Mozeliak: "Some Changes" Coming For Cardinals, But Not A Rebuild

[Radbird]

The Cards put themselves in this “awful” position. With the right moves in the next 48 hours and a revamped offseason strategy, perhaps this can be a one-year blip. We’ll see.

#LessonsLearned?

[phins]

The Cards put themselves in this “awful” position. With the right moves in the next 48 hours and a revamped offseason strategy, perhaps this can be a one-year blip. We’ll see.

#LessonsLearned?

That’s the hope. Even with this calamity of a season, their fundamentals give the impression of a team that should be .500.

You can rebuild that with a few savvy moves and some better sequencing luck.

[haltz]

The Cardinals think the going rate for rentals is CYA winners and all star outfielders so I don't blame the other teams for thinking prices are too high.

[Slider]

The Cardinals think the going rate for rentals is CYA winners and all star outfielders so I don't blame the other teams for thinking prices are too high.

In potential fairness; how much of their expectations are from experience of being buyers and seeing what sellers ask/and received from others.

[Jedibaracuda]

The Cards put themselves in this “awful” position. With the right moves in the next 48 hours and a revamped offseason strategy, perhaps this can be a one-year blip. We’ll see.

#LessonsLearned?

I feel like we need a near complete overhaul with the pitching for this to be a one year blip and overhauls usually don’t take place in the offseason. These problems have been looming for a while now and have come to a head this season. A combination of paying mediocre pitchers and hoping they turn into great ones and a failure to really develop the pitching we have in the farm system once they hit the majors. It was only a matter of time before we had a year like this. It’s just too bad that this and the meltdown of our entire bullpen had to happen when our offense is finally starting to look promising.

[ghostrunner]

Found/redicovered(?) this article that @JL21 wrote a couple years ago on Mo's record. It's a good rundown.

https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2021/7/9/2 ... -cardinals

Check the "selling off assets" section in particular. Not great outside of Edmonds for Freese.

[Felix The Cat]

The Cardinals think the going rate for rentals is CYA winners and all star outfielders so I don't blame the other teams for thinking prices are too high.

In potential fairness; how much of their expectations are from experience of being buyers and seeing what sellers ask/and received from others.

While this is true, how often when we were buyers at the deadline saw a player we (as fans) coveted but that player went to another team for a package that we presumably could've matched? And the explanation given was: "the asking price was too high"

I don't doubt that's true and it's possible the seller in those previous cases blinked as the deadline approached and settled for something less rather than nothing. The same could happen in reverse here.

[Felix The Cat]

I think there's more pressure on a front office in sell mode to do something substantial at the deadline. Buying teams can muddle and some fans will focus their attention on the actual games down the stretch. Fans of losing teams have nothing to look forward to aside from the trading deadline and maybe a few Sept callups. So whatever happens at the deadline gets a lot more scrutiny from the fanbase.

[Radbird]

5 trades that should happen, but won't

Not happening but interesting scenario nonetheless.

Yanks swing a hot corner blockbuster

Yankees get: 3B Nolan Arenado
Cardinals get: OF Jasson Domínguez (Yankees' No. 1 prospect/No. 40 overall), RHP Will Warren (No. 7), RHP Randy Vásquez (No. 12), RHP Clayton Beeter (No. 13)


Why it should happen: The Yankees are in desperate need of production at third base -- veteran Josh Donaldson was struggling mightily at the plate before seeing his season cut short by a calf strain. Entering play Saturday, New York had gotten a slash line of .208/.288/.379 from the hot corner this year. That’s not going to get it done for a team that has perpetual championship aspirations.

Enter one of the game’s elite third basemen, Arenado. The Cardinals came into this season with high hopes, and if you suggested an Arenado trade as a possibility during Spring Training, you’d be laughed right out of the ballpark. But as things stand now, St. Louis is a postseason longshot amid a deeply disappointing season.

On top of that, Arenado will be owed more than $100 million over his age-33 through age-36 seasons. The age curve turns from friend to foe on long megadeals in virtually every case, and while Arenado keeps himself in great shape, time won’t be on his side as he heads toward the twilight of his career.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals are in need of MLB-ready or near-ready pitching prospects, of which the Yanks’ farm system is well-stocked. And trading Arenado would enable another Nolan to slide right over to third base -- the slugging Nolan Gorman was a third baseman until getting to the Majors.

On the other side of the equation, with New York’s “win now” mentality, the Yankees could go from fringe postseason contender to a potential World Series candidate by acquiring Arenado now that Aaron Judge is back in the lineup and a Nestor Cortes return to the starting rotation is imminent.

Why it won’t: The Cardinals will be loath to part with Arenado because the franchise hasn’t often been a Trade Deadline seller in recent years and certainly could feel this season is an aberration in the standings. It appears that's what's happening, since general manager John Mozeliak said on Saturday that St. Louis is definitely not moving Arenado right now.

The Yankees will be loath to part with Domínguez, in particular. The 20-year-old outfielder is their No. 1 prospect per MLB Pipeline (No. 40 overall), and has been compared with the likes of Mickey Mantle, Bo Jackson and Mike Trout at a similar age.

Sure, Arenado would be a tremendous addition in the Bronx, but the cost may be too high in the eyes of general manager Brian Cashman and Co.

-- Manny Randhawa

[Slider]

The Cardinals think the going rate for rentals is CYA winners and all star outfielders so I don't blame the other teams for thinking prices are too high.

In potential fairness; how much of their expectations are from experience of being buyers and seeing what sellers ask/and received from others.

While this is true, how often when we were buyers at the deadline saw a player we (as fans) coveted but that player went to another team for a package that we presumably could've matched? And the explanation given was: "the asking price was too high"

I don't doubt that's true and it's possible the seller in those previous cases blinked as the deadline approached and settled for something less rather than nothing. The same could happen in reverse here.

Fair point. There have been numerous trades that we could have easily matched the asking price without giving up anything of significance.

I would also say, it’s wise to ask for the moon and drop from there. Start to low; you will get nothing. Maybe the overall issue is “are they good evaluators?”