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

[Jocephus]

i honestly hope there are empty seats on opening day. i hope edmonds, and others, don't show up to ride around in cars. the org needs to be embarrassed further. i dont even care what they do with arenado. him being on the team or not doesn't change the fact the team will be bad and part of me hopes they have to eat the money on an aging superstar. i get that stl "cant behave like lad or nyy", i get that people don't want mo to sign free agents but i also have no reason to think that dewitt will give bloom any room for a big FA signing(s). i know bernie is bernie and all but he seems to think that trimming the fat is good and that once a base of talent has been established then the org will fill in the gaps with FA signings thus bringing payroll back up and i don't see that at all. theres no doubt in my mind they are going full TB model. there's a reason they got bloom. they don't want his experience with a big budget club like boston, they want him for his experience with TB. so, like so many things in our current timeline, green line go up is the only thing that matters and that leaves a really [expletive] product to consume. add to that, stl doesn't have fun players to watch. i mean, sure, winn seems solid, i like donovan as a ballplayer etc but these are complimentary pieces.

[Spider John]

How good do you think “the kids” are

[Fan_In_NY]

I get the "let the young guys play" approach in general, but good God. Not a single MLB FA? CF will be the same [expletive] show it was last year with zero insurance? Kyle Leahy is our best RHP in the bullpen besides Helsley? Yikes.

To the point above, why not sign a veteran RHP for the bullpen so they can either:

1. Have him step in when Helsley is traded
or
2. Flip at the deadline if he's doing well

My gut tells me, without looking up his stats, that Kenley Jansen would be a decent, low risk, low budget, one year signing. That won't mess with the Bloom-ing Onion leadership transition plan, and it would provide some veteran leadership in the bullpen.

Cards are playing with fire a bit with Helsley. They saw what the Brewers got for Williams and I guess felt that they could get more mid-season. And as long as Helsley stays healthy he will have value. One of the benefits of every closer/reliever in baseball signing with the Dodgers is that those guys didnt got to bad teams that are going to sell and flood the closers market closer to the deadline. But Helsley gets hurt and the Cards missed out on a possibly back end top 100 prospect that that will hurt a bit.

And this comment about the fact that the Cardinals haven't gotten creative with signing guys that can in turn have value at the deadline is a real missed opportunity. Again no creativity because its clear the edict is not to spend any money. They could grab someone for $5M, pay them essentially $3M before trading them at the deadline for some teams 8th and 14th best prospect. $3M cost to buy some prospects - rich teams do that with ease.

For years I felt the Cards missed out on some interesting minor league free agents, or guys you can invite to spring training camp because their roster was pretty rigid - not much opportunity for someone to break into the roster so it wasn't a good landing spot for players trying to make a squad. Now basically the Cards have picked up 1 waiver bullpen arm and 1 minor league free agent in the bullpen and nothing else. They have nearly a whole bullpen with options - they can get creative and be a draw for guys looking to make a team...and still nothing. Not sure if its lack of creativity, lack of scouting, lack of relationships with agents, or terrible spring training facilities - but they certainly aren't taking advantage of the ability to give some opportunities with the roster.

[jagtrader]

The Cardinals pissed away the Arenado/Goldschmidt years because they wasted half their payroll on mediocre starters out of fear of an innings shortage. Maybe there's a lesson there.

[heyzeus]

Hey, we just acquired our first MLB player of the offseason! He...uh, is 28 and has played 9 major league games (10 PAs).

[Jocephus]

mo bringing the mayo

[TGantz]

He may play like mayonnaise, but I'm glad we have a RH CF option.

[sighyoung]

Hey, we just acquired our first MLB player of the offseason! He...uh, is 28 and has played 9 major league games (10 PAs).

Are you sure that Helman isn't this guy?

[WAR God]

Wow, that’s uncanny. Hahahaha

[jagtrader]

He may play like mayonnaise, but I'm glad we have a RH CF option.

With 10 big league at bats entering his age 29 season. That’s called a minor leaguer.