Katie Woo: This time it's different--Gonna be a longer process than they thought

[Bully4you]

This is the quote from Woo Hoo:

"To me, this deadline is much different from when the Cardinals sold in 2023," Woo said. "Yes, in 2023, the Cardinals also only traded guys on expiring deals, same as this year. But, what they targeted in 2023 was pitching depth, specifically in the upper minor league system and soon to be major league-ready talent. In 2023, the reason why the front office looked for that specifically in a return was because they wanted to return to contention soon. They wanted to compete in 2024. They thought maybe they could get away one more year of building a team, possibly good enough to contend for a Wild Card spot and maybe get in. They wanted to avoid a rebuild.

"This year, they have seemed to acknowledge that is not going to be possible. They went and they got a ton of High-A guys. Blaze Jordan is the only one in Double-A or above right now...That to me signals...that this is going to be a multi-year transition. The point of the 2025 year was to see how long this reset...would take. The Cardinals seemed resigned to the fact that this is going to be a multi-year project."

[11WSChamps]

She has a terrific grasp of the obvious.

Good work.

[desertrat23]

She has a terrific grasp of the obvious.

Good work.

It was obvious to everyone except Mo and his cronies.

[BrockFloodMaris]

She has a terrific grasp of the obvious.

Good work.

It was obvious to everyone except Mo and his cronies.

I think an expected work stoppage after the 2026 season also played into their long range targets at this year's trade deadline.

[11WSChamps]

She has a terrific grasp of the obvious.

Good work.

It was obvious to everyone except Mo and his cronies.

I think an expected work stoppage after the 2026 season also played into their long range targets at this year's trade deadline.

Of course it did. But we can be sure other teams are as well.

[OldRed]

What an observation!

[icon]

What an observation!

Similar to the line "I think we're gonna need a bigger boat" from Jaws.

[Futuregm2]

It wasn’t necessarily bad thinking of theirs at the time in 2023. Goldy and Arenado still had solid years in 2023 and there wasn’t any reason to expect a significant drop off in 2024. And Gorman had an .805 OPS with 27 HRs, Contreras finished strong in 2023, and Walker had a .787 OPS. Combined with Donovan and Nootbaar, the offense looked primed if they could get some pitching.

But 2024 happened where virtually every single player aside from Contreras declined or completely dropped off.

For this year, I think they rightfully were targeting higher upside players who may be farther away, rather than closer to MLB ready players.

Albeit again they only sold 3 relievers with expiring contracts. It’s not like they did a complete sell off.

[CCard]

Let me translate for you all. "We just haven't lost enough in the last few years to really build up the young cheap talent and the talent we have drafted isn't ready for us to start their collective MLB clocks. Now, instead of spending some money and trying to win, we're going to tank even more." Ridiculous cycle up and down behavior while the big spenders consistently field higher talented teams. This is everything that's wrong with baseball and why it will end badly for the MLB if they don't do something. St Louis ownership has effectively taken a 3 million ticket sales team and turned it into a perennial loser. After they run it into the ground and milk all the profits they can, then they'll probably sell the team. That is after they get a new stadium with taxpayer money.

[mattmitchl44]

They should have traded Arenado and Goldschmidt in 2023 and started the multiyear rebuild then. Ownership thinking they were going to compete in 2024 was the problem.

[Banner29]

Mo refused to update and improve his failing farm system and refused to do anything more than half azzed patch jobs in the majors, all while running off anyone that may every question him, especially managers

Of course this is going to be a long process. It’s a very large mess

[Hazelwood72]

Mo refused to update and improve his failing farm system and refused to do anything more than half azzed patch jobs in the majors, all while running off anyone that may every question him, especially managers

Of course this is going to be a long process. It’s a very large mess

100% agree. This is all on Mozo.

[imadangman]

I think it's clear 2026 is going to be the real clean slate year. This offseason there's going to have to be some decisions made on the DH/1B and corner OF overflow. Probably 2 players need to get moved, and I'd bet Nootbaar and Gorman are the 2 most likely that we move on from at minimum. Will Walker and Arenado be around in 2026? Will they try to push Contreras out so they can turn Blaze Jordan loose at 1B?

No telling how young they want to go next year.

In looking at the future core of the team, it may include several players that are either already in the big leagues or very close to it (JJ). It may also include players who are currently in the low levels. We have some serious wild card prospects.

2027 and beyond potential core players: Donovan, Wetherholt, Winn, Herrera, Josh Baez, L Bernal... Blaze Jordan? Jesus Baez? Yairo Padilla? Rainiel Rodriguez?

Pitching: Liberatore, Doyle, McGreevy, Pallante, Graceffo, Svanson, Granillo... Hence? Mathews? Roby? Hjerpe?

The work will be cut out for them at some point, especially with the pitching. They acquired two position players this deadline who have a good chance of contributing to the major league club. They also have some high upside prospects in the low levels. We've had our Malcolm Nunez's in the past, wouldn't it be nice if Yairo Padilla or Rainiel Rodriguez lived up to the hype?

And at some point I don't think they can get around needing to go outside the organization for 1 veteran/prime years middle of lineup hitter and 1 top of rotation starter.

[OldRed]

What an observation!

Similar to the line "I think we're gonna need a bigger boat" from Jaws.

A line that wasn't in the script. Roy Scheider’s quip was actually improvised.

[RichieRichSTL]

Mo refused to update and improve his failing farm system and refused to do anything more than half azzed patch jobs in the majors, all while running off anyone that may every question him, especially managers

Of course this is going to be a long process. It’s a very large mess

Getting Pujols for 2022 bought one more year. How they thought they'd compete, improving 15+ games with an AARP ready rotation, a one year older Goldy and Arenado, and an incompetent manager, in 2024 was beyond me.

[Jatalk]

Does Woo get paid for stating the obvious based on what we have seen? Of course some effective offseason deals could change the course.