Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - ALERT: St. Louis Cardinals’ Willson Contreras Trade Rumors EXPLODE After Pete Alonso News—Next?!

Starting point is 00:00:00 Interesting Cardinals first baseman, Wilson Contreras, is picking up with one major market team, reportedly interested in multiple players on the St. Louis roster. You are Locked-on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, there, Cardinals fans. I'm J.D. Hapford, a former national radio sports anchor, born and raised in St. Louis and a lifetime Cardinals fan. And welcome to another episode of Lockstone Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. the number one sports podcast network.

Starting point is 00:00:37 Thank you to our everydayers for being here with us. Newcomers, welcome in. Hope you enjoy the content. This is a show serving Cardle Nation and giving you all the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode being brought to by Fandall. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit Vandal.com, the place your NFL live vets all season long. On today's show, Rule 5 draft, big deal.

Starting point is 00:00:58 Happened yesterday. It took place on Wednesday. Cardinals ended up making not one but two selections that we need to discuss we'll introduce you to those particular players. They also lost a couple of guys too. But we're going to start with the latest news and rumors out of the winter meetings where everybody has has taken off. They're no longer in Orlando. It ended up being a pretty quiet winter meetings for the for the Cardinals. They didn't sign anybody. They didn't trade anybody. I feel like not as much happened as

Starting point is 00:01:29 maybe we thought was going to happen. I'm talking about not just with the Cardinals, but like league wide, yet a couple of big signings, right? But as far as a whole bunch of trades and stuff going down, we didn't really see that. Now, the Cardinals were mentioned a lot. They were brought up a lot. Manager Ali Marmal was there. Heim Bloom was there.

Starting point is 00:01:47 Plenty of discussion about things that the Cardinals might do at some point. But in the end, kind of crickets, right? Nobody was traded away. But the rumors, they just continue to swirl about what could happen with this Cardinals roster. A lot of teams interested in Brendan Donovan. Jojo Romero's name's been brought up a ton. Nolan Aronado, a little bit quiet on that front right now, but we kind of expected that because they got to figure out the third base market and there was really nothing as far as third baseman go that happened over the winter meetings. But the name that's starting to pop up more frequently

Starting point is 00:02:23 now is Wilson Contreras. And that's thanks to the big news of the day on Wednesday, which involved the New York Mets and the Baltimore Orioles in case you haven't heard first baseman Pete Alonzo decided enough is enough with these games with the Mets taking his talents to Baltimore joining the Orioles on a reported five-year $155 million contract and I say, Bravo to you, Pete Alonzo. I say bravo to you. When it's official, the deal will mark the highest average annual value given to a first baseman. It'll also be the highest AAB in Orioles history and the second largest financial commitment they've ever made. Last time they did something of this magnitude was actually signing the Baltimore fans probably would like to forget.

Starting point is 00:03:09 And that's when they signed Chris Davis to that seven year $161 million deal back in 2016. That did not work out in the long term. But I'm happy for Pete Alonzo. It blew me away that he wasn't getting the interest that I think he deserves, didn't get it. last year, wasn't getting it so far this year as far as we knew. And then Baltimore is like, yo, Mets, you don't want this guy. All right. Well, we'll take this dude who just mashes every season. So now that the Mets don't have their first baseman anymore, what, oh, what will they do? And I really am kind of tired of hearing the narrative like, oh, the poor Mets, I don't feel sorry

Starting point is 00:03:50 for the Mets whatsoever. Not at all. They've got tons of money that they've spent on tons of other players. I don't feel bad for them whatsoever. like you didn't show any attention to Pete Alonzo and that you wanted him. He's gone. Whose fault is that? Diaz, he opted out. You didn't want to be there. Wanted to go to the Dodgers.

Starting point is 00:04:09 All right. You guys went and signed Devin Williams. Like, why are we feeling sorry for the Mets right now? Like, they've got plenty of other options. We'll get to that in a bit. But this is where Wilson Contraris comes into play.

Starting point is 00:04:20 Once again, this is a situation where the Cardinals, they don't have to trade Willie. It's not something they got to do. He's under contract for a couple of more seasons. and genuinely seems to enjoy playing in St. Louis. But veteran player wants to win. How many more years does he have left? I mean, he's not, you know, Paul Goldsmith age,

Starting point is 00:04:41 but, you know, this is like the last big contract that he's probably going to sign, which is what, you know, he signed with the Cardinals. Things aren't going the way that they'd hoped it would. So you can't really blame him for being interested in going to a team that is in a win-now mode. Don't blame them whatsoever. Cardals are focused more on the future. That's what they've decided to do. It didn't work out with the guys that they brought in.

Starting point is 00:05:07 And it makes going to a team like the Mets a better situation. You know, it's something that would interest. A guy like a Wilson Contreras would be more appealing. At least it would be to me. Now, we haven't heard Wilson Contreras say that. He's like, yeah, I would love to. But we've heard he's more open to being traded. I mean, he could stay in St. Louis and hit, what, third, surrounded by Alec Berlson,

Starting point is 00:05:33 Mason, Wynne, Yvonne Herrera, Noah Gorman, or he could go to the Big Apple and join a lineup that features Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor, Marcus Semyon, and perhaps other big name guys that they might bring in for free agents. Cody Bellinger is still out there. We're hearing them being mentioned with Kyle Tucker now, Alex Bragman. hasn't signed with Boston yet. That's another big one. Pitching wise, Michael King, Framber Valdez,

Starting point is 00:06:03 closer Robert Suarez. These are the names that, you know, are being kicked around now that the Mets might be interested in. And, you know, these are the guys that are kind of waiting for the Mets to just freak out and go on some wild spending spree to atone for the loss of Alonzo and Diaz. If I was them, I would be like, hold on, hold on. Let's pump the brakes for a second. but that's not normally their way.

Starting point is 00:06:29 They'll probably go out and get a little wild. And the Cardinals are also hoping to take advantage of that situation. Perhaps they can, you know, pry some of their juicy prospects away from the Mets in exchange for Contreras. But it doesn't stop there. No, no, no, no. Will Sampon of the athletic reports that the Mets may also have interest in outfielder Lars Nudfar.

Starting point is 00:06:47 Willie would help fill the void left by Alonzo and for far less money, obviously. And then Newpar would be someone to help fill the spot. lot left by the trade of Brandon Nemo to the Rangers for Marcus Semyon. Now, Contreras, as I mentioned, under contract for the next two years, club option for 2028, so it could be three if they wanted to be, set to make 18 million next season, 18.5 in 2027. They, from all the reports, the Mets didn't want to go to a longer contract the way Baltimore was willing to.

Starting point is 00:07:22 So something like this, where it's two years, could be three if you like, like him, that seems like something they'd be more interested in. You know, Alonso's going to make an average of 31 million per. So getting 18 and 18 and a half for Wilson Contreras, that makes more sense. Now we know the Mets aren't really concerned about money, but the fact that they can land a pretty darn good right-handed hitting first baseman to help protect Juan Soto and save money that they can use in other things is probably pretty intriguing to them. On paper, it seems to make sense. Will it come to fruition? I have no idea. And I don't even know what players would come back. in return, would the Cardinals have to eat any of the contrarious money?

Starting point is 00:08:00 Probably, I would assume the Mets would ask for that. Sunny Gray, because you ate 20 million, got you a top five prospect and an MLB ready pitcher. The Mets, as I brought up, have been rumored to be after, you know, names like Michael King and Framber Valdez. They've also got a lot of young arms already in their rotation. Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong, Brandon Sprout, veterans, Kodaisanga, Clay Holmes, David Peterson, Chalmaniah, you're not going to keep all these guys. I wouldn't suspect that they'd be trading any of the young guys, not McLean, not Tong, not Sprout, or is it Sprote?

Starting point is 00:08:37 Probably Sprote, right? Brandon Sprope. Anyway, they're probably going to hang on to those guys, but maybe one of these veterans, David Peterson, seems to be somebody that they may be willing to move. What about number 14 rank prospect? Jonathan Santucci left-hander, 22 years old. Second round pick, went 9 and 4, 3.06, ER8, high A and AA.

Starting point is 00:09:02 Maybe that's a guy. You know, you're talking about middle of your top 30 prospects. Ryan Clifford, outfielder first baseman, rank number eight, hit 29 bombs last year, drove in 93 combined at AA and AAA. Or could you go as high as their third ranked prospect, Jet Williams, who can play both the infield and the outfield. You know, you like to have somebody who can do that. The Mets already have Brett Beatty, Lador, Simeon, Luis Angelucunya, Ronnie Mauricio, Jeff McNeill.

Starting point is 00:09:32 It's a lot of infielders. They already got a lot of bodies there. Again, all pure speculation. I don't know. I haven't seen or heard any realistic names be mentioned yet. This is all speculation. This is just me looking at what they got, picking out some dudes on a list that would make sense. I don't know if High Bloom is eyeing those particular people.

Starting point is 00:09:52 I don't know if the Mets are eager to get rid of those particular people. I don't know. But we'd love to hear your thoughts on this down below. So New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, Wilson Contreras, Lars Newport, does it seem like a fit? Something you'd be into. Let me know down below in the comments section or on X. The Cardinals did add two players in the Rule 5 draft,

Starting point is 00:10:15 one of them from the Major League portion of the draft. One from the minor league portion. We'll discuss both of them coming up on Locked on Cardinals. The World Cup is coming back to North America for the first time since 1994. You got 48 teams for the first time ever. It's going to be this massive event. The World Cup, whether you're a soccer fan or not, it's a lot of fun to pay attention to. Everybody pays attention to it.

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Starting point is 00:11:48 Again, download the app, make an account, use code locked on MLB for $20 off. Swipe tap ticket, go game time. Thanks for making a lot. So, Carlins your first listen of the day. and thank you for making locked on the number one sports podcast network. You already live your team every day. Now take it up a level and go ad free. You can join the everyday or club today and get locked on Cardinals with no interruptions,

Starting point is 00:12:14 members only discord access, and more. And it's all for just five bucks a month. Are you kidding me? $50 a year you can save there as well. Go to locked on STL Cardinals. That supercast.com or check the link in the show notes to learn more. Rule 5 draft was yesterday. And there are two portions to the.

Starting point is 00:12:32 draft case you weren't familiar, the major league side, then the minor league side. The Cardinals dipped their toes into both of those and came away with a couple of new arms to add to the organization. They also lost a few players. One of them in particular, we've had on the show so sad that he is gone. But let's start with what they brought in. We'll start with the major league draft where at number, I believe it was number 11 that they had, but they ended up selecting because people can pass. You know, people could say, no, we're not making a selection. You move on, but I think they were at 11. Anyway, they selected right-handed pitcher. Matt Pushard from the Miami Marlins.

Starting point is 00:13:05 Now, when Thomas Gauvin and I from Redbird Rans, and we talked about the names that were going to be available and guys that he thought were some people that the Cardinals should be interested in, they were all pitchers, by the way. I think there was only one position player taking, everybody else was arms. He did not have Matt Pushart on his list.

Starting point is 00:13:27 The guy that both of us liked, the six-foot-eight monster known as RJ-peted, from the Tigers. He ended up going number one to the Rockies, which was a bummer. I was really hoping that he'd be somebody that would hang around. Cardinals could bring him in. I just the idea of a six foot eight, three hundred pounder up on the mouth. I just wanted to see it for myself. I thought it would be fun.

Starting point is 00:13:47 But he got taken immediately, so that sucked. But after that the guys that Thomas listed, they were still available, specifically Peyton Pellet, who ended up getting taken by the Guardians after the cartels made their selection. But the Cardinals decided instead, They were going to go with the 28-year-old pushyard instead of a younger guy. My guess being is that because when you take these guys, if you remember, you got to keep them under 26-man roster all year, or you can remove them if they are outrighted to the minors.

Starting point is 00:14:20 The drafting team will also have to pay 100 grand to the team from which they're selecting the player. If that player gets outright and they've got to be offered to the previous team back for 50 grand. So you would immediately lose 50 Gs doing it that way. If their previous team chooses to not reacquire that player, he can remain with the club that drafted him in the Rule 5 process. It can work out. But my guess is that if you're going to have a guy and you're going to select a guy that you have to keep on the 26-man roster,

Starting point is 00:14:54 you want somebody that is not like a work in progress, somebody that you kind of trust to to eat some innings for you during the major league season. Now Daniel Guerrero at STL today.com, Jeff Jones from the Belleville News Democrat, offered some info on the newest Cardinal who also fills their final spot on the 40-man roster. So the 40-man is full now at the moment. And he's going to go to the bullpen. That's where he lives, push yard. So let's talk about him.

Starting point is 00:15:25 He's a native of Maine. Let me get a picture of them. There we go. He's a native of Maine and alumnus of the University of Maine who spent six years pitching for the Black Bears. Best bear before signing as an amateur free agent with Miami in 2022. 28 years old has raced through the pros as a reliever. 3.21 ERA and 174 innings across four seasons.

Starting point is 00:15:46 Had a brief stay at AAA in 2024 before spending a full season with Class AAA Jacksonville this past season, pitched in a multi-inning role. them, racking up 73 strikeouts and 62 in a third inning, spread across 49 appearances. Flash is six pitches, including a fastball that averages 95.1 and peaked at 97.4 per stat cast. Curb ball was his most frequently used secondary pitch, made up 29.6 percent of his pitch usage behind the fastball, which was at 45.9 and ahead of an upper 80s slider at 18.6. Curveball, which average 82.9 miles per hour had a 34% whiff rate.

Starting point is 00:16:26 The ready produced a 35.2% whiff rate with his fastball and held opposing hitters to just a 163 batting average and a 202 slugging percentage when flashing it. So it sounds like there's some good stuff there. And being the fact that he's 28 years old, experienced veteran type of guy, although he hasn't been a veteran in the major. of leagues, but, you know, somebody that doesn't need to really be taught pitching, like, he knows what he's doing. And that's why, you know, I was watching on YouTube, there was a video from the baseball America guys talking about which ones do they think of the selections that were made in the Rule 5 draft of the major league side of it, who are some of the guys that, you know,

Starting point is 00:17:11 you think would stick with that particular team and will finish out the year in the major leagues. And they said Bushard was definitely one of those guys that looks like he's got to make up to do just that in the bullpen for the Cardinals. Stats are fun. You know, they all sound good. But the part that stood out to me when I go through the write-ups about this guy, it was the words multi-inning role.

Starting point is 00:17:38 You know, as bullpins become more important with starters making shorter outings, it's nice to have a few guys in the pen that aren't just one and done type of dudes. In Jeff Jones's article, he has a quote from Hein Bloom that says when you have some less experienced starters that you're going to try to support, you can't just have one-inning guys out there. It can't happen. He says, especially when you're looking at someone in the Rule 5, if you're going to put them on your team, you need to feel committed to at least trying to keep them. And it's easier to do that if you have someone who could go multiple ups, just gives the staff more options to be able to use them. You look at this rotation right now for

Starting point is 00:18:17 the Cardinals. It is lean, brother. The Cardinals have. The Cardinals have. have Matthew Libertor, Michael McGreevy, Richard Fitz, Kyle Leahy, and Andre Palante going into the season as of right now. I know it's December. Plenty of time to do some other things. Again, I've said it since the offseason began. I would expect them to bring in some sort of veteran starter at some point to put into the mix there, whether it's through free agency or a trade of some sort, hasn't happened yet. You know, they were able to get fits, which fills one spot. My guys had some injuries over the years too. The other guys, Libert's Moore, McGreevy, Leahy, Palante, they've been relatively healthy. So I feel like he kind of trust them. It's still a question mark. Still a question mark. I don't know. The dude had numbness in his hand. That's freaky. So I can't say that. Yeah, 100%. This dude's going to make 32 starts for you next year. I don't believe that whatsoever. So this rotation and experience is pretty scary. And they're likely going to be throwing a younger catcher. It's not like he got a veteran behind the plate there

Starting point is 00:19:24 that can help lead them. It's going to be Yvonne Herrera probably, Pedro Pahas, probably. And after that, it gets, you know, is Joel Pozo going to be the guy? You know, is it going to be Leonardo Bernal? Like, is it going to be Jimmy Crooks, another young guy? Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, everybody's pretty darn young. A lot of an experience there, a lot of learning on the fly. So hang on to your butts cardinals fans this could be a very bumpy ride in 2026 but we're here for it right uh the cardinals also lost minor league pitcher this was sad friend of the show kade winquist to the new york yankees uh we had kate on the show earlier this year really good dude bright future good arm sucks for the cars of the yankee swooped in and snagged him

Starting point is 00:20:15 never pitched above double a yet but he'll get a shot to play for them this year. Again, you got to keep these guys on the 26-man roster when you draft them or you got to offer them back. But that's got to be crazy, exciting for them. And we wish him the best of luck in the Bronx. And I just, you know, when I was, we were on X and I was going back and forth. And I was like, just take it easy on us. And when the Yankees face the Cardinals next year, which, you know, get a little chuckle out of. But anyway, best of luck to Cade. The Cardinals did make one final selection in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. We're going to talk about that guy next. I'm locked on Cardinals.

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Starting point is 00:22:22 Did Lockton Cardinals make your Spotify wrapped? Prove it on social media. It's secure a free month of our brand. new Everydayer Club. Just tag our national lockdown podcast network account on any social platform and we're going to drop a code to you. We'll give it to you. But then you can be one of the first

Starting point is 00:22:37 to join the Everyday Air Club. We just launched this week to get your favorite show, add free and exclusive access to the members only Discord channel. The Cardinals, after the Rule 5 draft, the Major League portion was over. They ended up making another selection.

Starting point is 00:22:53 And this was during the minor league portion when they selected right-handed pitcher Ryan Murphy from the San Francisco Giants. Once again, I'll defer to Daniel and Jeff's articles here. Murphy, 26 years old, was third in all of minor league baseball in 2021, with 164 strikeouts in just 107 and a third innings. Like that, that's good, but struggle with injuries in the interim, limited to 19 and a third innings between class low A and class double A this past season after he recovered from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent in 2024, spent most of his time in pro baseball as a starter.

Starting point is 00:23:31 Fifth round pick in the 2020 M.LB draft. He logged 17 innings in the fall after receiving an invite to pitch in the Arizona Fall League while there. The right-hander had a 5.29 ERA, struck out 13 and walked 10 in 17 innings. Before undergoing Tommy John surgery, he flashed a fastball that hovered in the lower 90s. slider ranged in the mid-80s and curveball hovered in the lower 80s, strong abilities to mix his arsenal help him maintain a strikeout rate near 29%. So again, you're taking a flyer on a guy. It's the minor league portion, so that has nothing to do with the 26-man roster. So you don't have to sweat that at all. But, you know, a guy that clearly had some talent before the injuries happened.

Starting point is 00:24:14 We know guys sometimes take a little longer to bounce back from Tommy John than others. So, you know, maybe they'll catch lightning in a bottle here with Murphy, who clearly was very good before the injuries started to take over. Cardinals also lost three players in the minor league portion. Right-hander Sean Harney went to Arizona. Outfielder Matt Lloyd went to the Red Sox, and then right-hander Zane Mills went to the Cubs. So we wish all of them the best of luck, except for the guy that went to the Cubs.

Starting point is 00:24:43 We hope he's not good. I'm kidding, kidding. Am I, though? Quick shout out to Joe Buck, winner of the Ford C. Frick Award, the National Baseball Hall of Fame gives us annually to excellence in baseball broadcasting. And we'll present it to St. Louis's own Joe Buck during the Hall of Fame induction weekend in July in Cooperstown. So congratulations to him. I know some people don't care for Joe. And it shocks me.

Starting point is 00:25:09 I don't know. Like I don't get annoyed by announcers the way other people do. Some people just hate other announcers. I don't know why. I mean, I get why Chip Kerry, you know, when you listen to him for 162 games a year, I can get why maybe a baseball announcer would bug you a little bit more. But with Joe Buck, I mean, you know, it's just football once a week or something. I don't know.

Starting point is 00:25:32 People don't like him sometimes. I've never had a problem. I've enjoyed his restaurants throughout the St. Louis area. I've had some good times at those places. And I think it's cool that another buck is getting recognized just like his father did back in 1987. So congratulations. Congratulations. Thoughts, comments, concerns. Let me know. Down in the comments section, a big thank you to all of you for making Locktown Cardinals, your first listen every day.

Starting point is 00:25:57 Now, if you haven't already, give us a follow on to exit, L.O. underscore Cardinals at JD Sports Radio, TikTok and Instagram at Lockdown Cardinals. You can like, subscribe on YouTube if you haven't already. We're already past 13.2 in our subscriptions. We're hoping to get, you know, the next milestone, 13.5. Hope to get to 14. Maybe we get to 15. before the season starts next year, that would be awesome. So if you like what you've heard, please like, subscribe on YouTube. For those of you on video, we're going to send you to the first ever 24-7 national Lockdown Podcast Network YouTube channel on audio.

Starting point is 00:26:33 Make sure that your second listen is Locked-on MLB. You're the best fans in baseball for a reason. We'll see you next time on Locked on Cardinals.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - ALERT: St. Louis Cardinals’ Willson Contreras Trade Rumors EXPLODE After Pete Alonso News—Next?!

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