Some of the pitching names that I've seen thrown around in trade talks involving the Cardinals include Tarik Skubal of the Tigers, Frankie Montas of the A's, Pablo Lopez of the Marlins, and Noah Syndergaard of the Angels.
St. Louis Cardinals 2022
IlliniFan85
- Colorado Springs, CO
dgcrow
- Kelso, WA
Bummer. Mariners gave the Reds the farm for him.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Break? What break? Cardinals Nolan Gorman, Lars Nootbaar hit the cage for midseason fixes
During All-Star week, young batters hit the cage to maximize their swing or correct it, and the results were on display with back-to-back homers Friday.
Derrick Goold
WASHINGTON — The first day of Nolan Gorman’s All-Star break began at an airport before sunrise, included four flights, two stops at the Dallas airport, and several dozen swings in a Baton Rouge, La., batting cage. It ended in Phoenix with a keener feel at the plate and a new bat model on the lathe.
By the time Gorman’s first flight took off, his teammate Lars Nootbaar had just finished taking at least 150 swings at a cage south of Los Angeles.
With four days between games, he was going to put the fix in break.
“When I didn’t start the season the way I wanted to,” Nootbaar said, “the only way around it is to work through it.”
The Cardinals’ young left-handed hitters went in different directions during their midseason break, but they sought to reach the same destination: greater production. And they took plenty of swings to get there. Manager Oliver Marmol took note of the early returns while the team was in Toronto, made it part of his lineup for the team’s first game in Washington, and six innings later saw affirmation of all their work.
Gorman and Nootbaar hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning to turn a tight game into a textbook win, 6-2, against the Nationals at their park.
Gorman’s two-run shot and Nootbaar’s blue dart after Washington flubbed a popup backed starter Miles Mikolas. Like Adam Wainwright before him, Mikolas (8-8) rebounded from a “clunker” in Cincinnati with the Cardinals’ second consecutive quality start and, not coincidentally, their second consecutive win by a starter. For Gorman, a rookie, the home run was his second in as many games, his second since trying out a tailor-made bat that is form-fitted to his body movements and swing. And he doesn’t even have that bat yet.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Cardinals notebook: Surging Paul DeJong slugs way into deadline decisions
Cardinals are fielding interest in other middle infielders, spurring conversation about DeJong's promotion as his slugging percentage perks to .500 at Class AAA.
Derrick Goold
TORONTO — As the trade deadline nears and the Cardinals consider moves that could reshape the present and future look of their middle infield, the performance of one minor-league shortstop has thrust his name into those internal plans.
Paul DeJong has entered the chat.
The former All-Star, demoted to Class AAA Memphis earlier this season after a slow start, hit a home run Wednesday night, his third homer in as many days to start this week. He has 17 homers total, six since returning from a bruised hand. The power surge has the major-league club taking notice. Before homer Wednesday, DeJong hit .351 with a .784 slugging percentage in 37 at-bats this month, and in 50 games for Triple A Memphis has slugged .533 with an .840 OPS and 16 homers.
The Cardinals considered promoting him during this road trip.
“I’ll continue to say what I said when we first sent him out — to do what we wanted to do this year, he was the everyday shortstop,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “So getting him right, getting him back, is still a really good play for us. ... He’s gone about it really well, and now he’s putting together a stretch that is meaningful.”
Yup. #18 and #93 prospects in all of baseball plus two other prospects with decent potential. Castillo has 1.5 years team control. This kind of sets the pitcher market now. Montas might be a touch cheaper, but probably not by a lot, especially now since the Yankees are probably all in on Montas with Castillo off the table.
While not an exact comp, this would have been equivalent that Cardinals would have had to offer to get Castillo:
If M's can make postseason, they'd have a pretty formidable top 3 with Castillo, Ray, and Gilbert.
Has BA lowered Marte a bunch this season? They had him #12 on their preseason list and MLB has him #18 on their most current list.
It appears they have. He was on the top 15 list of farmhands of Keith Law of the Athletic, on Fangraphs, and by Kylie McDaniel of ESPN at the start of the season.
IlliniFan85
- Colorado Springs, CO
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
I looked at some other web sites and no mention of who or what the Cardinals got in return....................
IlliniFan85
- Colorado Springs, CO
It didn't say then, but says Jo Jo Romero. Whoever that is.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
JoJo Romero Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com
Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of JoJo Romero. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com
www.baseball-reference.com
JoJo Romero
Position: PitcherBats: Left • Throws: Left
5-11, 200lb (180cm, 90kg)
Team: Philadelphia Phillies (minors, 40-man)
Joseph Abel Romero, is an American professional baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball. He played for the Philadelphia Phillies from 2020 to 2022.
coming back from tommy john surgery
IlliniFan85
- Colorado Springs, CO
Ah, thank youJoJo Romero Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com
Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of JoJo Romero. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com
JoJo Romero
Position: Pitcher
Bats: Left • Throws: Left
5-11, 200lb (180cm, 90kg)
Team: Philadelphia Phillies (minors, 40-man)
Joseph Abel Romero, is an American professional baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball. He played for the Philadelphia Phillies from 2020 to 2022.
coming back from tommy john surgery
I think this was pretty much to make room for DeJong. Getting some relief pitcher depth rather than DFA'ing Sosa and getting nothing for him.
Yeah. Pretty much this. That plus Donovan has basically taken over Sosa's role and Donovan has a better bat. Here's what MLB Trade Rumors says about Romero:
Romero has appeared in 25 MLB games over the past three seasons, pitching to a 7.89 ERA in 21 2/3 innings. The 25-year-old has been quite home run prone in the big leagues, but he’s averaged nearly 95 MPH on his fastball and received decent grades on both his changeup and slider while he was a prospect.
Romero has missed the bulk of the past two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery last May, but he returned from the injured list a couple weeks ago. He’s in his second of three option seasons, so the Cards can move him between St. Louis and Memphis over the next year and a half if he holds his 40-man roster spot. St. Louis already has Genesis Cabrera, Zack Thompson, Packy Naughton and T.J. McFarland as left-handed relievers in the majors, but Romero adds a hard-throwing depth piece to the upper levels.
DeJong 2-run homer in his 2nd plate appearance back! Very happy for him, really hoping that re-set got him back to his old self.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Hudson's search for a grip on consistency illustrates Cardinals pitching bind at deadline
Right-hander, back from the injured list, saw his velocity return, his slider improve, and put in motion Saturday's 7-6 loss that ruptured on the bullpen.
Derrick Goold
WASHINGTON — Before the pitches and decisions that determined how Saturday’s game capsized on the Cardinals, there were the ones that hinted at the direction it headed and how it could have gone differently.
Dakota Hudson, back in the rotation after a brief stint on the injured list, retired the leadoff hitter in every one of his five innings. Three times he got two outs from the first two batters he faced. And the inning would drag, a runner would reach, and his pitch count climb. There were flashes of the pitcher he’s working to unveil, the pitcher the Cardinals increasingly need him to be. And then there were the familiar flares, the ones that come with a pitcher almost two years removed from elbow surgery still searching for a grip on every inning.
“I feel like this whole season has been experimental to this point,” Hudson said. “Messing with my arm slot up and down. Messing with my pitch shape and development. So, it’s been a lot of finding my way back to how I replicate my pitches. But I expect myself to be back, if not better than I was previously. It’s something that I’m working to get better. That’s how I have to view it to make sure I’m getting after it every day.”
Hudson came two outs shy of finishing the fifth inning, pulled to avoid a third plate appearance against him from Juan Soto.
That’s where game began to pivot away from the Cardinals.
Washington rallied against the bullpen, scoring six of their seven runs for a 7-6 victory after Hudson left Saturday night’s game at Nationals Park.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
BenFred: Tired Cardinals talking points won't sell with another ho-hum trade deadline
If a quiet Cardinals deadline comes and goes, these four familiar excuses will not work
Ben Frederickson
There’s time.
Maybe by the hour this newspaper hits your doorstep, the Cardinals front office will have hammered question marks into exclamation points.
Or maybe president of baseball operations John Mozeliak and his fellow decision-makers will wait and debate until the last moment before Tuesday’s 5 p.m. trade deadline to improve first-year manager Oliver Marmol’s shot at winning the division and more.
Or maybe this deadline will come to be defined by shrewd moves that don’t get celebrated much at first, but look brilliant later. Something similar to last season’s recruitment of seemingly washed up starters who helped pull a sinking team into a there-and-gone postseason appearance. But, you know, better. Bolder. Not just swapping a utility infielder for a Class-AAA reliever, like Saturday's move.
There’s time.
But if yet another ho-hum or only slightly better trade deadline comes and goes — as has been the case since 2015 — and this front office again finds itself trying to spin sticking with the status quo to fans who are forgetting what deep playoff runs feel like, the talking points are going to sell worse than Brewers jerseys at the Cardinals team store.
You know the go-to lines.
Let’s go ahead and get out in front of the worst.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Rookie Andre Pallante zeroes in vs. Nationals, asserts place in Cardinals' pitching plans
Right-hander struck out a career-high eight, pitched into the ninth for the first time as a starter and showed a harder, biting slider vs. Washington's best.
Derrick Goold
WASHINGTON — By the time he readied to face the middle of the Nationals order for the third time and Juan Soto shuffled and stretched in the batter’s box, Cardinals rookie Andre Pallante had already established his fastball. They had seen the curve and the new, revved-up zoom on the slider. He had pitch count on his side, a shutout on the scoreboard and felt “more comfortable facing” Soto & Co. than the two previous times Sunday.
He had a plan.
“Hit me if you can,” as another member of the team put it.
The hitters in the middle of Washington’s order that caused such trouble Saturday, Pallante retired in order in the seventh inning Sunday to propel his bid for a shutout. The rookie right-hander pitched eight assertive, scoreless innings to lead the Cardinals to a 5-0 victory at Nationals Park and send them home from a trying road trip with a career-high note.
Pallante struck out eight for the first time as a starter, pitched in the ninth for the first time as a starter and had the kind of outing that, given the Cardinals’ search for pitching help, could keep him as a starter. That will be part of the discussion after the Cardinals see who has been added to the team by Tuesday night when they face the Cubs an hour and 45 minutes after this year’s trade deadline.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Cardinals notebook: As trade pursuits continue, were talks with Nats caught on camera?
Cardinals exec Mozeliak and Washington GM Rizzo, televised together in a suite Sunday, had in person discussions this weekend as Soto sweepstakes continues.
Derrick Goold
WASHINGTON — With the season in full swing and team officials scattered around the country, not consolidated in the same hotel for a few December days, it’s rare for executives to be able to meet face to face for negotiations at the trade deadline.
Let alone have that meeting caught on camera for live TV.
John Mozeliak, the Cardinals’ president of baseball operations, and Washington general manager Mike Rizzo were shown together during the local broadcast of the Cardinals’ 5-0 victory Sunday at Nationals Park. The two executives at the center of one of the most-watched trade talks at the deadline chatted, shook hands and divulged no details. The content of their talks remained private, but the meeting was public. It just wasn’t their first time they had spoken in person over the weekend as Tuesday’s trade deadline nears.
Because of a fluke in the schedule that put the Cardinals in Washington for the Soto sweepstakes, Mozeliak and Rizzo met previously during the series for “discussions,” a source with knowledge described.
The Nationals are entertaining offers on several players, including young superstar Juan Soto. The Cardinals are interested in the right fielder and the Nationals, according to sources, have sought conversations with the Cardinals because of the quality of prospects in the system. The Cardinals have seven prospects ranked in Baseball America’s updated Top 100 list, and that group does not include rookie Nolan Gorman. The headline prospects, Jordan Walker and Masyn Winn, represented the Cardinals at the Futures Game, and Class AA standout Walker had his second two-homer game of the past week on Sunday.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Tipsheet: Jordan Walker shrugs off Cardinals trade talk, keeps hitting
Top Cardinals prospect Jordan Walker is the subject of minute-to-minute trade speculation, but he is keeping his focus on hitting baseballs really, really hard.
Jeff Gordon
The Washington Nationals covet elite Cardinals prospect Jordan Walker and understandably so.
That hapless franchise is resigned to losing star outfielder Juan Soto, who landed on the trade block after rejecting a $440 million contract offer. The Nationals see Walker as a desirable long-term replacement.
Walker, 20, launched four homers in his last three games to build further trade interest. But he is trying to ignore the speculation centered on him and dynamic Springfield Cardinals teammate Masyn Winn.
“I don’t really think too much into it,” Walker told MLB.com. “I just feel like that’s going to be too much to think about during the season when it’s already tough. Whatever happens, happens. I just want to play my game. Masyn and I, people have asked us that before, but we really don’t think too much about it.”
Walker, who is widely ranked as one of the Top 10 prospects across minor league baseball, is hitting .305 with 24 doubles, 12 homers, 15 stolen bases and an on-base plus slugging percentage of .905 this season.
Winn joined him at Double-A Springfield after starting the season at advanced Class A Peoria. Overall Winn is batting .304 with 24 doubles, nine homers, 28 stolen bases (in 32 tries) and an OPS of .867.
He is a shortstop with blazing speed, a rifle arm and additional potential as a pitcher.