Redbird Droppings: 2025 Pitching Options

This week’s Redbird Droppings looks at some ideas for the rotation

Plus, is Arenado staying, arbitration updates, and contract news

Pitchers and catchers are reporting, and it begs the question: how are the Cardinals going to get innings for all their starters? I look at a few options. Plus, it sounds like Arenado won’t be moved. The Cardinals had their arbitration hearings and bring in 3 guys on minor league deals. And a look at some former Cardinals.

6-man rotation?
Since it appears that the Cardinal will not be trading anyone from the rotation, there needs to be a way to get some of the young guys innings while keeping the value of the guys with expiring contracts. As of right now, the rotation is Sonny Gray, Erick Fedde, Andre Pallante, Miles Mikolas, and Steven Matz. That leaves MLB-ready guys like Michael McGreevy, Gordon Graceffo, Zack Thompson, and Drew Rom off the roster, along with guys like Tink Hence, Quinn Mathews, Sem Robberse, and Ian Bedell who are all close to ready.

The way I see it, there are 3 options: a piggyback system, alternating starts, or a 6-man rotation.

The traditional piggyback would be setting 2 pitchers to pitch a majority of the game; the Cardinals had a phase where they did this in the low minors to limit pitch counts/innings and to allow all their starters to get into games. The issue is slotting the piggyback into the current rotation; you won’t piggyback a veteran.

You could alternate starts. Basically, guys like Gray, Fedde, and Pallante would pitch on normal days and then Mikolas/McGreevy would be slotted into the 4 spot and Matz/Graceffo into the 5th; the first time through the rotation would go to Mikolas/Matz, then the next time through goes to McGreevy/Graceffo. On their off turns, the pitchers would come out of the bullpen in long relief.

There are a couple of issues with this plan. First off, you’d have to convince Mikolas and Matz to buy in; both have had issues with injuries and consistency over the last few years and this could help them stay on the field. The second issue is the relief appearances. If there are no long relief opportunities, it could be 10 days between starts; they could get rusty sitting that long. It also requires the pitcher to be able to switch between long warmups for starting and quick warmups for relieving; not all pitchers are able to do this, especially starters that are used to long warmups.

That leaves the 6-man rotation. This is complicated too, as you don’t want to limit the starts of the top 2 or 3 guys (depending on which version of Pallante we get); you’d want to keep them on their normal 5 day schedule. The other 3 guys would have an extra couple of days between starts. Again, it would allow Mikolas and Matz more time to recover and possibly limit injuries. It would also limit the innings of the 6th starter, who the team probably wants to gradually build up.

The biggest issue is it only opens one rotation spot when you have multiple guys to fill it. It’s almost guaranteed that other guys would get starts because no pitching staff goes without injuries over a full season.

The best option could be a piggyback 6th starter, which would allow 2 young guys the chance to pitch while also giving a little rest to the bullpen; if the 2 starters could go 4 innings a piece, then you only have an inning of true relief every 6th day.

I’m worried the Cardinals won’t consider any of these options, as all of them are non-traditional; it’s funny, because the Dodgers are talking 6-man rotation and their pitching options are much better than the Cardinals. Hopefully Chaim Bloom is open to this and pushes it against the old-school guys that are still in the front office this season.

Weekly Arenado Update
It looks like Nolan Arenado will at least start camp with the Cardinals. The Boston Red Sox were considered the front runner to land Arenado, but they required the Cardinals to eat a large chunk of the contract. Per Jeff Passasn (paywall), they had a set number that they’d take on and it looks like the Cardinals wouldn’t eat that much. The Sox shifted to Alex Bregman, who they signed to a 3 year, $120M contract.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees both showed interested, but they were considered longshots to make a deal. The Angels could be in the market for a third baseman with Anthony Rendon out for a while (again). The Tigers might have been a possibility, as they made a run at Bregman that came up short.

Well, John Mozeliak has said any trade talks are dead and Arenado is likely to start the season with the team. It’s good and bad; he’s still a solid player, just not at the salary they are paying him. He’s going to be blocking third from Nolan Gorman, which starts the domino effect. Gorman sees time as second and DH, meaning Brendan Donovan gets more time in the outfield, meaning Victor Scott II gets less time in center and Alec Burleson sees his time as DH/LF cut, meaning Thomas Saggese starts in the minors.

As of right now, I give Arenado a 25% chance of being traded, and that number will decrease everyday it doesn’t happen.

Arbitration Outcomes
The Cardinals had their 3 arbitration hearings and walked away with a win and 2 losses; the arbitrator ruled in favor of the team against Donovan, while ruling in favor of Lars Nootbaar and Pallante in their hearings. All three salaries have been updated on the Salary Matrix.

New Cardinals:
The Cardinals added a trio of pitchers on minor league deals.

• Nick Anderson has a chance to make the team out of spring training; he could make $1.1M if he makes roster. He also has an upward mobility clause, meaning he can opt out of contract if another team gives him a Major League job. I think he’s got a good shot though, as the team did nothing to address the bullpen that lost a couple of guys. He’s got a 3.18 ERA across 158.1 MLB innings for his career.
• Rob Kaminsky rejoins the organization after spending 2024 in Seattle; he’s pretty much roster depth (although familiar roster depth) at this point. He’s a long-shot to make the roster.
• Curtis Taylor is a little more of a mystery; he’s a journeyman reliever that’s gotten as high as Triple A ball. He was drafted by the Diamondbacks in 2016; they traded him to the Rays after the 2017 season. 2 years later he was traded to the Blue Jays. His 2 year stint ended when he was selected in the minor league portion of the Rule V Draft by the Nationals. He lasted a season with Washington before becoming a free agent after 2022. He split 2023 in the Cubs organization and the Twins before going to Mexico in 2024. He’s got a mid-90s fastball that can hit 98-99 that he pairs with a pretty good slider. Since he’s doesn’t have MLB experience, I’d say he’s between Anderson and Kaminsky for chances to make the MLB team.

Former Cardinals:
A few former Cardinals signed some new deals.

• John Brebbia received a 1 year, $2.25M deal with the Tigers; he’s also getting a club option of $4M with a $500k buyout.
• Jason Heyward also gets a 1 year deal; the Padres are paying him $1M for 2025. He’ll receive an additional $50k for each plate appearance threshold: 200, 250, 300, 350, 400.
• Catcher Tres Barrera signed a minor league deal with the Rays; he’s been invited to camp. He spent 2024 playing ball in Mexico.
• Reliever Luis Garcia got a minor league deal with camp invite from the Dodgers; he started 2024 with the Angels, but was flipped at the deadline to the Red Sox.

Since last week, we’ve gotten the details on Harrison Bader‘s contract with the Minnesota Twins; he’ll receive a $4M base with a $750k signing bonus for 2025; there is a $10M mutual option with a $1.5M buyout. The buyout goes up another $1.5M with incentives ($200k at 400, 425, 450 PA; $450k at 475, 500). There is also a $500k assignment bonus if he’s traded.

Don’t forget to check out the Cardinals Prospect Tracker and Spring Training TV and Radio Schedule.