Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Is Yadi Taking Over?

Episode Date: December 7, 2024

- Is Yadier Molina The Next Manager? - Ryan Helsley Could Be Staying - Around The League - Juan Soto - Cody Bellinger - Shane Bieber - Clay Holmes Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms… 🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOSTLCardinals?sid=YouTube Locked 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! 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 You can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - if you win your first FIVE DOLLAR BET ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. 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.

You out of here, Malina, wants to be the Cardinals manager. Ryan Housley might be staying all kinds of stuff 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 J.D. Hafferin, and I am your host for Locked on Cardinals. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day. You can follow me on TwitterX at JD SportsRefran.

radio you can also follow the podcast at L0 underscore Cardinals. I do want to thank those of you who make Locked on Cardinals your first listen every day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcast. We're also available on YouTube. Please stop on by if you haven't already. Like, subscribe and hit that notification button so you don't miss a single episode because 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 Fandall. You can start the season with a big return on Fandall. new customers can place a $5 bet and you'll get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet. Visit fandle.com to get started. So last year at this time, the Cardinals made the announcement the Yadier Molina had rejoined the team or I should say the organization. I really have the team, but the organization as a special assistant to president of baseball operations, John Moseilock. And it was a happy moment for fans. remember who had seen this team plummet to an abysmal season in 2023, didn't go to the playoffs, losing record. And this was all in the first season without number four behind the plate,

which, you know, we realized that he had a whole lot to do with what was going on, which made the St. Louis Cardinals a successful franchise. You take him away from the equation and things went down the toilet real fast. I myself pondered whether or not, Y, Yon, he was, you know, simply coming in when they made this hire. Was he coming in because he wanted to be the manager in waiting if and when Ali Marmal was replaced following the 2024 season when his contract was set to be, you know, to be expired to be done at the winter warmup. I remember I was like second row and Mo comes out and, you know, he's like, hey, you guys excited to have Yadi back. and everybody was like, oh, yeah, you know. You know, we were all freezing.

Like, it was freezing in, in ballpark village that day. Like, we were across the street. And I just remember being so cold, so cold that day. And, but we were excited. It's just, it was in the morning and we're cold. And I don't think we gave the enthusiasm that I think Mo was expecting from us. But everybody was still down because of this crappy season that the cardals had just come off of. And we weren't really.

sure what Yaddy was going to do. We didn't know what the role really was. But of course, we were happy to see, you know, or at least we thought we were going to see Yadda or Molina back with the team, chance to have one of the most influential guys for this franchise over the past two decades back in the fold to kind of help restore the cardinal way. And for some that was a sign that the team was, you know, going to move on from, from Ali after the bad year and that Yadi would be the next manager eventually. Things took a turn in the spring. If you remember, Mo doubles down on his hiring of Ali Marmal, following the firing of Mike Schilt extends Marmills contract through 2026, and that kind of left a lot of us confused and scratching our heads a little bit because we're

like, okay, wait a minute. So we had a good year with Yadi. They take Yadhi and Albert away, and we have a terrible year, and now we're just going to extend him. That was the, that was the the thought process that he's earned it somehow. We found out that, you know, John Moseilac didn't want to set Ali up to be the lame duck manager going into the 2024 season if things weren't going so well and didn't want, you know, people like, gosh, why are we have them, fire him already?

He was trying to avoid that. So he extended him instead. But he wanted to show his faith in Ali, which that was cool. You know, it was one very catastrophic scene. season and didn't put all the burden on, Ali, it wasn't like that Mo just kind of left him out there like, well, you know, if he had done this and this,

he would have been better. Now he took his share of the blame of how bad things were. And, you know, they were just hoping 2024 would be a better season. And it was. And it was. So, you know, at one side of it, you're like, well, I think that's really cool of Mo that is like, hey, we believe in you, we have faith in you, and this is what we're going to do.

On the other hand, some people felt that this extension that Ali got kind of gave the staff and him a free pass for all of the stuff that went wrong in 2023. And many people felt, and I thought this was what they were going to do too, was that they were going to give him 2024 to prove to everybody that the previous year was a fluke. and he could earn an extension by doing things the right way and showing that he can be a good manager at the major league level. And he would earn the extension by having a successful year. And then his time went on, we never saw Yadi. And we were told that he'd be there in the spring when the game started. So we were all excited about that.

that never happened. And then we started getting word that he had to attend the things that were going on in his native Puerto Rico. And after all, that was said and done throughout the year, we never saw Yadda or Molina. Never saw him around the team at all, not once. And there was obviously situations this past year that it would have been nice to have a Yadir Malina specifically when Wilson Contreras goes down. You've got Pedro Pahas, you got Ivan Herrera. Could have used a little guidance for. somebody who's going to be a Hall of Famer, not around to help out one little bit. Was he upset that Ali got the extension? That was something that, you know, we kicked around a little bit, maybe. But it's clear that he does want to be a manager in the major leagues at some point.

And now we've gotten word from his brother, Benji Molina, that he wants to be the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, specifically at some point. Benji was on the morning after show on 101 ESPN this week and said that Yadi doesn't want to go anywhere else. I'll tell you that right now, but he's not shutting the doors either. If St. Louis doesn't offer him a job for whatever reason, he's not closing the doors on any team. He would love to come here and manage, but if it doesn't happen, hey, somebody else will give him a job. And I said this from the beginning. If you do remember, every day you'll probably remember this conversation that I had with you,

that if Yaddy wanted the job, didn't get it for whatever reason, and then ended up going someplace else and becoming a successful manager, what would the reaction of Cardinal Nation be? Because I believe they might show up with lit torches and pitch forks down at 700 o'clock Avenue and attack whomever it was that is going to be in charge at the time and made that decision. fans would never forgive them, would they? Like, first off, you don't want to see Yadhi or Molina in any other uniform ever. Like, it's going to be weird if it happens.

We've seen people move on and have to wear new uniforms, losing out the pool holes, was obviously very, very weird. But it's different with Yadi for some reason, like, because he never left. And if he ends up moving on somewhere else, heaven forbid he goes to some place that is kind of kind of a rival of the Cardinals and ends up being a very good manager. I mean, the reaction is going to be awful. It's going to be awful. Our guy Thomas Govain over Redbirdrance.com wrote something about this the other day

and mentioned that apparently Martin Kilcoyne from 101 ESPN, one of the hosts on the show, asked Benji if Yaddy would be willing to just be a coach and does he necessarily have to be the manager? Can he, would he come on board as a coach? and Benji emphasized that Yadi wants to be a manager. He has no intentions of joining a staff as some sort of coach, not a bench coach, not an assistant coach. That's not what he's looking for. He wants to be a manager.

And I don't blame. I mean, if you have your heart set on something, why would you settle for anything less? He's already put in some time as a manager of Puerto Rico and in different leagues in Puerto Rico and the Dominican and has done quite well. The other thing that is worth noting is that Benji said Yaddi would likely wait until after his son graduated before accepting a full-time gig. And that is still two years away. So it gives us time to kind of let this reset sink in a little bit, see how things are going and feel things out.

If that's indeed the timeline we're working with here. But it does kind of line up nicely that, you know, Mo would be gone by this point. I'm Bloom would now be in charge. Ollie's contract would be coming up and Yadi would be ready to take over if that's the direction they wanted to go.

But it's kind of interesting. It's kind of interesting. And, you know, I think it's great that Yadi does want to be a manager and he's got his heart set on being the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. It seems to kind of make more sense why he wasn't around at all last year. I mean, even if you've got things that are going on in your home town, whether it's family and stuff like that. It was just a little surprising considering how long

we knew about this job with Yadi that we just never saw, like ever saw him at all. So it seems to make a little more sense now why he was absent the whole time. And I kind of relate things to what like what the Blues just did. All right. You know, they had Drew Bannister, who took over for Craig Barrube, who got canned, despite winning the organization's only Stanley Cup. But then Jim Montgomery becomes available, a guy that obviously had been with the coaching staff or the Blues. And GM, Doug Armstrong, he didn't waste any time. He was just like, as soon as Monty got fired from the Bruins, I'm sure he was on the horn

with him, like, look, we love you. And we would love for you to be in charge. things aren't working out so great here. We would love to have you in charge. What would it take? They come to an agreement on this five-year deal. And just like that, Bannister's out. There's no hesitation.

Bannister is out. Thank you. Pat on the back. Great job. Appreciate you taking over. Didn't work out. And in comes Monty. And the blues are now, what, 4-0-1 since the move?

They've just rejuvenated the entire team. It looks like a brand-new team out there. and sometimes there's just a fit. Sometimes there's just the right guy that just fits and just gels with everything that's involved. And I think most fans would agree that out of anybody who wants to be a manager right now. And obviously Albert Pooleholz appears to want to do some managing at some point.

But I think if you had to choose between the two, Yadi would be the guy that you're like, I kind of want Yaddi. I kind of want Yaddy to be in charge. He just seems like the right guy for a managerial job. He's got the fire. He knows what he's doing. He's basically been a manager coach his entire career behind home plate.

And if he's available and he wants to be your manager, that you're going to find it very difficult to sway anybody to say, well, we already got Holly. We should hang on to him rather than, hey, Move aside, dude. Yaddi wants to come in and we love him and he should be our manager. I feel like there's a lot more people that are going to feel like they want Yadi in rather than Ali. So is that fair to Ali? Of course not. Of course not. And as ugly as 2023 was, Ali was the guy in charge in 2022 when they did go to the playoffs. Yes, he had Albert and Goldie

and Nato and Yati and Waino and all these guys. And then this last year we did see improvement in 24, despite his two best players, Goldian Nato, having the worst offensive years of their careers. And from all accounts, always had the blessings and the trust of the team. And certainly for management, obviously, they believe in them. So, like, hypothetically, what if in this next year in 2025 in this restart, the Cardinals win, let's say they win 87 games next year and are right there knocking on the door of the playoffs, but don't quite make it, but they improve again, despite going through a restart or a reset, whatever you want to call it.

Would you, if you're in charge, still hand the team over to Yadi, or would you be wanting to keep OLLI around again and let him continue to get better and better? What if they win 90 games? What if they win 90 games next year and get a wild card spot? You know, would you still move on from Olly? Like what would he have to do to have you keep him over Yadda or Molina outside of winning, you know, a World Series? Maybe that's it. Maybe that's the last thing.

If he doesn't do that, you're moving on from him. Maybe that's how you feel. Is there anything that would stop you from replacing Ali with Yadi in 2026? You're in charge. Let me know in the comment section below. And we can discuss it. personally, if you feel that Yadi is the right guy, similar to way Army felt that Jim Montgomery was the right guy, I would take that approach and not let the opportunity pass you by for him

to go sign with somebody else. I just wouldn't let it happen. But that's just me. That's just me. Updates on the Ryan Helsley trade market. Is he not going to get traded now? Now, now it seems like maybe he's not as available as we thought. We'll talk about it next on Lock on Cardinals. Get ready to tackle the NFL action with Fandul, America's number one sportsbook because right now new customers can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if you win. The Fandil Sportsbook app gives you everything you need to play slide vets on the NFL and it's all in one place. Tough loss for my Packers on Thursday night. Unable to punch it in late in the red zone, maybe a shady flag there at the end. But, you know, the lines do what good teams do.

They take advantage of things like that and they win the ball game. But, you know, you could kind of sense the switch in the second quarter when the Packer started running the ball a little more. And that's when, you know, if you had a hunch that Josh Jacobs might have a good game, that's when it started to kick in for real, right? Three more tutties for the Green Bay running back. He's got seven in his last three games. 11 rushing touchdowns on the season, one off his career high. The dude is having a monster season. And if you were feeling that hunch in the middle of the game, that's when you hop on to the Fandul's sports book.

app and you can check out the latest stats. You can view the live play-by-play and so much more right there on the same place where you place your bets and that way you don't miss out on taking advantage of a hunch. So visit fandle.com to join today. You'll get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet. That's fandle.com. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with Fandle, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. Thank you again for making it locks on Cardinals your first list in every day. Leave your comments on YouTube as well as on Twitter to act anytime you want that feedback always welcome and encouraged. Ryan Helsley appears to be a nice trade chip for the Carls, right?

I mean, we've talked about this enough, but Ken Rosenthal over at the Athletic released an article with, you know, it's one of those what he's hearing from around the league. You know, obviously he's very in tune with everything that's happening. And he says that teams talking to the Cardinals about Ryan Helsley are under the impression that they are now going to hold onto him. and that John Moseilock is backing up that feeling saying it's something we will always remain open-minded to, but our plan is to have him be part of our organization. Rosenthal goes on to talk about how Ryan Helsley had this amazing year,

which we all know about, and how good he was, and he points out something that I have said before that his trade value, it's going to diminish if the Cardinals wait until the trade deadline to move to him. Like his trade value is the highest it will ever be right now. Right now. A full season of a player is more valuable than two months, which is what other teams would be getting if you wait until the trade deadline to move them. You know, and then he's going to be a free agent. He points out particularly when any team that acquires Hellsley during the offseason

would then also gain the opportunity to extend him, the qualifying offer and received draft pick compensation if he departed. He reminds us all that players traded in the middle of the season are not eligible for qualifying offers, the potential for an acquiring team to give Helsley a QO would enable the Cardinals to ask more for him now than they might get at the deadline. On the other hand, relievers are always in demand and the return of the deadline might be comparable to what the Cardinals would receive this winter, assuming Helsley stays healthy. And that's a big assumption because over the years,

Ryan Halsley hasn't always been able to maintain his health. Things have happened, you know. And I've also said, as amazing as this last year was, are we sure he's going to be able to match that again? Or are we that positive that things aren't going to regress just some, which will bring down his trade value even more. So again, the Cardinals, hey, they could be just testing the market. Maybe they haven't gotten the offers they were hoping for.

So that's why they're putting out this vibe that they will just keep Ryan Helsley. which again is their right to do. They do not have to trade any of these guys. They're not behind an eight ball here. I have to trade Aranao or this team is screwed and we're going to collapse. Same goes with the Hellsley. It doesn't have to happen and that everything's screwed up. That's not the case.

But if they do want their value to be at its highest and with the winter meeting starting on Monday, maybe things kick into gear a little bit more, Maybe it's not as cut and dry as we think at the moment. I just hope here's my thing. I just hope they're not like just spinning their wheels, okay? Because that's really what I don't want. You know, the idea was like, we've made a decision, and we are going to go with the younger guys,

and we're going to move on from the high-priced talent, and we're going to trade some guys away, and this is the plan, and we're going for it. And so far, that's not really happened, you know? All they've done so far is let free agency. walk. Goldschmidt, Gibson, Lynn, Kittridge, Meddleton, they haven't made any real tough decisions so far, at least in my eyes. And if they don't end up making any trades with guys like Halsey or Aronado, they could net you some valuable prospects, then we're just kind of in the same spot we were just in. You're just not paying these old

guys that were here. So it doesn't feel quite as aggressive as a direction. It kind of like, well, okay, you know, Sunny Gray didn't want to leave. Little's a Contreras didn't want to leave. They got no trade clause. That's their right. So there's not much you could do about that.

But I don't know. That's my biggest fear. It's not that this going younger thing would not work because I have full faith that the cardals are putting together, the type of player development that will get the best out of these guys. they're doing everything they can. I trust that process for it. But I feel like I just don't want them to just spend their wheels again.

Like, well, let's run it back. Because right now it kind of feels like we're just going to run it back a little bit. And that's not exactly what I was hoping for. But, you know, it's the other side of it, too, it's not like keeping Howellsly is holding anybody back. It's not like there's some super closer prospect coming up to the Cardinal system that it's like, well, we were going to let him pitch, but I guess we're not anymore. At least that's not the case.

You know, keeping healthy, not stopping somebody else from being good. You know, there isn't this, like, one guy who's ready to step in that you 100% trust to lock things down in a ninth inning. You like Libertor and Romero and Fernandez where they are right now in your bullpit. Like, I'm very pleased with where they are. None of them scream closer by any means, right? Like, none of them, you're like, hand the ball off and they are going to get you through it. no problem. None of them feel that way. They're just good pitchers, right? Good bullpen pitchers. So I see both sides of this. And if the deals aren't up to par, then I guess there's really no need to just give him away.

So, but hopefully, hopefully something will happen where either get a monster, a monster deal and we're able to work some things out here. That's really my hope. You know, it's not that we bring all these dudes back again. Let's get into some news from around the league next, including the Guardians, got their ace back under contract. How about that? We'll talk about it next on Locktown Cardinals. Thank you again for making Lockton, Cardinals your first listen today for your second listen.

Check out my guy, Sully with Lockton MLB, bringing you a daily blend of humor and baseball. Got you covered this entire offseason for everything around the league, even the Cardinals, who will talk about them as well. So if they do make a big trade, I'm sure I'll jump on there. with Sully and we'll have a nice conversation and he'll make fun of us for stupid trades that we've made in the past, but that's what it does. If I locked on it will be on YouTube or wherever, you listen to your podcast.

So winter meetings again are going to begin on Monday. We will have a preview of things for the Cardinals coming up either on Sunday or on Monday. But we've had a little bit of action around the league leading into things when they start in Dallas on Monday, the one soda sweepstakes, obviously, on the top of everybody's mind and Major League baseball. The discussions are that it is going to get really, really, really, really, really expensive. I know we all thought, hey, 500 million, maybe 600. But according to M.LB Network insider, John Heyman in his article for the New York Post, at least four teams, the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, and Blue Jays are in the neighborhood of $700 million for one soda, for one guy who plays one position.

Like, that's crazy, dude. That is crazy to me. Perthame and the Dodgers are believed to be behind in the bidding, but haven't been eliminated from the group of finalists yet. But in my eyes, after signing Snell, extending admin, it seems like the Dodgers are already kind of moving on with other plans, not like they're in a desperation need for another person to join the team on the offensive side of things.

obviously the Roki Sasaki stuff is coming up. He is expected to be posted this week, which would begin his 45-day window for teams to sign him. Heyman says that the Dodgers continue to be the favorites on that. But there are other teams, including the Padres, that have a shot, which, you know, there are so far when I'm around talking to people, there are two sides of this. There's the one side that's like, this is stupid. The Dodgers shouldn't be able to sign all these guys and we should, things should be more balanced.

And then there's like, I want to see the Dodgers get Soto and Sasaki and just watch it all burn. Watch everybody gets so upset and mad at Major League Baseball. Yeah. That's, I want it to be balanced. You know, I just wanted to be a fun league. I mean, you hate seeing it where one team's kind of like a monopoly. but rules don't stop them from doing it. And if they want to, these other teams could have done it too if they wanted to,

but they just don't have the pull. They're not the Dodgers. The Cardinals have not been brought up at all, as any of the teams who would be in the running for Sasaki, despite him not costing anything close to what like Yoshidobu Yamamoto costs last year coming over. But if Sasaki doesn't want to come to St. Louis, there's not a whole lot you can do about that. If he's got his mindset on joining a big market team, preferably on the West Coast,

that is the exact opposite of what the St. Louis Cardinals are. They are not a big market team, and they are in the Midwest. So I'm not expected to sign until the 2025 international amateur signing period begins on January 15th. So from now until then, pure speculation about what's going to happen with Sasaki. But it just seems like as much as anybody's been talking about, It's all leaning towards some West Coast teams. I know U. Darvish has some serious pull with players coming over from Japan. So that makes sense that the Padres would be right there for him.

And again, it doesn't cost like the Yamamoto contract. So any of these teams out there have a, if he wants to be West Coast, and that's the only place he'll go, they all have a chance. They all have a chance at it. As far as teams closer to home in the division, there is some momentum that the Cubs will be trading Seo Suzuki or a former NLMBP, Cody Bellinger. MLB Network insider Joel Sherman reported to the New York Post that the Cubs are determined

to move either of them, at least one of them, as the team would like to use the money owed to those big bats next season elsewhere on the roster. They also, you know, they had signed Matthew Boyd already. So I'm sure some of these starting pitchers that are out there, Max Fried, Corbyn, Burns, I'm sure those are some names that they would. love to chit chat with and have some money to spend on. Bellinger, exercise, his player option, is going to make $27.5 million this year. Suzuki's got two years, $36 million remaining on his five-year deal. He's got a no trade clause, though, so he gets to say where he wants to go,

maybe he'll go to L.A. I don't think they're getting to A. Oscar Hernandez back, so maybe he'll go to L.A. Just, you know, make it team Japan over there. And someone the Cardinals have been linked to over the years is going to return to the Cleveland Guardian. Sheen Bieber has agreed on a one-year, $10 million deal with the Guardians for 2025. It also includes a $16 million player option for 26 and a $4 million buyout at Tommy John's surgery this past year was having a very good year to start the season. And then the elbow gave out and not expected back until the middle of next season. I know that most of us believe that Tommy John surgery is no big deal anymore. and that, hey, you know, you come back and everything's fine.

There's always a risk. There's always a risk. But the reports are that Bieber never wanted to leave Cleveland. That's where he loves it. So it makes sense. It's a good deal for both people involved. The Mets also agreed to terms on a three-year $38 million deal with right-hander Clay Holmes, who used to be the closer for the Yankees. The Yankees' closer as of right now, Luke Weaver, the Fort McArdle first round pick.

The Mets are not going to use him as reliever, though. the reports are that he's going to get switched out and become a starter now. They're going to convert him to the rotation, which is something that our friend Thomas Coveyne again at Redbirdbrance.com has brought up about Ryan Halsley. Should the Cardinals start tinkering with him and perhaps put him into the starting rotation instead of keeping him as the closer.

He brings up the idea that the Cardinal should extend him. If they're not going to trade him now, then just extend him, turn him into a starter, and see where you can go from that. And that would hopefully avoid all the issues that the Cardinals had with Jordan Hicks, where they were like, we like him as a reliever. We kind of want to try him as a closer

because he throws so hard. But then he wants to be a starter. And it was just kind of a mess. They never had a direction, like where they're like, this is it. This is all we're doing. It never got to that. And then, of course, he goes to the Giants as a free agent

after getting traded to Toronto. Wasn't so bad as it started with Giants. So he finally got to. to be in a starting rotation full time. Personally, I'm not trying to mess with Ryan Helsley. The guys at the top of his game, consider one of the top closures and all of baseball, got the award as the top closure in the end.

Now, I don't know why at this point of his career. We're not talking about a 26, 27-year-old guy. We're talking about a guy in his early 30s. Why we're going to mess with him now? I don't know why that would be something that people want to do. I don't want to do it. I have no interest in that. You've got prospects like Teen Kins, Quinn Matthews,

Dakota Roby, and a group of other guys that seemingly are ready to step up with the contracts of, you know, Eric Fetty and Miles Michaelis and Stephen Matt's, if they're still around when those expire and they're ready to slide right in there with Sunny Gray. So I'm just not as keen on the idea as he is, but check out the article and, you know, think about it, see what you think about it for yourself. Thank you again for making Lockstone Cardinals, your first listen every day. If you haven't already, give us a follow on Twitter X at LO underscore Cardinals into JD Sports Radio.

Like, subscribe on YouTube if you haven't already and help our channel and love for the St. Louis Cardinals grow. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. I'll see you next time on Locked on Cardinals.