Baseball

Redbird Droppings: Priorities 1, 2, and 3

Redbird Droppings analyzes priorities 1, 2, and 3: Nolan Arenado

Redbird Droppings

The Cardinals just completed the Winter Warm-Up, and the normal flow of news is a little slower than past years. They talk Arenado, some names that have popped up in trade rumors, a look at arbitration, and some former Cardinals news.

Arenado Non-News
OK, it’s not all the same stuff with Nolan Arenado, but it pretty much is. Let’s start with what we already know.

  • The Cardinals want to cut payroll and Arenado is the guy to go; he’s also wanting out after the Cardinals declared they aren’t going to compete in 2025 (they didn’t declare that outright though).
  • Arenado revealed he’d be willing to move to first base with a new team
  • Arenado gives 6 teams he’d approve a trade to: Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres.
  • The Astros engaged the Cardinals in trade talks, but Arenado blocked the trade; he wanted to wait and see what else came about.

Since the winter meetings, we’ve learned the Yankees proposed sending Marcus Stroman to the Cardinals Arenado; I’m sure there would have been some money moving in the deal. The Cardinals killed it without even checking with Arenado; the money didn’t make sense for a team cutting payroll. Even if the Cardinals were interested, we don’t know if Arenado would have approved it.

Boston is the most recent team interested, but they can’t do the deal with their roster as is. They have Rafael Devers at third and Triston Casas at first. Casas has seen his name pop up in trade rumors, but it wouldn’t be in a deal with the Cardinals; they know they’ll get more for him in a separate deal. The question would be where would they play Arenado? He’s the better third baseman, but the Red Sox have stated they are committing to keeping Devers at third.

Some other teams are interested, but they are fringe playoff teams: the Royals and the Tigers are both interested. I just don’t see Arenado approving trades to either teams unless this were to happen in March. And just for the record, the Tigers are in on Alex Bregman.

What’s the holdup? John Mozeliak said over the weekend that the Cardinals #1 priority (and #2 and #3) is to trade Arenado; Mozeliak told the media he’s hamstrung on adjusting the roster until the Cardinals offload the $74M that’s owed to Arenado. The issue is Alex Bregman, the other top guy on the market. Bregman and Arenado aren’t that far apart as players, but the edge definitely goes to Bregman right now since he hasn’t started to decline yet and he’s 3 years younger; teams will make him the priority, with Arenado as the fallback option.

What’s funny about the whole thing? Hearing Bill DeWitt Jr say they won’t have to cut payroll in other spots if Arenado isn’t traded. If Mo can’t make a move because he needs money, is DeWitt just going to run out the team as is? Is he going to allow Mo to at least bring in a reliver or 2 and a bench bat? There is a disconnect between the owner and POBO, and that goes back to many of the issues we’ve seen the last few years. Hopefully that disconnect will disappear when Chaim Bloom takes over.

Other Trade Options
There are other trade options for the Cardinals, and some of them just make too much sense.

The Tigers and the Indians have checked on a couple of Cardinal starters: Erick Fedde and Steven Matz. Both pitchers should start the season on a different team, and for different reasons.

Fedde should be moved just for the fact that the Cardinals could get something in return; he pitched very well last season and is only due $7.5M. I would think quite a few teams would be interested, especially smaller market clubs.

Matz would need to have some of his contract eaten, but he’s had stints where he’s pitched well with the Cardinals in the rotation. He’d make a good back end starter for borderline contenders.

Ryan Helsley‘s name keeps popping up in trade rumors; the Cardinals stated earlier in the off-season that Helsley wouldn’t be traded, but, like Fedde, he’s an affordable guy on a 1-year deal who’s coming off a good season. There was reported interest from the Blue Jays and Diamondbacks; the Blue Jays signed Jeff Hoffman, so they are probably out. The Orioles and the Braves were both in on Hoffman but passed for medical reasons; both could be interested in Helsley as well.

Arbitration
We know the Cardinals agreed to terms with 3 of their 6 arbitration eligible players; here’s the remaining 3, filing information, and what MLB Trade Rumors predicted:

  • Lars Nootbaar (3.076): Filed at $2.95M, team filed at $2.45MM; predicted $2.5M
  • Brendan Donovan (3.000): Filed at $3.3M, team filed at $2.85MM; predicted $3.6M
  • Andre Pallante (2.145): Filed at $2.1M, team filed at $1.925MM; predicted $2.3M

It’s interesting that both Donovan and Pallante filed for less than MLBTR predicted. The Cardinals and Donovan explored an extension, but those talks fell through hours before the deadline. They also approached Nootbaar about an extension, but those talks went nowhere. Both players have had their names pop up in trade rumors, but they are seen as core guys the team wants to build around.

The Cardinals are a file and trial team, so don’t expect any deals prior to spring training.

Some former Cardinals were part of the arbitration process:

Former Cardinals
A lot of former Cardinals were on the move the last few weeks, including a few guys moving into coaching roles…

Around the Web

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

error: Content is protected !!