Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - More On A Possible Deal With The Boston Red Sox For Arenado

Episode Date: February 12, 2025

Crossover Episode with Gabby Maljanian From Locked on Red Sox about trade talk between the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals that includes Nolan Arenado plus what Chaim Bloom can offer the Cardinals after his time in Boston - Nolan Arenado Trade Discussion - Is Nolan That Bad? - Chaim Bloom - What Has He Learned From His Time In Boston - What Prospects Would Be Involved In A Deal? 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! Wonderful Pistachios Looking for a snack that’s both delicious and nutritious? Get snackin’ and get crackin’ with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more. FanDuel Right now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins!Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) #ForTheLou #stlcards #mlb #lockedoncardinals Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Trade discussions between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox about third baseman Nolan Aronado apparently continue. Today we'll do a crossover show with Gabby from Locked on Red Sox to talk about both sides of this possible trade and what Heim Bloom can bring to the table for the Cardinals in the future. You are Locked on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Hello and welcome to this crossover episode of Lockdown Red Sox and Lockdown Cardinals where we here are wishing we both were at spring training as we speak because the weather looks absolutely beautiful down there. Nice and sunny while I am looking at snow outside my house currently. So if you are in New England, you can 100% relate to me in that regard. So I am here with J.D. Haffer and a host of Lockdown Cardinals where we're going to talk about a lot of day. different things related to the Red Sox, Nolan Aeronado, Heim Bloom, lots of buzz going on this

off season. J.D., how are you doing today? I'm in the same boat you are, Gabby, looking on my window, we got snow, we got cold, it's miserable. And I've seen a lot of, you know, other media members that I'm sure you're familiar with too. They're all down there enjoying the sun of spring training. And it's annoying. It's annoying that we have to be the tough people still. in the cities where our teams actually play. But it is what it is. And I'm excited to finally get a chance to talk with you about what's going on between our two teams who apparently are just flirt with each other right now when it

comes to traits. Yeah, you know, it's always interesting because you look at the recent history between the Red Sox and the Cardinals. And there's definitely some connections there, of course, with the obvious them facing each other twice in the World Series in the 2000s here, which is something that I want to touch on a little bit later. here. Do we have to, Gabby, do we have to go talk about those?

I mean, they didn't work out so well. Of course, we have to talk about those because all of my listeners would love to relive those experiences. But when it comes to these two teams right now, there's been a lot of talk surrounding Nolan Aronado, whether he, first of all, is going to be traded out of St. Louis. And if so, where is he going to go? And the Red Sox have been one of those teams that have been. highly in conversation because they are in need of an infielder right now and a right

handed bat. So in your just experience with covering this team and thinking about the Cardinals going into the 2025 season, do you think it's a pretty definitive statement that he's going to be getting traded? Well, our president of baseball operations, John Moseleck, has repeatedly said that that is the number one priority. he even had the statement where he was like, trading Nolan Aronado is our number one priority, our number two priority, and our number three priority.

He did that at what we call the winter warm up, where, you know, the fans and the players and the team get together. And it's something that has just dragged and dragged and dragged on throughout this entire offseason. And it feels like it's almost to the point of no return where. So the whole point of this off season is to get rid of this guy, right? And then so far it hasn't happened. And here we are a week away from the position players reporting.

And he's still on this team. There's been a lot of factors as to why he hasn't been moved yet. They did have a deal in place with the Houston Astros, but Nolan Arnado's got a no trade clause. And he vetoed that. We don't have an exact reason why he said no to that. We assume that it was more because there were other places that he was more interested in and playing in, he had given a list to the Cardinals saying, you know, this is the, the, the, the cities and teams that I'd be interested in actually playing for.

And it's been an interesting situation because it's where nobody's mad at each other. It's not like no one's upset with the Cardinals. The Cardinals are like, oh, my gosh, you're a terrible person. Let's get you out of town. Everybody's very much happy with each other. They just understand the business side of it that, you know, the Cardinals are going in this direction right now. There's not a guarantee that they're going to be playing for a championship. At least they're not planning on it in the near future where, you know, Aronado's at the point of his career where I'd like to get a ring. I'd like to go play somewhere that I have a legit chance to win a championship.

And the Boston Red Sox are one of those teams that has popped up that seems like it makes a lot of sense for Nolan Aronado. You know, it's, obviously, he wanted to come to St. Louis when he left Colorado and got traded. He wanted to be in St. Louis because, of tradition and he's very much just a baseball nerd about that kind of stuff. You know, he wanted to be somewhere that, you know, wants to win, is trying to do everything they can to win. And for the first few years with the Cardinals, yeah, that was what was going on.

Things have changed. And the Red Sox are a team that is on the rise and, you know, obviously great farm system. And they've got some good pieces in place and are on the rise trying to compete for a championship. So it would make a lot of sense that that would be a spot that Nolan Aranaanao would want to go, you know, obviously tradition-wise, the Red So it's a nice fit. Like if there was a place when they were talking about places Nolan Aranaana would want to go this offseason, obviously the Dodgers were a place because he's from the L.A. area and that made sense. But L.A.'s, you know, too busy signing everybody else in the world.

So it did to bring them. Although their name has still been floating around. Maybe we're still having a little. discussions. But the Yankees have been brought up as a team that made sense because they don't exactly have a legit third baseman. With Boston, what made this interesting is because you do have a superstar third baseman. He just has a problem on the defensive side of things. You know, Raphael Devers is good a hitter as you'll find in the league. Defensively, it's been a little tough for him since he's been in the major leagues. Nolan Arnato, if there's one thing he

still does in an elite level, that would be play the position. of third base. And you can see why there would be some mutual interest there. Yeah, 100%. And one thing that Alex Cora did bring up this off season was that the defense needs to improve because the Red Sox infield defense was one of the worst in the league in 24. And they lost lots of games due to errors that they made in the infield endeavors, unfortunately, was a big part of that. And like you said, you know, he has one of the best bats in the league. And for sure, offensively, he's going to bring that type of productivity. but it almost makes you wonder, you know, would he be best if he was only hitting?

And he was more of a regular designated hitter. And you bring in somebody like Aronado who is great defensively and could be a boost to the infield defense. Because if you put him next to Trevor Story in the Red Sox infield right now, that's already a huge upgrade defensively. And the thing that I think Red Sox fans are concerned about is less. that, but more if they were to acquire Aeronado, what type of productivity would he bring to the plate? Because offensively, Red Sox fans feel like we need somebody in here who could produce at a high level offensively. And that's something that a lot of people within the Red Sox organization, I think, have been hesitant about when it comes to bringing him to Boston.

Well, the last trade that the Red Sox and Cardinals pulled off worked out pretty well offensively for the socks with Tyler O'Neill going to you guys for a couple of guys that one of them's not even with the organization anymore in St. Louis. So that worked out kind of nicely. And he was coming off some some years with the Cardinals offensively, mostly due to injury. I, by the way, huge fan of Tyler O'Neill. It's sad to me big time when Bro Neal, as we call him, was shipped to you guys. We knew it was something that was going to probably happen. But it was a Bomber because you love everything that he offered. I do have some stats here that, like, okay, if people are hesitant in Boston about

what kind of hitter Nolan Aronado is, I know that he's 33. It's going to be 34 in April. But he's still not, he's not a bad baseball player by any means. And when it comes to the offensive side of things, there's been a decline. I'm not going to lie to you. But among third baseman, he was fifth and batting average last year. He was 10th in OBP, 10th in league in RBIs, which we all know, kind of depends on who's batting in front of you and getting on base. So I can't really fault him for having horrible RBI numbers when, you know, he still hit well with runners in scoring position, although the entire Cardinals seem terrible outside of Nolan Arnato.

He was 11th and slugging, 13th and OPS, but he only struck out 92 times. So he's going to put the ball in play. Again, his best trade at this point in his career really is the gloves. So gold glover finalist again, you know, something that he's won 10 times in his career, six-time platinum gold glove winner. You could do a lot worse than Nolan Aronado with third base at this point in his career. The power numbers is where things have really slid. And that's like the one thing that really stands out about Nolan Aronado the last couple of years.

Just in the time that he's been with the Cardinals, he went from 34 home runs in 2021. he falls to 30 the next year, then to 26, then to 16 last year. The doubles have also started to come down 34, went to 42 when he was an MVP finalist, losing to Paul Goldschmidt, his teammate that year. But then it drops to 26 and then it drops to 23. OPS plus 116, 150 for that MVP year, then 108, 101. One of the things that we picked up on is he's not getting the ball in the air anymore. Like that seems to be a problem, too.

the fly ball rate, 32.7, down to 29 to 25.7 to 23.5. Obviously, I mean, your ground ball rate's going to go up. 31, 30, 30, 38, 39 is where we're at now. I tend to give Nolan the benefit of the doubt in some stuff because I find watching every game where pitchers just aren't throwing him the same. They're just throwing him away, away, away, away. He's a pull hitter. He always has been he was never even though we led the league at home runs a few times it wasn't like he's this massive man who just mash his well he's not Jean-Carlo Stanton out there you know just crushing the ball 450 that's not his game he's a line drive hitter hit a lot of home runs while he was in Colorado still had a lot of home runs while he's with st. Louis but pitchers are pitching

him differently obviously the lineup that was around him the last couple years not as good so that makes a difference because if you don't have to challenge the guy you just keep the ball away from him and you just, you know, put it on somebody else's shoulders. So, those are the stats that stand out. So I understand. I mean, clearly he's going to be 34, unless you're on PEDs that you don't go, you don't get better usually at the end of your career. You start to trail off a little bit. But I don't think, I feel like, at least on my side of things, as Cardinals fans and stuff, where I think we underappreciate how good Nolan actually still is that he is not some bottom of the barrel third baseman, you know, he,

He's not a scrub or anything like that. He's just not hitting with as much power as he used to, but he can still help you win in a lot of different ways. And the Cardinals are not going to be as good if they trade him. Okay, I'll put that out there. I don't care who you're bringing, what young guy, Nolan, Gorman, whoever it is, they're not going to be a better team without Nolan Aronado.

So I would think the Boston Red Sox teaming him back up with his boy, Trevor Story, got the whole Rockies left side of the infield there for you guys. you know, teaming them up there and putting them in a place where the lineup is much better. The ballpark certainly is, we would think would help a little bit. I mean, it helped Tyler O'Neill. He looked better there. It's a better hitters ballpark than it is at Bush Stadium in St. Louis. So you would think his numbers would go better.

And let's be honest, a change of scenery might do him some good and rejuvenate what has basically been a Hall of Fame career until like the last year where you're just kind of like, well, he's not quite as good. good. But I feel like it would help Boston, to be honest with you. So if I was a Red Sox fan, I would kind of be excited to have something like that. Now, do you want him over Alex Bregman? Would you rather pay what Alex Bregman's asking for? Or do you want to still pay what Nolan Aronado has to make? That's a question financial-wise that you'd have to answer. Yeah. And I think that's another big thing that has been talked about this offseason with the Red Sox is there's no question that they need to add somebody to the lineup. And preferably it should be a veteran, which is another thing I think that is being overlooked a little bit here is the fact that yes,

Aeronado is on the older side, but with a young lineup that the Red Sox have right now, bringing in that veteran presence that he could bring could help the team tremendously with the growth process of some of the younger guys on this team. And that's something that I think isn't really being talked about as much. So whether you bring in him or you bring him Bregman, you get that veteran presence among a lot of young players on this roster. And when it comes to the Red Sox lately, they've been hesitant when it comes to spending a lot of free agent money over the last few seasons. So it really does make me feel like they would lean more towards a trade for Aeronado than

wanting to pay Bregman, especially because it seems like he wants five or six years as of right now. And the Red Sox have made it clear they don't want to go that long. So unless he's willing to take a shorter term deal. I think that they would lean towards trading for Aeronado. My sense around the Red Sox right now is that they are waiting on Bregman to see what he decides. And if they do miss out on Bregman, then they would execute this trade or at least put it in action sooner. And I think that could be part of the reason why he hasn't been traded yet is because similar to the Red Sox, there could be other teams in the mix there too that are waiting on Bregman to see what he decides.

And then I think we see Aeronado moved at that point. Yeah, I could agree more. It's almost, and I hate to use this term because it's so negative. But the Cardinals have almost felt like they've been held hostage by the Alex Breggman situation because, you know, that's exactly what I think's happening to. It's had a huge impact on what's happening with Nolan Aronado because if your number one option is Breggman, which it could be for a lot of these teams, you're not going to make a move. until he's out of the picture until he decides what the hell he wants to do. Why it's taking so long, I don't know. I really don't know.

Like he's gotten offers from teams that we've heard about this. Detroit's made him a massive offer. Houston said, hey, here you go. You want to come back where you've played your whole career. We got you, but they tried to move on with the Christian Walker stuff and ESAC Paredes deals. And it's like, I don't know what he's waiting for at this point. I don't know if it's like one more.

Like, we don't know. We don't know what the negotiation. processes between him and his agent and what these teams and what he's asking for. But yeah, it's something that it's like that domino effect where like you're waiting for that to happen. And then the other teams can fall back and go, okay, number two option was Nolan. And it's kind of the thing that, you know, the Cardinals fans have, you know, they're running out of patience for this. And they're like, why can't they just get a deal done? And this is why? Like, this is exactly why. Because after Breggman signs,

the Aronado, the people who will want Aronado, it'll be more of a competition. And maybe the Cardinals are thinking they can get a better deal from somebody if there's competition to come get them. And I think that's why they're waiting on this. And unfortunately, it continues to drag. Yeah, it absolutely does. And I think people are starting to get frustrated with the process. But one man who could be heavily involved in this whole process with negotiating with the Boston Red Sox is Haim Bloom, a man who is very familiar with the Red Sox. and their farm system. So coming up, we're going to be discussing him and what he can bring to the Cardinals organization. Looking for a snack that's both delicious and nutritious,

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My mom is a huge fan of pistachios, so she has been eating these forever. So you will definitely not be disappointed with them either. So I am here with J.D. Haffron, host of lockdown Cardinals, talking all things, Nolan Aeronado, and why hasn't he been traded yet? Where will he be traded to? Boston Red Sox certainly are a team that's heavily in the mix for that because he does fill a couple areas of need on the Red Sox roster right now. And somebody who is involved with the Cardinals organization that used to be involved with the Red Sox organization is a man named Time Bloom, who is very familiar with the Red Sox farm system because he personally built a lot of that farm system.

So he's somebody who has a leg up in these negotiations with the Red Sox in particular because he's very good at identifying young talent. And the Red Sox really would not be where they're at right now in terms of their top prospects that they have come. coming up very likely in the near future to be part of the major league roster without Hyme Bloom. He helped acquire a lot of those players. They don't get to make a trade for Garrett Crochet if they don't have some of these prospects that Bloom brought in. So now he's with the Cardinals organization. And he's somebody who, if the Red Sox were to talk about a Nolan Aeronaeronado trade could get some really good young pieces back to St. Louis. So J.B., what are your thoughts on that? Do you have faith?

that Heim Bloom could be a guy who could help heavily influence this trade so that it works in the Cardinals favor if they were to send Aaronado to Boston. God, I hope so because our guy, John Mosea Lack, has not had a whole lot of luck the last couple of years when it came to trades. And I feel bad for him in a way, which is probably going to upset Cardinal fans because most of his tenure, he's been awesome at acquiring good talent. And it's only been in the last couple of years that things have really gone sour with his ability to make solid trades that have improved the organization. Instead, you're seeing guys like Tyler O'Neill go to the Red Sox for, you know, a bag of baseballs.

They didn't get much in return on that one. You're seeing, you know, Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantra and Diamondback Superstar pitcher Zach Gallen going to other teams and not getting what you thought you were getting in return. And that was a trade for Ozuna and that's, you know, a few years ago and whatnot. but a lot of the deals. Adoles Garcia goes on to be a superstar with the Rangers during their run to the World Series championship. Randy Rosa Rita was a guy who was a superstar for the Tampa Bay Reyes now with Seattle. But these are names. They were all in the Cardinals organization. And there's not a lot to show for the return from what you got in deals for those guys. And it's really put a damper on what Moseilocks's career here.

with the St. Louis Cardinals has been, because he's been here for like 25 years, and they've done a whole lot of winning, and they were one of those organizations that teams patterned themselves afterwards. Gosh, I wish we could win like the Cardinals and be consistent like the Cardinals. And it's just the last couple of years have been so bad that it's really tainted. What I think is going to end up being a St. Louis Cardinals's Hall of Fame career. Like at the end, Mo's going to get this red jacket that we give out to our Hall of Famers. And I'm curious, because everyone booze him right now, when they, when they show him

And when he's doing interviews, like they hate his guts right now. And I feel bad for the guy because he's done a lot of good for the city and for the team. And it's just the last couple of years, you know, it's what have you done for me lately type of world? And lately things have not been so good. So people are excited about the future with Heim Bloom because of exactly what you mentioned. That he came in. He did very well with the, obviously with the race in his time there, building their minor league system goes to Boston. unfortunately he has to trade away mooky bets right when he gets there,

which was, you know, shame on the Red Sox for setting them up that way. We're like, okay, first thing we're going to need you to do is get rid of our best player. Okay, just don't worry about it. Just do that. And then everything's going fine. And of course, you know, it doesn't go well. And he doesn't get much in return. And it doesn't wait.

It's a terrible trade for Boston, right? And so everybody gets mad at him and get him out of here. It's got to know what the hell he's doing. And then you see what he's done for your minor league. system now. And now you've got the best one, like top rated one in all a baseball now. And I'm Bloom helped build that. And that is what Cardinal fans and the organization are hoping he can do in St. Louis. Again, it's going to take some time. It's not like he can just boom and it's going to be like this next year. Like, it's going to take some time. But he's a guy that they

believed will put them in a better position moving forward. Trying to compete with the likes of, you know, Boston being a major market. But, you know, it seems like the job. It seems like the Dodgers and the Phillies and stuff like that in the National League where, you know, they're willing to spend more money than the Cardinals will. You know, the Cardinals are a mid-market team. They're not a, they're not a big city. And it's, uh, they see the writing on the wall where, you know, we're not going to be able to. We're not giving out seven-year, $300 million deals. We're just not going to ever do that. So how else do you build a team if you can't do it through free agency? Obviously, you look inside, you know, you got to do your own stuff. And the Cardinals

had fallen behind the rest of the league, very far behind, to be honest with you, when it came to having the proper instruction and having the up-to-date type of equipment and stuff. Like it just, it was like, you know, caveman era when it came to what they were offering. And you would hear this when other guys would come in from other organizations. Like, you guys don't have this yet? You don't have this? You don't have this? And it became apparent.

And Heinblum was part of that process, too, where they brought him in as a consultant just to kind of, hey, can you take a look at our stuff? You know, take a look under the hood real quick for us. What do you think? And he was like, ooh, this is awful. What, what do you? What? Why do you have this in here still?

And so it's going to take time, but that is how the Cardinals are planning to compete in the future, where instead of spending the money that it'll cost to, to nab a guy like a trade Turner or something like that in free agency, we're going to build our own trade Turner. We're going to do that. And that's how we plan to compete moving forward without letting the, you know, the salaries get a little too out of control as far as what the cardals are willing to spend. So we are very excited about Heim Bloom.

What is the feeling about him in Boston still? Like when they look back on his time, do they still look at it as being a mess the way it seemed like when he left? Or is everybody kind of like, I guess he did all right? Yeah, you know, the biggest thing with Bloom was that there was so much controversy among Red Sox fans surrounding how good of a job he was actually doing because you had the half of the fan base that was like he's too prospect protective. He's never going to make a move that is going to help the current Major League team because he's too focused on prospects. Then you had the other half of the fan base that would say he's doing a great job because we need these prospects because when the Red Sox won the World Series in 2018, they basically. had no farm system after that. So they needed to kind of pick up those pieces.

So it really depended at that time on who you asked and what their view on it was. Because the biggest thing I will say about Bloom is he's not going to be the guy that's going to go out and make your major league roster a world series contender next year. That's just not how he operates. And he really is a big kind of behind the scenes guy doesn't really say a lot publicly, about what he's working on or the types of moves that he wants to make. So that lack of transparency was a little frustrating for us because we never really knew if he was trying to make moves to improve the major league team or if he was more focused

on the farm system because he didn't really say. Whereas now they have a guy in Craig Breslo who's a little bit more direct in terms of what direction he wants to go in and coming out and saying, you know, our goal is to win the division. This is what we're going to do. so I think that path's a little bit more clear. And when it comes to Bloom now and people are looking back on his tenure, I think a lot of people's views changed after the Red Sox were able to acquire Garrett Crochet and learned that a lot of other teams that were in the mix for him couldn't put together

the type of package that the Red Sox could. And then people came to this realization of, oh, we have this package that we could put together because we had Bloom here who got us those types of pieces. So he's more of a long-term type of effect guy. You won't see what he's really doing for the organization immediately. But if you give it like a year or two, you'll start to see your farm system escalate on the chart of talented prospects and having the most talent that could come up and be major league ready.

He's definitely very good at identifying that talent at the younger levels for guys who are in the minors. I just worry a little bit about does he have that ability when the team is ready to compete to make the definitive moves to add to the major league roster? Because that was something he didn't really get a chance to do in Boston because they let go of him right at a time where they claimed they were ready to start competing again. And they didn't really feel like he was the guy to handle that and be able to put them in contention again. So that's the big thing with him that I'm interested in seeing. you guys is, is he the guy who can, once you do get into that point of being ready to contend again, can he be the guy that is bold enough to make those types of moves to improve

your major league roster? Is he okay with giving up prospects who may be valuable to get guys to that part of the team, the team that's going to win you championships? That's the biggest thing for me that I'm looking at. But in terms of his ability to build up your farm system. I think Red Sox fans now know and understand that he did that part of the job very well. Yeah, it's very interesting because for for years, Cardo fans have kind of said this about Mosellec is that he overvalues his prospects. And the way you mentioned maybe Heinbblum does, where it's like, well, we think this guy is going to be really, really good. And again, and so recently he wasn't so bad at that. But we've seen some names that haven't panned out guys like a Dylan Carlin.

who he compared as like, oh, he's an Albert Poohole type of prospect. We're like, whoa, this guy's going to be great. And, you know, now he's maybe going to be on the Orioles roster. Like it just didn't work out, which happens with prospects. It does. I mean, it's hard to predict these guys. But, yeah, that's going to be interesting. So do you think, because I'm just curious about this guy a lot, it's like, do you think if, you know,

because he was very successful with Tampa Bay in his role there. Obviously, he wasn't in charge of the whole shebang. But do you think, you know, being that it was. the Boston Red Sox where it's like, you know, and it's the way that there's not a lot of patience in big cities. Let's be honest. Do you think he might be a better GM type of person in a city like St. Louis, which is Midwest, a little more laid back, a little chill about things.

Where in Boston it was like now, now, now. And we're here, we can kind of be, we're like, all right, well, we kind of understand. Like we're a little more sympathetic to what they're trying to pull off here. Do you think he, this would be a better spot? for him? Do you think maybe that had anything to do with his lack of success with the Red Sox? I do 100% believe that. I feel like with the Tampa Bay raised, I mean, that's a smaller market team and that's a team that is not going to hand out these massive free agent contracts. And they somehow find a way to put together this roster that makes the playoffs a lot of years and half the

players. People are like, who even is that? That is on that Tampa Bay Ray's roster. But they are very good at developing their own prospects. And that's what gets them to where they are. that's what makes them so successful every year is because they have that young talent. And I feel like for the Boston Red Sox and the way that they are a big market team, they really should be acting more like a big market team. And I don't necessarily think that Bloom's style works as well or will be met as well with open arms in that type of organization. I think if you put him in a smaller market where there's a little less pressure of we're

expected to win a championship or at least be in contention every single year, then you're going to appreciate more of the little things that he's doing to really rebuild your farm system. Whereas in Boston, now that they've won four World Series championships in the 2000s, the expectation is championship, championship. We need to be a playoff team every single year. It's unacceptable for us to come in last in our division. It's unacceptable for us to miss the playoffs. And I feel like the patience that you need to have to have Bloom as your guy,

because he's more of let's build up these pieces and have it. pay off longer term as opposed to immediate results, I think that strategy and that approach will work a lot better in the Cardinals organization. Yeah, because, I mean, don't get me wrong. The Cardinals fans are like, no, we should be in the playoffs every year. That's not something that they're just letting go. They're like, okay, we can be mediocre. Don't get me wrong. That's not how we wanted to be in St. Louis with the tradition of winning just like Boston. I just wonder if just, you know, the way things are are different styles for each city that I wanted to find. But that's something to keep an eye on as if like next year when he takes over fully for Moseilac and say the Cardinals are in contention and they're like a game or two back of a wildcard spot or, you know, first place in the NL Central, you know, will he have the mentality?

We'll be willing to trade some of these guys where like you said, maybe he was a he was a little gun shy about trading some of his prospects that he built up. Will he be willing to let go of a couple guys to make that bold move to push them over the finish line? You know, that's a, I wonder if he learned to the, okay, well, maybe I ought to be a little bit better. You know, we'll find out, I guess. Hopefully we'll find out. Hopefully the Cardinals are in contention to do something like that and he'll have a chance to make some moves like that. I do want to ask you this real quick when it comes back to Arnado before we run out of time. But prospect-wise, what are you willing to give up for Nolan Aronado?

say the money-wise they're talking about like the cardals have apparently been willing to pay 15 or 20 million of the remaining contract, which is like $64 million. What kind of prospects do you think Boston would be willing to give up to acquire Aronado if it comes to that? Yeah, you know, I think the Red Sox know that with where he's at in his career, they would be unwilling to give up any top prospects. I don't think that's even in the conversation. I'm thinking a reasonable package could be more mid-level prospects

and maybe even coupled with somebody who's on the major league roster that they don't really need any more necessarily, like maybe a bullpen arm that maybe struggled a little bit in Boston because they feel like they've upgraded their bullpen this off season. I would love for them to move Yoshita, although I don't think that's happening because I don't think anybody wants to take it. No, thank you. We're not taking your mistake because you signed.

It was a stupid contract. That's the big is the Cardinals aren't trying to take on any salary. So you try to pawn off one of your crappy ones. Ain't going to happen, young days. I'm like, please take him like, please take him over there. Well,

because they have a problem, right? Because if they do acquire Aeronado and they move Devers to D.H., what do they do with Yoshita? Because he is primarily a D.H. Now because he can't play defense. So that's the interesting thing with this is I think if they target prospects that are mid-level prospects within the Red Sox organization. because the thing about the Red Sox mid-level prospects are their mid-level prospects are still talented because of how deep their farm system is.

So I think in that regard, we could give up a couple of those mid-level guys who may be better than some other team's mid-level guys and still be able to feel like our farm system is in good shape. And the Cardinals are getting some good talent in return. All right. So let me hold on. Let me mark it. So, okay, no Roman Anthony. You're saying I can't. I cannot have him.

Okay. Off limits. We'll cross him off the list. Marcella Meyer off limits. Yeah. I think fans of St. Louis are realistic to what they're going to get in return. Obviously, it's not, you know, this is more of, again, it's a money thing.

It's not because Nolan Aronado sucks. It's a money thing that they're looking at here. And they're just trying to do that to move him on so that they can move some of the younger guys who are making as much money, but still have a higher ceiling, trying to get them more at bats and stuff. considering it's a transition year, and this is not like one of those years. We're like, we're going all in and we're trying to win a World Series. We're trying to compete, but we're not at the expectations aren't World Series this year,

which is something very rare for the Cardinals. But, all right. It's not really for us either. It should be, but I don't really see it realistically happening. I mean, again, the Red Sox and Cardinals have faced each other twice in the World Series. In the 2000s, we both know how those worked out. I don't know. I don't know what you're talking about, Gabby.

I just, no idea. I forget those years. How did those end up anyway? That's not good for us, I guess. Maybe you should ask some of the Red Sox listeners listening to this, how that turned out. But maybe we'll get another Red So I mean, who pitches to David Ortiz over and over and over?

Who does that? Gosh, that was so annoying. I know that 2004. That first year, that Cardle's team was so much better than the Boston team. Like, you know, it might be the greatest, team not to win a world series that year when they had all those guys like that was nuts that i've never been more disappointed in a team and then the year where Ortiz hit like 900 in the series you know that's your fault st. limit like whoever told you to just keep throwing to this guy is

ridiculous and stupid and i hope he's no longer with this franchise no i mean i i love david ortees my favorite red sox player ever i mean that whole run from in that 2004 season was just so was special from, you know, the Red Sox just catching fire at the right time. I still don't know how they went at all. And the 2013 team just had no business being in the World Series, the Red Sox that year. But, you know, you have David Ortiz on the team, you have a shot. And that's what we all learned.

So, yeah. Well, I mean, we feel you, man, because that 2011 year, we, the Cardinals barely sneak into the playoffs. The Braves have that 10 game collapse. And then we have these miracle home runs from David Freeze. And like, that team had no business, not even close to being the best team. baseball that year. But like he said, you know, Boston got hot that year at the right time. And so did the Cardinals. And that's how it worked out. Unfortunately, I feel like that's how some of these

teams are trying to build their friends. Well, let's just get in and see what happens instead of trying to, you know, dominate, which is very upsetting to fans to hear that. But the proof is in the pudding, man, it's worked before. So it's just a tough reality for some of the fans who are like, go get everybody. Everybody be like the Dodgers. What is this? It's just, it's not feasible. It's not it's not the way it's going to work out. No, yeah, it's so true. But maybe we'll get the Red Sox Cardinals World Series again, another time here in the next few years, because obviously that tends to work out in our favor. So I would like to hopefully see that happen. But this was so much fun. Thanks for hopping on here with me. You can follow both lockdown Red Sox and Lockdown Cardinals

on any podcast platform. We are here Monday through Friday covering all things now with spring training and opening day approaching. So be sure to hit that subscribe button on both of these shows. Everyone, take care as always. And last thing I, of course, have to add is go Red Sox.