Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Buyers Or Sellers?

Episode Date: July 5, 2025

- Miles Mikolas - Chicago Cubs - Trade Deadline Thoughts - Buying Options https://redbirdrants.com/5-under-the-radar-trade-acquisitions-for-the-st-louis-cardinals-at-the-deadline - Selling Value Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms… 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-st-louis-cardinals/ Locked On MLB League-Wide: Every Team, Prospects & More 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/mlb/ Follow on Twitter/X: @JDSPORTSRADIO Follow the show on Twitter/X: @LO_Cardinals Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Supply House Join the TradeMaster program today at SupplyHouse.com/TM and start ordering plumbing, HVAC, and electrical supplies with just a few clicks. Plus, use promo code S-H-5 for 5% off your first order. That’s SupplyHouse.com! Monarch Money Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONMLB at monarchmoney.com/lockedonmlb for 50% off your first year. Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuel Right now, new customers can get ONE HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) #ForTheLou #stlcards #mlb #lockedoncardinals #stlouiscardinals Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

After another beat down by the Chicago Cubs, should the Cardinals start preparing for life as a seller? Or are they still looking to buy? This is Locked on Cardinals. You are Locked on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, the Cardinals. I'm J.D. Hafford and I'm your host for Lockdown Cardinals. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day.

Follow us on X at JD Sports Radio and at L.O. underscore Cardinals. on YouTube as well as TikTok, Instagram. This is the show serving Carmel Nation and giving the best fans of baseball. All of the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by Game Time. Download the GameTime app, create an account. Use code locked on MLB. That'll get you $20 off your first purchase.

So before we get into all the trade chatter, the Sailor was Cardinals took another butt-woping on Thursday, on a day of celebration in America, known for fireworks and the Chicago Cubs. absolutely kicked the hell out of the Cardinals in every way you can, and they bring out all the fireworks you could ever want. Eight home runs hit by the Cubs. Eight, six of them coming off of Miles Michaelis, who we knew would eventually have another one of these type of games.

It happens every year, every year. It's not really a question of if, but when? When is that really, really, really bad Miles, this game going to take place. We saw it in Boston at the beginning of this season. And here in Chicago, he gets beaten like a punching bag to the tune of eight runs on said hit, six home runs and appear to be trying out to become a home run to every pitcher at the all-star game in Atlanta instead of a capable major league pitcher trying to help his team reach the playoffs for the first time since 2022. It was awful. Sayas Suzuki, Pete Crow Armstrong,

got the barrage going with back-to-back solo shots in the first. Michael Bush and Carson Kelly said, hey, that looked fun. Maybe we should try that, too. So they did it. Back-to-back in the second inning. By the third inning, the Cubs are running to a home plate to try and getting a bat against Michaelis before he gets pulled. Even the outs were getting hit hard.

PCA and Bush launched their second home runs of the day in the third, and the route was on. It was 7-0, and Cubs are just laughing at this point. You know, my wife is in the other room. And I just kept announcing them out loud. She's in the other room watching her reds play the Phillies. I'm in the other room watching the Cardinals and the Cubs. And I just keep yelling, another home run, three to nothing, another home run, four to nothing.

I just kept the countdown going. And it's not, what I do is I try to make the best out of everything. I really do. And I know it's not funny to watch. your team get their heads kicked in on national TV. Again, game was on Apple. The Boston game was on ESPN, which Michael has started too. So maybe he shouldn't get these starts anymore.

Maybe go a bullpen game or do something different because he sucks in these big national TV games. And I know some fans were asking, you know, why is Ollie leaving miles in? And the simple answer is using up your bullpen on a day they clearly wasn't going your way. It just seems like a waste of resources, doesn't it? Now, if this were a younger guy, if this was, you know, like Saturday starter, Matthew Libertor or Michael McGreevy, you know, someone you wish you were watching pitch instead of Michaelis, somebody who's got a future with this organization, then he probably would have yanked him. He would have been like, this is not great for their mentality and their, you know, confidence moving forward. But it's Michaelis. So it's a veteran. He knows the drill. Sometimes you got to wear it and help your team through the suffering by staying out there on the mound and eating up some innings. So for that, I do commend Miles Michaelis for gutting it out for six innings and, you know, doing his best to get through as much as he could, you know, through more pitches than he had all season in one game in this particular one, which is not normal when you're getting shelled like that early on.

But he stayed out there and he did it for his team. So I commend him for that sacrificial land, basically. But he put himself there. He's got nobody to blame but himself. Most of the pitches, not all of them. But most of them that got clobbered into the bleachers were pitches that he failed to execute on. It wasn't that, you know, it was a bad pitch to call or something like that. He was just leaving stuff over the plate.

Missed his spots caught too much of the plate. And when you throw 92 and you don't have a lot of movement, that's what big leaguers are going to do to you. Peacrow Armstrong, for whatever reason, knows exactly what you're doing, Miles Michaelis. If you're going to throw a curveball, think the exact opposite. Do something else because he knows. exactly what you're doing. He, he destroyed you again on Friday. Michaelis tied the modern era MLB record with six home runs allowed. He's just a sixth player to do it in the last 85 years, joining Tim Wakefield and R.A. Dickie, both knuckleballers, FYI. Then there's James Shields,

Michael Blazick, and Matt Swarmer. But the home runs kept coming even after Michaelis was long gone. John King got two spoonfuls of the cubby pop as well, served up by David. Hansby Swanson and again by Michael Bush, who ended the day with three long balls. Eight home runs. Franchise record for the Cubs. Also the most home runs, the Cardinals have ever given up in a single game. So awful all around. Michaelis outside of the Boston game wasn't having a terrible season.

Went four and two, three point five one ERA over his last 10 starts. But now, uh, or first first turn starts, I should say, my bad. Uh, but O and four with a mind-numbing seven point seven five ERA over his last. seven starts. Plenty of home runs hit off them. Yesterday didn't help. And Michael has said all the right things after the game. He said it's really disappointing. Fourth of July, Chicago, and I was really excited for this start. And I really wanted it to go well. And it didn't. I've got to live with that and deal with that. The Cubs are a good team. You have to play good type baseball and you can't throw pitches down the middle at all. No, you can't. I mean, you know, you get some of these

guys who come up and they can't throw strikes. Michael's can't stop throwing it over the heart of the plate. It's such a bizarre twist on what's going on in the world of pitching these days where some of these guys have no idea where it's going. Michaelis doesn't know how to keep it from going down the middle. He can't stop. But he also, you know, said some nice things about the team himself. He says, you know, we're a really strong team too. I let us down today. I didn't do my part today and we suffer for that. Hopefully we'll get out there and give them hell. We've got two games left in the series. It's not over. We can win two days in a row and come out on top on this road trip and not think much of it. Get back to St. Louis, get back to business, which is the mindset

that you have to have. He's not wrong. You take another game like this. You take like these last four, you know, with Pittsburgh and the Cubs and you just go, look, we're better than this. We are. We've shown you that we are better than this over the first few months of the season. This is not us. We're in a rut. We got to get out of it. And we can't just live in the past and look at it and go, Oh, what was me? We were so bad yesterday. Nobody cares anymore. Move on and you're going to have to do better today. Look, we all know Miles Michaels really has no business being in a rotation for a team that has playoff aspirations. He doesn't. But the Cardinals have made their bed and are forced to lay in it for this final season.

He won't be here next year. So everybody that is, you know, like DFA, I'm getting out of here. Probably not going to happen. I just don't, with the way the Cardals approach the season, they're not going to just eat the remainder of his contract and get nothing for it. They'd rather see if he can do better than what we've seen, then just release him. Does it do the Cardinals any good to flip-flop him with Stephen Matt's and put Stephen Matt's in the rotation every fifth day instead of Michaelis and put

Michaelis in the bullpen? Probably not, you know, it probably doesn't make that big of a difference. You know, I would be shocked. It doesn't feel like something they'd do if they were to make any drastic moves at this point, in of the All-Star break. But we'll see how serious they are about competing over the last month before this trade deadline gets us at the end of July. John Moseil did have some interesting things to say about what might transpire, which gives some fans a shimmer of hope that maybe they will do something. We'll discuss that coming up next here on Locked on Cardinals. We've all been there

logging on early and waiting forever for concert tickets. Big concert guy. Love music. Got a guitar hanging right over here. I love going to concerts, but concert tickets can be kind of tough, right? You know, you're waiting forever. They go on, say only to lose your spot for a show that you, you know, you've been dying to see. Live music should be about making memories. Put your phones down, by the way, during the concerts. Watch the show.

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Anytime you want, feedback, always welcome and encouraged. Obviously, I had a couple days off there for the Fourth of July festivities. I hope you had a good one despite what happened with the Cardinals. I hope you were able to make the best out of your 4th of July, not let it bring you down too much. But I know it feels like the Cardinals are in a very dark place right now after getting their lunch handed to them on Thursday and they've lost four in a row. And honestly, just not looking like a playoff caliber team over the past four games. I mean, it's how quick things can change, man. You know, you're in Cleveland and the Cardinals hadn't played well before they get to Cleveland.

And then all of a sudden, they look normal again. They look like the guys that we've seen for most of the year, and they do really, really well. They sweep Cleveland in Cleveland, and then they run into the pirates who were as hot as anybody in baseball. Got shot out yesterday by the Marr-No, Seattle Mariners. I thought of the Marlins, but Mariner, Seattle shut them now. Brian, woo, man, he's good.

But yeah, you know, they run into them, and the pirates have this incredible series and the Cardinals don't play well at all. So they get swept there. and you knew things were to be dangerous coming into Chicago. Chicago's got all the hype going, Fourth of July weekend. They're feeling great about themselves, and they came out and did exactly what I thought they were going to do, and that is just beat snot out of Miles Michaelis and the Cardinals.

That's exactly what I thought was going to happen. But even though it happened, the reality is that the Cardals are still one game back in the NL Wildcard. Okay, this is not just because of this rut that they're in at this moment or had them kind of for the last couple of weeks. they're still there. They're still right there, which is amazing. They got two more games in Chicago, then they're home for six against the Nationals and the Braves, who have been two of the most disappointing teams in the league this year, Braves mostly due to injuries. They just cannot stay healthy. The Nationals are a very young team that, for whatever reason, have just not taken

that next step outside of James Wood. He's been incredible. So grabbing at least one game in Chicago, that's imperative. And then if you can win four of six, during that homestand before the All-Star break, you're not in the worst spot possible. Like it's okay, if you win five of your next, wait, five of your next eight, but like, that's kind of what I'm hoping for. That's like what I'm shooting for right now for the Cardinals.

And it'll beg the question if they are still in it, if they can pull this off and still be in it as they get down to the deadline here, would ownership be willing? to actually add to the roster, be willing to add some payroll to help make a push. And John Loseil spoke with Derek Gould from SCL Today.com and St. Louis Post Dispatch and said, you know, revenue was part of it. We knew this year would be a little bit of a challenge. Nothing has changed in that regard.

I do think ownership, if they saw we were in a spot and it made sense to do something, I think they'd support it. That's good news. That's good news. It's not like they've just shut things out and go like, we're not adding anything. and you're either going to figure it out these guys or you're not. He also said, I do feel like when you look at where we are, that week leading up, the 72 hours leading up to the trade deadline,

that may affect how we make our decisions. Ultimately, I feel like if we just use today as a point in time, we have been able to create a lot of opportunity for the guys we wanted to see play. And then we've also had some consistent starting pitching. We've had a lot of churn in the bullpen. It's been consistent and effective. And I agree with all of that. You know, I feel like Ali and management have done a pretty good job of working through guys in the bullpen.

Again, they continued to try to find those certain pieces that would fit and that they could move forward with. And they just keep looking for that one right-handed pitcher. I don't know if John King is the answer anymore. I feel like you need a different lefty in there. But, you know, they kept trying. They had the same main guys at the back end. but they kept, you know, switching out those last guys on the roster and stuff to see if they can finally get somebody to click.

But if the Cardinals do decide to add, you know, what kind of names are we looking at? Where do you think they'll direct their focus if they want to add some guys? Most people think it's going to be pitching. I think they need a right-handed hitting bat. They can actually clobber left-handers. But when you scour the league, there's not a lot of those guys out there that are just available. You know, the guys that are all. already hitting left handers. Those teams are keeping those guys. It's just not like there's a bunch

out there. So a lot of people think that it would be additions to either the bullpin or even the starting rotation. My guy Thomas Coveyne at Redwood Grants.com came up with five different under the radar trade scenarios. I'm going to link his article in the description so you guys can check it out in full. But here's the names he's been thinking. Seth Lugo from the Kansas City Royals, a guy that Thomas and myself both wanted them the sign as a free agent a couple years ago. Love the metrics. Love where he was going with his game. I thought that this would be the window to keep him.

And then you would move on from him. He's been great in Kansas City, but he is now 35 years old. And I think at this point, you know, you wanted him before this. You didn't want him at the end of this contract. So younger arms is who we want to watch now, don't we? Like, aren't we more concerned about getting younger? Like, we don't want to sign a 35-year-olds who might be at the end of his rope and getting worse and regressing here soon.

We want to see guys like McGreevy and Matthews and Toccova Roby. We want to see what they can do instead of another veteran. So again, if they are serious about adding and winning, I think having a Sunny Gray, Matthew Libertor and Seth Lugo, three-man rotation is much better than having Michaelis Feddy or Palante in there. But I just don't know if it makes the most sense. And I also think that they'll get me some other teams that'll probably be after Seth Lugo as well.

uh, Kenley Jansen of the angels. This guy continues to get the job done at age 37. Not the guy he used to be. Doesn't throw it was hard. He's not that kind of closer anymore, but has had a respectable year with the angels. I'm more than positive that the angels are willing to shop him to,

uh, get something for the, for him at the deadline. If they're out of it, I mean, they've still been kind of hanging around in the American league. He's someone who else is going to, is going to help drive the, uh, market value of a guy like Ryan Halsley.

So we want him to continue. you to be good. Getting another guy to go with Helsley and Maytown wouldn't suck if the Cardinals are adding. He also, Thomas brings up Gregory Soto, who I've been a fan of since he was with Detroit. Like, I think that dude is straight and nasty. And that is somebody, I think the Cardinals should target this offseason for sure, would love to see him in Cardinal Red at some point in his career. I think he is filthy. And I know he's got trouble throwing strikes sometimes, but I don't though. He's naughty, dude. So I would love to see him. Another name he brings up is former Cardinal Harrison Bader. As I mentioned, right-handed bat can play the outfield. We've had Barrero,

you've had Hamson. Those guys aren't the answer. And you know that if you're looking to compete for a playoff spot. I thought Bader was somebody they should have looked at this offseason, but he got a chance to start in Minnesota so you can't blame him for going there. six and a half million, I think is what he got for this one year deal. Been in left field mostly for them because they got Buxton and center, but we know that he can play center field if needed. He's only hitting 227 against lefties, though, and that's really where the Cardinals need some help.

As cool as it would be to have Darth Bader back in our lineup, I'm not sure how much of an upgrade that is. But if it doesn't cost much, why not? It's better than Garrett Hampson. I don't need to see him anymore. The other name that it feels very cardinal-like that he brings up, which has been brought up in a couple of spots, so Merrill Kelly from the Diamondbacks,

who feels very Cardinal-like. Like if there's a pitcher out there, Merrill Kelly sounds like a Cardinal. He just sounds like he's somebody that they would just make a bid for, and he would be a good fit. Again, for the playoff push, though, I think there are going to be more teams that want him, so that would essentially push him out of the Cardinals trade range,

just price-wise because they're not going to give up anything major to acquire somebody for this year. They're just not. Someone will end up overpaying for most of these guys. So it's going to be difficult for the cardals to get their hands on any of them, in my opinion. I feel like you've got to lower the bar. Yeah, I don't think it's going to be something that's going to be all that exciting, unfortunately. But the fact that they are willing to add, if they can find some pieces that are really, reasonable price. You know, at least that's something. If the Cardinals do decide to be sellers,

which I think they should be, then that's a whole different story. So let's talk about the selling side of things for the Cardinals coming up next on Lockdown Cardinals. Get the supplies you need from the site made for the skilled trade. Supply House, whether you're in plumbing, HVAC or electrical works. Supply House is the reliable way to order products online. They're easy to use website. It's backed with help of resources and the latest product information to help you get the job done right. Plus with a complete inventory of over 200,000 parts from 400 plus top brand. You're going to find exactly what you need. It's going to get delivered fast to you coast to coast.

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First listen today for your second list. So check out the all new locked on MLB game night. Every game, every night all season long. Get local analysis on a national scale. Find MLB game night on a locked on MLB on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. So the Cardinals, if they decide to be sellers. And like I said, I feel like they need to be, I feel like they can be one of those teams where they're selling, but also could add something, you know, add in a certain spot,

but sell in a certain spot as well to get the most out of what you have. on your roster because we're not just thinking about this year. Okay. I think you could all agree that this year, this team, as fun as it's been and solid as they have been for the most part, it's not a World Series caliber team. It would take a couple of big moves to get them to that level. I don't think they're willing to do that this year. They haven't shown any signs of that.

Something that they want to do. But of course, they would like to get into the playoffs and make a push. You know, they've always said, if you can get in, you got a chance. And I feel like the Cardinals, at this point, they still have a chance. Obviously, they got to be much better in the month of July than they were in June. But they've got a lot of guys that I think other teams are going to want. You mentioned the pitching staff that's got some, you know, five different dudes that are going to be free agents at the end of the year. Michaelis, Eric Fetty, Stephen Matt, Ryan Helsley, and Phil Maton.

Of those five, I would think that the appeal of Ryan Helsley and what he's done in the past and the fact that he throws 101, on, even though he hasn't been nearly as good as he was last year, I still feel like that's an attractive piece for teams like that. So, but even if he's not coming in to be a closer for a team, having that dude in a seventh or eighth inning to team up with maybe a team that's already got a closer in place and a setup guy in place and they just want another arm, you know, I feel like he would make sense. He isn't likely to get you the hall that you were hoping for, you know,

after coming off winning the NLL Libra of the year last year, you were hoping he'd be doing the same stuff as he did last year and that he'd be worth a whole lot at the deadline, kind of like Tanner Scott was last year when the Marlin shipped him to San Diego. That's not going to be the case. Like we've watched it up with Ryan Ellsley so far this year. We know the teams are seeing that too and are like, well, I mean, he kind of gets hit around a bit.

And yeah, he's got the saves and he throws hard, but I don't know. people are hitting 400 plus against him on his fastball. Do we really trust this? So I'm not going to get you what you really, really wanted. But it also depends on what other relievers are out there and what people use to trade for a guy like a Kenley-Janson. You know, if he goes, if he gets expensive,

Hellsley's price is going to get more and more expensive too. It's just market value. Phil Mayton, obviously, has been a very, very surprisingly good, relief pitcher for them this year. I don't think anybody expected a ton from them. We thought he'd be serviceable, right? But a 1.91 ERA, the 17 holds, fourth most in the national league above and beyond what I thought Bill Maidown was going to do for you. He's been very, very good this year. So I think he's got certainly has some value. Stephen Matt's being a capable left-handed reliever and starter, definitely some value there as well. And he's been healthy

this year, which has been great. Sadly, the Eric Fetty trade value, that has plummeted massively from last year. It's hard to believe that the Cardinals came up. Tommy Edmund to acquire him, considering how disappointing he's been. You know, most of us weren't thrilled with the trade last year. I remember what it happened, and they got Fetty, and they got fam. Edmund hadn't played for the Cardinals yet, and you were able to get two players to fill some needs that the roster needed last year. And if you were trying to move payroll and that was the goal there, you succeeded, but it didn't work.

It didn't work. Tommy Edmund goes on and went to ring with the Dodgers would be awesome for them and he's still very, very good for them. It just, it didn't work. It is a trade that you say now looking at it that the Cardinals didn't win. It just didn't. It just sucks when you think about what you gave up because everybody loved Tommy and he thought he was going to be a solid player and he can do so many things and play second and short

and switch hitter and whatever center field doesn't matter anymore right but i'm sure there'll still be some takers for eric fettie there will be somebody who's like well like we could do this like you know look at his numbers in this way and that way and talk themselves into it you know and he's got a couple more starts here to boost his value but the return is not going to be what the cardals are hoping he'd be worth either And then you got Michaelis, got a no trade clause, and why would anyone give up much to get him, even if he wanted to be traded? I mean, you trade Michaelis and he says, yeah, I'm cool with that. What are you going to get a player to be named later?

That maybe ends up being a lottery ticket of some guy, maybe. So people saying, you know, trade him. Why aren't they get rid of him? Who wants him? Who wants them? And then you've got, you know, position players. There's Nolan Aronado. Who doesn't seem like he's unhappy?

obviously he hasn't been happy the last few weeks with the way the Cardinals have been playing, but as a whole this season, it looks like he's had a really good time. And I think Nolan Aronado's been a lot there that are the people giving him credit for. The defense is still there. And I still think he's a very solid right-handed bat. He fits in a lineup if he were to get traded, if he were to go to a team like the Yankees or the Dodgers, if somebody wanted him, he would slide right into like their sixth spot in their lineup. He doesn't have to bear all the pressure of being one of the main guys for one of those teams,

which might be something he's really good at. But would he be willing to go? Is he somebody who's ready to make a move during the middle of the season? I don't know. That's why I thought this offseason it was kind of if he was going to get traded, if you didn't get it done in the offseason, if you'd have to wait to the next offseason to see if he would be willing to be moved again because he just doesn't seem like somebody just wants to pick up in the middle of life of the season.

season and move on. But chance to win a ring, be hard to pass up, I guess. Would someone like a Joel Pozo be worth something to someone? Lars Newpar, as weird as it would be to try to unload Lars Newpar, outside of that first like two months of the season, it hasn't been great, you know, and it's been rough and he's lost his leadoff spot and he keeps sliding down the order. he was awesome for those first few months, but it has gone away. I would love to see it get back to where it was because in theory, he's a perfect leadoff guy,

but it just, you know, it's fizzled out so far this year. Injuries, obviously, are starting to take a toll. They all need a break. Let's be honest. The injuries have mounted on the cartels. They were very, very healthy for April and May, and then things really kind of hit the fan. if you will, in June.

So it's been tough. So maybe it's just some rest. We'll do these guys some good. But I don't know. That's what I'm thinking about at the trade deadline right now. Obviously, we got a few weeks before it hits. So things will obviously change for good or worse. We'll find out.

Thank you for making Lockedong Cardinals. Your first listen every day. If you haven't already, give us a follow on X at L.O underscore Cardinals at a JD Sports Radio, TikTok and Instagram at Locktown Cardinals. Like subscribe on YouTube. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. Let's have a better day than Thursday. Let's hope for that when they take on the Cubs.

Hopefully Libby has a nice day at Wrigley Field. You're the best fans of baseball four reasons. We'll see you next time. I'll like them on.