Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Do The Cardinals Trade For A Right Handed Hitting Outfielder?
Episode Date: July 12, 2024- Tommy Edman - Trade Targets - Kevin Pillar - Brent Rooker - Former Cardinals - Chicago Cubs Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms… 🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOSTLCardinals?sid=YouTube Lock...ed On MLB League-Wide: Every Team, Prospects & More 🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnMLB Follow on Twitter/X: @JDSPORTSRADIO Follow the show on Twitter/X: @LO_Cardinals Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Tax Network USA Reduce your tax debt and get help from a team of licensed tax professionals call 1-800-549-1000 or visit TNUSA.com/lockedon. Stitch Fix With Stitch Fix, you get a Stylist who understands your style, size and budget—they do all the shopping for you! Now’s the best time to get started at StitchFix.com/MLB and get $100 off—that’s $25 off your first 4 Fixes for a limited time only. Must redeem within 7 days of sign up. Offer does not include Kids Fixes. Booking.com The right stay can make you a fan of any US city - even your rival’s. Book today on Booking.com on the site or in the Booking.com app! Booking.com, Booking dot YEAH! PrizePicks Go to https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONMLB and use code lockedonmlb for a first deposit match up to $100! eBay Motors From brakes to exhaust kits and beyond, eBay Motors has over 122 million parts to keep your ride-or-die alive. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to bring home that big win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. FanDuel FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON and add a big win to your summer bucket list! 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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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With Tommy Edmund's impending return, do the Cardinals still need another bat?
And if so, who might be some of their targets?
That's what we're going to talk about today on 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 there, Cardinals fans. I'm Jady Hafer and I'm a national radio sports anchor,
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When talking about improvements for the St. Louis Cardinals roster,
we have talked about the need for pitching.
Both rotation and bullpen can never have enough arms, right?
Keep them coming.
bring them all in.
But another area that the Cardinals could use a little help in,
as odd as it sounds, would be in the outfield.
Now I know what you're thinking, but JD,
the Cardinals, don't they have too many outfielders?
Isn't that the problem?
I mean, that's what we were told was the problem for many years now, right?
Too many good outfielders, so many to go around.
We don't know what to do with them.
So that's why they got rid of these guys.
You know, they moved on from Randy Rosarena, Adolice Garcia, Lane Thomas, Harrison Bader, Tyler O'Neill, you know.
So why now?
Why is it all of a sudden, wait a minute, now we could use another outfielder?
Well, here's what.
The outfield as of today, July the 12th, consists of Britton, Donaldson, Michael Ciani, Alec Burleson, Lars Dupar, and Dylan Carlson.
Only one of those guys hits from the right side of the plate.
And that's Dylan Carlson.
Now Carlson in his career has been a better right-handed hitter than left-handed.
But this year, he isn't really hitting from either side all that well.
Granted, small sample size, I get the argument that a lot of people say that,
well, he's not going to be very good because he never gets to play.
How's he supposed to get better if he's not playing?
I understand that.
But when he does get opportunity,
he's not doing a whole lot with him.
He's hitting just 184 against righties,
2.10 against lefties.
The OPS plus is 48.
It's bad.
The Cardinals have right-handed hitting Jordan Walker at Memphis still.
But as I've said before,
you're not going to bring him up
and then put him in a Dylan Carlson-type role
where he doesn't play.
He's not going to be a bench bat for you
the way Dylan Carlson is right now.
He's not going to be a spot starter.
You need this dude to keep.
keep playing and hitting every day.
It was listening to, gosh, what was I listening to yesterday?
Where they were talking about how they thought that maybe,
I think it was on ESPN 1530 where they were talking about,
you know, who screwed up Jordan Walker's swing.
And that maybe the way the Cardinals have done things has become a problem.
And that's, they've messed him up, which I hope is not the case.
I really don't.
He's still a big piece of the organization's,
future and I don't believe that they would dangle him as trade bait right now either.
I've seen some people asking about that.
I don't think that's the case either.
I'd be shocked and kind of appalled, to be honest, if they did something that drastic and
got rid of Jordan Walker, it just wouldn't make sense for you to do that.
You know, it's not like, first off, it's not like his stock is real high right now either,
you know, because he's not crushing the ball at Memphis.
You know, he's not terrible, but he, but he's not crushing it.
the way we thought he was going to.
But the Cardinals do have a guy coming back who is a right-handed hitter and a left-handed hitter
and can play outfield and infield.
And his name is Tommy Edmund.
Now, Tommy, two bags, he's been all the men for a very long time from that wrist surgery
that he had in the off season.
And on Tuesday night, he made his return to action for AA Springfield.
He went one for three in the game with a single.
He lined out.
He struck out.
I had the day off on Wednesday due to General Soreness, which gave us all a little bit of scare because at first he was set to play center field.
And then he got pushed down to DH.
And then he was scratched all together.
We're all like, oh boy.
Oh, boy, what happened?
But General Soreness, he was back on the field on Thursday.
He goes one for three with a single and two strikeouts and a walk.
And it seems like Edmund is on the path to returning to the team after the All-Star break, which is what I've been saying since day.
If he was going to come back, don't expect him until at least the All-Star break, if he comes back at all.
Because the way things were going, he was having some issues with the rest.
And I was afraid that we weren't going to get him at all.
But it looks like he's going to return.
And what a return it would be for this team, because you'd be getting a guy who's not only been a huge part of the Cardinal's success over the years, but he's versatile.
Gold Glove winner on the end field, gold glove caliber, defense in the outfield.
He can play all three spots out there if need be.
I mean, imagine late game defensive setups with Tommy Edmund, Michael Siani,
and then Newt Ordoni out there.
He's got speed.
He's the switch hitter.
So he gives you something from both sides of the plate.
Who just so happens to hit the ball better as a right-hander over his career.
As a right, he's batty 277, OPS plus of 119 as a lefty, 261, OPS plus of 93.
So what would someone, you know, this is what I want you to think about because I know it's not,
because you hate hearing, hey, it's like making a trade.
What of your guys getting healthy and coming back?
But think about this for a moment.
If there was a Tommy Edmund type of player available through trade right now,
what would somebody like that be worth?
You know, with Edmund's background, his talents, what would that be?
worth on the trade market right now if he was available?
Probably a hefty price, right?
So it's not like you're getting some scrub back
that isn't worth something to every other team in the league.
So if he can be fully healthy, remain healthy,
which is a big deal, and be the guy that we've been used to seeing over the years
with a knack for coming up in the clutch and bring all of these things
that Tommy Ebenormally does.
if he's able to do all that the way he always has, what a huge acquisition it would be.
I mean, you're getting an outfielder and an infielder.
You're getting a righty and a lefty, better.
Now, does that mean that the cardal should just stop looking for another bat?
Of course not. Of course not.
You know, injuries and things happen.
I mean, how long is Lars Newton going to stay healthy?
Is Tommy going to stay healthy?
We don't know. We don't know.
Things pop up all the time.
You know, remember the projected starting outfield for 2024 was supposed to be Lars Newbar and left field, Tommy Edmund and Centerfield and Jordan Walker and right field.
And that lineup has never happened this year.
It has never happened and probably is not going to happen at any point this year.
Because I don't know if Jordan Walker is going to make it back up to the roster, barring any sort of major injuries.
So it never hurts to be on the lookout for something else, right?
Like just keep your eyes open, keep browsing.
So that's what I want to get into next.
Who are some of these bats that are going to be available at the trade deadline that people are talking about?
There are trade rumor circles speaking about these guys.
Who are some of these names?
I'm going to introduce you to a couple of them.
I got one in particular that I really like coming from the AL West.
He's somebody I kind of have my eye on.
I think he'd be a great cardinal.
We'll talk about him and the rest of these guys more next on Lockedon Cardinals.
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Going to baseball games in St. Louis is a tradition.
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And now that the Cardinals are a winning ball club,
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A reminder, you can catch every pitch of the Cardinals hometown broadcast with Sirius XM.
Just download the SXM app and search the word Cardinals. So if the Cardinals decide to go after a bat at the
trade deadline.
which isn't out of the realm of possibilities.
In a perfect world, you'd be able to put together either a starter or a bullpen arm,
and you bring a bat along with them.
And you make like this package deal.
And then you kind of like do all your shopping in one spot.
Is that going to happen?
I don't know.
I don't know if that's going to happen.
But if the cartels decide to get a bat, who are some of the names to keep an eye on?
and who makes the most sense for this St. Louis Cardinals Ball Club.
Now, I struggle with this because barring an injury,
I don't know where a lot of time is going to open up in the outfield.
Like, you know, you got Donnie, Newt, Ciani, Burley, Edmund, Carlson.
They're all still on the roster.
I assume that it would spell the end of Brandon Crawford's time with the team
if they were to add another bat.
And I'd feel bad for the guy.
the business is business.
And you're going to take Tommy Edmund over this version of Brandon Crawford all day, every day.
You know, it sucks.
You hate to see his career end like that.
Maybe he can go back to San Francisco.
I don't know.
I don't know.
But he's not doing a whole lot for this Cardinals roster.
And when Tommy Edmund gets back, he's the guy that can give you the outfield and the infield.
Why would you still keep a left-handed bat who's, you know, not.
very versatile can play a little third, I guess.
But it just doesn't make a lot of sense, right?
But if the cardals were to make a deal here,
here are some names to think about.
And I've been kind of scouring across the net,
seeing who's talking about who.
And I got a couple of names here.
All right, the first one I want to talk about,
and this is the guy that I am slowly but surely
kind of falling in love with as a good fit for the cartons.
And that would be from the Los Angeles Angels,
Kevin Pallar.
All right.
Kevin Pilar, 35-year-old right-handed hitter, has played for a lot of teams over his career.
Started with Toronto, then the Giants, then the Red Sox, the Rockies, the Vets, the Dodgers, the Braves.
This year he was with the White Sox when the season started, got DFAed.
When former Cardinal Tommy Fan got signed, he got scooped up by the Angels after Mike Trout got hurt and has been really, really good for them.
43 games.
And this was coming into yesterday when I went through these stats.
so they might have altered a shade.
But he's batting 295, 6-home runs, 26 RBIs,
an OBP of 350, slugging 500, OPS of 850,
OPS plus of 135.
Yeah.
And against lefties, which is what the cardals would use him for,
he's batting 359, OBP 406, slugging 625, OPS, 1.031,
and the split OPS plus of 186.
Now he's not,
the defensive player that he used to be at age 35, but he doesn't kill you out there either.
He's right around league average. And he can play all three spots.
So Kevin Pilar is a guy that I just feel like would be a nice fit for the Cardinals.
It just seems to make a lot of sense. Not going to cost you a lot. What are the angels going to
do with him? You know, like if you're willing to give up a decent prospect,
to get him, why wouldn't the Angels be interested in that?
You know?
So he's a guy that he just makes a lot of sense, you know,
and he's been around the block a few times,
so he knows what it's like to get traded and move on to other teams.
It just seems like he'd be able to fit that role that the Cardinals would have for him.
Very, very nicely.
Makes a lot of sense, checks a lot of boxes.
And if you can pull a reliever or a starter like Tyler Anderson,
If you can pull him over in the deal, great.
That'd be a cool package to think about, right?
Number two on the list.
Now, this guy, I think a lot of people are going to be chasing after him,
and that's the Oakland A's Brent Rooker.
So the Oakland Slugger having another monster year for the A's.
So the Cardinals aren't the only ones who would be eyeing him up for a deal at the deadline.
I've seen the Phillies and the Braves, as other teams, they would love to get their hands on them.
And as usual, it's hard to see the Cardinals outbidding one of those big boys for someone like Rooker.
But you can see why they'd want them.
Again, stats might have altered just a shade when I put this together.
But hitting 282, 18 home runs, 55 ribbyes, OBP 360, slugging 542 OPS 903, 158 OPS plus.
He hits both lefties and righties very well against lefties.
OPS at 168, Ritey's 149.
He's really just a DH.
He can play the corner outfield spots if you need him to,
but he's really more of a DH than anything.
But that's a massive bat that you could stick in this lineup
and make them even more dangerous.
I mean, it's nice to see, you know,
Nato and Goldie doing a little bit better,
but they're just, I mean,
what makes you think that they're all of a sudden,
just going to become dangerous hitters again in the second half of the season.
Now, we've seen it before, a guy by the name of Albert Pooholz.
Remember his last year in St. Louis?
The first half, he was not very good.
He was not very good at all.
And then the second half, he just took off.
So is that something that could happen?
Yeah, it could happen with Goldschmidt and Aronado.
They've got the pedigree.
They've done it in the past before.
Hopefully, that's something that does happen.
But is it?
going to have them. Odds are probably against them. But, you know, Rooker is a name that
to think about, but it would be, it would take a lot more to get him than it would say at
Kevin Ploire, right? You know, you're going to have to give up a decent amount. In a,
in a perfect world, you'd be able to pull, uh, Rooker and get Mason Miller from the A's,
bring them in. That would be wonderful. You'd have to give up, uh, quite the bag to land something
like that, but that's more, that's more like fantasy talk than anything because that's probably
not going to happen.
How about this?
Two former Cardinals that make sense fills a need for what the Cardinals are looking for, Tommy
Fam and Randall Gritchick.
I saw these two mentioned by Josh Jacobs on Redbirdrance.com, and I'll be the first to admit,
I love me some Tommy fan.
I love Tommy fam.
I've met him in person.
I had a great time with the guy.
And I love the kind of guy he is on the field, the attitude,
the hard-nosed player that he is.
You worry about how he's going to mesh with your ball club.
That's what every team will tell you.
You're worried that what if he rubs people the wrong way?
I'd like to think that he'd fit in just fine in St. Louis.
But it's certainly something that you got to consider.
Like is the sandpaper that he brings?
Is it the right sandpaper?
Is it Lance Lynn type of sandpaper?
Is it Matt Carpenter type of sandpaper that he's going to bring in?
Or is he going to be somebody who upsets the establishment a little too much?
You think about that.
I look at what he did on the field and he looked pretty darn good with the D-Backs last year
in their run of the World Series.
Help them out tremendously.
It was a big piece of that puzzle.
So somebody to think about, obviously.
And then you got Randall Gritchick, another former Cardinal who,
again, it feels like he was with the Cardinals a million years ago, doesn't it?
But since the Cardinals traded him to the Blue Jays,
by the way, does anyone remember who they got in return for Randall Gritchick?
Just curious.
Do you know?
All right, you've had enough time to guess.
Dominic Leone and Connor Green.
Another not-so-great trade.
of a young outfielder by the St. Louis Cardinals.
Why do they suck at this so bad?
I remember Dominic Leone was the guy.
I don't even know what Connor Green ever did,
but Leon at least was in the bullpen for a little bit,
but I don't remember him being all that great.
I could be wrong.
But anyway, Gritchick has been with Toronto.
He's been with Colorado,
went back to the Angels who the Cardinals got him from in the first place,
and now he's with the Diamondbacks.
This year hitting 279, three dongs,
20 ribbies in a platoon roll against lefties,
295 OPS 792. The Diamondbacks are, you know, right there in the wild card chase. So dumping someone
like Gritchick, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. But if they do fall out of contention
and decide that the, you know, that's not going to happen this year, then maybe Gritchick is
somebody that becomes available. And I feel like the Cardinals would welcome him back. I don't,
I don't remember him really being a problem when he was in St. Louis.
You know, you were always hoping because you saw the talent, you know, the power that was there, the athleticism, and you were always hoping that, you know, it would finally unlock it to become a great player, not just a, you know, a good ball player. He was going to be a great one. And it just never really happened, you know. But time's change. And now strikeouts are not as big a deal for some people. Not me. I still get annoyed by them. But Randall Gritchick, as a role player, makes sense.
Like I said, I still like Kevin Pilar for this team.
But what do you guys think?
I need your opinions.
I want to hear from you.
Hit me up in the comments section down below on YouTube or on Twitter X.
The Cubs are in town this weekend for four games.
That's right.
We get a double header there.
So I got some great news about the pitching matchups and an injury that has happened to the Cubs that is going to probably make you smile as well.
So we'll tell you all about it coming up next on Locked on Cardinals.
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channels app. So the Cubs are here this weekend. We got our game tonight. We got two tomorrow and we got
another one on Sunday. So double headers, it seems like we had a few of those this year already.
And they could be a little exhausting, to be honest. But the good news for the Cardinals is that the Cubs will not have their two best pitchers this weekend.
They've already thrown. Shotai and Managa, Justin Steele, not going to be throwing against the Cardinals.
That's good news.
Imanaga shut down, and they pitched well recently, too.
I'm going to shut down the Orioles on Wednesday,
and then Justin Steele did the exact same thing to them on Thursday.
They beat Corbyn Burns on Wednesday night,
and they shut them out like, seriously, zeros on Thursday.
So the Cubs just rolled over Baltimore.
But that's good news, you know,
and the Cardinals have their top four guys ready to rock.
You got Sonny Gray, who's going to be.
going to throw it tonight. You got Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson in the doubleheader on Saturday.
Then Miles Michaelis wraps it up on Sunday before the All-Star break. So advantage Cardinals.
More good news for the Cardinals. The Cubs will be without Cody Bellinger, who fractured her finger.
After getting hit by a pitch during the series with Baltimore, he's on the 10-day IEL.
He won't be there this weekend. So that's good news too. But, and this is where the balance comes in,
And the Cubs have still won four in a row.
All of a sudden, the Cubs have gotten hot.
And they're trying to hang on to their very slim hopes of becoming postseason relevant.
Sometimes desperation can motivate teams.
And I feel like the Cubs are a very desperate team right now.
So the Cardinals need to be ready for these guys that are literally playing for their season right now.
Because as they started to fall back, back, back, you know, the Brewers haven't slowed down much.
The Cardinals took off.
Pittsburgh and Cincinnati are still kind of where they're.
they are, but they were losing a lot of ground quick.
And they've started to climb out of that hole a little bit.
And that's the last thing you want is a team that believes in itself coming into Bush Stadium.
So it ain't going to be easy this weekend.
And if things don't change in Chicago, major shakeup could be going down.
They could trade Cody Belliger.
I was talking with Connor Thomas from Locked on Phillies the other day.
And, you know, I've said since day one that the Phillies were the best team in Major League Baseball.
I like them better than the Dodgers.
I like them better than the Yankees and better than Baltimore.
I've said it since day one.
And you just saw him, you know, beat up on the Dodgers.
And I asked him who would be like if the Phillies go out and add somebody,
who's like that guy that they could add that would make them virtually unstoppable?
And his response was Cody Belliger.
And the reason why I knew, like, well, aren't the, aren't the,
Aren't the Phillies looking for a right-handed bat too?
Well, here's the thing.
Belly hits lefties better than he hits righties.
It's weird.
323, in fact, compared to 239.
So Cody Bellinger would be just sick in that lineup.
They would have, I mean, think about it.
Schwerber, Trey Turner, Bryce Harper, Alec Baum, Cody Bellinger,
JT Real Mutos coming back soon, Bryce and Stott, Nick Castiano's.
And then you got your pitching staff with Wheeler and Nola, Suarez, Sanchez.
I mean, holy crap.
And I've heard that they're interested in bringing Brent Rooker in is another guy.
Like it would be unreal.
Anyways, the Cardinals, let's get back to where we were.
The Cardinals, they had a lot of momentum coming into Wednesday's games against the Royals.
Look like they were going to take game one, watched it slip away.
Game two, take a literally lead.
Royals answered quickly.
pitching staff couldn't slow down their offense.
They take the doubleheader.
They sweep.
The Royals are a good team.
They are.
I was very impressed by them.
But as a Cardinal, like, I didn't like that.
It didn't feel good, left a bad taste in your mouth.
So who better to take out all your aggression on than the Chicago Cubs this weekend?
Let's hope it happens.
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