STLtoday.com

Posted: **23 Jun 2025 11:29 am**

Jimmy Crooks is not a player I dislike, or just want to get rid of. We simply have too many catchers and someone has got to go. My own opinion is that Leo Bernal is the long-term catcher here. Crooks has pretty good trade value. He is currently the Cardinals #4 prospect. This may be something that gets done in the offseason, but it would be nice to make room at AAA to promote Leo Bernal next month. It would be best to sell while his trade value is high and before he gets exposed to major league pitching.
In a Ryan Helsley thread, I listed Crooks as one of the players in that deal. The Phillies are a great fit for him.

Comment on the above, rank the below, or offer your own suggestions.
1) Crooks, Helsley, Nootbaar, and Matz to the Phillies for Aidan Miller, Justin Crawford, and Mick Abel.
2) Jimmy Crooks to Tampa Bay for Santiago Suarez.
3) Jimmy Crooks to the Cleveland Guardians for Welbyn Francisca and Daniel Espino.

Posted: **23 Jun 2025 11:32 am**

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑23 Jun 2025 11:29 am Jimmy Crooks is not a player I dislike, or just want to get rid of. We simply have too many catchers and someone has got to go. My own opinion is that Leo Bernal is the long-term catcher here. Crooks has pretty good trade value. He is currently the Cardinals #4 prospect. This may be something that gets done in the offseason, but it would be nice to make room at AAA to promote Leo Bernal next month. It would be best to sell while his trade value is high and before he gets exposed to major league pitching.
In a Ryan Helsley thread, I listed Crooks as one of the players in that deal. The Phillies are a great fit for him.

Comment on the above, rank the below, or offer your own suggestions.
1) Crooks, Helsley, Nootbaar, and Matz to the Phillies for Aidan Miller, Justin Crawford, and Mick Abel.
2) Jimmy Crooks to Tampa Bay for Santiago Suarez.
3) Jimmy Crooks to the Cleveland Guardians for Welbyn Francisca and Daniel Espino.

Move him to LF.

Posted: **23 Jun 2025 11:35 am**

Cranny wrote: ↑23 Jun 2025 11:32 am
Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑23 Jun 2025 11:29 am Jimmy Crooks is not a player I dislike, or just want to get rid of. We simply have too many catchers and someone has got to go. My own opinion is that Leo Bernal is the long-term catcher here. Crooks has pretty good trade value. He is currently the Cardinals #4 prospect. This may be something that gets done in the offseason, but it would be nice to make room at AAA to promote Leo Bernal next month. It would be best to sell while his trade value is high and before he gets exposed to major league pitching.
In a Ryan Helsley thread, I listed Crooks as one of the players in that deal. The Phillies are a great fit for him.

Comment on the above, rank the below, or offer your own suggestions.
1) Crooks, Helsley, Nootbaar, and Matz to the Phillies for Aidan Miller, Justin Crawford, and Mick Abel.
2) Jimmy Crooks to Tampa Bay for Santiago Suarez.
3) Jimmy Crooks to the Cleveland Guardians for Welbyn Francisca and Daniel Espino.
Move him to LF.

And dislodge Herrera?

Posted: **23 Jun 2025 11:36 am**

Cranny wrote: ↑23 Jun 2025 11:32 am
Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑23 Jun 2025 11:29 am Jimmy Crooks is not a player I dislike, or just want to get rid of. We simply have too many catchers and someone has got to go. My own opinion is that Leo Bernal is the long-term catcher here. Crooks has pretty good trade value. He is currently the Cardinals #4 prospect. This may be something that gets done in the offseason, but it would be nice to make room at AAA to promote Leo Bernal next month. It would be best to sell while his trade value is high and before he gets exposed to major league pitching.
In a Ryan Helsley thread, I listed Crooks as one of the players in that deal. The Phillies are a great fit for him.

Comment on the above, rank the below, or offer your own suggestions.
1) Crooks, Helsley, Nootbaar, and Matz to the Phillies for Aidan Miller, Justin Crawford, and Mick Abel.
2) Jimmy Crooks to Tampa Bay for Santiago Suarez.
3) Jimmy Crooks to the Cleveland Guardians for Welbyn Francisca and Daniel Espino.
Move him to LF.

LF is where some of us are hoping Herrera can fit, and only b/c he doesn't throw well for a C. If Crooks can C decently, the last thing you want to do is move him to another position.
Herrera already has proven to be able to hit MLB pitching at a good clip. I'd doubt Crooks will hit as good as Herrera, but also don't know, but do know Crooks hasn't proven anything yet at the MLB level.

Posted: **23 Jun 2025 11:42 am**

JDW wrote: ↑23 Jun 2025 11:36 am
Cranny wrote: ↑23 Jun 2025 11:32 am
Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑23 Jun 2025 11:29 am Jimmy Crooks is not a player I dislike, or just want to get rid of. We simply have too many catchers and someone has got to go. My own opinion is that Leo Bernal is the long-term catcher here. Crooks has pretty good trade value. He is currently the Cardinals #4 prospect. This may be something that gets done in the offseason, but it would be nice to make room at AAA to promote Leo Bernal next month. It would be best to sell while his trade value is high and before he gets exposed to major league pitching.
In a Ryan Helsley thread, I listed Crooks as one of the players in that deal. The Phillies are a great fit for him.

Comment on the above, rank the below, or offer your own suggestions.
1) Crooks, Helsley, Nootbaar, and Matz to the Phillies for Aidan Miller, Justin Crawford, and Mick Abel.
2) Jimmy Crooks to Tampa Bay for Santiago Suarez.
3) Jimmy Crooks to the Cleveland Guardians for Welbyn Francisca and Daniel Espino.
Move him to LF.
LF is where some of us are hoping Herrera can fit, and only b/c he doesn't throw well for a C. If Crooks can C decently, the last thing you want to do is move him to another position.
Herrera already has proven to be able to hit MLB pitching at a good clip. I'd doubt Crooks will hit as good as Herrera, but also don't know, but do know Crooks hasn't proven anything yet at the MLB level.

Crooks is like someone graduating from college- we don't know if he can do the thing, or not- but he's ready to try.

Posted: **23 Jun 2025 11:55 am**

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑23 Jun 2025 11:35 am
Cranny wrote: ↑23 Jun 2025 11:32 am
Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑23 Jun 2025 11:29 am Jimmy Crooks is not a player I dislike, or just want to get rid of. We simply have too many catchers and someone has got to go. My own opinion is that Leo Bernal is the long-term catcher here. Crooks has pretty good trade value. He is currently the Cardinals #4 prospect. This may be something that gets done in the offseason, but it would be nice to make room at AAA to promote Leo Bernal next month. It would be best to sell while his trade value is high and before he gets exposed to major league pitching.
In a Ryan Helsley thread, I listed Crooks as one of the players in that deal. The Phillies are a great fit for him.

Comment on the above, rank the below, or offer your own suggestions.
1) Crooks, Helsley, Nootbaar, and Matz to the Phillies for Aidan Miller, Justin Crawford, and Mick Abel.
2) Jimmy Crooks to Tampa Bay for Santiago Suarez.
3) Jimmy Crooks to the Cleveland Guardians for Welbyn Francisca and Daniel Espino.
Move him to LF.
And dislodge Herrera?

Bingo

I want to see Hererra working all winter and next spring w/J. Jay instructing him on playing LF!

And we're in 100% agreement, Bernal is the guy I've had my eye's on too as THE catcher of the future.

Posted: **23 Jun 2025 11:57 am**

There's nothing wrong with Bernal/Crooks in a two-catcher system while both are cost-controlled. "A" catchers only start 100 of 162 nowadays anyway.

Posted: **23 Jun 2025 11:58 am**

Basil Shabazz wrote: ↑23 Jun 2025 11:57 am There's nothing wrong with Bernal/Crooks in a two-catcher system while both are cost-controlled. "A" catchers only start 100 of 162 nowadays anyway.

There’s also nothing wrong with Bernal-Pages/Pozo and trading Crooks for a valuable player at another position of need.

Posted: **23 Jun 2025 11:59 am**

Basil Shabazz wrote: ↑23 Jun 2025 11:57 am There's nothing wrong with Bernal/Crooks in a two-catcher system while both are cost-controlled. "A" catchers only start 100 of 162 nowadays anyway.

I'm thinking Bernal/Pages and using Crooks to fill other needs.

Posted: **23 Jun 2025 12:06 pm**

Futuregm2 wrote: ↑23 Jun 2025 11:58 am
Basil Shabazz wrote: ↑23 Jun 2025 11:57 am There's nothing wrong with Bernal/Crooks in a two-catcher system while both are cost-controlled. "A" catchers only start 100 of 162 nowadays anyway.
There’s also nothing wrong with Bernal-Pages/Pozo and trading Crooks for a valuable player at another position of need.

I understand Basil's point but this ^^^ is what you do.

Use Cricks' as currency to acquire a need while Pages/Pozo serve as low cost, quality backups/mentors to Bernal.

Posted: **23 Jun 2025 12:12 pm**

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑23 Jun 2025 11:59 am
Basil Shabazz wrote: ↑23 Jun 2025 11:57 am There's nothing wrong with Bernal/Crooks in a two-catcher system while both are cost-controlled. "A" catchers only start 100 of 162 nowadays anyway.
I'm thinking Bernal/Pages and using Crooks to fill other needs.

We just have to be shrewd with the moves we make here. Catcher is 1a or 1b a position of strength. This situation won't come around again any time soon. We've all been shown first hand that your primary catcher has to play defense first. Correct evaluation is crucial. I'm betting nothing happens until the offseason unless someone just blows us away with an offer.

Posted: **23 Jun 2025 12:15 pm**

He's 24 now. He's reached AAA and done well there. We're at the crossroads now where he needs to be promoted and used, or moved on. If you leave him at Memphis, not only does he block Bernal, his trade value begins to deteriorate. Also, this offseason, both he and Bernal have to be added to the 40-man roster to protect from the Rule V draft. We kind of joke now about how many catchers are on the roster. Would we carry 5 catchers on the 40 man roster? Probably not. Will we leave Crooks or Bernal unprotected? Probably not. It's time to move one.

Posted: **23 Jun 2025 12:17 pm**

Put Herrera at First Base. Contreras will be gone in a couple of years.

Posted: **23 Jun 2025 13:13 pm**

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑23 Jun 2025 11:29 am Jimmy Crooks is not a player I dislike, or just want to get rid of. We simply have too many catchers and someone has got to go. My own opinion is that Leo Bernal is the long-term catcher here. Crooks has pretty good trade value. He is currently the Cardinals #4 prospect. This may be something that gets done in the offseason, but it would be nice to make room at AAA to promote Leo Bernal next month. It would be best to sell while his trade value is high and before he gets exposed to major league pitching.
In a Ryan Helsley thread, I listed Crooks as one of the players in that deal. The Phillies are a great fit for him.

Comment on the above, rank the below, or offer your own suggestions.
1) Crooks, Helsley, Nootbaar, and Matz to the Phillies for Aidan Miller, Justin Crawford, and Mick Abel.
2) Jimmy Crooks to Tampa Bay for Santiago Suarez.
3) Jimmy Crooks to the Cleveland Guardians for Welbyn Francisca and Daniel Espino.

Isn't he rule 5?

Posted: **23 Jun 2025 15:51 pm**

Wouldn't Pozo have some trade value? I know he's been getting some big hits, but a Pages/Crooks tandem in the 2nd half might work for the Cards.
Pozo has been a nice gift, but keeping Crooks over Pozo might be less risky and more of a reset type move. Pozo's is a proven MLB backup C and knows what a bat is for.
If I'm a contender type team with a questionable backup C, maybe Pozo has some value, albeit probably as mainly as a throw in.

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