Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Cardinals EYEING Yadier Molina for COACHING Role! Nolan Arenado Trade RUMORS Heat Up

Starting point is 00:00:00 The St. Louis Cardinals will be looking for someone with the resources and the need for third baseman Nolan Aranano. And once again, it is a familiar name that is popping up as a possibility for a deal. You are locked on Cardinals. Your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Hey, they're Cardinals fans. I'm J.D. Hafer and a former national radio sports anchor, born and raised in St. Louis and a lifetime Cardinals fan. and I'm your host for Lockdown Cardinals. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day. A big thank you going out to our everydayers for being here with us during the regular season and now the off season. And for those of you who are new, welcome.

Starting point is 00:00:47 Welcome in. This is a show serving Cardinal Nation and giving you all of the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, use code Lockdown MLB for $20 off your first purchase. On today's episode, we will be discussing the future of former Cardinals. Cardinals, MP, Paul Goldschmidt, who spoke about his plans after his Yankees got eliminated last night. We've got another hypothetical trade scenario involving the Cardinals and the New York Mets. But we're going to start today with a quick hit on news about Yadde or Molina, because according to a report from El Vosero, I think is how it's pronounced El Vosero.

Starting point is 00:01:24 I don't speak a lot of Spanish guys, but this is from Puerto Rico. It's a publication there. Molina told them right now we're in contact with St. Louis. to coach the Cardinals and help Marmal. He'll still be the manager. He's still the manager, but I'd be there by his side. Nothing is concrete yet,

Starting point is 00:01:42 but we're working on it. So that is certainly something that we're going to keep an eye on moving forward. Never hurts to have, you know, the goat in the dugout with the Cardinals. You know, it was nice to see him do it a couple times this past year. And, you know, he said that he wants to become a major league manager at one point, and then he's not against becoming a coach first before, becoming a manager. You know, Ollie's got one more year left on his deal.

Starting point is 00:02:14 Yaddy in the dugout, you know. Is this coming together the way we think it will? Maybe, maybe. We'll see, we'll see. He could end up going to somebody else and become a manager if things don't turn out the way we think it'll go. But anyway, that's the news about Molina right now. When more of it becomes available, obviously, we'll pass it along to you.

Starting point is 00:02:37 Now let's talk traits, shall we? We had one that we discussed on Tuesday involving the two teams I mentioned, the Mets and the Cardinals. And that one had to do with a swap of Wilson Contreras for Mark Viantos. Fan reaction kind of split on that one because of the defensive issues surrounding Viantos. We love, we love our defense in St. Louis, and the fact that Viantos sucks at defense, not something that a lot of people were very excited about.

Starting point is 00:03:03 Also, fans love Wilson Contreras, the loyalty he's shown, the respect he's earned, the energy he brings to the team. Pretty good for his basement this past year, both offensively and defensively. So today's trade involves another guy that fans love for a lot of different reasons, but the writing is on the wall yet again between the club and Nolan Aronado. Now, Nato would love to play for a team that is currently competing for a world championship instead of a team whose main focus is rebuilding the farm system. and working on the player development and looking to go younger and presumably cheaper, although again, we haven't heard much about payroll yet. Moving Arnado is not going to be easy. We know this.

Starting point is 00:03:44 We just went through it this past off season when we thought he might get dealt in. He's an aging player. Offensively, he's been declining for a couple of years now. He's been injury prone recently. Still has a decent chunk of change left on his deal, not quite as expensive, but still a decent chunk. What he does provide a positive from Nolan Aronado is still an outstanding defensive third baseman, still one of the best of the business, is a future Hall of Famer,

Starting point is 00:04:13 good attitude, solid team player. And who knows? Maybe he gets on a winning team and that could like reinvigorate him to become better than what we've seen offensively over the past couple of years. You know, I mean, you get guys out of certain situations and sometimes they prosper. Maybe that's something that would happen with Nolan Aronado. I'm not completely sure, but we'll see. Heinblum has said, though, that, you know, hey, we're not just going to give this dude away.

Starting point is 00:04:43 If nothing works out and they don't find a good fit for both the Cardinals and for Nolan, that they don't have any issues with him coming back again next season. They hold no ill will against Nolan Arnado. It's not like we're trying to kick this dude out of town. because he sucks and he's a bad guy. That's not the case whatsoever. Trying to do each other a solid, really, to try to move on from some of the money,

Starting point is 00:05:06 open up a spot over a third basement. No one Gorman is like, please don't just go already. Anyway, so the Mets are a team that is looking to make some changes. They want to do things differently, according to reports, then what they had this past season, defensive upgrades are something that seemed to be a top priority. it's being brought up a lot. That's something Nolan Aronado can certainly bring to the table,

Starting point is 00:05:31 still very good defensively at their base. The Cardinals are looking for starting rotation upgrades from what they got this past season from Miles Michaelis, Andre Palante, obviously Eric Fetty. We are assuming that Sunny Gray is still back in this particular scenario that he's not going to leave to go along with Matthew Livertore, Michael McGreevy. Those are the only three spots that I'm just going to concede

Starting point is 00:05:56 as those are filled as of right now for next year. Palante obviously still needs to show a ton of improvement before I even let him near that rotation again, or he's out. Kyle Leahy is another name that's been brought up. We'll likely get a chance to become a starter. But right now he's still a bullpen arm at this moment. So here's the proposed deal between the Mets and the Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:06:21 The New York Mets would get Nolan Arnado. and the St. Louis Cardinals would get left-handed starting pitcher Sean Mania, right-handed pitcher Jonathan Pintaro, and Cash. Now, Bleacher Report talked about this particular idea. And they had this to say as to why it makes sense for the bets. They say there's a lot of, a lot of the Mets need to address this winner. John Heyman of the New York Post isn't wrong to see the defense as a potentially overlooked priority per their minus 12 outs above average. They had a bottom 10 defense the season. This alone should give them at some level of interest in Aeronado. He's a 10-time goal Glover who remains a strong

Starting point is 00:07:05 defender at third base, posting a plus three outs above average the season. It's Aronado's bat that has declined in recent years, which is not unexpected for a 34-year-old who has been around for as long as he has. But he's still good for pulling the ball in the air, which would play well at city field. Whereas Aronado was picky with who he was willing to waive his no trade clause for last winner, he's a bit more open this time around. That in turn could be an opening for the Mets who should also be attracted to his burning desire to win. Now, when we discussed the Wilson Contreras trade to the Mets, one of the key aspects of that was his defensive abilities at first base, which is still wild to think about considering, you know, he just made the switch last year.

Starting point is 00:07:50 It just shows you how well he adapted to playing first base and, you know, how well he played there this past year. But talking about Nato to the Yankees this past year, you know, one of the reasons I thought he might go there because I don't really see R. Anato is a New York type of guy. But one of the reasons why he might consider a move to New York. And when we were talking about the Yankees his offseason was because his buddy Paul Goldschman was there. Now, Goldie's a free agent. just finish the season with the Yankees. We'll talk a little bit more about that later on.

Starting point is 00:08:23 Maybe the Mets could grab both of them to make life a little more comfortable for Aronado. Just throwing it out there, just a possibility. If you're just going to move on from Pete Alonzo and let him walk, and you want to upgrade defensively, you can do worse than the Aronado and Goldschmidt duo at first and third base when it comes to your defense. Offensibly, you're going to take a hit for sure. but that's kind of the thought process on the New York side of things. We hear at Lockedown Cardinals,

Starting point is 00:08:54 we're more concerned about the Cardinals side of things, right? So why would this make sense or what is it about this trade that would be attractive for the St. Louis Cardinals or unattractive for them? We'll get into that next on Lockedown Cardinals. Guys, you've probably heard of Viagra or Cialis. Maybe you've even tried these products, which, you know, good for you. Good for you if taking a chance. but if you're looking for something beyond the usual pill,

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Starting point is 00:10:46 We're also on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, and Locked on Cardinals as well. We'd love to see you. Give us a follow on all the social medias. Sean Minaya. All right. This is a guy that, at least in my eyes, he's been linked to the Cardinals for for years, for years. Back to his days when he played with the Oakland days. Here's the thing, 2024, he's a veteran now. In 2024, he was 32 years old and had arguably his best season as a pro. He went 12 and 6 at a 3.47 ERA, had career highs in innings,

Starting point is 00:11:23 tied his career high and starts at a second highest strikeout total. The ERA plus was a solid 114. And I remember because he got like on this hot streak and everybody's like, oh my gosh, what did what did Sean Manaya do all of a sudden? They got him back on track. And I remember they were talking about it. It was like just changing his arm slide with something. And it just made the movement on his pitches look different.

Starting point is 00:11:48 And he was outstanding for the Mets in 2020. So he opted out of his deal with New York, refused their qualifying offer, and ended up signing a three-year, $75 million deal to stay with them. Made sense for him financially, right? Seemed like a pretty good move. Three years, $75 million, not a super long-term deal. Look like a good move. But then he gets hurt. In February, he has an oblique strain.

Starting point is 00:12:16 And we know how oblique strains can just linger and it takes forever for them to heal. This thing sidelined him for a very long time. He didn't make his first start until July. Things didn't go well either. 12 starts here in 2025, ERA of 5.96, although the strikeouts per nine were still very strong at 11. We know the Cardinals would love to get their hands on a reliable pitcher. They've got obviously a couple of openings in the rotation right now. The only real season veteran in the rotation at the moment is,

Starting point is 00:12:51 is Sunny Gray. Sean Mania made 32 starts the previous season. It was very good. Injuries screwed things up, derailed his season quite a bit this year, is he worth the risk with the two years remaining on his current deal. And he's also got like a bunch of deferred money until 2044. So I mean, obviously they have to work something out money-wise with what's going on with Aronados deal, what's going on with Manayas.

Starting point is 00:13:19 So it's certainly debatable on whether or not this. is actually worth the risk, which is why we're talking about it. But here's what Bleacher Report had to say on why this idea would make sense for the St. Louis Cardinals. The idea behind the trade is that it would be a bad contract swap with the money going from New York to St. Louis meant to balance what's owed to the two players. The Cardinals could then look to flip Mania either during the winter or in 2026 after hopefully he bounces back from an injury marred year in which he had a 5.64 ERA.

Starting point is 00:13:51 Pintaro, who was the other pitcher mentioned in this trade, would be a deal sweetener of sorts for the Cardinals. Mid-level prospect at best, but he has three above-average pitches, and he has at least profiles as a specialist after holding righty-batters to a 597 OPS of the miners this year. Now, Pantaro is not just some rando throwing guy. Pantaro is actually the MET 17th-rank prospect, according to MLB pipeline. He is 27 years old already, but, you know, he's a ballpin arm. So that's okay. 27 doesn't bother you. And the three pitches that they mentioned on Bleacher Report was also brought up in his scouting report at MLB Pipeline, which they say about it.

Starting point is 00:14:35 He has got a pair of fastballs in his four seamer and sinker, which sit around 93, 95. And he relied on the latter, a relatively newer pitch, more in his time at AAA, also has a mid-80s changeup, gets a healthy amount. of whiffs and an 82, 85 mile an hour sweeper gives him a longer glove side option. We know the Cardinals love the sweepers. So, you know, we know how important bolt pinarms are. We know how important they can be. And if you are possibly moving Kyle Leahy to the starting rotation, that's going to be another spot that needs to be filled.

Starting point is 00:15:12 Right now from the right side on the Cardinals 40-man roster, you've got Riley O'Brien, Matt Sonson. Gordon Grispo, Andre Grinio, Ryan Fernandez, Jorge Alcala, Chris Roycroft, and Roderry Munoz. We've seen the back end of those names falter quite a bit. They were not very good last year from say Fernandez, Alcala, Roycroft, and Munoz. Those guys kind of interchangeable right now, in my opinion. I feel like they want to see if they can get Fernandez back on track because they've seen him be all right in the minor leagues last year. When he got sent back down, he had a lot of

Starting point is 00:15:52 issues in the major leagues. It was not so bad down the stretch at the end of last year. But to add a fresh arm like Pintaro, it's not going to hurt anything by any means. It just gives you another possible guy to put into the bullpen. There's no problems with that whatsoever. There was also a reaction write-up about this particular trade idea and why it wouldn't work, which was done by Joe Sue De Jesus at rising apple.com, who pointed out that the lack of offense from Aronado would make him a non-upgrade overall, even if his defense is good, because he's not hitting anymore. It's not really going to help them that much. He also pointed out that the trade wouldn't add much financially relief for the Cardinals, nor does it give them much as far as prospects

Starting point is 00:16:39 in return, which he assumes the Cardinals would rather have than somebody like Sean Mania. and then the Mets already have somebody to play third base. And his name's Brett Beatty, who's been one of their top prospects for a couple of years now. And they already have him to play third base. On this particular trade, he did say to trade for Arnado now would be to actively displace this success story with Brett Beatty, creating a roster logjam while committing massive financial resources to a position that is already occupied. It's a move that may have made sense two years ago, but in the current landscape,

Starting point is 00:17:14 it feels entirely redundant and contrary to the team's forward-thinking roster construction. Personally, my issue with this deal as far as what it does for the Cardinals or what it doesn't do is really the money side of this with Sean Mania. If you're trying to move on from the money that you owe Aranato just replacing it with another guy isn't exactly what I think the Cardinals are going after. But at the same time, if you believe that what you saw in 2025 from Sean Manaya was just injury marked season, not really who he is, he should be more like the 2024 guy. You could do worse than flipping Aronado for a guy that you would have under control for a couple more seasons and another bullpen arm. And then you could also, as they mentioned, you know, you could use Sean Mania as a trade chip.

Starting point is 00:18:11 It's not like he's got to know a trade clause. you could use them as a trade ship at the deadline next year if things aren't working out for the Cardinals. But if they are, you know, that's great. He's a guy that, like I said, just a couple years ago, you know, 32 starts. He was fine. He just had a stupid oblique this past offseason, which really derailed things. So I know it's very Eric Fetty sounding like. It's very similar.

Starting point is 00:18:39 But the difference here is I trust Sean Mania's track. record much more than I did Eric Fettys, one good half of pitching in the major leagues with the White Sox. I remember when they talked about getting Eric Fetty and I'm just like, this got Cardinals written all over it. And I want you to do better than Eric Fetty. They settled. They only got Eric Fetty.

Starting point is 00:19:00 It didn't work. It sucked. It blew up in their face. He's not with the Brewers. Congratulations, Eric Fetty. He might be moving on to the NLCS here very soon. But what do you guys think? What are your thoughts on this?

Starting point is 00:19:11 Would you be cool with a deal like this for the? the Cardinals. Aronado, Roshan Mania, you get the reliever arm in Pintaro. Plus, you get some cash in return from the Mets is what the proposal was. If you're not cool with this, what bothers you about it? What are your concerns? Let me know in the comments section, and on X, we can discuss it in an upcoming episode because we got plenty of time this offseason to discuss things like this, which is part of the reason why the offseason can be fun, because you get to speculate

Starting point is 00:19:39 and kind of play GM. and we like to have some fun with it here at Lockdown Cardinals. So hit me up. Let me know what you guys think. We're going to talk some playoffs and acts playoffs. It's in my head every time I say it. Every time I say it, I hear Jim Mora saying playoffs. Anyway, we're going to talk about former Cardinals MVP Paul Goldsmith.

Starting point is 00:20:00 Spoke about his future after his Yankees got a lemonade last night. I'll tell you what he had to say about it. Coming up next on Locktown Cardinals. There's nothing like catching a baseball game live. you get the energy, you get the crowd, you get a chance to see your favorite players and team live in person. It's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun. A matter what sport we're talking about. We got the blues are opening up tonight.

Starting point is 00:20:26 Very excited to see the blues back on the ice. But getting tickets to go see these games, that can be the tough part. You've got to deal with the cues, the login screens, the surprise fees. It takes all the fun out of buying your tickets. And that's why I use game time you should do. The app that gives the advantage back to, the fans, it's fast, it's easy, it's back by their game time guarantee. That means you get 100% authentic tickets every single time, delivered on time, and at the

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Starting point is 00:21:43 every game every night until the World Series champion is crowned. You're going to get local analysis but on a national scale. You can find MLB Game night on Locked on MLB's YouTube channel or wherever you listen to your podcast. And let me just throw this in there, Lockdown Blues. Go see our girl Haley. All right. Does good work over there with Locked on Blues. Going to have everything about the upcoming high season, including tonight's game.

Starting point is 00:22:05 She'll be ready to rock and roll. Hopefully she got a brand new jersey because she got screwed or whatever she bought at, you know, because the new jerseys for the Cardinals, whatever, or for the blues, the new sweaters they got. she bought one and it was a knockoffer. It's terrible. So you have to hit her up about it. Anyway, let's talk about the playoffs. Blue Jays finished off the Yankees on Wednesday night with a convincing five to two victory during a bullpen game, no less for Toronto.

Starting point is 00:22:32 Paul Goldsmith, the 37-year-old former NLNVP with the Cardinals spoke after the game about his future and said, I think I'd like to continue playing, but I hadn't sat down and thought about it. I was expecting to continue to play here and all that, but I still love playing. I still have fun out there. I still want to try to go in, love to compete. So we'll have to see what happens. I'm thankful for my time here. I don't know what the future is going to hold.

Starting point is 00:22:56 I just try to give everything I have every day. My fortune really came up short. He signed a one-year deal after the Cardinals decided not to bring them back. It was worth $12.5 million to go play for the Yankees this year. This was a move I was on board with. It was time to move on from Paul Goldschmidt and see what else we could do. They end up moving Wilson-Contreras over there. And it worked out just fine.

Starting point is 00:23:17 Paul Goldschmidt was not a complete bust in New York. Goldie, he was solid, all right? He played in 145 games, so he answered the bell when you needed him. He hit 274, which was a nice jump from what he was doing last year with the Cardinals. He had 31 doubles, cut down on his strikeouts big time. You remember 173 whiffs with the Cardinals in 2024? We're like, what the hell happened to his contact skills? He found them again with the New York Yankees, only struck out 100 times, had 100.

Starting point is 00:23:47 less plate appearances than he did with the Cardinals, but 100 less strikeouts or 73 last strikeouts is pretty significant. But he did only hit 10 home runs. All right. We know the Yankees ballpark. It's a little small down the lines and stuff. And yet he only hit two home runs was at 22 the previous year with the Cardinals. He only drove in 45 RBIs. OPS Plus was at 104. So a smidge above league average. He was at 12024 with the Cardinals. The slugging is down. The power is down. Still decent with the glove over first base. So I'm sure he'll land on his feet.

Starting point is 00:24:25 Somebody will need a first basement of some sort, you know, a veteran first basement. And you can do much worse than Paul Goldschmidt. Maybe a reunion in Arizona would be in order. They traded, you know, Josh Naylor to Seattle this year. So could that be something that happens? I feel like that would be a very cool, full circle moment for Paul Goldschmidt. if he ended up with the Diamondbacks again. So we'll see.

Starting point is 00:24:50 Phillies offense woke up, took care of the Dodgers, pre-agent to be. Kyle Schwerber hit two home runs, one of them a 455-foot smash as the Phillies dominated LA 8 to 2. Tommy Edmund drove in both Dodgers runs in this game, one with which at the time was the go-ahead solo home run off Ranger Suarez, which was, you know, right-handed Tommy tanks, man. And then he also ended up hitting in the ninth inning

Starting point is 00:25:16 It was a broken bat dribble. I still don't know how it made it to the outfield in the ninth inning. 53.8 miles per hour, exit velocity. You know, sometimes it's where you hit it, and how hard you hit it? So that worked out for Tommy. But in the end, the Phillies, stay alive for game for in L.A. will take place tonight, Thursday night,

Starting point is 00:25:36 depending on when you're listening to this. And it's going to be a hell of a pitching matchup. Christopher Sanchez against Tyler Glass now. The Cubs also stayed alive hanging on to beat the Brewers 4 to 3. Michael Bush. Bro, this dude hit another lead off home run for the Cubs to tie things up in the first inning. It was a record setting dinger two. Bush not only became the first Cubs player in history to have two leadoff home runs in his postseason career. He made MLB history as well, making him the first player to have a pair of leadoff blasts in the same playoff series.

Starting point is 00:26:07 There was a crazy stat here too about this. The Cubs have scored eight of their 10 runs through four games in the first inning. They scored all four of their runs in this four to three win in the first inning. While managing only two runs combined from the second inning on, and the four runs in the first on Wednesday ended Chicago's MLB record streak of 13 consecutive playoff games with three runs or fewer score that went back to 2017. So the offense for the Cubbies, it barely did enough in this one. They'll have game four on Thursday night or tonight, again, depending on when you're listening

Starting point is 00:26:41 to this, at Wrigley with first. Brady Peralta against Matthew Boyd. Yeah, but Michael Bush, I mean, we saw the damage he did to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2025. Not looking forward to having to facing that dude again in 2026 and beyond. How about the Detroit Tigers came back from down three to nothing to the Mariners and facing elimination? They ended up scoring nine unanswered runs to win their game on Wednesday to force of game 5 back in Seattle on Friday. and they'll have their ace, Terrick Scoobel, back on the mound. The Mariners have had a lot of success against Scoobel this year.

Starting point is 00:27:18 But the Mariners don't have Brian Wu, who is their ace. He's dealing with that peck injury. So that stinks for the Mariners, which was the team I picked to come out of the American League, to go to the World Series this year. And now they've got to beat Scoobel again to advance. Not exactly ideal by any means. But that's what's happening with the playoffs.

Starting point is 00:27:39 Thank you guys for making Lock on Cardinals, your first list, and every day. Obviously, we'll keep you up to date on anything that goes on with this Yadda or Molina story that's starting to build some momentum as we start to hear more about him, possibly being a full-time coach with the Cardinals next year and being a part of Ali Marmels staff moving forward. So we'll see if that comes through fruition. If you haven't already, you know, give us a follow on X at L.O. underscore Cardinals in a JD Sports radio, TikTok and Instagram at Lockdown Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:28:09 We'll get you updates up there. Please like, subscribe on YouTube. You can help our channel and our love for the Cardinals grow. You guys are the best. You are locked on Cardinals. Put the wrong button. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. And we will see you next time on Locked on Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:28:25 Apologies. The Molina talk got me all excited.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Cardinals EYEING Yadier Molina for COACHING Role! Nolan Arenado Trade RUMORS Heat Up

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