Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals HUNT Rule 5 Draft SLEEPERS—Who Can CONTRIBUTE in 2026? Winter Meetings Update!

Starting point is 00:00:00 The St. Louis Cardinals aren't swinging for the fences and free agency, but they could use that Rule 5 draft as a way to improve their roster in 2026. We'll tell you how. 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. And welcome to another episode of Locked on Cardinals, part of the Locked on Cardinals. locked on podcast network now the number one sports podcast network. Thank you to all of our everydayers for being here with us this entire time and for continuing to be here with us. For those of you who are new, welcome in. I hope you enjoy the content. This is a show serving Cardle Nation and giving you all the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by Fandall.

Starting point is 00:00:54 If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fandul.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. On today's show, we'll be discussing the latest ongoing. from the winter meetings, including the two big free agent signings. Kyle Schwabber and Edward Diaz have decided where they're going to play for the foreseeable future. What's the latest chatter on any possible Cardinals moves? We've got the draft lottery coming up tonight, which is exciting. And the Cardinals will be involved with that, obviously, as well. But we're going to start today talking about the Rule 5 draft,

Starting point is 00:01:26 which is going to take place on Wednesday. And we want to get ahead of that. And to help us sift through all of this goodness is our guy, Thomas Gylvane from Redbird rants.com. Thomas, good afternoon. How are you, brother? All right, you are on you. I'm muted, so I guess now I'm doing better.

Starting point is 00:01:45 We're a firing start. This is good. Hey, it's a Tuesday. It's a Tuesday. Give us a minute. I know. We're all coming back from vacations and stuff. It's all good.

Starting point is 00:01:54 But how are things with you, dude, other than being muted? You good? Oh, yeah. I'm doing well. Yep, loving this time of the year. We got some action on the winter meetings. We've got, it's 50 degrees here. so I can go outside and not freeze.

Starting point is 00:02:06 Yeah, there you go. We should be outside doing this podcast then, Thomas. What are we doing on us? The other day, it was like 35, and I went outside to grill and felt like it was summer. I was like, I'm taking advantage of sunshine for a day. This is fantastic. It's exciting times for baseball fans,

Starting point is 00:02:25 whether you're in a major market or not, because at this point in the winter meetings, there's always the hope and the belief that your team might do something entertaining and positive. We are so waiting on any Cardinals moves. Obviously, if something breaks, we'll let you know. But one thing we know that they will have some interest in is the Rule 5 draft. Again, for those not familiar, the MLB Rule 5 draft is the annual draft where teams can

Starting point is 00:02:51 select unprotected minor league players from other organizations, preventing talent hoarding by making players eligible after a certain amount of time in the minor leagues. If they're not added to the 40-man roster, obviously the big. Rule is, though, that, you know, if you draft a guy, they got to stay on your active MLB roster. They got to be on, not the 40 man, but they got to be on your active MLB roster. And if they aren't there for the entire season, you have to offer them back to the original team for half the draft fee, which is 50K of the 100K, that it costs to take somebody. Last time the Cardinals did this, Ryan Fernandez, who did quite well for them in 2024.

Starting point is 00:03:30 Last year, obviously a different story. but this is where the scouting department and the organization's eye for talent comes into play. This is where, you know, the skills that Heinblum and his teammates have assembled can make a dent and perhaps bring somebody in that can help this team next year. Now, you recently put together a list of some names that you think would be players of the Cardinals might have some interest in over at Redwooderance.com. I'm going to put that link in the description for all of you to go read the write up in it in its full and its glory.

Starting point is 00:04:01 but let's go through some of these names real quick and why you think they would make sense for the Cardinals. Let's start with the right-hander from the White Sox. Peyton Pellett, what is it about Peyton that you think might be something the Cardinals have interested? He's probably the best pitcher in the Rule 5 draft this year from the White Sox. Peyton is he's 24. He's got a solid fastball, mid-90s, his curveball is ridiculous spin rates. He found his touch as a reliever this year with the White Sox. So I think that's something that might be interesting to the Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:04:32 Right in the pitcher, he could slot in nicely in the bullpen there. I don't think there's too much of a concern with him. He's got solid stuff on his breaking balls. His fast ball is fast enough, with some room to grow. I think he'd be an excellent, really for the Cardinals in the Rule 5. Now, the Cardinals will be selecting. They're at number 11. Now, obviously, not everybody's going to take people.

Starting point is 00:04:53 So there's possibilities that they move up. Just so everybody's aware, though. It's not like they just, you know, it's like, hey, whoever gets here first picks this guy. So, you know, obviously, if somebody like a Pellet, if the Cardinals have interest in him, some other people are going to have interest in these guys as well. So just keep that in mind. But if they slide to where the Cardinals are, then cool. You know, the Cardinals can take a chance on these guys if they like him.

Starting point is 00:05:17 Next guy on your list was Felipe de la Cruz from the Mets. What can tell us about him? The most intriguing thing about him to me, well, there's two things. One, he's left-handed so he can take John King's spot. If we trade Jojo Romero, he can come, I'm not saying he's going to be a closer, but he's a left-handed reliever for us at least. And then the other intriguing thing is his 13.2 Ks per 9 in AA last year. There was only 39 innings, but that's still an impressive figure as a lefty reliever.

Starting point is 00:05:45 Yeah, and we think about some of the good pitchers that are in the Cardinal system and how well they did, you know, like a Bryson Mott's, how well they did at AA last year. I mean, there's no guarantees that these things will go with them to Memphis to AAA, and they'll be just as good. But it just shows you that there's something to work with theirs, which is, you know, when you hear 13.2 per 9, yeah, we'll take that. And last time I checked, the card will do not have a whole lot of left handers, just waiting in the wings relief-wise, at least, to be available.

Starting point is 00:06:17 So I'm very curious to what they're going to do if they do decide to trade Jojo-Ramero this year because there's just nothing on the 40 mat that is available right now for them. So it's going to be interesting. So that's why that would make sense. You got Grant Kip. He's in the Cubs organization right now. It's always nice to steal from your rivals. What is it about Mr. Kip that looks good to you?

Starting point is 00:06:41 Stealing him from the Cubs is what's interesting. I said in the piece, he was a starting pitcher in the minors. He wouldn't be that for us probably to make that jump from double A. I'll look to the majors as a starter. But he would be an interesting long reliever for us. And eventually down the road, maybe a start. I'm thinking like a Kyle A Hemole, something like that, maybe quit or Matthew Liberator where you give him some relief endings, let them get familiar, get his feet butt, and then maybe stretch him out towards the end of the year. 4.22 ERA and AA, 110 strikeouts, 1008 innings. Something special or fantastic. It's just useful. And I think that's one of the themes of the Rule 5 draft.

Starting point is 00:07:18 Yeah, and we'll remind people of this, too. This is not like the amateur draft where there's just superstars available, like these people are available for a reason. You know, there's probably some good things there. There's probably some not so good things there that you'll have to be aware of, but you're hoping that when you would take one of these guys, bring them into the organization that they would be able to unlock whatever it is that they saw in them to make them worthy of being one of these draft picks. Because again, you got to keep them on the roster all year. You got to offer them back, which doesn't mean they have to go back.

Starting point is 00:07:50 The other team can say, no, we're cool, keep them. But it's part of the whole gig here. Let's go with Tyler Vogel from the John. Mr. Vogel, what do you got for us? Great fastball. Touch was 97, upper 90s. He has reverse splits. So while he's right-handed, he does well against left-handed batters. They hit just 183 against him last year. Solid strikeouts, 10.2 per 9, 2.88 ERA.

Starting point is 00:08:18 He made his way all the way up to AAA, although that's where he started to struggle. His breaking balls are effective as well. Once again, just a solid guy. He's right-handed, but the reverse splits would be nice. Should lose his Joe Romero or to take John King's spot. Yeah, you know, if you're not going to be able to sign a lefty that can get lefties out. Why not a righty that can get lefties out? Remember Andre Palante was very successful at that for quite some time.

Starting point is 00:08:44 Finally, RJ Petit from the Tigers. What can you tell us about him? Big boy. Let's get RJ Petit and Joel Pozo as a battery meet next year. Let's get sick, man. Why not? It's the thick battery there. He's 6-8, 300 pounds.

Starting point is 00:09:01 His numbers are, yeah, the size jumps out, but his numbers are also respectable. He had a 244-4-ERA, 10.7Ks per 9. He made all that to AAA. His slider is his best pitch. It got a whiff rate above 53% and the Cardinals focused on slider usage in their prospects last year. So that might be a nice pairing as well. Also, 6-8.

Starting point is 00:09:24 Let's just see him on the mountains for a little bit. Why not? Maybe we'll sell a couple of extra tickets because we have a six-poenaing. Extension, you know, like you. Yeah, there you go. The Statcast era, you know, it's one of the things like Chris Roycroft. You know, it's one of the reasons why people want to continue to work with him because he's just a big dude. You feel like you can maybe do something with him.

Starting point is 00:09:46 And that would be about, yeah, 6-8-300. Dude, bring me the meats. Let's go. I want this dude. He lands and he's halfway to the plate already, I'm pretty sure. I love it. Like, why not? not let's bring him that he's immediately my favorite guy on your list already i don't even

Starting point is 00:10:01 care if he's the best pitch on the list i just want to see huge left tackle pitching for the cardinals at some point imagine if there's a ball on the field and we've got r j pel like him hurdle on the fence in the outfield remember it was like giovanni guy go so years ago if you see r j petting coming over everybody just leaves we win the fight automatically there's no if you're going to go up and into somebody like you know maybe uh a pete crow armstrong at some point for the Cubbies. You think he's going to, you know, charge the mound on a guy at $600? I don't think so.

Starting point is 00:10:34 But I would love to see him try. But, yeah, we're not advocating for anybody to be hurt. Don't do that. No, of course not. Name the Cardinals left unprotected on the other side of the coin here that people seem interested in is the lefty Pete Hanson. Again, lefties are obviously, it's a very shallow amount of lefties that are available as far as the free agent market goes.

Starting point is 00:10:57 2022 third round pick out of Texas, finished with 3.93 ERA, 123Ks, 37 walks, and 137 in a third inning, a double A. Fastball hits about 92. Good chase rate on the slider, good change up. You know, there's only so many spots that the Cardinals could, you know, protect. So this was one of them.

Starting point is 00:11:18 They were like, oh, we don't want to lose him, but hopefully, you know, he's able to come back to, us, but it's somebody that has been brought up multiple times by, you know, national media guys that, you know, hey, this is guy that some of these other teams might be looking at. And that's simply because left handers are not easy to find these days. It's one of the reasons why we think Jojo Romero's market is so strong right now as far as his trademark. You know what? We're going to get into that here in just a bit.

Starting point is 00:11:44 We're going to talk to trade market with the Cardinals and who Thomas thinks is probably going, who he thinks is probably staying and maybe some teams that fit these certain players if the Cardinals were to make a deal. We'll get into that next on Lockdown Cardinals. NFL Sundays move fast, one big play, and suddenly everything feels different. That's why live betting with Fandall is as exciting as it gets. Like, it is a lot of fun because you're not just watching the game anymore. You're actually reacting to it in real time. Fandall lets you place bets as the action unfolds, every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. Live betting is, it's the best when you're in a game that's just going back and forth all the time because then you got to kind of key on who you think's going to be that next

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Starting point is 00:13:38 Thomas Govade from Redmond Rants.com with us here today. We're talking winter meeting stuff, the latest rumors of what's going on with the Cardinals. We know that they want to make some deals. We heard Ali last night say, you know, there's some stuff's coming. It's going to happen. He didn't get into any specifics, but we all know that there are going to be some deals. made who is going to go first and where they're going to land. That's the real question. We're going to try to play Nostradamus here and see where we think or who is going to go first.

Starting point is 00:14:08 Of the list, I'm just the names that we know are probably available, right? They're listening on Nolan Arnado and Brendan Donovan, Jojo Romero, Wilson Contreras, Lars Newfar, Nolan, Gorman, Alec Burleson. These are all names that has been reported that teams have shown interest in. of that group, who do you think goes first, Thomas? Probably Jojo Romero. I think the trade for Aronado is too complicated. I think there's other dominos that need to fall first, namely Alex Brighman. Brendan Donovan, I think that's a little bit more complicated as well just because of his value.

Starting point is 00:14:43 There's going to be a lot more bigger names going with him, potentially more names, a major league or possibly. Trading reliever is much more seamless, I think, and Jojo Romero has the interest throughout the league. It's been reported. It's a one-year deal for him that he has left. That's a pretty straightforward deal. So I'd imagine he's one of the first to go. That's not to say that he'll get the greatest return out of the bunch, but I think he'd be one of the first players to be traded.

Starting point is 00:15:08 And we just saw, you know, we saw the trade with Jose Ferrer from the Nationals. He goes to Seattle, got, you know, a top 50 prospect in return for him with Gary Ford going from Seattle to the nationals. Now, granted he is younger. He is cheaper. So that obviously plays a role in things. We also just saw Edwin Diaz get a monster deal with the Dodgers, which is something that we predicted weeks ago that.

Starting point is 00:15:38 I mean, the Dodgers, where was the one weakness? It was going to be in the bullpen. That was their issue last year. They go on to win a championship anyway, but Rookie Sasaki was not going to be their closer anymore. So they went out and took the best guy on the market for three years at $69 million. It shows you how teams are looking at the bullpen this year. Like, you know, guys like a Romero, what they might be worth.

Starting point is 00:16:03 You know, he's not, he's making what, like five million, something like that this year. At least that's what he's projected, I believe. But it means people are going to be looking for it. And we mentioned that there are not a lot of left handers that are out there, like really good ones. You know, you've seen a lot of the big right-handed closers. Those guys are coming off the board. But the lefties, they're all just kind of me.

Starting point is 00:16:22 You know, and if Joe Romero is an upgrade over those guys, which some people think he is, teams are going to be called about him. So it would be nice to see what they could get for a return on Jojo Romero. You mentioned the Brennan Donovan situation where, you know, we've heard that there's a lot of interest there. Of the teams that we've all heard have been reported, you know, we're talking about Seattle's and Cleveland's and the Dodgers have been in a day. where do you think he would be the best fit in your opinion i think the yankees they've had interest in for two years they need some sort of utility guy that they can play they've got other versatile players as well but to throw donovan in there as well he'd be a nice left-hand compliment to erin judge and joncoe stanton he could slot in lead off for them if they wanted him to if is on base

Starting point is 00:17:12 he is gold glove worthy i think that he makes a good fit for the yankees and more importantly i think the Yankees are a good fit for the Cardinals when it comes to prospects. They've got Elmer Rodriguez there. They've got Carlos LaGrange, LaGrange. I think that's the same person. He's there too. So their pitching prospects are top of the of the list. I think the Yankees would be a good fit for Donnie.

Starting point is 00:17:35 Yeah, I got a soft spot for Lagrange. I just, I find him so appealing. Obviously, the Yankees do too for obvious reasons. I like him. Of course, the Yankees are going to like him too. But yeah, that was that one makes sense. And I wonder too, because you're watching the AL East. You're seeing, you know, Boston makes the move for Sunny Gray.

Starting point is 00:17:56 You're seeing Toronto make the move for Dylan. Yes, me Kyle Tucker's going there. Next is the next rumor. You're seeing Baltimore do some things. And yet here are the Yankees, just kind of sitting there in silence, twiddling their thumbs. And it's got to eat at them that they're not doing anything right now. I know the fans got to be losing their minds. Lockdown Yankees host Stacy got Sulius.

Starting point is 00:18:20 She was just texting with us in the group chat. She's like, and here we are, not doing anything. They're already getting rest of this. I never thought about that perspective. Yeah, I'm like, yeah, if you're feeling a little itching your pants because if you guys aren't doing anything, come get them. And I wonder if that's something that'll work out for the Cardinals where they're like, dude, we got to do something. We're not doing anything.

Starting point is 00:18:42 And look at our whole division. So Yankees, there's a Brennan Donovan. waiting for you. It'll just take a couple of your really good pitchers that aren't going to impact your team this year. So send them our way. Who are some of the guys out of that list of people that you do not think the Cardinals are going to move? Like you're like, yeah, they might listen, but I don't think they're going to do. There's three that I have as greater than 50% chance to stay in my mind. It's Nolan Gorman, Alec Berluson, and Lars Nupar. For Gorman, his value's too low. I don't know if the cardals need him with JJ Weatherholt,

Starting point is 00:19:19 but his value is too low. It'd be kind of silly of them to trade him at this point. Alec Berluson, they seem to like him quite a bit. And he's warmed up for me as well. I can't say I'm the greatest Alec Burleson defender, but I see the value there. And then Mars Neupar as well, I wrote, Derek Gould brought this up,

Starting point is 00:19:38 but late November I wrote that Newpar seems like a perfect trade deadline candidate. Let him show those first few months that he's healthy, that he can play center field again, that his offensive output is back to what it was a couple years ago. And then as a left-handed bat who can play all three outfield positions with plus defense, his trade value will be astronomical, probably. So I think Gorman, Burleson, and Newpar stay out of the other rumors.

Starting point is 00:20:03 It's greater than 50% chance they stay, how great I can't say for sure. Yeah, and I feel the same way about Gorman for sure because, like, you just hate, to not give him a, you still have never given him a full year. Like it still hasn't happened. And maybe he doesn't deserve it. Maybe you've seen enough of him and you're like, look, he's never going to figure out that hole in his swing that leads to this many strikeouts. And the, the home run power is just going to be untapped potential because he doesn't square it up

Starting point is 00:20:33 enough. Maybe that is what happens. I don't know. But if you do move him again, you, like you said, you'd be trading him at his lowest value. It's the same people who get loud about Jordan Walker. They're like, get rid of him. He stinks. But, get. Don't you want to give them a chance to at least improve that value a little bit in a season where you're not expecting to contend for everything? It's all about watching these young guys come together as a group. I'm willing to do that for another year. And, you know, hopefully it pays off for them. And if it does it really costing you, you're not going to get anything for these guys yet.

Starting point is 00:21:06 No. All that substantial. Like you're not missing the boat by not trading them right now, whereas you could miss the boat if you don't move a Donovan or a Joe Joe. Romero. Alec Berlinson, you mentioned, Silver Slugger, a guy that obviously is very popular in the clubhouse. I think the same thing goes with him is like the limitations that we see. So does everybody else. Like, where are you putting them?

Starting point is 00:21:29 You're going to put them at first. You're not going to let him rum around in the outfield too much. So I don't know what you're getting for him, trade value. If a team is looking for just a D8, I don't know. That's the where I'm like, I don't really think, I think he's more valuable to the Cardinal than he would be to another team right now. So it just doesn't feel like that that would be a fit to move him unless somebody comes in and just goes nuclear

Starting point is 00:21:53 and is like, we'll give you all of this. But for my sake, I bought a whole collection of Alec Burleson baseball cards about a year ago. So I kind of hope he continues to. There's no value. But you do keep playing. But you're investing. You're investing in your things and your time

Starting point is 00:22:15 and money into him being a member of this team moving forward. I would do that too. Like I bought a pair of Ivan Herrera's game issued pants last year because I was like, look, I'm not going to wear them, obviously. I'm not going to put them on and run around. But I think it's a guy that's going to be a big piece of the Cardinals' future. And I want to be on board with that and say, look, I got ahead of the game and this is somebody I want.

Starting point is 00:22:38 I've been looking for weatherhold stuff, but there is not much out there. I think if this video gets enough likes on YouTube, tube you need to wear the Herrera pants the next time we get together. I can do it. I'll just, I don't know. Flexible. I don't know if I can. Yeah, there you go.

Starting point is 00:22:53 It's a torso. It's a torso only video. So it doesn't matter. It is. You wouldn't even know I have legs usually on this podcast. Coming up, though, let's talk about what else is going on in Major League Baseball. Schwabre and Diaz, they have signed their effect on the Cardinals plans moving forward. We'll discuss that next.

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Starting point is 00:25:09 and we'll drop you a code, be one of the first to join the Everydayer Club to get your favorite show, add free and exclusive access to the members-only Discord channel. Thomas Gauveid from Redwood Ranch.com is with us. All right, let's talk about everything else going on in Major League Baseball's winter meeting. and how that's affecting the Cardinals. Schwerber and Diaz are the big names that have signed on Tuesday morning. Most people were kind of waiting on the Schwerber Domino to fall, and that would get things moving along.

Starting point is 00:25:39 He is going back to the Phillies, five years, $150 million. That's $30 million annually for a DH, which is crazy money, but 56 home runs is also crazy as well. The best part about this, in my opinion, Thomas, is the fact that he is not in the NL Central. There were, you know, Reds fans and Pirates fans were like, whoa, we're going to get him. And, you know, it started to make believers specifically out of Reds fans.

Starting point is 00:26:05 I don't think any of us thought Pittsburgh was a realistic option. But the Reds really thought they had a chance. And apparently they just wouldn't meet the financial spot that the Phillies were willing to go to, which was five years at 150. Your thoughts on that deal? And are you as happy as I? that we don't have to see him in the Central again. Yeah, quite happy.

Starting point is 00:26:27 That's where it starts for me is the lack of him in the NL Central. I think it also, I know the Phillies are probably a super team, but the fact that they're not the Yankees or the Dodgers also makes me happy, and the fact that the Dodgers are going to have some more competition in Philly next year. It should also be exciting. Yeah, we mentioned that, you know, Diaz going to Edwin Diaz, not his brother, Alexis, who I don't even know if he's on a roster anymore. He kind of flamed out pretty quick.

Starting point is 00:26:53 he was with the Dodgers last year for a little bit. But anyway, Edwin Diaz goes, three years, $69 million becomes the highest paid closer in history. Yeah. You know, I mean, it didn't shock me that he went to the Dodgers. The Dodgers had a need and they're going to throw money at any problem that they have. So just shows you, you know, it's going to bump up the level of Jojo's market. If he does get traded, that maybe it makes him worth more because he's not.

Starting point is 00:27:23 getting paid nearly as much and prove that he can close if you want him to. I was able to do that for the Cardinal successfully at the end of last year. Pete Alonzo was the next big name that people are looking at. It's not a pitcher because there's still plenty of those guys still out there. Where do you think Pete Alonzo lands? Because it just feels like the Mets are doing whatever they can to not have him on their team anymore, which is really wild to me because I feel like he's been pretty dunger for them. Yeah, the Mets seems like a good fit for him.

Starting point is 00:27:56 They don't have much interest for what I've seen, though, at least. I don't know why. I mean, he hits home runs for them like crazy. He'd be a nice power bat behind Juan Soto. He seems like a good fit there. But again, they just don't seem to be interested in him. I'm not sure where he would go after that either, though. I've been pushing the Boston narrative just because I want to see New York and Boston

Starting point is 00:28:18 yell at each other more because it's fun. It's fun for us. So I thought that would be an interesting spot for him. But it just kind of blew me. Forber's market where he's two years older does not play first base. Play is just a DH, which, you know, Alonzo could be at that point. It's, you know, sooner rather than later. People aren't all that impressed with his defense.

Starting point is 00:28:38 But I just feel like he's the right-handed version of him. No, he didn't hit 56 home runs, but he's a 40 home run guy. And if you get him in the right spot, I feel like those numbers could spike too. So we'll see. It appears that he will likely still be in the east side of things. It looks like Boston and Baltimore names that people are talking about. I really hope that the Cubs don't pick up on this or anybody else in the NL Central that are trying to improve their offense as well.

Starting point is 00:29:06 That would be upsetting. The Cubs appear to be going pitcher heavy. They got a lot of good arms coming back, but it looks like they're going to be a player and maybe the international market again, as well as, you know, there was that quick rumor that Zach Gowan might end up in Chicago as well. What do you think about what they've done so far? I'm happy that the Cubs have been quiet as a Cardinals fan. It's nice to see that they are not making a huge push that they could.

Starting point is 00:29:33 Emi, I've seen a lot about him, Totsu, Emi, going to the Cubs potentially. You had the Gowan, Bob Nightingale, your stake as well. So take that for its worth. Yeah, the starting pitcher. I don't know if there'll be the tiffany top, but maybe one of those higher-end second-tier pitchers, like Gowlin, maybe Walker Bueller could be a good fit there too. I was going through their names yesterday,

Starting point is 00:29:59 and I'm like, they kind of, like, if Justin Steele is back, I mean, how many starters are they going to have? Because they still got, you know, a Jameson tie on. They got Cade Horton. They, Imanaga's coming back. He took their offer. So there are already, you know, you've got Boyd is still like. there's already kind of chock full of starters.

Starting point is 00:30:18 So unless they're trading somebody away, I was a little surprised that it was all starters they were being mentioned for the Cubs. But we'll see how it all plays out. Speaking of starters, Detroit Tigers, apparently still dangling. Terrick Scoobel out there. If you were Detroit, and I'll ask this for both guys, because we're running out of time here, but them trading Scoobel and the Diamondbacks showing trade interests,

Starting point is 00:30:44 like moving on from Cattel, who they just signed last year to a six-year deal. If you're in their shoes, are you trading Scoobel if you're Detroit? Or are you going to try to run it back with them for one more year? And why is Arizona trying to move Marte already? Man, the package you'd get for Scoobel would be so enticing. But I feel like you've got to keep him. He's one of the best pitchers that the league has seen in the last few years.

Starting point is 00:31:12 If I had my way, I would give him blank check, but would, which, you want on their scuba. We'll sign you for 10 years. Stay here and lead us. I think that's what I would do if I were the Tigers. But I got to imagine the package they could get for him has got to be absurd. So that might be enticing them too. Catelle Marte makes zero sense to me while they're trying to trade him. He's on a pretty team-friendly contract. It's $60 million. It caps out of it. Just $22 million. He is 32 next year. So perhaps the age might be worrisome to them. But he had a career year last year. I don't expect a lot. a drop off from him either of those players being trading traded would be baffling to me and the scariest part is that they would both probably go to one of those big name teams and it'd just make it'd be so polarizing for the sport oh for sure for sure yeah i that's the only thing i could think of is they're just like hey we're going to put it out there and if somebody brings us as i call up the godfather offer then sure yeah we'll talk about are they really trying to move martin i don't know why you would want to i love that dude i think like if the carlos were in a different spot in their world and

Starting point is 00:32:16 and in their development, I'd be like, yes, go get that dude. Because I freaking love that. Switch hitter with pop from both sides. He also plays a little bit of outfield, too. He's kind of like the upgraded version of Brennan Donovan, in my opinion, because of the power that he offers you, and he's a switch hitter. So maybe not as good defensively.

Starting point is 00:32:34 I don't really know. But it's, I don't know. It's very interesting. And things continue to move along in the hot stove. I still have not seen any updates on anything with the conference. So I was hoping you that I could break something in this video or the podcast today, but I guess not. All quiet. The only thing we're breaking is that the Colts are signing Philip Rivers at the age of 44.

Starting point is 00:32:56 That's the only thing I'm seeing. Breaking and has nothing to do with baseball whatsoever. But if anything does break, obviously check out Redbird Grants.com. Thomas will be all over there. Obviously, you can find us here at Lacton Cardinals and our socials as well. We'll be able to help everybody through that. So we're waiting. We're all waiting for something to go down.

Starting point is 00:33:19 Not sure when or if it's going to happen here. If you had to make a guess of just Jojo, that's the number one guy gets moved at the winter meetings. If that's the only move, it's Jojo, you think? Yeah, I think so. Maybe Brendan Donovan, but probably Joe, DeVero. Yeah, makes sense. Makes sense.

Starting point is 00:33:36 All right, well, we will check in with Thomas again, hopefully next week. Give him a follow on the socials at Thomas Govain. And thank you guys for making Lockton Cardinals, your first listen every day. We haven't already. Give us a follow on X at L.O. underscore Cardinals at JD Sports Radio, TikTok and Instagram of Lockdown Cardinals.

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Starting point is 00:34:07 We'll see you next time on Lockdown Cardinals.

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