Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Free Agent Possibilities For The Cardinals

Starting point is 00:00:00 Could the St. Louis Cardinals be in the market to actually add someone to their roster through for agency? We'll look at some possible options on today's episode of 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, I'm J.D. Haffern and I'm your host for Locked on Cardinals, part of the Lockedon Podcast Network covering your team every day. You can follow me on Twitter X at JD Sports Radio. and the podcast also available on Twitter X at L0 underscore Cardinals. We want to thank those of you who make Locked on Cardinals,

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Starting point is 00:00:54 This is a show serving Cardinal Nation and giving the best fans in baseball, all of the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode being brought to you by Fandul, from big upsets to game winning drives. NFL playoffs are better with Fandall. New customers can bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets guaranteed win or lose. Visit fandle.com to get started. All right. So I hope everybody, if you're in the Midwest and you're watching or listening to the show that you are surviving Snowmageddon, as we're calling it. It happens ever so often. I feel like we've been okay the last year or two when it comes to big snowstorms in the Midwest. but oh boy, did we get shmammered over the last couple of days?

Starting point is 00:01:37 So if you're cooped up in the house, we're right there with you. We're right there with you. I have no access to any roads to get anywhere to do anything. And that's just the way it is. But hopefully you're safe and took the proper precautions. Look on the roads if you don't have to, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know the rules here. The St. Louis Cardinals, like what I have done over the last 24 hours,

Starting point is 00:02:01 have done basically nothing. Basically nothing so far this off season, except decline options on certain players like Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn. Most of the time, it's been about trading people away. Most of the discussions that we've had here during this off season. Still waiting on news about Nolan Aronado, got nothing new to report so far, although there's been a little bit of talk about that the Boston Red Sox are starting to kind of pull away as the top landing spot for Aronado, which I think makes a lot of sense. I think he'd be very good in Boston. I think he would enjoy hitting off the green monster,

Starting point is 00:02:36 just like Tyler O'Neill did. But what about the rest of this roster? Okay, we got to, you know, we can't just sit here and spin our wheels in the snow like what's going on in real life. We need to talk about some other things. And when you look at the roster and you think about the philosophy

Starting point is 00:02:52 that the Cardinals are rolling with this season, there are not a lot of spots for them to add people. There's really not. I mean, the infield still trying to move Aranaado to make room for other young players like Nolan Gorman and Thomas Adjacy to get them more at bats, more meaningful at bats. Mason went obviously is a locket shortstop. Contreras is over at first base. We're hoping he stays healthy this year and can get you 600 at bats. And even though there's been a little bit of chatter about Luke and Baker possibly going overseas to play, he's still on this roster at this moment on the 40-man roster. Jose Fermin also still on the 40-man roster. So not a whole lot of room there depth-wise on the infield. In the outfield, you've got a plethora of players that you want to see play. It's too bad that we can't do it softball style and start four outfielders because you got Donovan, Newt Bar, Walker, Berlison, Siani, Victor Scott the second.

Starting point is 00:03:50 You've got the addition of Matt Coperniac to the 40-man roster. So there's plenty of options in depth at all three outfield positions. The pitching staff, we've got a rotation of Sunny Gray, Stephen Matt, Eric Fetty, Miles Michaelis, Andre Palante, Michael McGreevy, in your bullpen. Ryan Hellsley, still on this roster, Jojo Romero, Matthew Libertor, Ryan Fernandez, John King. And then you've got a couple of spots there that are kind of a crapshoot of arms that, you know, you hope stay healthy and you hope that these guys can be productive. We're talking about the last possible spots on your roster that fill these, uh, these, uh, places. is in the bullpen. Riley O'Brien, remember, we were all excited about him last year. He was a huge bust after all that hype because of the injury that happened to him right out of the gate against the Dodgers.

Starting point is 00:04:39 And then the ineffectiveness and wildness when he did return. So the excitement about Riley O'Brien has simmered quite a bit. Kyle Leahy and Chris Roycroft, he showed some ability when they came up to the show last year. But this would be an area that if you could find a suitable veteran arm, for the right price. Perhaps it's the one spot on this roster that you might have a little bit of wiggle room. You might be like, you know what? We could add a guy in this spot, basically to take the spot of Andrew Kittridge,

Starting point is 00:05:13 who that also has been mentioned, I believe it was from John Denton, that mentioned that Andrew Kittridge, not out of the rum of possibilities that he might enjoy a return to the Cardinals if they were so inclined to bring him back. But you also got to keep in mind that the team will likely be looking for guys that if they were to sign anybody relieving wise, that they can flip at the deadline if the team is so far gone and out of contention that there's no point. So these are the kind of signings you're looking for. I know it's a very strange spot to be in, not something that we're used to in St. Louis, but it's the smart play right now. You know, the Cardinals are a place where guys who are looking for a shot in a ring are probably not going to sign.

Starting point is 00:06:00 But if they're looking to, I don't know, bounce back from an injury, just trying to look to be in a solid situation where they're going to get as much playing time as they can't. Pitching-wise, it would make sense. Derek Old from the St. Louis Post Dispatch talked about this in a recent article. I ended up naming five free agent moves that will stay in line with, you know, the budget that the Cardinals are trying to maintain. And he does remind people. He even says it looking for bounce back starter, short term pitchers, bench depth, guys that are specifically glove oriented types of depth pieces. So he goes through five names here. And I wanted to go through them with you and give you a reaction to some of these guys' names of what I think about it. The first name that he mentions is formerly of the Texas Rangers, 31-year-old reliever, Jose LeClerc is his name.

Starting point is 00:06:55 Fancy, Fancy. Gould says this about him in the article, the right-hander with a zippy fastball, 95.3 miles per hour, at a 4.32 ERA in 64 games in 66 and 2 thirds innings for the Rangers. He had as many saves in the 2023 World Series, which was one, as he had for the Rangers in the 2024 regular season. one and yet he saw an increase in his strikeout rate per nine at 12.02 and a slight decrease in his walks per nine down to 4.32. Now how does he fit with the Cardinals? Well, he says they're in the market for a set up reliever who can slide into that pivotal kits, redrawl, as I mentioned, own it, thrive in it. And then if the team is teetering out of contention be a valuable trade ship to cash in at the deadline. He says pair of clerics peripherals with a handful of holds, some saves plus success. And that October experience is a, a, experience is a bonus that the cardals can flip unless there's another trade and he sticks around to inherit the ninth inning. Now personally, looking at LeClerc's numbers, you know, eight-year career so far, and it hasn't been that bad. Like, he's been pretty darn good at

Starting point is 00:08:02 sub-2 ERAs back in 2016, which was his rookie year. So he only threw like a handful of games. But then again in 2018, over 59 games, sub-2 ERA at a sub-3 ERA in 2020 and 2022 and 23. The ERA pluses in those seasons, 141 and 160, before things dropped last year, a little subpar season, whereas ERA plus dipped to a below league average of 92. Now, he certainly makes a lot of sense for the Cardinals. And when you talk about price-wise, he made around $6 million the last two seasons with Texas. And that's when he was having really good seasons. Maybe it drops a little bit or maybe it's around the same at $6 million just because, you know,

Starting point is 00:08:45 That's what pitching costs these days. Things go up. Maybe this is kind of like the new Keenan Middleton of what Keenan Middleton was supposed to be for the Cardinals, the type of signing the Keenan, who was also at $6 million, was supposed to be able to help Ketrajan in that situation. And so it wasn't all on kit, but got hurt, never pitched for the Cardinals due to these injuries, was out for the whole season, and it was a bust of a contract in $6 million. and you saw how well Kit performed, but, you know, obviously he was, I would say most people would

Starting point is 00:09:20 agree he was probably a little overworked and a little bit gasped by the end of the season. So, what clerk makes sense. It really does. So I like that one. We're going to continue with Derek's list, which includes a guy that I personally have wanted them to sign for years now. He's been around a long time. He's been on a lot of teams, but he's a guy that, in my opinion, still serves a very

Starting point is 00:09:44 important role. We'll talk about him next on Locktown Cardinals. For a big upsets to game winning drives, the NFL playoffs are better with Fanduel, because right now new customers can bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets guaranteed. That's $200 in bonus bets, win or lose. The Fandul app will give you everything you need for live bets, same game parlays, and so much more. We've got the wild card matchups and the NFL are set. Chargers are favored in Houston. I agree with that. I think the chargers are a sneaky team. defense. And if they get that running game going again, which when they were when they were hot earlier in the season, they rode that running game quite nicely. And it worked out for a hardball

Starting point is 00:10:27 company. Then you've got the other hardball with the Ravens, a huge favorite over the Steelers who have lost four in a row now. Buffalo big favorites over the Broncos, Eagles, four and a half favorites against my Packers. And then the Bucks favored by three at home against the commanders. That Broncos versus Bill's game is one I'm eyeing up. I've been impressed with Bo Nix and company, and that defense has been pretty stout all season. So to have a spread as big as it is between Buffalo and Denver is a little shocking to me. So that's the one I'm looking at right now.

Starting point is 00:11:01 But for you, you just visit Fandrel.com to join today and get started with $200 in bonus bets. That's Fanduil.com. Make this playoff season unforgettable with Fandul and official sportsbook partner of the NFL. Thank you again for making lots on Cardinals for first listen every day. Leave your comments on YouTube as well as on Twitter X anytime you want your feedback is always welcome and encourage. We're going to try to get Jeff Jones on the show this week. That's the plan at least.

Starting point is 00:11:36 Obviously, weather-wise, things get a little crazy and things change. But if you have any questions that you want myself or Jeff Jones to answer for you, sports writer who covers the Cardinals, then get them to me on YouTube or on Twitter X. and we'll have that for you in our upcoming show this week. Fingers crossed. Once again, making our way through the list of Derek Goulds that he wrote about at STL today.com, we'll have the link in the description and show notes. If you want to click on it and read it in full because there's a lot more to his story

Starting point is 00:12:06 than now I'm just reading a little bits of it. But these are some of the free agent names that he thinks the Cardinals could still be interested in, despite the money constraints that they have placed upon themselves for this upcoming season. The next reliever is a guy that I have admired from afar for many, many years now, many years. I have always felt that he would be a great fit at the back end of the bullpen for the Cardinals. But every year, I get my hopes up that the Cardinals are going to finally get him, and he ends up someplace else instead. And that would be right-hander David Robertson, who has been in this league for quite some time.

Starting point is 00:12:44 Robertson is now 39. He's going to turn 40 in April, just like LeClerc, spent last year with the Texas Rangers. He's been with eight different teams in his career. Nine with the Yankees, three with the White Sox, two in Philly. Then he had the stops with the Rangers, the Mets, the Cubs, the Marlins, and the Rays. And in almost every place that he has ever gone, he has found a decent amount of success. The stops in Philly, Tampa Bay, and Miami were the only ones over his entire career where his ERA Plus fell below 100. And as recent as 2023, his ERA Plus was at 205, like he was still doing it. Here's what Gould says about him. The right hander struck out

Starting point is 00:13:24 99 batters and 72 innings for the Rangers as they slid from World Series champions to 78 and 84. His 33.4% strikeout rate was the fourth highest of his career and his walk rate was at 9.1. It didn't shift much from his recent seasons. Robertson has 177 saves and a 2.91 ERA in 8161 big league appearances and the volatile business of Bulpim. He's been a constant for almost two decades. He declined a $7.5 million option to return to the Rangers, taking a $1.5 million buyout and becoming a free agent. The price might be too high for the Cardinals as Robertson is coming off a one-year $10 million deal with the Rangers. It's a fair argument than to suggest that the Cardinals are better off spending that money if they do on a starter.

Starting point is 00:14:11 Like I said, I've loved Robertson for a very, very long time now and have been shocked that at some point in this career that he has not landed in St. Louis. Gold mentions that Robertson could seek a team with better world series aspirations. I completely understand that. He's only won one championship over his 16-year career, and that was when he first started back in 2009 with the Yankees. So it's been a long time, and he's been on some really good teams, too. So it's a little bit shocking that he's only got one ring being as good as he is, as many times as he's been traded to playoff content. and still didn't come away with another one. So that might hinder this idea of David Robertson coming to St. Louis, along with the money,

Starting point is 00:14:56 as Gould mentions, because they're not going to want to spend too much on a guy like that. But again, if you think about it in an investment type of way, you sign a guy like that. And then if things don't work out, but he's still pitching well, you flip him for prospects and whatnot. and maybe, you know, obviously the other team will have to pick up the rest of the deal. Maybe you put some cash considerations within that deal. And then it's only kind of like a rental for a little while. And you pick up a couple of prospects in the end, too. Is that something that Dave Robertson wants to do at this point in his career?

Starting point is 00:15:33 Does he want to go to a team that the percentage of him getting traded later on at the deadline is really, really good? Is that something he wants to do and keep moving around? I don't know. I don't know. At 39, almost 40 years old, I don't know if that's what he wants. to do. But if they could somehow get him, I'd be more than happy with that signing. I've always liked him. I've always liked Adam Ottavino, who used to be a Cardinal. That was who he's drafted by. But I like the fact that they are so good against Ritees and are just, you know, just wipe out stuff

Starting point is 00:16:04 against right handers. And I've just been a fan for a long time. And I think it'd be cool to see David Robertson in a Cardinals uniform. Another name on the list that's pitcher, Spencer Turnbull, formerly of the Philadelphia Phillies. If you remember, he was having this really, really good season as a starter. They moved him to the bullpen after, you know, their rotation got healthier. And then he suffered a lat injury back in June and it wiped out the rest of the season. Cardinals fans and the team itself saw him firsthand how good he was on April 8th when the season just had got underway. He fires six shutout innings against them.

Starting point is 00:16:41 He strikes out six, allows just two hits. And then he comes back and blinks him again, three innings allows no hits and strikes out six in relief on June 1st to pick up his third and final win of the season. Now here's what Gould says about him and his fit with the Cardinals. Turnbull hasn't thrown more than 60 innings in the major since his rookie season when he made 30 starts and he led the league of losses that year. By the way, 17 losses for Detroit. Since he's had elbow surgery, they cost him a season and other ailments. He's 32. So a strikeout rate jumped to 26.1% last season up from a career average of 22. Walk rate dropped to 9.0, which is close to

Starting point is 00:17:20 his career average. He doesn't fit with the Cardinals snugly, is the word that he uses there, which I appreciate, but potentially Turnbull's next 100-ending season will be the second of his career and the Cardinals don't appear to be in the market of promising any six of pitchers who are looking to reestablish themselves as starters, but they are in need of insurance for the rotation, especially if they make a trade that opens two spots in the rotation for youths. For a swing man, there inevitably will be innings available and Turnbull has been good when healthy. And if not healthy, there's another spot for a youth to fill in. Now, in a normal cardinal year, I would be kind of on board with this.

Starting point is 00:18:00 I would say that this would make a little more sense. He would be a nice, you know, fifth starter type of guy who, like Matt's, can get you some help in the bullpen. and if you want to move them down there. But unfortunately, the rotation is quite full at the moment, as we mentioned earlier. So they got at least six guys who are ready to rock and roll for the rotation this year. So I doubt that this is something that would occur unless, like Gold says, at least a couple of guys get moved.

Starting point is 00:18:29 We're talking more about mats and fetti. I know most of us were like, yeah, are we going to trade bike list? No trade clause. So if he doesn't want to go, he doesn't have to go. and he seems to like it in St. Louis, and why wouldn't he? So if I'm Turnbull, though, I'm trying to start. I'm trying to be a starter, you know, I'm trying to see if I can pull that off again because he was really good at the beginning of the season.

Starting point is 00:18:52 I remember fantasy-wise, I took very much advantage of how good Spitzer Turnbull was early on, and it was a bummer when he did get hurt in June and was lost for the season because he was pitching quite well. So we're going to jump into the final two guys on Derek Gould's list. Next, one of them includes is, just happens to be an infielder from the south side. We'll talk about them next on Lockdown Cardinals. Now, I love going to live events, whether it's sports, whether it's music, theater, comedy, doesn't matter. I love all of it.

Starting point is 00:19:25 Nothing like going to a live event and getting excited, you know, anticipation, get dressed, go out for the big night to go to whatever you're going to. I mean, obviously, I'm a sports fan, so I love, I am such a dork when it comes to, like, wearing whatever the team is wearing, like, whatever uniform, I'm trying to match with my pants and my socks and everything. Very nerdy. I know. But when I need tickets to any event, where do I go? I go to the Game Time app and you should too because it is the easiest way to find the seats that you want. And believe it or not, Game Time is now making it easier to get tickets for your favorite events with their new feature. Game Time picks. Now this feature is it's at the top of the screen there and it filters out all the fluff to show you only incredible deals on great seats. You know how normally. You'll filter down to things. Game time picks will filter out a bunch of that stuff for you already. So you don't have to waste time searching through thousands of tickets. I know the Post Malone Jelly Roll Show at Bush Stadium in May is obviously a very big event. People are going to want to be there.

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Starting point is 00:21:08 Brings you a daily blend of humor in baseball. Keeps you updated on all the teams during the offseason, including the Cardinals. You can find Lockdown MLB on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcast. So so far, on on Derek Gould's list, again, in the description down below in the podcast info. If you're listening to the audio version, we've, we've had pictures. It's been all pictures so far on the list. So let's switch it up a little bit. Gould list, an infielder here, Nikki Lopez, formerly of the Chicago White Sox.

Starting point is 00:21:39 Most of you will say, who? Yeah, little Nikki Lopez, as he should be called, not a big guy. He is a defensive guy. Not much offense at all. Here is what Derek Gould says, what his fit would be with the Cardinals, if they were to indeed sign him. He says if the Cardinals do not see any of their current left-handed hitters

Starting point is 00:22:00 as a cameo option at shortstop, here you got Lopez, fresh off waivers and looking for a gig. Cardinals need bench depth and have decided to do it on a budget, and they have left-handed options at second and third base for sure. Less clear is shortstop. A left-handed compliment who, who plays rarely but reliably at shortstop would be a sturdy addition, if not a headliner.

Starting point is 00:22:23 Lopez, as I mentioned, not a good header. Gold points it out that he had a minus nine defensive runs saved in 344 and a third innings at shortstop in his career, but says he's been average there overall in his career was much better at shortstop in his time with the Kansas City Royals. And again, we're talking about bench depth there. And I know that, you know, when we talk about signing people, everybody wants to put like a super team together and like I need a guy who can hit 20 home runs off the bench or whatever it's just it's not that simple it's not my issue here and I get the idea of it is because there are not a lot of left-handed hitting short stops out there's just not okay they don't really exist all that often but do we really need what I consider a younger version of what we just got from Brandon Crawford

Starting point is 00:23:15 Is that what we need in a free agent? I just, no. I'm just, I'm not on board with that. I mean, as I mentioned earlier, you've got Jose Fermin, who can play shortstop, already on the 40-man roster, doesn't make any money. The thing is, you have to have a left-hander who can hit it. If he's not even a good hitter in general, what's the difference?

Starting point is 00:23:38 Like, why not just keep the guys that are on your roster instead? And I would say in a pinch, you could put Brin' and Donovan over there at shortstop if you needed to. I bet he could pull it off. But I don't know about this Lopez thing. But I guess, again, you're talking about different spots on the roster that maybe you could squeeze somebody in through free agency. So a bit of a reach there.

Starting point is 00:24:03 But this last one that he brings up is somebody we should all be very familiar with. And that would be former Cardinals pitcher Kyle Gibson. Yeah, yeah. We know he loved being in St. Louis last year. He lives in St. Louis, went to Missou. More importantly to me, he wasn't that bad last year. I felt, I'll be honest, my side of thing, I felt more confident when I saw Kyle Gibson taking the mound than I did with Michaelis or Lance Lynn.

Starting point is 00:24:32 Even though Lance Lynn ended up being pretty good, considering how bad his previous season was, I just, you know, I felt more confident with Kyle Gibson on the mound. And Gold points out, as I have here before, And if you're going to get a rotation guy, then obviously someone's got to be traded, whether it's Fetty, whether it's Mats, whether it's Michaelis. And I think most fans, I don't think you guys would mind if Kyle Gibson came back. I know you want better. You would rather have Jack Flaherty or somebody else who's much better on the top tier level of what's left on the pitching market. But that's not where the cardinals are.

Starting point is 00:25:10 They're not going to spend the money to get somebody like that first and foremost. and they're not looking for that. They're wanting somebody to just kind of be that glue to the rotation, which is what Kyle Gibson was for this team last year. Very good in the clubhouse. Goal points out how he was a very important mentor for Andre Palante, who turned his season and possibly his entire career around last year. He's a guy that you like on your roster, in your clubhouse.

Starting point is 00:25:39 I think it'd be cool to see Kyle Gibson, come back if, you know, you end up trading some people away and getting prospects. But the odds that it happens right now, obviously not good because you've already got, as I mentioned before, six dudes who are still on this roster that would be ahead of him, in my opinion, as far as getting innings, you know. If you were to slide Michaelis out and put Kyle Gibson in, I think that would be an improvement, it, but that's not likely to happen. Michaelis is more than likely going to be here this year.

Starting point is 00:26:16 And maybe he is better this year. But the last two years, he's been one of the worst pitchers in baseball. But there you have it. Of the five names, if I put it in order of who I'd be more excited to have, it would be David Robertson, number one, because I've always wanted him. Then I'd go to the clerk. Then I guess Gibson, because that means there have been some deals made, and I've got more to talk about on this podcast, then Turnbull and then Lopez.

Starting point is 00:26:41 I just, I don't, I'm not in on the low-pice thing. I understand why he was brought up, but I don't think it's that necessary. But there you go. Who do I think is the more likely person to get signed out of those? Probably Leclerc. I feel like David Robertson is, I think somebody else will pay more for him. I think one of these bigger market teams that have more legit, uh, aspirations of a World Series this year would take him first.

Starting point is 00:27:08 But, uh, the Leclerc one is, that's, that's, that's, It's interesting because again, yeah, subparre year this past year, but two years ahead of that, awesome. He was awesome. And why not be awesome in a cardinal uniform, right? So there you go. Let me know what you guys think about this. How would you rank these possible additions? First off, excitement, which one would you be like, ooh, that would be really awesome?

Starting point is 00:27:33 And which one do you think is more likely to happen? Let me know in the comments section down below or on Twitter X. Thank you for making lockdown cardinals your first listening. every day if you haven't already. Give us a follow on TwitterX at L.O underscore Cardinals at a JD Sports Radio, like, subscribe on YouTube, help our channel and our love for the Cardinals grow. We're pushing for 12,000 subscribers now and we'd love to have you on board for good. You're the best fans in baseball for a reason. We will see you next time on Locktown Cardinals.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Free Agent Possibilities For The Cardinals

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