Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals FUTURE Hinges on YOUNG Stars Stepping Up - Will They Deliver?

Episode Date: January 5, 2026

St. Louis Cardinals face a pivotal season as young stars Masyn Winn and Victor Scott II look to ignite a new era. Can Winn’s elite defense and maturing plate approach, paired with Scott’s electrif...ying speed, restore excitement to the Cardinals’ lineup and push past recent struggles? Key positions and player health—especially Ivan Herrera’s bat and versatility—could make or break the 2026 campaign.JD Hafron spotlights roster shakeups, front office moves, and the growing urgency for former prospects like Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker to step up. The episode examines the impact of trades involving Brendan Donovan and Nolan Arenado, the potential of dynamic lineups featuring JJ Wetherholt, and offers updates on ex-Cardinals like Paul DeJong’s move to the Yankees. Will this mix of emerging talent and strategic changes launch the Cardinals back into playoff contention?0:00 — Cardinals 2026, Masyn Winn12:11 — Victor Scott II, Ivan Herrera25:04 — Lineup construction, trade talk25:53 — League news and notesFollow & 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!Rocket MoneyLet Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at http://RocketMoney.com/LOCKEDONFanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Every Friday night, before the games tip off, FanDuel gives fans a new way to kick off the weekend with NBA Happy Hour. Check the FanDuel app and see what’s dropping during NBA Happy Hour — every Friday from 6 to 7:30 PM Eastern. FanDuel — the Official Sportsbook 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 #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 don't have a lot of expectations going into next season. But if they are going to turn things around and be more competitive in 2026, they're going to need these guys to step up to do it. 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, a former national radio sports anchor born and raised in St. Louis, a lifetime Cardinals fan. Welcome into another episode of Locked on Cardinals. Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network. Thank you to our every dayers for getting us to this point. If you're new to the show, welcome aboard.
Starting point is 00:00:44 Hope you enjoy the content. This is a show that serves Cardinal Nation and gives you all the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by Fandall. Before tip off, check the Fandul app and see what's dropping during NBA happy hour every Friday from 6 to 7.30 p.m. Eastern. Now on today's show, we're going to get you the latest news from around the league and how it affects the Cardinals, a couple of former Cardinals are heading to New York
Starting point is 00:01:09 and have signed with the New York Yankees. But I want to touch on and focus that isn't something based off of rumors or just your basic internet chatter. You know, we've been doing a lot of that. We've been discussing and speculating about the possible trades of Brinaddonovan and Olin Aronado and Jojo Romero.
Starting point is 00:01:32 It seems like forever. You know, this holiday break day we've been on. There wasn't a lot going on. After the Wilson-Contra-Stee, all things have kind of screeched to a halt for the Cardinals. And for most of the league, there hasn't been a ton of stuff that's been happening outside of the Japanese players that have signed, which we'll talk about as well. But what about the guys that, and I feel like I haven't focused enough on this, the guys that we know are going to be with this team in 2026. about them. You know, many believe that the Cardinals are going to have a really bad year, but what is really bad to us? Like, when I thought about it, I'm like, what is really bad for
Starting point is 00:02:13 Cardinal fans? You know, not being in playoff contention is considered pretty bad for us. Okay. We're used to more winning than losing over the year. So not being in playoff contention, that's pretty bad. Cardinals haven't been in the postseason since 2022. Last three seasons, they finished under 500 twice. That's pretty bad as well. well. And as lame as it sounds, at least they haven't had like this complete meltdown type of season, although 2023 was really, really rough. But they haven't had the meltdown type of season that say, you know, the Colorado Rockies or the Chicago White Sox have had to endure. But at the same time, you know, it feels like a very loser mentality to be like, yay, we don't suck that bad. I don't want to be like that. I don't want to be like that. You don't want them to be like that.
Starting point is 00:03:01 we shouldn't be baking our lucky stars because we haven't lost 100-something games. That's awful. We should be holding our ownership at our front office to a higher standard than those guys. You know, for the longest time, it was like in the movie Dodgeball, you know, here at the St. Louis Cardinals, we're better than you, and we know it. But they haven't been better than a lot of teams for three-string seasons. And so the shine has very much dimmed on this franchise in a major way. stopped winning, the fans stopped coming. But the renovation to get the team back to the way
Starting point is 00:03:37 things used to be, it is underway. But it will take some time. So if certain things go, well, maybe it won't be quite as long as we all think. You keep hearing names like, you know, try to be competitive by 2028. There is a way to get ahead of that. But certain people are going to have to step up. You know, the organization is cleaned house in the front. office out with the old and with the new, which I think a lot of fans were excited about, new voice, new face. Hein Bloom, his teammates, fresh perspective on, on how things should be run in this day and age of Major League Baseball.
Starting point is 00:04:15 The fact that Heim has been here for a couple of years already, I think has helped accelerate what this rebuild is going to be. He's been behind the scenes evaluating and watching and learning and listening as an idea of what this organization needs to get back on its feet sooner rather than later and do it in a way that is sustainable. At least that's the idea, right? Well, we'll see. We'll see if they do it the right way and it works, but that's the idea. And some of the players already assembled by the previous regime will still be key components to the eventual turnaround of this franchise. Now, this is not a complete tear down where, you know, it is just trash all over the field. It's not. You know,
Starting point is 00:04:57 I think there are a number of guys on this roster that can still become solid to even star major league players that you'll end up combining with guys that Hein bloom and his teammates have brought in. The JJ Weatherholtz, Liam Doyles, who obviously their top 10 picks, they're supposed to be good. You expect a lot out of those. But, you know, other guys that are within the organization and prospects they've been bringing in that have a lot of upside. So, you know, these are the guys are going to be around to be the nucleus of what this team could be in the future. The first guy on the list that I think has the ability to become an absolute star in this league. I have sensed this since not 2025, but 2024. First full season in the pros.
Starting point is 00:05:44 And that was shortstop Mason went. There's not a lot to dislike about him. I love the look. He's got the look, you know, young man, good looking dude, keeps himself clean, in shape. You know, he's got the skills and maybe most importantly, the maturity to be one of the best shortstops in all of baseball. I think that's the one thing about him that I've been the most impressed with is the maturity that he's already shown at the ripe old age of 23. defensively, we know he's a lead already after winning that first goal glove this season, incredible range, canon for an arm, arguably the best arm, like infield arm in Major League
Starting point is 00:06:33 Baseball. And we saw that this year, he's also become smarter with when and if he should make certain throws. Because, you know, a young player with that Thunderbolt right arm, you feel like you can throw anyone out from any part of the field on any play. You just do. You trust your arms so much and it's worked for you for so long that you feel like you can pull off anything, that you can just do magic. And just from the eyeball test last year, it seems like he's already got a firm grasp of when it's smart and when it's dumb to make certain throws, which is where a lot of the
Starting point is 00:07:16 errors come from from young players it's you know just not it's not so much fielding the ball it's usually throwing the ball and being accurate and knowing when it's the smart time to you know to gear up and let one rip and when to put it in your back pocket and say hey let's not make this thing any worse let's just move on to the next hitter and when you have like last year will say getreras was a very inexperienced first base but his first time playing there. You know, with Goldie over there, maybe you feel like you can get away with throwing certain throws more often than not. But when you have an experienced guys like Wilson last year, and now you're going to have Alec Burleson seemingly at first base most of the time this year has
Starting point is 00:08:00 not played a ton of first base. Mason is going to have to continue to be smart about those things and make the right decisions because, you know, you're also working with a pitching staff that doesn't have a ton of swing and mess. And it's not going to be easy to get you out of a lot of jams, you know, by striking out people, you know, guys are going to put the ball in play against the Cardinals. You know, this is something that we know that they've been susceptible to for a while now. So, you know, those are just some things that I think Mason has going for them,
Starting point is 00:08:37 the offensive side. It's still a work in progress. John Denton had just said this about it. him at MLB.com the other day because they had like all the beat writers say, you know, who's like a breakout guy for your team? And he picked Mason Wynn, said, well, it might seem on picking a player who just want to go glove as a candidate for a breakout in 26. That's the intention of when the dazzling 23-year-old shortstop who committed just three errors this past season was left off All-Star and all-MLB teams largely because of his regression at the plate.
Starting point is 00:09:08 He started slowly slash 253-3-10-363 with nine home runs and 51. When Ribby's, Wynn's average exit velocity was 88.3, which was in the 24th percentile, hard hit rate, 34.6. That's in the 16th percentile, which is bad. The lower the number, the worst it is. So he says that lagged badly. He is hopeful that an offseason knee surgery will help him be more stable and stronger at the plate. Now, one thing I could say about Mason when is that I feel like they've never found what part of the lineup he belongs in. Like, he's not a lead-off guy. As much as some people want him to be, he just hasn't been in that guy. this far in his career.
Starting point is 00:09:43 The OBP, 310 last season, 314 the year before. He just doesn't walk enough to be a lead-off guy. 26 percentile of walk percentage last season, but his width percentage was good. 79 percentile. Chase percentage. 63rd. K percentage. 64th.
Starting point is 00:10:00 So there's room for growth and improvement. You see areas that he's pretty good at that should help his OBP to make him a bigger threat offensively and get him on. base more, which would be nice because one of the things that I don't people, I don't think people talk much about Mason when is how fast the guy could be, 77th percentile in sprint speed. He should be when he gets on base, stealing more bases. Now, the knee injury last year, obviously he slowed things down.
Starting point is 00:10:31 But in his minor league career, the guy ran, you know, 2022, he swiped 43 backs. It was only thrown out five times. Granted, that was combined in A and AA. Pitchers aren't as good as holding runners on, catchers aren't as good at throwing. But at Memphis, 2023, had 17 steals were thrown out just twice in 105 games. OBP that year, though, big difference, 359. You're on base more, which means you have the opportunity to steal more.
Starting point is 00:11:00 And that's the guy that we need to show up more in 2026. I need him just to be on base more, take advantage of his speed, use it as a weapon, start turning these walks and singles into doubles without actually having to hit a double. That's what I'm looking for for Mason when. I don't care about the power numbers. I think he had what nine home runs last year, is that where he was at? And I don't care about that. Like I'm not interested in the home run numbers.
Starting point is 00:11:31 That's not his job. His job, in my opinion, is to be on base more. Like I feel like he could be a good number two hitter because of the ability to not, strike out as much, you know, to put the football play and not chasing as much. I feel like that's his thing. But we'll see. The Cardinals aren't going to be a slugging team. We know that.
Starting point is 00:11:50 So you've got to find other ways to manufacture offense, walks, stealing bags. That's a way to cause havoc on the base pass and turn your lack of slugging that your lineup appears to have this year and your lack of being able to hit extra base hits and turn those things into doubles. So speaking of stealing bases, I want Mason and when to run. My next guy who needs to step up led the team in steals last year and could be the key to unlocking a much more exciting and fun offense in 2026. We'll talk about them next on lockdown card.
Starting point is 00:12:29 Fridays already feel different during basketball season and Fandall is making them even better. Every Friday night before the game's hit off, Fandol is going to give fans a new way to kick off the weekend with what they call the NBA happy hour. NBA happy hour. It's your official pregame, a limited time window where special offers drop. inside the Fandau Lab before the action starts. Fridays from 6 to 7.7.30 Eastern, so St. Louis time. That would be 5 to 6.30.
Starting point is 00:12:56 Have become appointment viewing with NBA Happy Hour. You open up that Fandall app during the happy hour. It always brings something new, whether it's boost, bonuses, surprises, easy to check out the weekly specials before tip off, make a move before that window closes. It's right before the games, right before the weekend starts. So it's a perfect window to get in there. It adds a little extra energy to Friday night basketball.
Starting point is 00:13:17 without having to overthink it, right? We're not going to cramp your brain, make it easy for you. So before tip ball, check the Vanduel app, see what's dropping during NBA Happy Hour. Every Friday from 6 to 7.30 p.m. Eastern, a little basketball, a little action, and a whole lot of Friday energy. That's NBA happy hour only on Fanduel, the official sports book partner of the NBA. Thanks for making it locked on Cardinals for first listen of the day. Thank you for making it locked on the number one sports podcast network. You already live your team every day.
Starting point is 00:13:49 Now take it up a level. Go add free. our everyday or club today and get locked on Cardinals with no interruptions. Members only Discord access and more all for just five bucks a month. Or if you want to do annually, go $50 a year. Go to locked on STL Cardinals.supercast.com or check the link in the show notes to learn more. Victor Scott the second. Friend of the show, Victor Scott the second.
Starting point is 00:14:12 In fact, Victor was one of the first prospects. I had a chance to interview when I started doing the hosting duties on this show. So super cool dude, had a great conversation, and he's been such a very interesting player to me. And I was always excited about him, not because he came on the show, which was great. But because like most Cardinal fans, he reminds us of the 80s era of Cardinal baseball with speed and defense. Pitching, obviously, it was a big deal. But when it comes to the everyday players, speed and defense, that's what it was. all based around. And we cherished that era. You know, and I find myself all the time. There's
Starting point is 00:14:55 different YouTube channels where you can watch old footage of the Cardinals. And I, I fall for it all the time. It'll be like, hey, we recommend this. I'll go and check on it. Just the other day, I was watching. It was about the 1985 team. And I was like down a rabbit hole of Jack Clark information for whatever reason. I don't know why. It just something I went down. And, but that, time was just so good. And when you think about that time, you don't only think that Jack Clark was great and all, but you think about the speed and the defense that the team had. For Victor, the closest comparison for me and guys from that era would be Cardinals Hall of Famer Vince Coleman, who burst onto the scene in 1985, won the rookie of the year award, ripped off three straight 100
Starting point is 00:15:42 stolen base seasons. And he was doing it while hitting at the top of that order for Whitey Herzog and the Cardinals. And Vince wasn't like some great hitter by any means, but when he did get on base, he was off and running no matter what. He was going to take off. It was just a matter of when. And nowadays, you know, they've made it so much easier for guys to steal bases because it's fun, it's exciting, keeps the fans interested, that things are moving. It shouldn't be such a problem. But the key to this, the first thing you have to remember is, like, you got to get on base first. Okay? The old saying is you can't steal first base.
Starting point is 00:16:24 You know, Coleman only had an OBP of 326 in his six seasons in St. Louis. It's not very good. They're not special about that. But when he got on base, he attempted 664 stolen bases and was pretty good at it. Successful 549 times. That's an 82% success rate. So there was no. fear that, oh, no, you might get thrown out. He got thrown out plenty. He got thrown out a decent
Starting point is 00:16:53 number of times. But because of what the offense was that they have, when you don't have a lot of sluggers around you, you got to create offense in other ways and take risks like that. And that's something that I hope happens with Victor Scott here in 2026. Now, Victor hit just 216 last year, 111 strikeouts, 42 walks, 33rd percent down strikeout, a whiff rate percentage. That's not good. Putting the ball in play, more should help those numbers. But also, getting the ball on the ground, a lot more would help too. You know, Vince Coleman had the advantage of the turf fields back in the 80s, you know, almost every field was turf back in the day. Bush Stadium, obviously was. So that would help him.
Starting point is 00:17:42 You know, you hit the ball on the ground. It would be so fast. It would pick up speed. Balls would get through the infield a lot easier. It doesn't happen as often with grass. But Coleman's ground ball percentage was at 48.5 while he was in St. Louis. Hit the ball on the ground. Use your legs.
Starting point is 00:17:58 Like Lou Brown in Major League, you should be putting the ball on the ground and legging things out. That's what you got to do. Victor last year, his ground ball percentage was at 34.3. Okay? That's not nearly good enough for somebody with speed that he has, 100 percentile sprint speed, by the way.
Starting point is 00:18:22 You eliminate your greatest weapon when you hit the ball in the air that much. Now, his line drive rate was better than Vince Coleman's was back in the day, but the fly balls, no, you're not a power hitter. Hitting the ball in the air is not going to do us much good. So you need to hit the ball on the ground a whole lot more. Coleman struck out at a 16.1% rate in his time with the Cardinals. Victor, much higher, 24.8 in its first two seasons. Got to be better. He had a terrible time with the breaking ball last year. If he can improve on these things and get the green light to run wild whenever he's on base,
Starting point is 00:18:57 never a stop sign, always green, run, run, run. Then I think he could help unlock another fun layer to this offense. Like when Victor's on base, there's an anticipation as a Cardinal fan, at least for me, I don't know about you, but at least for me, that all right, he's going to go. He's going to go any second. Here he goes. And you got to get on first base first. You know, that's been the hard part.
Starting point is 00:19:25 So we need him to be better. Get on base more, get the ball on the ground more, love the defense in center field. Obviously, that's fantastic. And I just want to see him run more. I don't care if you get thrown out. I want the threat. always there, always there.
Starting point is 00:19:42 So you've got to have somebody that is either batting behind him. Well, yeah, you got to have somebody batting behind him that's going to be patient with the plate too. So keep that in mind when you're talking about building a lineup for this team, wherever you're putting Victor Scott in the order, that whoever's behind him is going to give him a chance to steal too. It can't be one of these guys. He's always swinging at the first pitch because that just eliminates it. My next guy, basically, it's not that he has to step up.
Starting point is 00:20:07 It's more than he just has to get healthy. and stay that way. And that's my guy, Ivan Herrera. Every day there's now I'm a big fan of Yvonne. He's the one guy in this lineup who to me, he just looks dangerous at the player. Look at this guy. Look at him. He just looks dangerous. And no offense to Alec Burleson, who has done nothing but produced the last two seasons, but there's just something about Yvonne that feels different to me. And last year, he was that guy for the Cardinals when he was in the lineup. Held there just 388 at bats last season due to multiple injuries still hit 284 with 19 bombs and 66 ribbies the OPS plus 136 slugging of 464 on base percentage of 3.73 and I realize that he did a lot of that at D.H.
Starting point is 00:20:51 They're going to try him and catcher again this year. But in the 13 games where he did catch, he hit 388, it was six home runs and 15 RBI. So not like he suffered because he was playing catcher on those days. But yeah, I know small, small sample size. Baseball savon page for Ivan Herrera is dripping, dripping with red. He is a slugger. He is that heart of the order bat that you can build around. So I just need him to stay on the field more. And if that means he can't play catcher anymore so he can stay on the field and so be it. But I need that bat in the lineup 150 games. that's what I need. So learn to play first.
Starting point is 00:21:38 Do the D-Hing. You can catch sometimes, but I'm not keeping you back there all the time. It's just the odds are you're going to get hurt. Look at Wilson Contreras. How many times you got hurt behind the plate? Like the odds are not in your favor. And to lose that bat over and over
Starting point is 00:21:56 because of catching injuries, I feel as stupid. So I need him to figure out where else we can play them because I don't need to take that risk if that's going to be your guy in the heart of the order. Obviously, it goes about saying that Gorman and Walker also need to be better and step up. Just don't be ass. Like, I'm not expecting Gorman doesn't have to hit 35 bombs. Walker doesn't have to hit 3.25.
Starting point is 00:22:25 Just don't be ass where you're just not doing anything of anything productive. that's all. Like somehow, whatever we can do to get these guys back to what they did in their first seasons with the Cardinals, that's what we need. I don't know how to get them back there. I hope that whatever they've been doing this offseason is going to help them tremendously and their talents won't be wasted. But it's been rough the last couple seasons. And yeah, and it's just like, and it's so bad. Like, it's not like, oh, you know, they're just league average.
Starting point is 00:22:59 No. like they're way below it like they got to be better but there's no need to go into that too much because we all know this this is this is not new um but assuming brindonovan and olin arnato get traded you could see and i was just kind of tinkering around with batting orders you can see you know we've heard ollie mentioned that maybe victor scott could be the lead-off guy obviously you got on baseball but you can see like scott win burly herrera so you go left right left right and then you got combinations of Gorman and Walker and Newt. I'm just going to suspect that Newt's going to be back.
Starting point is 00:23:37 Maybe he won't, but I'm going to assume that he will be. Weatherhole is going to be up on this team at some point or another, whether it's opening day or not, he will be there. Whatever they do at DH, so J.C. Are they going to use Jimmy Crooks as a DH some days, or they bring in somebody? There's a couple of different names still out there that I've mentioned before, Miguel Andouhar, Starling Marte,
Starting point is 00:23:59 You could go switch hitter guys. Joanne Moquata is still out there, switch hitter. Michael Tolia is a guy that was with the Rockies. Former first rounder switch hiter hit 24 home run or 25 home runs in 2024. Last year was really, really bad. He's had some serious struggles, but he's also been in Colorado where winning isn't really happening. And it probably isn't a whole lot of fun to be playing there. Change the scenery guy, plays first base, plays outfield.
Starting point is 00:24:27 It's somebody I would kick the tires on. That's for sure. I mean, is his swing that broken at age 27, former first rounder? Cardinals are looking for pop. You want it cheap? How about a guy that struggled as much as he has? And, you know, maybe they're the guys who can crack the code. I don't know if they got the guys to do that or not, but why not? Why not take a look at it? J.J. Weatherholt hit lead off a lot last year in the minor, so you could go Weatherholt win, Burley, Herrera. Gorman, Walker, Newt, your D.H. And then Victor Scott is your normal everyday lineup. Obviously, room to tinker each and every day, which is the great thing about baseball. So just in my opinion, there's a lot of outside there. But obviously, the floor is pretty low to it.
Starting point is 00:25:10 Okay. So that's the area you live in, though, during a repo. So give me your thoughts, productive discussion on these things besides, you know, say, Gorb and Walker stock. You don't have to yell that in the comment section. Okay, we all get it. and that we shouldn't rely on them this upcoming season. Okay, we know.
Starting point is 00:25:30 All right. You don't have to say the obvious there. But let me know below. What are some thoughts? How would you construct the lineup? News and notes coming up next. A former Cardinal all-star headed to the Bronx. We'll talk about it next on Lockdown Cardinals.
Starting point is 00:25:49 Thanks for making Lockdown, your first listen of the day. And thank you for making Lockdown the number one sports podcast network. So the Yankees haven't made much of a splash yet, this off season. And the moves they made this weekend are not going to move the needle. know much, but it does involve two former Cardinals. So I wanted to point it out former All-Star, Paul D. Young has signed a minor league
Starting point is 00:26:09 contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training. Paul E. as we called them during the good old days with the Cardinals, 32 years old now, which isn't old by any means. He played a lot of different positions last year with Washington, first, big, second, third, short, did not do so well. 228, 6 home runs, 642 OPS in just 57 games. So remember, he got hit in a face with a pitch and it blasted his nose and stuff. So that was a scary, scary scene.
Starting point is 00:26:39 But 2024 hit 24 home runs with the White Sox and Royals combined with those guys. Did a lot of that damage with the White Sox. Cardinals, if you remember, got Matt Sonson in exchange for him back in 2023, who figures to be a big part of the bullpen this year. So that's a trade that so far has worked out heavily in the favor of the Cardinals. Now, the other name that it's, with the Yankees on a minor league deal is Adam Klophenstein also acquired in 2023 by the Cardinals from the Toronto Blue Jays along with Sim Robberson
Starting point is 00:27:10 exchange for Jordan Hicks. That deal has not worked out so well with Robesah dealing with injuries. And then Klophestein got non-sendered by the Cardinals at the end of the 2024 season. So good luck. Other signings around the league, Don Mattingly, joining the Phillies coaching staff, the Blue Jays. They continue to pretty much be the most busy team so far in the offseason. They signed Japanese third baseman Kazuma Okamoto to a four-year deal on Saturday, said to still be in talks with their former infielder Boba Chet.
Starting point is 00:27:45 Is he going to go back to Toronto? I don't know, because it depends on what the money's like. But apparently they're in talks as well, like interested in Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker. These are names that are still not out of the realm of possibilities. they've had quite the off season or just kind of throwing money around like they're the Dodgers or something. The Canadian Dodgers, we'll call him that. The Yankees are reportedly still in talks with Cody Bellinger, but are also mentioned in trade chatter about Brewers, Ace Freddie Peralta, which would be great to get him out of the division.
Starting point is 00:28:14 According to reports, the Yankees, the Mets, the Dodgers, the Braves, and the Red Sox, your usual suspects, are all in pursuit of Peralta, who was set the hit free agency at the end of the season, asking price, obviously huge from Milwaukee to get him. And he's only going to be costing like $8 million this year. So you can see why the asking price will be huge. How about somebody not in the normal big markets who all seem to be on every free agent that's ever out there? The Pirates in A. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. Haneos-W. Jason Mackie of the Pirates or the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette seems to think that that's where the pirates are going to turn their attention now.
Starting point is 00:28:50 They haven't landed any of the big name guys that they, they've talked to this offseason. All of them have said, we're good. But from all accounts, they've tried. They've just missed out on them, but you can't really blame the free agents for not wanting to play in Pittsburgh. But they did make the big trade with Tampa Bay. They brought in Ryan O'Hern.
Starting point is 00:29:07 So they got Brandon Lau, Ryan O'Hern, and Jake Mangum, who are all solid pieces, in my opinion. I would take all three of them on the Cardinals this year. I think all of them are solid, especially Mangum. I have a soft spot for Jake Mangum. I enjoy watching Tampa Bay raise baseball. I just, it's something that I just feel like they do a lot of the, the good things well, the smart things and the little things. And Jake Mangum was a guy that I enjoyed watching last year, switch hitter with speed,
Starting point is 00:29:34 can play all three outfield positions. That's a guy I would have loved for the Cardinals to get. But he's in Pittsburgh now instead. So sucks. Anyway, those are the biggest news and notes from around the league right now. Obviously, if anything breaks, we'll keep you posted. Thanks for making lots on Cardinals your first listen every day. if you haven't already, give us a follow on X at L.O underscore Cardinals and at JD Sports Radio,
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