Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - OVERDUE: St. Louis Cardinals Face REBUILD—Why Trading Brendan Donovan & JoJo Romero Makes SENSE

Episode Date: December 8, 2025

St. Louis Cardinals pivot from perennial contenders to bold sellers—can this hard reset spark a winning future? JD Hafron spotlights the Cardinals’ long-overdue commitment to rebuilding, with stars like Nolan Arenado, Brendan Donovan, and JoJo Romero on the trade block. Key questions arise: Will aggressive moves under new President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom finally pay dividends, and which veterans have seen their last days in St. Louis?0:00 Cardinals Rebuild Direction10:49 Trade Chips & Winter Meetings21:02 Arenado Release Option and NL Central RumorsFollow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-st-louis-cardinals/Locked On MLB League-Wide: Every Team, Prospects & More🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/mlb/Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonstlcardinals.supercast.com/Follow on Twitter/X: @JDSPORTSRADIOFollow the show on Twitter/X: @LO_CardinalsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload 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.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA and NFL seasons are here, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.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 #stlouiscardinals Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As difficult as it is to see the Cardinals dismantling and tearing things down, there is one thing that I am extremely happy about that they've done that is long overdue. 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. Hafer and a former national radio sports anchor, born and raised in St. Louis and a lifetime Cardinals fan. Welcome to another episode. of Locktown Cardinals, part of the Locktown Podcast Network, now the number one sports. Podcast Network.

Thank you to our everydayers for continuing to be here with us. And for those of you who are new, welcome in. Hope you enjoy the content. This is a show serving Cardinal Nation and giving you all the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by Fandul. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fandle.com and place your NFL live vets all season long. The winter meetings are underway in Orlando. And although we expect St. Louis Cardinals to be talked about a lot this week and moving forward in this offseason, it is a different narrative than what we're used to.

This time, they are not buyers. Where was the last time they weren't buyers? You know, I'm not used to this. They're selling and selling to anyone who is willing to listen. Now do they have to sell everyone? No, it's not one of those things where they just got to get rid of people like, you know, it's foreclosure time. We're out.

We got to get rid of everybody. We're in big trouble. That's not the case. But they are going to take advantage of some of these guys having some worth and see if they can net some prospects in return for later on down the road. They're willing to listen to trade offers for just about. anybody that's worth anything at this point. I mean, no, not Mason win. They're not going to do that.

But just about anybody else. I mean, they will, you know. As a fan, I know we are all bummed that the era of Cardinals baseball where that they had a seat at the table, the big boy table, if you will. And, you know, mingling and rubbing elbows with the big markets and the contending teams, that is over for now, for now. but the one thing I'm extremely happy about is that they at least have finally picked a lane and are committed to driving down it until they reach their end goal, which is contending

for a 12th world championship. No more hanging around just hoping that certain veterans will get better or hoping to strike gold. Get me gold! With guys who were almost 40 years old. and hoping they'll make some miraculous comeback and impact to push them over the top to make them relevant. None of this. They're done loitering around. They're moving on down the road to find new ways to get back to the adult table at the winter meetings, right?

And it's funny because the new ways are actually similar to what the old ways were. And that's by building up your farm system. Since making the playoffs back in 2022, the Cardinals of a record of 232 and 254. They had the awful season in 2023. Then they were four games over 524, six games under this past year. And they've done that with the same core of veteran guys for most of those three years. Aronado, Donovan, Contreras, Newpar, Goldschmidt, Sonny Gray, Hellsley, Jojo Romero, Stephen Mats, Miles Michaelis.

I'm sure there's other ones, but those are the big guys, right? They won nothing, nothing with those guys since 2022. They've done nothing. And whether you put the blame on them or other areas of the team, the front office, whatever you want to blame, the bottom line is they failed as a group. they did and maybe parts will go off to other areas and they'll go on to win in other places jack flaredy got to to go off to detroit and then ended up winning a ring with the dodgers Tommy edmund won a ring with the dodgers but as a group they were a failure

and it sucks being that harsh but what else do you call it they didn't meet an expect and now it's time to move on. You know, Goldie, Sunny, Matt's, Heelsley, Michaelis, they're already out the door. Don't you dare bring Michaelis back, by the way. Three of those guys are still free agents with Healsley signing in Baltimore. Sunny is now in Boston. And now it's time to clean out the rest of these guys that just didn't work as a group and get on with the show, which is what I'm most excited about. I feel like we're finally taking the Band-Aid off and healing and moving forward. And I'm excited about that.

And I'm excited about the way Heim Bloom is talking about this. He appears to be handling things quite well, aggressively, now that he's fully in charge. And this is long overdue. You know, Heim said, I view it as something we have to attack with purpose and we have to attack with urgency and we have to do that every day. I love that. I love that. Did you ever feel any urgency when John Loseilac was here the last few years? No. And maybe it's just the demeanor that he gives off.

But it always felt like, we're all right. We're going to be all right. We'll be fine. I don't want that anymore. Instead of just treading water, start moving dudes. Get aggressive. when 2023, when they crashed and burned, that's when this thing needed to get kicked into gear, where they were going to rebuild everything. But instead, they ran it back with the same guys, added one impact player in Sunny Gray because I think they were just scared of what the reaction would be

from the fans. When we all knew they needed way more than that. Then last year, same guys, same group. who did win 84 games in 2024, mind you. Same guys, though. And you added film Aiton. We knew that wasn't going to be enough. We were surprised that the Cardinals were actually worth a crap

a few months into the season. People were like, look at your card dolls. I'm like, I know, oh, that's kind of nice. But guess what? It didn't work. It didn't work again. And they had to sell at the deadline. It wasn't enough.

So for two years, been hanging around at the major league level and finally we're getting the gutting that this roster needed. Get rid of all this old crappy wood. Start building a new foundation. And it's starting to happen. Ali spoke with the guys that filed territory on Monday at the winter meetings, all but admitted that the more trades are coming. Didn't say any specifics. The quote was, we're going to compete, keep the standard high, but at the same sent ourselves up for success in the future where they show up and know they're going to win and have that type of club that's extremely competitive and that's part of the sunny trade

and there's going to be more down the road here shortly, which, you know, made the guys go, huh? Yeah, you know, there are things in the works. There are. This isn't breaking news. We knew that the Cardinals were going to be moving dudes. We know the Cardinals are going to make some deals. It's inevitable.

How many are going to happen here in the very near future? We're not quite sure yet. Winter meetings will go for the next couple of days. There's the things that they've got to do, obviously. Draft lottery is coming up. Rule 5 draft is coming up. I ran in a poll on X, just over 50% of the vote believes that at least one deal will happen. But who are the guys that, at least to me, seem like the most likely to,

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$5 a month? You kidding me? That's what it costs to go get a coffee these days. So go to Lockdown, STL Cardinals. Dot supercast.com or check the link in the show notes to learn more. One of the big hangups in my eyes for the Cardinals and making deals right now is that a few of the guys that they would like to move and could move aren't exactly top priority players for other teams. There's secondary options for them. Nolan Aronado needs to be moved, right?

But not a lot of teams are going to be after him. Like, how do I put this delicately? Not a lot of teams to have him as someone they really want, right? Nobody's craving Nolan Aronado right now at this point in his career. But if things fall apart with other options, such as Alex Bregman or E. Eugenio Suarez. They're other, you get the Japanese guys that are coming over. Who else can play third base?

Infielders that can play third base. Maybe you can tell Marte, stuff like that. Maybe teams will become more interested if things don't work out with those guys. I would not expect an Arnado deal this week. Does not mean it won't happen, but I'd be surprised. Same with Wilson Contreras. You've got Pete Alonzo at the top of the first base market. The Mets could bring him back, but are being mentioned in the Cal Schwerber sweep steak.

So I'm assuming that Pete Alonzo is taking offense to this. It still shocks me that nobody wants Pete Alonzo for whatever reason. Everybody wants to get their hands on Schwerber. But Pete Alonzo is just as valuable just from the right side of the plate. And can play first base. Not great at it. But Schwerber is just a DH. But anyway, I don't know.

It shocks me a little bit. But apparently the Orioles and Red Sox are being mentioned that are going to meet with Pete Alonzo who's coming to the meetings on Tuesday. I think it would be awesome to see Boston get Alonzo from New York and re-signed Bragman following the sunny gray trade. I think this would be great moves for the Red Sox. I think Alonzo would have a lot of fun in Fedway? But if they don't get him, would Boston be cool with Tristan Casas again at first base in

2026? Or would they be willing to make a deal for somebody like Wilson Contreras? Would Baltimore be interested in Wilson Contreras? they don't get Alonzo. But again, not the number one guy. There's other things that they were, you know, he's not at the top of the total poll here. So you're going to have to wait.

The two guys that could go this week, at least in my opinion, are Brendan Donovan and Jojo Romero. Now, Donovan is probably the most valuable trade piece that the Cardinals have. Jojo, though, is going to be worth a decent amount as well. Donovan's market continues to thrive from everything that we've seen reported. A lot of teams are considering his services. You've seen the Royals, who I talked about, to trade with on Friday.

If you didn't see that, go back, check it out. Chris Bubich, anybody, whose name's popping up a lot now. They fit nicely. They just feel like they make good trade partners. The Yankees have been brought up. The Dodgers have been brought up. Astros, Cleveland, Seattle, a bunch of them. These teams who are all in the win now mode would love to add a guy like Donnie.

They can play both infield and outfield, swing it from the left side. good teammate doesn't cost a lot now will hymn be able to take advantage of this and and milk the market for for all it's worth that remains to be seen we don't know how good hym is that this whole part of it we don't you know he heard uh you know uh gabby from locked on red Sox talking last week about him being hesitant to make big moves in a win now situation he's not in one of those. So now he's got to get the most he can for the guys that he is going to trade. So we'll see if it works out. I'm going to trust him until he gives me a reason not to. I'll tell you that much. That's just the kind of guy I am. Another similar player, though,

that is in the Brennan Donovan style, but is better. He can do all of the things Brandon Donovan can do, play outfield and infield, but is a switch hitter and a much more impactful player, but he is older and more expensive contract-wise. And that's Kettle Marte of the Diamondbacks, who is continuing to get shot by Arizona. Recent reporting from John Heyman and others has him connected to the Red Sox, the Blue Jays, the Mariners, the Tigers, the Pirates, stop it. And then the raise, 32 years old, he's under contract through 2030, six-year deal last year, last year, $116.5 million with Arizona.

The dude can rake. He can't. He's a very good hitter. 283, 288 bombs. 72 rebis in just 126 games last year, but he is 32. When does he hit the wall and start to go down if he does hit a wall? I don't know if he well. We didn't think Arnaudu was going to hit a wall as quickly as he did, but boom, there it is.

Also, the contract player option for 2031, he'll be 37 at that point. So he's under contract for five more years. So if you're in a win now mode like the guys were interested in Donovan, do you take the plunge and trade what would probably be an obnoxious amount of prospects to get him? Or do you call the Cardinals who will want something decent but not nearly what could sell Marte is going to cost you and what he's going to command or be locked in for the money that this man is going to make for the next five years for another half decade I mean, obviously you can trade them and stuff between now and then, but you know what I mean?

Or do you go with Donovan who, you know, two years and you're, you don't have to sign them. And you're moving on. So there's a lot of reasons to like Donovan, which makes me think that maybe one of these teams is going to be like, dude, why are we screwing around with something like this? Let's let's go get our guy. I would like to see somebody get aggressive and come after to get Donovan. Jojo Stock also might have jumped a little bit after that recent. deal between the Nats and the Mariners that had their lefty, Jose Ferrer, from the Nats going to Seattle.

They got pitching prospect, Isaac Lyon, and former first round pick, Harry Ford is what that went in return. So they got Ferreir and Lion, and in return, Seattle sent them former first round pick, Harry Ford, who was MLB Pipelines, I believe, 42nd rank prospect. If I'm wrong, let me know. But I think it was 42 as where he was at.

But Ferrer is 25 years old. Can throw triple digits. But also had an ER plus of 92, which is 8% below league average. 4.48 ERA with 11 saves. He did get hot at the end of last year. It was pretty darn good for the nationals at the end. But you've got that.

And then you've got Jojo Romero, who, yeah, 29. does not throw 100 miles an hour, but has had a lot of success the last few years and was way more productive last year. ERA plus a 200 last year for Jojo Romero. The ERA in 2.07, eight saves after he took over the role following the trade of Ryan Helsley. Now he is estimated to make $5.8 million this year. Obviously, that's way more expensive than Ferrer is, but he's still under control for next season too. So it's not a one and done situation. So again, you can see how a one-now team would be interested in adding someone like Jojo to their mix, either as a setup guy or even a closer if need be.

You know, there are a lot of free agent relievers out there. You know, we've seen the right-handers have gone quick. You know, Housley, Iglesias, Devin Williams, Phil Maimon, Emilio Pagan, they've all been taken off the board. They've all gone other places. Edwin Diaz, Robert Suarez, still the top guys as far as, war go. And as far as, you know, how everybody thinks about how the closers are, they're still out there. They haven't gone anywhere yet. One or both will likely go to the Dodgers, right? You know, everybody thinks Edwin Diaz is just going to go to the Dodgers, just the way things

seem to go. I also saw somebody talking about Scoobble getting traded to the Dodgers. Like, cool, great. But lefty-wise, bullpen, Hobie Milner, Sean Newcomb, Caleb Thielberg. Danny Colon, Andrew Chafin, I mean, come on. I mean, how many of those guys would you rather have over Jojo? Come on. Come on. So maybe things work out where the Cardinals cash in on the lack of strong options from the left side in the reliever market. No guarantee, but it's certainly a possibility.

Now, if he does get moved, the Cardinals are going to have, they're going to need to do something. They've got to pivot to look at some of these names that I just mentioned as a way to fill the boy. because if he leaves, I mean, you already should be looking at lefties anyway, because they don't have anybody after Jojo right now. John King was not tendered, so he's not here. So somebody's got to come out of the bullpen from the left side. So if you move on from Jojo, you need to sign at least two guys, right? But leave your thoughts below on all of this.

We're going to talk the latest rumblings from the winter meetings, including the option of releasing Nolan Aronado. Is it still so up, open and shut as it was before? We'll discuss it next on Locked on Cartons. The World Cup is coming back to North America for the first time since 1994. And with 48 teams for the first time ever, it's going to be huge. It's got to be massive, you guys. But let's be honest, getting tickets is usually the hardest part about such events.

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that is so awesome that you guys listen each and every day. You guys are the best. All right. Could the Cardinals release Nolan Aronado? The idea has been brought up before by myself and other media members who have asked. And when Heinblum was introduced as the new president of baseball operations, they asked him. And he said no. He was asked that again today.

with which Heim Bloom responded saying, it is not an option. Foot closed, right? Right? If that's the case, if it's so cut and dry like that, then I guess Haim has at least had some good coverage. I'm going to guess that he's had some good conversations with teams

who would be interested in Nolan Arnado. I don't know Heim Blum to know that he would be lying about anything. it doesn't feel like he's somebody who would be doing that. And if that's the case, then great. Then great. I'm glad that there is somewhat of a market for Nolan Aronado. I struggle to find where it is, but it doesn't mean it's not out there somewhere.

So hopefully something gets worked out sooner rather than later, and we can all move on with our lives. Now, the Cardinals are not being mentioned among any teams looking at any of the big time pre agents. We know this. Kyle Schwerber, Pete Alonzo, Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger, Alex Breggman. Now, two teams of the NL Central have been brought up in regards to some of those names. The Reds and the Pirates.

Reds continue to make their pitch to Schwerber, but apparently it is the Pirates, who have reportedly offered a four-year, at least $100 million deal to Kyle Schwerber, mathematically 25 per. That's nice. but are we really thinking that Kyle Schorber is going to go to the Pittsburgh Pirates and play alongside superstars like Spencer Horowitz, Brian Reynolds, respect, but I mean, not a star. Like, please stop, okay?

It's, no. I don't mean he's that. I don't care if they got Paul Skeens and Mitch Keller and Bubble. but Chandler, I don't care. They do not have enough, even if you add Kyle Schwerver, when a World Series championship was what Kyle Schwerver is going to go after. As for the Reds, as much as I think that would be cool for them since he's from there. You've still got the Phillies, Mets, and Red Sox involved here.

Are they really going to get outbid by the Cincinnati Reds? Would they let that happen? No. Come on. I'd be shocked. unless he goes, I just want to play there and I don't care. That would be the only reason why. They're not going to outbid these teams.

Most think he's still going to go back to Philly. I completely agree. Philly would be foolish to let him get away. The Cubs appear to be in the market for pitching. That's kind of all, it seems like they're chasing. Tatsuya Emi, Michael King, former Cardinal prospect, Zach Gallen. They've been linked to these guys. Bob Nightingale from USA Today, tweeted something stupid that Zach Allen and the Cubs were close.

And then everybody else made fun of them. And then he had to fix it and say they're hopeful, which was a big boo-boo. As a Cardinals fan, I hate this because the Cubs got some pretty good pitching already, right? Showtime in August coming back. Kate Horton, Stud, Justin Boyd, stud last year. Jameson, very serviceable. Justin Steele was a stud, got hurt. last year should be coming back, maybe even by opening day,

are they going to let Kyle Tucker walk? Are they going to focus all of their money towards pitching and let him walk? I don't think it's such a bad idea. I'm not a huge Kyle Tucker guy, though, and I could be wrong for that, but apparently the Blue Jays are the ones that are after him, or at least getting the most notoriety for being close to being with him, toward their facilities, apparently. That'd be a big splash to go along with Vladdy.

I'm not sure what that means for Bo Bichette, but Toronto appears to be going all in, even after, you know, they signed Dillon C. So to get Tucker as well would be monstrous of them. Other pitchers for Amber Valdez reportedly met with the Orioles, Mets and Giants. The Mets are the team. I'd put my money on there.

And it's because they would, the Mets will overpay for anybody, I feel like. I don't think they care. Personal opinion. I don't think they care. And they're one of those guys who fix things quick. Didn't make the playoffs last year. Figure out what was wrong.

What was wrong? Starting pitching. All right. Go buy everybody. Go buy Michael King. Go buy Framberbaud. They could be doing all of that. Certainly a possibility.

So we'll see. Imagine if they move on from Alonzo, which feels like what's the direction things are going. And instead put their sources in. to Valdez and Schwerber. Now that would be something and another pitcher of some sort. Like if I'm the Mets, I'm okay with that. I just don't understand why everybody wants Schwerber, nobody wants Alonso.

Like I would love that Alonzo. The dude matches. I don't have a problem with it. But that's just me. So that's the latest rumblings. Not a whole lot happened on day one, at least as of right now, which is why this is coming out so late

because I was waiting and waiting and waiting to see if anything was going to happen. So nothing huge happened yet. Things could change by the time you're listening to this. But obviously, we'll get you all the updates. Thank you for making Locktown Cardinals for first listen every day. If you haven't already, give us follow on X at L.O. underscore Cardinals and at J.D. Sports Radio, TikTok and Instagram at Lockdown Cardinals, like, subscribe on YouTube.

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