies. I don't think so .

THought you may like to hear their comments .

[Absolut]

Unless you can sign expected free agents for reasonable value you have to get a return.

[sikeston bulldog2]

No change. Reset. Patience required.

[hugeCardfan]

We are currently on an 89 pace win. We'll see how that looks after fighting thru the tough schedule planned for the next 30-40 days. We are a game behind SF and 1.5 behind Philly. After a cr@ppy start, we're in this thing. I'm tired of hearing the peanut galley suggest trades. We need a better plan.

[3dender]

Too soon to even discuss it, but I'll stake out the position that the most they should do under any circumstance is not trade Fedde/Helsley, and they should try to trade Arenado no matter what.

[rockondlouie]

We are currently on an 89 pace win. We'll see how that looks after fighting thru the tough schedule planned for the next 30-40 days. We are a game behind SF and 1.5 behind Philly. After a cr@ppy start, we're in this thing. I'm tired of hearing the peanut galley suggest trades. We need a better plan.

+1

Unless the returns for Helsey or Fedde or ???? are strong, why just throw in the towel and give them away for prospects who most likely amount to nothing?

This streak is proving the team is much better than the so called "experts" in the national media thought, wrong again as usual about the Cardinals.

The scrubs have warts and can't keep this type of offensive production up, Cardinals are better than the Crew', Reds and of course Pirates.

Not dealing anyone for lotto ticket prospects just to put some more money into BDWJr's coffers.

[2ninr]

Too soon to even discuss it, but I'll stake out the position that the most they should do under any circumstance is not trade Fedde/Helsley, and they should try to trade Arenado no matter what.

^^^^^^^^

Exactly.

[sikeston bulldog2]

The position of nearly everyone on this board before this run was to get anything you can for Mik or Matz. No they are untradable.

Ensure we are clear. Don’t give them away for wash out prospects. However if it’s a reasonable deal going forward 3 years, it fits the plan of addition.

[rockondlouie]

The position of nearly everyone on this board before this run was to get anything you can for Mik or Matz. No they are untradable.

Ensure we are clear. Don’t give them away for wash out prospects. However if it’s a reasonable deal going forward 3 years, it fits the plan of addition.

I'd deal Mikolas in a NY Minute, replace him w/McGreevy.

[sikeston bulldog2]

The position of nearly everyone on this board before this run was to get anything you can for Mik or Matz. No they are untradable.

Ensure we are clear. Don’t give them away for wash out prospects. However if it’s a reasonable deal going forward 3 years, it fits the plan of addition.

I'd deal Mikolas in a NY Minute, replace him w/McGreevy.

That’s exactly the plan. Get what you can when they have value. That’s 30M for next year. And McGreevy will give close to similar numbers.

Once you add a league level Ace, that’s a strong staff.

Year two- reset. Gray Pallante McGreevy Grafecco closer?

[hugeCardfan]

Too soon to even discuss it, but I'll stake out the position that the most they should do under any circumstance is not trade Fedde/Helsley, and they should try to trade Arenado no matter what.

Good luck on that. Arenado has a no trade deal. Any way, he's playing very well right now, and, after his deferral, we're only paying 21M next year and 15M in '27. None of that will break DeWitt. If Arenado needs more down time we can live with it.

[Ron Gant's Bicep]

A lot depends on what is happening at AAA with McGreevy and Mathews. If McGreevy stays healthy and keeps pitching well and Mathews gets healthy and figures it out, there'd be a solid argument for trading Fedde and/or Matz at the deadline and giving those guys a shot during a playoff push. Maybe we look at trading Helsley if Graceffo keeps making strides in high leverage situations, but I also think we could make a qualifying offer to Helsley in the offseason if he puts up anything close to last year's numbers. Some team will be willing to pay him close to 8 figures and the draft pick is likely as valuable as anything we get in a trade.

If we are in or around first place, I don't do much more than the above. I'd maybe even sniff around for a veteran bullpen arm depending on price. It is more valuable for our young talent to get experience winning and hunting for a playoff spot than to have another fall of meaningless, sloppy baseball. This team is a leaky April bullpen away from leading the division by a few games.

As for Arenado, he is still a winning player. He has been a great veteran leader for this team and still has some juice left in his batteries. I am not trading him unless the season falls off a cliff. The owner is a billionaire, he can afford the contract and we have no replacements who can come close to providing what Arenado can on or off the field. This franchise loves its hall of famers, let's give Nado a shot to lead this movement to some glory in his twilight years.

[CorneliusWolfe]

Can’t say for sure until we face the Cubs, but if we show we can beat them, and especially if we can take first place from them, why not add? Nothing long-term or that costs blue chip prospects, so they can continue resetting if it doesn’t work out. I say never ignore a legitimate chance to win your division. If the Cubs are considered contenders, why not the Cards if they wrestle 1st place away from them?

[rockondlouie]

The position of nearly everyone on this board before this run was to get anything you can for Mik or Matz. No they are untradable.

Ensure we are clear. Don’t give them away for wash out prospects. However if it’s a reasonable deal going forward 3 years, it fits the plan of addition.

I'd deal Mikolas in a NY Minute, replace him w/McGreevy.

That’s exactly the plan. Get what you can when they have value. That’s 30M for next year. And McGreevy will give close to similar numbers.

Once you add a league level Ace, that’s a strong staff.

Year two- reset. Gray Pallante McGreevy Grafecco closer?

Mikolas has little value, perhaps a minor league RP?

Graceffo or my choice, convert Hence to closer this season to get him ready for 2026.

[Ike Hammett]

This question was a segment on the MLB NOW show on MLB Network this morning.

Host Brian Kenny comments along with Tom Verduci & Jake Peavy below :

JP : 'I think you 'add' ! You see what their young players can do without expectations on them. I love their pitching. Pitchers behind Sonny Gray have really surprised me Fedde, Pallante, Liberatore . Mikolas is like two years ago.

BK: on payroll (Graphic) Since 2019 , they have gone from 7th to 19th this year. I wonder if they have a surge in them if they see themselves as contenders.

TV: I like the fact they didn't bust out the budget this winter. What they did is they gave 'runway' to all their young players. Don't bring in some veterans who are stopgap guys. These guys know if they go 0 for 4 they are in the lineup the next day. Brendan Donovan ermerged. Victor Scott , I saw him in spring training. That is a completely different swing. Give him credit for the adjustments he has made. Liberatore I never liked him in the bullpen. I always wanted him in the rotation. Leave him there ..let him run. I like what the Cardinals are doing. Let's let this think play out.
I disagree with Jake. Come trade deadline, I would think about guys like Fedde /Helsley and see what I could get for them. (Graphic also had Maton, Matz, and Mikolas on it too)

BK: I see the Cardinals running out of space. Even if they win 86-89 .. tough to beat out the tough East /West teams Are they better than DBacks, Giants, Padres, and the Phillies. I don't think so .

THought you may like to hear their comments .

If it isn't broken why fix it? Just keep doing what you are doing, it's working. Maybe run some ticket specials to get more fans to see exciting good baseball being played and to support our dudes and community more.

[sikeston bulldog2]

The position of nearly everyone on this board before this run was to get anything you can for Mik or Matz. No they are untradable.

Ensure we are clear. Don’t give them away for wash out prospects. However if it’s a reasonable deal going forward 3 years, it fits the plan of addition.

I'd deal Mikolas in a NY Minute, replace him w/McGreevy.

That’s exactly the plan. Get what you can when they have value. That’s 30M for next year. And McGreevy will give close to similar numbers.

Once you add a league level Ace, that’s a strong staff.

Year two- reset. Gray Pallante McGreevy Grafecco closer?

Mikolas has little value, perhaps a minor league RP?

Graceffo or my choice, convert Hence to closer this season to get him ready for 2026.

You trade Mik and Burly and I get a good pen arm, or good young third baseman.