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The STL Cardinals Thread - Is It The Offseason Yet?


CWood21

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Just now, tttmikeb said:

Maybe that's why we took 2 OF in the Rule 5 draft?  Used our picks for someone else, aka Tampa Bay?

We're dealing at least one OFer, if not two before the end of the offseason.  Looking at our organizational depth chart:

St. Louis: Pham, Fowler, Ozuna, Martinez, Grichuk
Memphis: Bader, O'Neill, Garcia, Selma, Moreno
Springfield: Mercado, Arozarena, etc.

There will be a trickle-down affect from the moves.  Once Grichuk is dealt, Bader slides into St. Louis as the backup CF and Mercado gets pushed to Memphis.

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7 minutes ago, tttmikeb said:

Maybe that's why we took 2 OF in the Rule 5 draft?  Used our picks for someone else, aka Tampa Bay?  Well, at least one of them.  Moreno came from Tampa, so that wouldn't make sense.  Ugh, I'm so confused.

Possibly.  Honestly, I think the slow-playing situation with the Rays has more to do with potentially adding Longoria.  I think right now, the Cardinals prefer Manny Machado and Josh Donaldson to Longoria, and they're not really wanting to commit to Longoria until they have a definitive answer on those two.  Acquiring Longoria doesn't keep them from landing Machado, as they can slot Machado at SS and move DeJong to 2B which allows them to trade Kolten Wong.  But acquiring Longoria pretty much closes the book on Donaldson.

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1 minute ago, CWood21 said:

Possibly.  Honestly, I think the slow-playing situation with the Rays has more to do with potentially adding Longoria.  I think right now, the Cardinals prefer Manny Machado and Josh Donaldson to Longoria, and they're not really wanting to commit to Longoria until they have a definitive answer on those two.  Acquiring Longoria doesn't keep them from landing Machado, as they can slot Machado at SS and move DeJong to 2B which allows them to trade Kolten Wong.  But acquiring Longoria pretty much closes the book on Donaldson.

That makes sense.  Although, I'm not so much confused by the delay with Tampa as I am that we're already loaded with OF prospects, we're actively trying to move some to break up a logjam, and we just drafted two of them to play at AAA even though neither have played above A-ball.  Maybe I'm missing something, but that seems very odd.

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1 minute ago, tttmikeb said:

That makes sense.  Although, I'm not so much confused by the delay with Tampa as I am that we're already loaded with OF prospects, we're actively trying to move some to break up a logjam, and we just drafted two of them to play at AAA even though neither have played above A-ball.  Maybe I'm missing something, but that seems very odd.

I honestly wouldn't look at them as more than organizational depth at this point.  The best thing the Cardinals can do is get their young players consistent AB.  Right now, St. Louis has three OF in Memphis who need consistent AB in Harrison Bader, Tyler O'Neill, Jose Adolis Garcia.  The problem is we need to figure out what we have in Oscar Mercado, and him repeating AA doesn't really solve that issue.  He needs to go to Memphis to figure out if last year was real.  I wouldn't look at Selma or Moreno as anything more than 4th and 5th OFers.  Organizational depth.

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1 minute ago, CWood21 said:

I was just coming to post that.  Thanks, CWood.  You're right...it clears up a lot.  I mean, it's still very interesting for us to add to a position group where we're already stacked.  But, if that's who was available and they like them, then they should take a shot.  I think the biggest takeaway for me was that they don't have to play at AAA.  That makes much more sense for these prospects.

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1 hour ago, CWood21 said:

Yeah, Munoz is the better of the two prospects.  Munoz ranked 13th according to MLB.com  and 16th according to FanGraphs although I think FanGraphs was from last year.  Seems that his future lies at third base, which is a positional weakness of the Cardinals.  Strong arm should make him a good defender there.  Solid swing, with projection for power seems like a pretty good gamble to make.  Schrock is an all-hit 2B with limited defensive abilities and no power.  Probably nothing more than trade fodder with Kolten Wong already under contract.

I went back and dug some more on Munoz after reading your guys takes. Seems like better prospect than I thought, especially if power develops. He looks like a plus defender for 3B...

 

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Rosenthal just on MLB network:

- Says we're just not taking no for an answer on Donaldson, says Blue Jays are highly unlikely to move him though, as they're pursuing Lorenzo Cain now. They want to compete. Says we'd have to blow them away to sway them...

- Says still talking to Baltimore on Machado along with White Sox

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12 hours ago, kgarrett12486 said:

So with the starting OF set now, how do you guys see it? I know team sources have said Fowler will move to RF and Pham will be CF...

I would put Fowler in LF and Ozuna in RF. Don't think Fowler has the arm for RF, while Ozuna has a legit arm...

At this point, I think you leave Ozuna in LF.  I think there's a level of comfort there, and it also probably less likely to rub Fowler the wrong way.  Apparently his preference is to play in RF if he is moved out of CF.

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1 hour ago, kgarrett12486 said:

Looks like we're out on Machado now. We never made a formal offer due to being told there would be no 72 hour window to try to negotiate/extend him. Smart play...

Read this article. Orioles owner is so paranoid of Yankees lol...

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/12/latest-on-manny-machado.html

I think saying they're out is probably a bit premature.  I'm sure they had some general discussions, and the Cardinals asked if they would give a negotiation window and the Orioles said no.  At that point, the Cardinals probably said they weren't willing to do a deal without getting a sense of what Machado was seeking.  I'd imagine they'll revisit Machado some point later.  I don't think the Orioles will deal Machado to the White Sox as long as the threat that Machado might be re-routed to the Yankees.

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