Cardinals Hot Stove

#1      
I think Mo and Company have work to do. Some limitations due to Fowler contract, Carp extension and money still owed to pitchers that are no longer with the team.

We need more offense from the outfield that the front office continues to say is a position of depth.

I think there are very few players we can trade that other teams would give back a plus type player. My nominee is Wong. Edman can easily go to 2nd. Maybe get a team to take Carp off your hands.
 
#2      
I think Mo and Company have work to do. Some limitations due to Fowler contract, Carp extension and money still owed to pitchers that are no longer with the team.

We need more offense from the outfield that the front office continues to say is a position of depth.

I think there are very few players we can trade that other teams would give back a plus type player. My nominee is Wong. Edman can easily go to 2nd. Maybe get a team to take Carp off your hands.

And then sign Rendon?:)

That would be fun.
 
#4      
I think Mo and Company have work to do. Some limitations due to Fowler contract, Carp extension and money still owed to pitchers that are no longer with the team.

We need more offense from the outfield that the front office continues to say is a position of depth.

I think there are very few players we can trade that other teams would give back a plus type player. My nominee is Wong. Edman can easily go to 2nd. Maybe get a team to take Carp off your hands.

Feel like they missed their window back in 2018 to move him before the deadline when he was absolutely crushing.
 
#5      
Feel like they missed their window back in 2018 to move him before the deadline when he was absolutely crushing.
You’d have to pair carp with top prospects or Wong to get a top player from a team like Boston needing to shed payroll.
 
#6      

DrewD007

Woodridge, IL
The Carpenter extension was puzzling to me at the time given the Cardinals held a 2020 option for him and it looks even worse now.

Think for the outfield you offer Ozuna the qualifying offer and ideally he'd take it and then Dylan Carlson can take over in 2021. Hopefully Bader can bounce back to where his bat isn't so detrimental that you can't justify playing him.
 
#8      
I think Nick Castellanos would fit the Cardinals needs perfectly. Will be interesting to see if the Cubs and Cards go head-to-head for the same free agent for the first time since... Heyward?
 
#9      
They definitely aren't signing an OF, unless Ozuna magically accepting the qualifying offer counts. They'll probably try to shed Fowler's contract and/or get what they can in trading Jose Martinez. They'll give Carpenter a chance to get right, the guy was a top 5 hitter in the NL in 2018, he didn't just lose it all. Give him an off season to get healthy and he'll likely be starting at 3B.

Depending on how aggressive they want to be with Dylan Carlson, I would not be surprised with a Carlson - Bader - O'Neil/Fowler/Edman starting day OF. That's a very high risk/ high reward OF, but considering the OF available in free agency and the need to get the roster younger, it's probably worth it. The only thing I'm 100% sure of is that Bader needs to start everyday in CF, defensive value is value too, and he's literally the best defensive CF in baseball.

They SHOULD go big on starting pitching, as that's the glaring weakness heading into next season. Staying in house with a Flaherty - Mikolas - Hudson? - maybe Martinez - ??? starting rotation to start the year would be bad. Cole probably isn't happening, but they should take a swing (just like they did for David Price). I'd be fine with Odorizzi or maybe a little more money on Wheeler. But that's where the free agent dollars need to be focused, it was kind of a miracle the starting pitching held up as good as it did this year.
 
#10      
I think Nick Castellanos would fit the Cardinals needs perfectly. Will be interesting to see if the Cubs and Cards go head-to-head for the same free agent for the first time since... Heyward?

Whoever pays Castellanos this off season is going to regret it. I know he went nuts for the Cubs in the 2nd half, but he's almost as bad as Jose Martinez in RF and his bat is pretty BABIP dependent. Has the potential to almost immediately turn into a very frustrating contract.
 
#11      

DrewD007

Woodridge, IL
They definitely aren't signing an OF, unless Ozuna magically accepting the qualifying offer counts. They'll probably try to shed Fowler's contract and/or get what they can in trading Jose Martinez. They'll give Carpenter a chance to get right, the guy was a top 5 hitter in the NL in 2018, he didn't just lose it all. Give him an off season to get healthy and he'll likely be starting at 3B.

Depending on how aggressive they want to be with Dylan Carlson, I would not be surprised with a Carlson - Bader - O'Neil/Fowler/Edman starting day OF. That's a very high risk/ high reward OF, but considering the OF available in free agency and the need to get the roster younger, it's probably worth it. The only thing I'm 100% sure of is that Bader needs to start everyday in CF, defensive value is value too, and he's literally the best defensive CF in baseball.

They SHOULD go big on starting pitching, as that's the glaring weakness heading into next season. Staying in house with a Flaherty - Mikolas - Hudson? - maybe Martinez - ??? starting rotation to start the year would be bad. Cole probably isn't happening, but they should take a swing (just like they did for David Price). I'd be fine with Odorizzi or maybe a little more money on Wheeler. But that's where the free agent dollars need to be focused, it was kind of a miracle the starting pitching held up as good as it did this year.

Why is Hudson a question mark?
 
#12      
Why is Hudson a question mark?

More of a quality question mark rather than a "will he start" question mark. He'll definitely be in the rotation, I just don't actually know if he's any good. Nobody beats their FIP by 1.60 runs consistently. His "walk too many guys but only allow ground balls" profile is really weird and maybe not great long term.
 
#13      

whatahack

St. Peters MO
I am certainly not a Carp fan but I have a feeling he will be in the line-up somewhere. He needs to bunt a 100 balls a day during the off season and hit another 100 off a tee to left field. He was a joke last year.

I am a big Wong fan but think he might be the most marketable position player they have. Maybe pair him up with CarMart and a prospect to get some more hitting. that would free up Edman to play second.

One of the biggest problems I saw last year was the Cardinal batters inability to recognize pitches. When you watched Houston and Washington it began even more evident. They rarely took those wild !!! swings at pitches that were bouncing in the other batters box. I don't know how you teach the kind of discipline though.
 
#14      
Carpenter was a good hitter until he tried to become a power hitter.
 
#15      
I am certainly not a Carp fan but I have a feeling he will be in the line-up somewhere. He needs to bunt a 100 balls a day during the off season and hit another 100 off a tee to left field. He was a joke last year.

I am a big Wong fan but think he might be the most marketable position player they have. Maybe pair him up with CarMart and a prospect to get some more hitting. that would free up Edman to play second.

One of the biggest problems I saw last year was the Cardinal batters inability to recognize pitches. When you watched Houston and Washington it began even more evident. They rarely took those wild !!! swings at pitches that were bouncing in the other batters box. I don't know how you teach the kind of discipline though.
Where do you put him? He’s a liability at third. He’s probably not getting traded but that’s Mo “happy with our roster” not moving on.
 
#17      
Carpenter was a good hitter until he tried to become a power hitter.

Carpenter turned "power hitter" in 2015 and had seasons of 5.3, 3.2, 3.2, and 5.0 fWAR from 2015-2018. He'll still project to be a 2.5 to 3 win player next year, just depends on if he's healthy, which i highly doubt he was most of last year. He actually hit pretty well after getting off the DL in August. He could very easily just get healthy and bounce right back, same as Donaldson did this past year.

His 3rd base defense isn't bad. He "looks" bad, because his throwing motion is weird, but he's just an average/ slightly below average defensive 3rd baseman.
 
#18      
Definitely an interesting offseason. I think we could be anywhere from a 100 win team to a .500 team without adding anybody. 100 win team would mean...

-Ozuna stays and does his thing
-Goldschmidt gets back to his old self
-Carpenter gets back to his old self
-2 of Bader, Carlson, Edman, Arozarena, or O'neil step up to take Fowler's starting job
-Martinez comes back ready to be the number 1 or 2 starter
-Reyes and Hicks stay healthy and bring their nasty stuff

I don't think any of these things on their own is too much of a stretch. But having all of them happen is very unlikely, which is why I'm hoping Mozeliak is aggressive this offseason. Yadi needs 1 more ring before he retires.
 
#19      
Definitely an interesting offseason. I think we could be anywhere from a 100 win team to a .500 team without adding anybody. 100 win team would mean...

-Ozuna stays and does his thing
-Goldschmidt gets back to his old self
-Carpenter gets back to his old self
-2 of Bader, Carlson, Edman, Arozarena, or O'neil step up to take Fowler's starting job
-Martinez comes back ready to be the number 1 or 2 starter
-Reyes and Hicks stay healthy and bring their nasty stuff

I don't think any of these things on their own is too much of a stretch. But having all of them happen is very unlikely, which is why I'm hoping Mozeliak is aggressive this offseason. Yadi needs 1 more ring before he retires.

Why? Why can't it be Fowler that steps up and plays at a higher level? It is just as likely of a scenario as one of the other players playing at that level.

(this is not directed at you jrichisamazing)
Carp is not going anywhere. Period. He will get $18.5 mil for the next 2 seasons and maybe another $18.5 in 2022. If people on this board don't want to pay him to not play or play at a substandard level why on earth would any GM with half a brain want to do it? The prospects StL would have to give up for someone to take him off our hands would be Carlson or 2 other top 10 prospects.

The same can be said for Fowler except he will "only" get $14.5 mil for the next 2 years but he has a no trade clause that will cost someone something if he gives it up.

If they trade players it will have to be a couple of the young OFs that someone thinks will become the next Tommy Pham. Only younger with more years of control.

StL would have to be overwhelmingly dazzled to trade Wong. He is the anchor for the middle of the infield. Gold glove caliber who can hit decently.

I know Mo says he is going to bring in someone else. I don't see how it's possible with his hands tied by contracts. I think he wants to wait and see if they players he has push their way into more playing time. (Like the young OFers.) Or if the elder statesmen like Carp and Fowler can can magic in a bottle one more time.
Perhaps a starter but he has several players looking to come back and make the rotation. CMart, Reyes, Ponce de Leon, Cabrera and Gomer.
 
#20      
Why? Why can't it be Fowler that steps up and plays at a higher level? It is just as likely of a scenario as one of the other players playing at that level.

(this is not directed at you jrichisamazing)
Carp is not going anywhere. Period. He will get $18.5 mil for the next 2 seasons and maybe another $18.5 in 2022. If people on this board don't want to pay him to not play or play at a substandard level why on earth would any GM with half a brain want to do it? The prospects StL would have to give up for someone to take him off our hands would be Carlson or 2 other top 10 prospects.

The same can be said for Fowler except he will "only" get $14.5 mil for the next 2 years but he has a no trade clause that will cost someone something if he gives it up.

If they trade players it will have to be a couple of the young OFs that someone thinks will become the next Tommy Pham. Only younger with more years of control.

StL would have to be overwhelmingly dazzled to trade Wong. He is the anchor for the middle of the infield. Gold glove caliber who can hit decently.

I know Mo says he is going to bring in someone else. I don't see how it's possible with his hands tied by contracts. I think he wants to wait and see if they players he has push their way into more playing time. (Like the young OFers.) Or if the elder statesmen like Carp and Fowler can can magic in a bottle one more time.
Perhaps a starter but he has several players looking to come back and make the rotation. CMart, Reyes, Ponce de Leon, Cabrera and Gomer.
Read an interesting article on Fowler awhile ago. Argued that Maddon really exaggerated his importance to the 2016 Cubs; that the numbers weren’t that good. He did do better this year than last but he’s not consistent enough which is a problem for a lot of this team.
 
#21      
Read an interesting article on Fowler awhile ago. Argued that Maddon really exaggerated his importance to the 2016 Cubs; that the numbers weren’t that good. He did do better this year than last but he’s not consistent enough which is a problem for a lot of this team.
I think his value has also been inflated considering the black hole at leadoff man for the Cubs the past few years. He was an, at best, average leadoff hitter for the Cubs in 2016, likewise on defense.
 
#22      
Why? Why can't it be Fowler that steps up and plays at a higher level? It is just as likely of a scenario as one of the other players playing at that level.

(this is not directed at you jrichisamazing)
Carp is not going anywhere. Period. He will get $18.5 mil for the next 2 seasons and maybe another $18.5 in 2022. If people on this board don't want to pay him to not play or play at a substandard level why on earth would any GM with half a brain want to do it? The prospects StL would have to give up for someone to take him off our hands would be Carlson or 2 other top 10 prospects.

The same can be said for Fowler except he will "only" get $14.5 mil for the next 2 years but he has a no trade clause that will cost someone something if he gives it up.

If they trade players it will have to be a couple of the young OFs that someone thinks will become the next Tommy Pham. Only younger with more years of control.

StL would have to be overwhelmingly dazzled to trade Wong. He is the anchor for the middle of the infield. Gold glove caliber who can hit decently.

I know Mo says he is going to bring in someone else. I don't see how it's possible with his hands tied by contracts. I think he wants to wait and see if they players he has push their way into more playing time. (Like the young OFers.) Or if the elder statesmen like Carp and Fowler can can magic in a bottle one more time.
Perhaps a starter but he has several players looking to come back and make the rotation. CMart, Reyes, Ponce de Leon, Cabrera and Gomer.

Well, Bader was equally as valuable Fowler this year overall, in 170 less plate attempts. So he's definitely much more likely to be a better player than Fowler in CF, since he already was. This is an admittedly small sample, but in the 3 weeks O'Neill actually got to play every day when Ozuna was hurt, he hit for a 123 wRC+ and is an awesome corner OF defender. People's judgement on him are clouded by his end of year play, which was after he hurt his wrist, which always takes a long time to come back from. Fowler has like a 1.5 win ceiling as a full time OF at this point, with a floor of -2 wins or so, since he just did that in 2018. He's old, a really bad defender, and a league average bat AT BEST. All of the young OF have higher floors than that, because they're at least pretty good defenders.

As for the other stuff, they aren't really hamstrung by contracts. They have one of the best TV deals in baseball, the 2nd richest owner, money pouring in from the ballpark village development. It's probably not realistic to say they could run a $220MM payroll like the Cubs did last year, but they can get close to the $208MM tax line. They're at like $165MM including arbitration raises with the team as constructed right now, plenty of room.
 
#24      

Illwinsagain

Cary, IL
Honestly, with a good pitching staff this year (I know that there will be some turnover), both starters and bullpen, and a strong defense, and inconsistent offense, it would be easy to say, "fix the offense". However, who do you replace. Offer Ozuna a qualifying offer, hopefully he takes it, but if not, the outfield and pitching are the strengths of the minor leagues. I would love to pick up a classic #1 pitcher. It deepens the rotation, takes pressure off of Jack. Deepens the bullpen, because whoever was going to be #5, is now pitching in the 7th. The only starter who out hit his career average was Wong. Everyone else, under performed. Bounce back is not unlikely. Regarding Carp, I think letting him play against right handers, replacing him late in the game with the lead, unless he comes all the way back is the way to go. Oh, and trade Martinez, he is too much a liability in the field. I know he was the only one to hit in the NLCS, but he cost runs too. One of the young guns would be much more preferable. With Fowler, I guess see if Maddon wants him back, other wise, whether he starts, or is a 4th outfielder, it costs the same.
 
#25      
Carp has not hit well lately but he has never hit well out of the lead off spot. Unfortunately, he’s not really a lead off type hitter even when he’s good because he’s below average as a runner. He does walk a bunch but we can’t hardly score a guy from third much less first.

As I stated before, I think he’s a liability at third as well. When Goldy came on the scene, it caused a problem for Carp. Maybe that played into the year he had.

I see him as a lefty bat off the bench.