St Louis Cardinals 2026
Ryllini
- Lombard
They still show fight and I love that.
pruman91
- interviewing new NL's daily....I really really am
yep , the 6 run inning comeback was impressive......
Riley O'Brien's last 2 outings were not.......it's time for a change at the closer position......closer by committee until someone shines......O'Brien has lost all confidence on the mound......JMHO ...........
Riley O'Brien's last 2 outings were not.......it's time for a change at the closer position......closer by committee until someone shines......O'Brien has lost all confidence on the mound......JMHO ...........
I have enjoyed the TV side the last 2 nights wiuth Thompson somewhere om the sidelines. I would call what has happened recently as reverting toward the mean. The Cardinals have overachieved this year in my view.
pruman91
- interviewing new NL's daily....I really really am
The addition of Wetherholt and the very impressive seasons by Burleson and Walker give me hope for the next few seasons ............and the dramatic overhaul of the minor league rosters give's fans optimism of better days ahead......this team right now is showing signs of struggling to finish out the season above .500.......
the starting pitchers rotation needs to be looked at with a realistic approach about who is a starter next year ( if there is play next year ) .....
I have my doubts that Liberatore belongs being a starter.......seems he thrived more in the 2 + innings BP role than a SP........
Pallante has shown he is capable of a # 3-4-5 role but he is in no way a # 1 stopper at least right now......
Leahy has been the best starter this year and I'm glad they are reducing his innings now , but 11-4 and a string of 10 + starts with 2 or less ER's is very impressive.......
Dobbins has his good stretches but injury history is a concern.....
McGreevy hasn't impressed me as much as the reporters portray him to be......velo needs to increase and breaking balls aren't sharp as they need to be.....
Quinn Mathews show's promise but slight frame gives me concern about durability......
the number of outstanding pitchers in the minors and their development will determine if we will see WS # 12 anytime soon......JMHO ....
the starting pitchers rotation needs to be looked at with a realistic approach about who is a starter next year ( if there is play next year ) .....
I have my doubts that Liberatore belongs being a starter.......seems he thrived more in the 2 + innings BP role than a SP........
Pallante has shown he is capable of a # 3-4-5 role but he is in no way a # 1 stopper at least right now......
Leahy has been the best starter this year and I'm glad they are reducing his innings now , but 11-4 and a string of 10 + starts with 2 or less ER's is very impressive.......
Dobbins has his good stretches but injury history is a concern.....
McGreevy hasn't impressed me as much as the reporters portray him to be......velo needs to increase and breaking balls aren't sharp as they need to be.....
Quinn Mathews show's promise but slight frame gives me concern about durability......
the number of outstanding pitchers in the minors and their development will determine if we will see WS # 12 anytime soon......JMHO ....
pruman91
- interviewing new NL's daily....I really really am
{ 67-68 }
THAT'S A WINNER !!!!!!!!!!!!..................
Another game of early Cardinals lead then struggling to hang on and 3rd times the charm.........
Graceffo with solid 3 innings starting off the game.......
Blaze Jordan 3 run HR.....sprained his ankle on good defensive play.....
Urias 2 run HR ................
O'Brien with his 34th save..................
Pirates next up tomorrow night.................
THAT'S A WINNER !!!!!!!!!!!!..................
Another game of early Cardinals lead then struggling to hang on and 3rd times the charm.........
Graceffo with solid 3 innings starting off the game.......
Blaze Jordan 3 run HR.....sprained his ankle on good defensive play.....
Urias 2 run HR ................
O'Brien with his 34th save..................
Pirates next up tomorrow night.................
Good stuff Pru. There is a core of good young players and pitchers that has formed. A TOR starter is needed. LF and 3b that can hit. At least a couple of reliable BP arms. I doubt they will make any big trades or FA signings this offseason with the CBA expiring since no one knows how much ball will be played next year. Hopefully the owners and players both come to their senses and get a deal done early but I'm not optimistic about that.
pruman91
- interviewing new NL's daily....I really really am
It's been reported that top prospect but oft injured Tekoah Roby has been cleared to resume a throwing rehab program......he was pitching above average prior to last injury and is still young enough to be a big boost if healthy.....
Richard Fitts , acquired from Bosox is another arm worth waiting on............
many more at AAA and AA to develope and support............my thoughts on Liberatore are based somewhat on what's coming in the near future and , face it , Liberatore is not a SP who will dominate batters after the first time through a lineup......his best worth to me is as a reliever capable of more than one inning a game.......Liberatore's torso is too high and flat at the point of ball release and he is not getting full benefit of his legs at all.....surprising to me that he hasn't had serious arm issues due to lack of push off from rubber to home plate........JMHO................
Richard Fitts , acquired from Bosox is another arm worth waiting on............
many more at AAA and AA to develope and support............my thoughts on Liberatore are based somewhat on what's coming in the near future and , face it , Liberatore is not a SP who will dominate batters after the first time through a lineup......his best worth to me is as a reliever capable of more than one inning a game.......Liberatore's torso is too high and flat at the point of ball release and he is not getting full benefit of his legs at all.....surprising to me that he hasn't had serious arm issues due to lack of push off from rubber to home plate........JMHO................
In all likelihood, the new CBA would pro-rate salaries for next season based on # of games played. That is what's happened in the past. I'm sure our owners will still use it as an excuse, but we shouldn't buy it. Other teams will still spend, and even if the new CBA suddenly got signed tomorrow the Cards wouldn't be changing their strategy. Maybe a couple Dustin May type short term deals with an eye towards flipping them at the deadline.
I don't disagree about the core though. It's there. It was there at the deadline. It was there at the beginning of the season. With some real investment this could have been a playoff team this season. Could be one next season. But that does not seem to be the priority.
They are holding on to prospects and $$$ at this point. And likely through 2027 as well. 2028 should bring a commitment to expanding payroll and a return to being ready to compete for WS titles. I'll be patient until then.
Hope so. I'll believe it when I see it.
ptgrd23
- orange county CA
2027
We owe $9M Arenado $4M Contreras
We owe $2.6M Wetherholt
We have Pallante Burleson, Gorman and Libertore in 2nd year arbitration - Cant imagine we would keep Gorman @$4M or Libertore @ $4M
We have Wyne Walker Herrera Pages at 1 year arbitration (made $800k this year)
All our other players are prearb $800k
So our payroll 8+4 +3 +4 +4+3+3+3 +10 (pre arb) = $42M
We could sign Skubal at $50m/year but I don't see that happening. Cardinals are very profitable 2026 and 2027.
Maybe Mets want to dump Soto $47m/year contract thru 2038 so 11 more years. He is 27. I would take him if Mets paid 50%.
We owe $9M Arenado $4M Contreras
We owe $2.6M Wetherholt
We have Pallante Burleson, Gorman and Libertore in 2nd year arbitration - Cant imagine we would keep Gorman @$4M or Libertore @ $4M
We have Wyne Walker Herrera Pages at 1 year arbitration (made $800k this year)
All our other players are prearb $800k
So our payroll 8+4 +3 +4 +4+3+3+3 +10 (pre arb) = $42M
We could sign Skubal at $50m/year but I don't see that happening. Cardinals are very profitable 2026 and 2027.
Maybe Mets want to dump Soto $47m/year contract thru 2038 so 11 more years. He is 27. I would take him if Mets paid 50%.
In a vacuum we could sign or trade for anybody. But thing don't happen in a vacuum. Signing a FA means you offered a better deal than anyone else. Which means you are going to have an albatross contract a few years down the road. Trading means you offered better players or were willing to eat more $$ than anyone else. Assuming chunks of big money long term deals wouldn't be something the Cards would do and I'd agree with them.
A fun rumor around the trade deadline was they were trying to buy low on Jackson Holliday and move him to 3B. They need to do something to raise the ceiling over this offseason, and that would certainly raise it (floor can't get much lower at 3B). I said here when this team started the year that a .500 record and maybe lucking into a wild card was a possibility (and got laughed at), but that's kind of what happened (before they dumped bait on the season at the trade deadline). If they don't make any meaningful additions from outside the org this off season, next year could be significantly worse just because the pitching has a very low floor.
It will be pretty interesting on how they approach this offseason. Glaring holes in LF in and 3b, and 2+ more in the rotation. All the money you'd really need to spend, but a sort of dumb time to spend it staring down an inevitable lockout. 2 legitimate 60 value seemingly can't miss minor leaguers (Raniel Rodriguez is probably a top 5 prospect in baseball entering next year, Doyle top 15ish) and a pretty deep system behind them to spend or hold. Really hope they don't just sit on their hands and do nothing, but that's kind of what I expect (a few May-esqe rebound signings may be it), just due to the uncertainty.
It will be pretty interesting on how they approach this offseason. Glaring holes in LF in and 3b, and 2+ more in the rotation. All the money you'd really need to spend, but a sort of dumb time to spend it staring down an inevitable lockout. 2 legitimate 60 value seemingly can't miss minor leaguers (Raniel Rodriguez is probably a top 5 prospect in baseball entering next year, Doyle top 15ish) and a pretty deep system behind them to spend or hold. Really hope they don't just sit on their hands and do nothing, but that's kind of what I expect (a few May-esqe rebound signings may be it), just due to the uncertainty.
Yes, but when is this ever not the case? If the contention is that the team will spend in 2028, doest this logic dictate that they won't?
I asked AI (Gemini) for mostly homegrown World Series champions. Here are the recent teams I got (next on the list was 1970s Reds):
Every single one of these teams was a top 10 payroll. At some point you have to be willing to risk a deal aging poorly if you want to win. The players you need in order to win a championship have the leverage to negotiate long term deals.
Willingness to spend very clearly changed a while back. We had Goldy and Nado and refused to go all in with them. You could very clearly see it happening in real time:
2018 : #8 payroll, approx $163 million
2019 (Goldschmidt 1st year): #6 payroll, approx $173 mil
2020: #10 payroll, approx $73 mil (Covid shortened)
2021 (Arenado 1st yr): #11 payroll, approx $151 million
2022: #13 payroll, approx $156 million
2023: #17 payroll, approx $148 million
Pre-2023, those were some good teams. That was the time to invest! That 2021 team had 5 gold gloves and 3 30+ HR guys, and in 2022 Goldy won MVP and Nado was 3rd in MVP voting. The problem was that the pitching sucked. You're telling me that another $50 million spent on pitching doesn't go a long way with that team? Of course it does. But the owners didn't want to do it. I'm skeptical that the subsequent move of slashing payroll down to historic lows is evidence they're going to make a massive payroll investment at some future point. If having two of the best players in the league and a short window to win with them wasn't persuasive I'm not sure what will be.
These 10 farm systems have the best pitching prospects
This story is the third in a series in which MLB Pipeline ranks the Top 10 MLB farm systems by position: Infielders | Outfielders | Pitchers | Catchers We went from the dirt to the grass ... and now to the mound. While the leaders for infielders (Brewers) and outfielders
www.mlb.com
Prospects are prospects. But man, it's nice to see interesting pitching prospects seemingly every night at every level.
Even the guys in the Nootbar trade are fascinating players. That gives me some vibes back to the cardinals franchise i know and love.
Cjinte, Odle, Roby back now, Eagan, Mathews, Franklin, Clarke, Fajardo, Kuhns, Molina. Sheesh. Not even counting an interestig player like McGreevy whose already up.
pruman91
- interviewing new NL's daily....I really really am
{ 68-68 }
THAT'S A WINNER !!!!!!!!!!!.........
Quinn Mathews gains his 1st MLB win in a series opening 4-1 victory over the Pirates...........Crooks with a 2 run HR .....
Mathews 5.2 IP , 5 H , 1 ER , 1 W , 7 K's
Fernandez 2 IP , 0 H .1 W , 2 K's ......
Stanek 1 IP , 0 H , 0 W , 2 K's .......
the Cardinals lucked out with Reynolds hit by the base hit by Cruz.......Ferguson has zero business pitching with the game on the line.......
Cardinals back to .500 ...................1:15 pm starts next 2 games............LET'S GO CARDINALS !!!!!!!!!!!!
THAT'S A WINNER !!!!!!!!!!!.........
Quinn Mathews gains his 1st MLB win in a series opening 4-1 victory over the Pirates...........Crooks with a 2 run HR .....
Mathews 5.2 IP , 5 H , 1 ER , 1 W , 7 K's
Fernandez 2 IP , 0 H .1 W , 2 K's ......
Stanek 1 IP , 0 H , 0 W , 2 K's .......
the Cardinals lucked out with Reynolds hit by the base hit by Cruz.......Ferguson has zero business pitching with the game on the line.......
Cardinals back to .500 ...................1:15 pm starts next 2 games............LET'S GO CARDINALS !!!!!!!!!!!!
pruman91
- interviewing new NL's daily....I really really am
Liam Doyle also ....................These 10 farm systems have the best pitching prospects
This story is the third in a series in which MLB Pipeline ranks the Top 10 MLB farm systems by position: Infielders | Outfielders | Pitchers | Catchers We went from the dirt to the grass ... and now to the mound. While the leaders for infielders (Brewers) and outfielders
Prospects are prospects. But man, it's nice to see interesting pitching prospects seemingly every night at every level.
Even the guys in the Nootbar trade are fascinating players. That gives me some vibes back to the cardinals franchise i know and love.
Cjinte, Odle, Roby back now, Eagan, Mathews, Franklin, Clarke, Fajardo, Kuhns, Molina. Sheesh. Not even counting an interestig player like McGreevy whose already up.