Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox Plot THIRD Blockbuster Trade?

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

St. Louis Cardinals eye a potential blockbuster with the Boston Red Sox for Brendan Donovan, sparking speculation over a third major trade this offseason. Is St. Louis risking too much or positioning ...for a brighter future? JD Hafron unpacks fresh rumors, dissecting what a Donovan move could mean for the Cardinals' roster shakeup and the Red Sox's infield needs. Intriguing questions surround management's aggressive trading approach and whether other teams like Seattle or Cleveland can keep pace.Chaim Bloom offers insider perspective on recent returns, including arms Hunter Dobbins, Yhoiker Fajardo, and Blake Aita, and outlines plans for adding rotation depth and a power right-handed bat. Key topics include the state of the Cardinals’ pitching prospects, injury risks with new acquisitions, and looming uncertainty around stars like Nolan Arenado and Lars Nootbaar. Hear expert analysis on whether St. Louis is building for long-term dominance—or a difficult 2026 rebuild.0:00 - Cardinals-Red Sox Trade Rumors7:41 - Chaim Bloom Press Conference Insights14:26 - Evaluating Trade AcquisitionsFollow & 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.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The St. Louis Cardinals in the Boston Red Sox have already hooked up on two big trades this off season. And there could be a third one in the works that would be even bigger than the first two. You are locked on Cardinals. Your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Hey, they're Cardinals fans. I'm J.D. Hafer, a former national radio sports anchor, born and raised in St. Louis and a lifetime Cardinals fan. And I am your host for Lockdown Cardinals. part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network.
Starting point is 00:00:38 Thank you to all of you for being a part of that. Thank you to our everydayers. Thank you to the new people who have joined us here recently. Hope you enjoy the content. Welcome aboard. This is a show serving Cardal Nation and giving you all the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by Fandall. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season,
Starting point is 00:00:55 visit fandle.com, place your NFL-light bets all season long. On today's show, we're going to hear from Hein Bloom. held a press conference. It was a video press conference last night. So the media was invited. And we're going to give you his insight on the trade involving Wilson Contreras, mostly about who are these guys that are coming in when he likes about them. And his thoughts, not only on those three new arms, but where the Cardinals will go from here. What else might he have up his sleeve? So we'll talk about that as well. But we begin today with yet another rumor. and another report about the Cardinals and the Red Sox possibly hooking up on yet another deal. And this time it would involve highly sought after utility man, Brennan Donovan. No, this is not a joke. Even though when I first saw it last night online, I was like, I started giggling. I was like, you've got to be kidding.
Starting point is 00:01:55 You got to be kidding me. Are they really going to go to a round three with the Boston Red Sox for another deal? I mean, we've done the Tyler O'Neill. We've had the Stephen Mats, Sunnike Gray, Wilson Contreras. Is there another one coming? Ken Rosenthal and Will Salmon at the Athletic report that the Red Sox and Cardinals have had discussions about second baseman, Brinand Donovan, who also might be a good fit for the Red Sox at second base after
Starting point is 00:02:23 they had six players spend time there in 2025, including rookie Christian Campbell. Here's what they say in the athletic. Let me get you a picture of Brendan up here real quick, just so you can see who we're talking about. How about this one? I like this one from the All-Star game. There he is. Here's what they got in the athletic. The Cardinals and Red Sox also have discussed a trade that would send infield or outfielder,
Starting point is 00:02:48 Britain, Donovan to Boston, according to people briefed on the conversations. Donovan likely would play second base for the Red Sox, who have also been linked to the Arizona Diamondbacks could tell Marte. No deal is close, but Donovan almost certainly would bring a greater return then gray or contraris, whom the Cardinals acquired, for five minor league pitchers while including a combined $28 million in the deals. No word yet on whether Bloom is prepared to send the gateway arch to Boston in an even bigger blockbuster.
Starting point is 00:03:16 No, I did not write that corny-ass joke at the end of it. That was theirs. It was in the write-up, although I did see a Photoshop job of the arch behind the green monster online today. So that was kind of funny. But seriously, Boston again, come on. Come on, come on all day on Monday. You heard the jokes.
Starting point is 00:03:37 I heard them too. Does Heim know that there's other teams out there that he could do deals with? Should we start calling them the St. Louis, Red and Sachs, vice versa, the Boston Cardinals? I know both sides, like both fan bases are like, really? We're going to do this again. But here's the thing. Here's the thing. If Boston gives you the best deal, who cares?
Starting point is 00:04:02 Who cares? And I know it's not as exciting as dealing for guys from other teams around the league. I get it. You'd like to mix it up and acquire some guys from different organizations. But at the same time, if those teams are dragging their feet a little bit, playing hardball, on what you're going to receive in return, then why not use Boston as leverage to get which you want? You know, it's like in the movie Training Day, which is one of my favorites. Open your eyes.
Starting point is 00:04:36 Can't you see? Son, this is the game. This is chess. It ain't checkers. You know, Boston, obviously, there's a great relationship between the two management, right? They know each other. They get along fine.
Starting point is 00:04:53 And Boston is clearly willing to talk. Boston has attractive assets. They've got a great farm system that the Cardinals clearly are interested in. They are willing to take on money. The side with the Wilson Contreras and Sonny Gray stuff, you know, those two guys were willing to go there, which shouldn't be overlooked since they had the power with the no trade clauses. So, and I said this yesterday, even if Heim had deals in place with other teams, maybe Sunny and Wilson were like, I don't want to go there.
Starting point is 00:05:24 I want to go to Boston. We don't know. We don't know what the inside chatter and what was being said. But we know they were willing to go to Boston. And Boston gave up things that Hind Blum and the Carls clearly were interested in. And of course, the money, as I mentioned. So this Donovan situation might not just be about trading with Boston.
Starting point is 00:05:47 Again, it could also be just kind of like a subtle, a subtle warning to the other teams who they've been talking to Donovan about, that they're ready to move forward and are ready to find a resolution to the situation pretty soon. and if those teams like Seattle, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, you know the ones that have been mentioned, if those guys are remaining hesitant, then they might get left behind. That's kind of the warning. Like, hey, there's other people out here who are ready to do some business.
Starting point is 00:06:16 Obviously, we're wheeling and dealing. We're cool with Boston. They're starting to start to chatter. They want to get something done too. In the Donovan trade scenario, as it was mentioned in the right up there at the athletic, It certainly is going to bring you a bigger and better return than what you got for Sunny Gray and Wilson Contrera is totally different types of trades. The Cardinals and the Sox have already had so many discussions about just players in general on both sides that they're quite familiar with what it would take to get a deal done by this point. So, you know, it's kind of time to poop or get off the pot if you are these other teams because this train is moving forward, whether you're on board or not.
Starting point is 00:06:58 So you better get your affairs in order, get your best deal ready to rock because Heim's pulling the trigger on deals. Perhaps this will get these teams to sweeten their deals in their offers a little bit. Maybe it scares them off too. We'll see what happens. Heim Bloom, as I mentioned, spoke with the media on Monday night about the Wilson Contreras deal, mentioned not only Wilson and the players that were involved in this particular deal, but he also talked a little bit about what could be next for the Cardinals and what are some other things they could be interested in, which I thought was cool because it kind of showed that, hey, we're not done with everything. Yeah, we've got some work to do.
Starting point is 00:07:39 So you're going to hear what he had to say about those situations coming up next on Locked on Cardinals. NFL Sundays move fast, one big play, and suddenly everything feels different. That's what makes live vetting with Fandul so exciting. You're not just watching the game anymore. You're reacting to it in real time. You can place bets as the action unfolds with Fandall because every drive, every momentum swing and every highlight moment could mean good things for you. Live betting is best when the game does start to shift when you see a pick six like happened on Monday night or, you know, certain quarterbacks get hot like Brock Purdy did last night. Fandall will let you jump into the moment.
Starting point is 00:08:21 Live spreads and money lines just instantly. The player props update his guys heat up. I sincerely hope you took my advice to bet on Brock Purdy. CMC and George Kittle. I told you those three names in particular. Those are the guys that you want to get in on because they're about to go crazy. And they went off, as I predicted, five touchdown passes for Brock Purdy. Last nineer to do that was Joe Montana, I believe. So was it five disease. I think it was five. Yeah. So you're welcome. You're welcome if you took my advice. I really hope you did. So if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season. Visit fandwell.com. Do it. Place your NFL live. That's all season long. Fandul, the game moves fast and so can you. Thanks for making Locked on Cardinals. You first listen of the day. And thank you for making Locked on the number one sports podcast network. You already live your team every day. Now take it up a level and go ad free.
Starting point is 00:09:22 Do it. Join the every day or club today. Get locked on Cardinals with no interruptions. Members only Discord access and a whole lot more offer just five bucks a month or he can go $50 a year. Go to Lockedon, SCL cardels.com, supercast. or you can check the link in the show notes to learn more. So hi, and Blume out of video press conference on Monday night with the media. And he talked about the Wilson Contreras trade that just went down, talked about the guys that they got in return all three arms,
Starting point is 00:09:50 but also discussed what other things could be of interest to the team moving forward. Now I'm going to let you hear what he had to say about the guys that they picked up here in just a bit. But, you know, it's been pointed out by just about everyone who watches this team and watches Locked on Cardinals, like, I brought it up, you brought it up. We all know that despite grabbing multiple arms and creating what appears to be a solid yet unspectacular group of starters, you know, you got Matthew Livertore, Michael McGreevy, Dustin May, Richard Fitz, Hunter Dobbins now, Andre Palante, Kyle Leahy. They're all in the mix, right?
Starting point is 00:10:27 For a spot in the starting rotation. But there's also injury concerns, which has. have been brought up over and over again in the comments section down below in any of my videos. So, yeah, we're well aware that there's some injury risk here, you know, especially with three new guys with May, Fitz and Dobbins, who are all coming off injuries and that none of them, you know, in the whole group, have a whole lot of MLB experience outside of Dustin May and even his is limited because of all the injuries he's dealt with over the years. So in the the presser last night.
Starting point is 00:11:05 You know, the St. Louis media is asking questions. And after they kind of talked about the trade a bit, they started to move on to what are some other things that this team might be interested in. Derek Gould specifically from the post dispatch asked him about adding a veteran. And if that was still, I'm talking about the rotation, adding a veteran to the rotation and whether or not that was still something he'd like to do. And here's what Heim had to say about that particular situation. Yes, I think if the right fit is there, then we would like to add some experience.
Starting point is 00:11:36 And I think we can do that because, as you mentioned, we do have flexibility with some of these guys. And it's nice to have some competition there. Obviously, you also want some stability, some consistency. But it's nice to have the ability that if we do add, it's not going to push somebody out of the organization. We'll have a way for all these guys to stay with us, keep growing. And ultimately, I would expect there's going to be opportunity for everybody. The reality is when you talk about having those options, having that depth, we've been incredibly fortunate the last couple years not to have to lean on that that much. And there is a lot of hard work and deserved good fortune that went into that, you know, when you look at the work that the staff did, both on the skill side and on the performance and medical side.
Starting point is 00:12:20 That said, you can't count on that lasting forever. And so having more than five, having ideally, even more than we have now is really where we want to be as an organization. You always want there to be a next man up. And I think not only does that provide depth for the organization, but the competition that it creates is healthy. It's nice for us as we've acquired these two guys. Now we have a little group of major league starters who are early in their careers who can push each other and learn together and grow together. And I think there's positive cultural benefits as well that come. from that over time. First and foremost, it's obviously just about having as many good players as we can.
Starting point is 00:12:57 But there's other things as you're growing a young team and you want to get some positive things going culturally, that that competition can be healthy. Now, to me, that sounds like, hey, we're not done looking, you know, does it sound like they have anything imminent coming down? No, it doesn't. I think the Brennan-Donovan deal has a lot to do with that because it's probably holding up, anything like that just because we don't know who might be coming back in that deal yet if and when it happens. So, you know, you see the names like, you know, the Tyler Mallings and stuff that make sense for what the Cardinals are trying to do. But they got to get their affairs in order first of like, all right, what am I getting in return for some of these other dudes that
Starting point is 00:13:46 are up for grabs that are on the trade block? We're talking about Donovan and Jojo and Nolan Renato, maybe Lars Newport. Is Nolan Gorman going to be around? So we don't know exactly what they're getting back for these guys just yet. So that's probably holding things up on what they're going to do free agent-wise. Clearly, Dustin made was somebody they targeted right away. And they were like, this is a guy that we for sure want to get our hands on before he starts talking to a bunch of other teams. Jeff Jones from the business news, Democrat followed up asking about what else could be added to the team this winter.
Starting point is 00:14:19 And here's how Hym responded to that particular question. Yeah, we already discussed, obviously, the potential of adding more starting pitching. Again, I don't think that's an absolute necessity, but we're always going to look to keep doing it if we see the right fit there. On the position player side, you know, we certainly, obviously, that's a big bat that's leaving our lineup, and we're going to want to try to add to our position player group. What exactly that looks like, I don't know yet. I think it's more likely just given how we're configured right now that it would be right-handed hitters or left-handed hitters where we sit today. certainly with Burley ticketed for more work at first base,
Starting point is 00:14:56 we can accommodate a right-handed hitter in the outfield, and I do still think we have a lane for an infield bat as well from the right side. So we'll see exactly how that shakes out. I'm not saying we have to do all those. We want to make sure we're not blocking off opportunity internally. But those are things that could be possibilities as the off-season goes on. And then certainly, you know, we'd like to add some experience to our bullpen.
Starting point is 00:15:24 And then Derek Gould followed up asking about that right-handed bat and whether it would be a complimentary type of bat, you know, which makes me think, you know, like a bench guy, or would it be more of an everyday type of guy, a guy that might be a starter. Heim responded to that with this. I think it depends on what opportunities are there. I think we could do either, just depending on what opportunities are available to us. You know, it's not just on the pitching side where we'd like to find, um, the long-term fits, that's also something we can do on the position player side,
Starting point is 00:15:56 but there is something to be said for shorter-term fits and for the right veterans also to help the club. So I think we can really look at either, and we've already started doing that, and certainly we'll continue to. We just don't know yet exactly what the opportunities are that will be available to us. So the massaging of the roster, it continues. This is clearly not something that it is even remotely close to being a finished product. the search for another right hand of bed, whether it's in the outfield or on the infield,
Starting point is 00:16:24 which is a little bit funny because you've still got, and he mentioned that. He was like, you know, we don't want to block people that are, you know, internally that we want to give chances to. But at the same time, we could look outside the organization to find some, some guys. But you've already, you've still got Nolan Aronado.
Starting point is 00:16:39 He's still here. We don't know what's going to happen with him yet. You still got Thomas C.J.C., which I know a lot of fans are pro CJC out there and would love to see him. more opportunities. You've still got, obviously, Mason Wynn is on the infield, isn't going anywhere. Jose for me is another guy that when given an opportunity, he hasn't been that bad. So those are kind of the internal guys that I think he's talking
Starting point is 00:17:05 about with CJC and Fremine. But in the outfield, I certainly think that there is room for a right-handed bat for sure. There was one that was mentioned today, Austin Hayes, that the Mets might have some interest in him. He's a guy that I thought the Cardals might be interested in, but they're not in that spot yet where they can start shopping for these free agent pieces. Like I said, the Justin May thing was somebody they obviously targeted right away, but they've got so many other things. They've got to move first before they can get to finding those other guys.
Starting point is 00:17:40 And I just hope that they get these deals done so that they can go do a little bit more shopping with the money they do have left over that they're going to be allowed to spend for the 2026 roster. So a lot of this depends on what happens with Donovan or the trades involving Romero and Arnado or even a Lars Dupar. You know, just because Burley comes out of the outfield and goes to first doesn't necessarily mean he's completely safe from being traded if somebody comes up with an idea that that's what the Cardinals want. There's a better chance that he's on this roster now for sure.
Starting point is 00:18:13 but, you know, this is a work in progress, that's for sure. Now we know that the minor league guys that they got for Contreras are for the future, right? This is not something that's supposed to impact anything in 2026. But Dobbins is a different story. Hunter Dobbins is a different story. He could be a part of the rotation this year, maybe even on opening day, depending on what his medicals look like. You're going to hear what Heim had to say about him and his return from ACL surgery.
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Starting point is 00:19:51 Download the game time app. Create an account, use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, that's code. LOC, E, D-O-N-M-LB for $20 off. Download the game time app today. Did Locktown Cardles maker Spotify wrap, then prove it on social media to secure a free month of our brand new
Starting point is 00:20:12 Every Day or Club. Just tag our National Lockdown Podcast Network account on any social platform. And we're going to drop people code, be one of the first to join the Everyday Air club to get your favorite show ad free, add exclusive access to the members only Discord channel. Hunter Dobbins, I don't want to say was the centerpiece of this trade, but he is certainly the part of it that affects the Cardinals' immediate roster. But he is returning from an injury after hurting that knee last year. Second time, he's torn the ACL in that particular knee, which you hate to hear, but, you know,
Starting point is 00:20:44 it was kind of a freaky play where he was covering first base when it happened. and here's what Heinz had to say about him and his current recovery from that particular injury. Yeah, he's coming along nicely. He has a checkup actually in a couple weeks where we're hopeful that he'll get clearance to progress to the mound, but he is throwing. I think if you do some internet sleuthing, you'll be able to see some evidence of that. And he's doing well. We don't want to put a timetable on this.
Starting point is 00:21:13 I know if you ask him, he'll tell you he's going to be ready when that bell rings. We're going to make sure that we don't rush him. Obviously, we want to make sure that he's completely past this before we turn him loose. This is a type of injury that if we handle the rehab well, it should not be a concern going forward. Obviously, a little bit of a freak thing that you all saw what happened or if you did not see it, you can go look it up. So we just want to make sure we do the rehab right and get him past this and get him out there. We really like a lot of things that he does, both in terms of the stuff that he has. It's a pretty deep arsenal.
Starting point is 00:21:46 He's got some different weapons to attack hitters with. There's some opportunities we see as well, but we obviously want to get to know him. And he's a big-time competitor also. Not afraid out there and really a bulldog, so we're excited to get him out there. He fits very well within this group of young starters that we have. How exactly that shakes out, you know, first let's get him back
Starting point is 00:22:07 and get him into the swing of things, and then we'll sort it out from there. Now, the 19-year-old Faharto is, is, you know, he's the guy that many believe could be the biggest part of this trade. He's got a ton of upside. Obviously, he's a teenager. He's 19. He's very young.
Starting point is 00:22:26 So ceiling, huge, but you just don't know. You don't know what's going to happen with these guys. So he's more of the lottery ticket of this group. Here is what Heim had to say about the 19 year old. Some physicality there. He throws hard. He's got very good off speed stuff. And he's got a ton of, had a ton of effectiveness with that off speed stuff in the low
Starting point is 00:22:45 minors shown the ability so far and the potential to carry his starters workload. So we're excited to keep working with him and see how he feels about his arsenal and how he operates and gets in him a little better and see if we can keep him progressing. But it's really impressive for someone on just two pro seasons to be where he's. And then you've got the final piece, which was Blake Iiana, 22 year old. Here's what Haim had to say about this young man. Yeah, really interesting. young player who has a chance, we think, to start has pretty good stuff now. And obviously,
Starting point is 00:23:22 we're hopeful he's got some size to him and we see, we see room for further strength development there. And we're hopeful that he'll be able to come into, you know, more velocity as he does grow. And he can spin the ball. He's got good breaking balls, came into the system with that. He's leaned into that. He's also leaned into some off-speed stuff, too, as he's started his journey as pro-journey with the Red Sox. Excited to get to know him. Obviously, you can see these guys from afar, but until you get to know them and you get them in your program, you don't know everything there is to know about them. And we're excited to learn from him where he feels he's at, but really excited about what he's demonstrated so far. And a very promising young player who's had success as a starter and has the makings of an arsenal that can continue to start as he goes through his pro journey.
Starting point is 00:24:11 So more arms to go into an organization that really needed. an injection of talent at all levels, too. It's, you know, I know as fans, we want to see them get three pitchers are going to be on this roster now and make this team good now. I understand that, but that's not how it works. And to get some guys that, you know, obviously the 19 year old, Bajardo is going to be at the lower levels at first. Aida is going to be a level above him, probably.
Starting point is 00:24:40 We're talking about A, double A, and maybe AAA. with Aida. That's a possibility too. He's 22 years old. But, you know, it's adding more depth to this organization and people keep asking, you know, why do they keep getting just pitching? Well, it's because they didn't have enough in this organization at all. And this is something that's been discussed since last year, really, when you started to realize after the injuries to guys like Takaa and Cooper Jerpy and Sim Robbersa, Quinn Matthews went down for a little bit there. Teen Hence, obviously, has had a lot of injury issues, too, where you're like, dude, if something happens to any of these starters, we are screwed.
Starting point is 00:25:23 There's nobody available who's ready to come up yet. They're just not. And this year, you're hoping that Matthews and Hens could be a part of things. Cooper Jerpy coming back from injury could hopefully be a part of things. You don't have Robber, so you don't have Roby. They're gone due to injuries. But you're also hoping that a guy like a Bryson Mott is somebody who can do something for you. Eshon Henderson is another name that kind of gets lost in the shuffle at a great year.
Starting point is 00:25:49 Some of these guys who read AA last year and helped Springfield be so good, should be up on the Memphis roster this year and we'll see where they can help us depth-wise there too. But they needed arms. But it's also nice to hear in that press conference that we understand that there's more out there that we need to work on other than just pitching. So we'll see what happens, man. You know. Hopefully when these other deals go down, especially with the Donovan one, which is the one where you're really hoping to score some big prospects in return. It'll be more top in talent added to the organization that continues to build for the long term and not 2026,
Starting point is 00:26:31 which I know it's certainly deflating to a lot of fans who are still just not mentally prepared for this rebuild that they are witnessing. They're seeing a lot of the guys that they're used to that they're comfortable with and watching them go out the door for a lot of dudes that they don't think are worthy of those particular players. And I understand that. The frustration, the realization that 2026 is going to be really, really bad. Like, it's not, it shouldn't be white socks. Rocky's bad by any means, but it ain't going to be good. It's not. Like there's a, there's certainly a chance that the Cardinals are going to be in the last place in the NL Central. We're hoping that a lot of these younger guys can step up and be better than people think.
Starting point is 00:27:15 And maybe it won't be quite as drastic. But you're seeing, you know, the pirates are making moves to get better while they have, you know, Paul Skeen's under control while they have Bubba Chandler coming up. You know, they got Mitch Kelly. They got a nice pitching staff. They just made that deal with the Tampa Bay raise to help with their depth. So they're improving.
Starting point is 00:27:35 We haven't seen much from the Reds yet this offseason. They tried for Schwarber. They struck out there. What are they going to do? I saw something about Luis Robert from the White Sox that they're showing interest in him. I don't know how much of an upgrade that is because the other been very good the last couple years. The Cubs are still kind of just, the Brewers have done nothing so far, but they were so good last year with, I think, 97 wins is what they had.
Starting point is 00:27:58 So, you know, the Cardinals are the only one really making a whole of Cardinals in Pittsburgh are the ones making the most deal so far. But the Cardinals are taking a step back in reloading so that in two years, You know, they're hopefully ready to take everybody by storm. But I know it is very, very tough. And I know I'm seeing in the comment section, people are like, I'm not buying tickets. It's, you know, nothing of this is fun or interesting for me.
Starting point is 00:28:26 I get it. It's your money. You do what you want with it. But, you know, there's parts of this that excite me with the younger players. Like, I'm excited to see JJ Weatherholt and Yvonne Herrera and Mason win. I hope Jordan Walker become something. Alex Burleson. I hope he just won a silver slugger. I hope he continues on the right path. Victor Scott's speed will always intrigue me. Can he get on base more and become a threat on the base pass that really drive other teams wild?
Starting point is 00:28:54 Will any of these young pitchers be okay? Can Dustin may stay healthy? There's so many questions, but there's a lot of ceiling there. There's a lot of upside possibilities. But the floor is much lower when you don't have these veterans that you've relied on the last couple of years to be there to pick things up. losing Wilson Contreras's bat obviously is huge. Like how are you going to replace all that production? We don't know. You know, can Jordan Walker do that? Can Nolan Gorman do that? You know, JJ Weatherhole when he comes up, like, people struggle as rookies.
Starting point is 00:29:27 He's going to be as good as we think he should be just in his first year with the Cardinals. So a lot of questions and we're going to all find out together. So thanks for making a lot on Cardinals your first listen every day. Now, if you haven't already, give us a follow on X at LO underscore Cardinals and at JD Sports Radio, TikTok, Instagram, and Lockdown Cardinals. Like, subscribe on YouTube, up our channel and love for the Cardinals grow on video. We're going to send you to the first ever 24-7 national Lockdown Podcast Network YouTube channel on audio. Be sure to make your second listen, Locked on MLB with our guy, Sully.
Starting point is 00:29:57 You're the best fans in baseball for a reason. We'll see you next time on Locked on Cardinals.

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