Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals Linked to TWO New Free Agents Including FORMER World Series Champion

Starting point is 00:00:00 Another expert listing of free agents has the Cardinals linked to not one, but two new names, including a two-time All-Star and former World Series champion. 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. Hafford, a former national radio sports anchor born and raised in St. Louis and a lifetime Cardinals fan, and I'm your host for Lockedum Cardinals. part of the Lockdown podcast network covering your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:38 Big thank you to all the everydayers for joining us throughout the season and into the off season. And for those of you who are new, welcome aboard. This is a show serving Cardinal Nation and giving you all the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode being brought to you by Game Time, download the GameTime app, create an account, and use the code Locktime MLB for $20 off your first purchase. All right, today's episode, we are once again going to be focused on the free agent market. World Series just ended this weekend.

Starting point is 00:01:08 Things are going to start to rev up a little bit as we move towards the winter meetings. You're already starting to see some announcements on players opting out of their contracts for next season. So pretty big names, which we knew were going to happen. They've already made some decisions. Big one for the Cubs, Shota Imanaga, no longer going to be with the Cubs, at least not right now. He's opted out. Their little mutual agreement thing is kaput. Alex Bregman has opted out of Boston.

Starting point is 00:01:33 Pete Alonzo and Edwin Diaz with the Mets, Cody Bellinger with the Yankees, Robert Suarez for the Padres. It's a decent chunk of people. It doesn't mean these guys won't renegotiate things and go back to those teams, but for now, they are free agents. Now, Mark Feinsand at MLB.com put out a new listing, kind of similar to the one that Jim Bowden did for the athletic. We talked about that last week, and he listed his top 30,

Starting point is 00:02:03 free agents. And as we've established with the Cardinals, they're likely going to dabble in the free agent market this year. Most experts believe that they will be seeking short-term deals with people as opposed to any of the bigger multi-year deals that some of the, you know, bigger name free agents are going to be seeking. You know, these guys want security. They want long-term deals. They want if they are going to take shorter ones, they want the ability to opt out and do things. So, you know, things can change. But if you remember last week, Bowden had the Cardinals link to four free agents. All of them were pitchers.

Starting point is 00:02:42 It was Zach Gallen, Brad Keller, Luke Weaver, and Kyle Finnegan. The Zach Gallen one was the one that was like, well, you know, he's probably going to get a bigger contract. So probably doesn't leave the Cardinals in the mix so much. Keller was really, really good with Chicago. As soon as we posted that, I had Sam from Locked on Cubs saying, stay away, stay away from our guy. Luke Weaver makes some sense. There's some smoke there.

Starting point is 00:03:12 Kyle Finnegan makes some sense. We talked about those guys with Jeff Jones. Now, Finesandah put out his list of free agents, and he did not have the Cardinals link to any of those four guys. None of them. He actually had the Cardinals as potential fits for two different names. one of them is a starting pitcher and a big one. And the other one was an infielder, which was pretty interesting,

Starting point is 00:03:35 considering that the Cardinals have another log jam right now among their infielders. There's a lot of them that they want to see on the field. So once again, similar to Bowden, Fein Sand does not have them linked with any of the top eight guys on his list, which shouldn't surprise anybody. At number one, he's got Kyle Tucker, then it's Bragman, Schwarber, Bobeshe. Cody Bellinger, Alonzo, Miracami from Japan, and then Michael King. Then at number nine, he's got the Astros Framber Valdez and potential suitors.

Starting point is 00:04:11 The Cardinals are listed as one of them. He's got the Astros, he's got the Blue Jays and Cardinals as potential fits. Now, here's what Fine San says about the soon-to-be 32-year-old left-hander. Valdez was on track to be the top starting pitcher in this year's free agent class going 11 and 4 with a 2.62 ERA through his first 21 starts and striking out 141 batters over 134 edicts. A lackluster finish to his season. He was 2 and 7 with a 6.05 ERA over his final 10 starts and a highly publicized cross-of incident in which he intentionally question mark hit his catcher in the chest with a fastball following a home run.

Starting point is 00:04:55 Have raised some questions. But his track record has a work. course, should put him in good position to land a healthy deal. Some thoughts, courtesy of Keith Law at the athletic, talking about free agents and talking about Valdez, saying that Valdez was one of only five pitchers who have thrown 900 innings over the last five seasons since baseball return from the pandemic short in 2020 season. He's a classic sinker baller who led MLB and ground ball rate in 2024. He was third in 2025.

Starting point is 00:05:26 We know how the Cardinals love their ground ball guys, says he's hovering around 60% working with a plus curveball as his primary off speed pitch. The curve ball has a big two-plane break, actually increasing a total break this year over 24, and hitters have whiffed on it more than 40% of the time over his career. He uses the curveball against right-handed batters almost twice as often as he uses his changeout. So let's go back to what FeinSand said. The key words in his grouping there in that dialogue was a healthy deal.

Starting point is 00:06:04 What exactly does he mean by a healthy deal? Because a healthy deal doesn't sound like something that the Cardinals are probably going to be around for. Are we talking three years? Are we talking five years? Now, Fein Sand doesn't do any of the contract predictions like Bowden did. But in Bowden's article, we can go forward. back to this. He had Valdez rated much higher on the free agent list where Biden Sand had him at number nine, Bowden had him at number four, and had him at a six-year

Starting point is 00:06:39 $190 million prediction. That's what he had attached to forever Valdez. Okay. Now, I don't want to burst anyone's bubble because I want fans to be excited about the Cardinals. But come on. Come on. Do we really? really think that the St. Louis Cardinals in the state of rebuild that they're in right now are going to fork over anything remotely close to that for a soon-to-be 32-year-old pitcher. What do you think? You know, they weren't willing to do that a couple of years ago when we thought they were in what we considered a winning window and had a chance to make a splash and free agency. Yeah, they signed Sunny Gray. But then they followed that up with two veterans on

Starting point is 00:07:24 one-year deals that were at the end of their careers instead of going and getting another top-tier arm-two team with Sunny Gray and really make a push for winning something. Instead, they settled for two very lackluster signings. And we saw the results. Lackluster baseball, average baseball at best over the last couple seasons. So I'm going to side with the people like talked to and who are closer to the team and continue to be under the impression that the chances that something of that magnitude happening, a contract of that size would be slim at best. Like, very slim. I still believe there are plenty of names and arms that are out there that can upgrade this rotation, which honestly shouldn't be that hard considering what we just

Starting point is 00:08:19 witnessed in 2025 when we had to deal with the trio of Eric Fetty. Miles Michaelis and Andre Palante. That was awful. You can't get much worse than those three. Honestly, you really can't. And the Cardinals won't have to commit to something as large as that sort of contract with Valdez to do it. I think Heim will need to be more creative than just sinking funds into one guy like this. And if he moves Sunny Gray, he's going to need multiple arms to cover all these eddings and pick up the slack. So I can't see that happening. I think it's cute that finds that the Cardinals attached to Framber Valdez, but it doesn't seem all that realistic to me. What do you guys think?

Starting point is 00:09:04 Let me know in the comments section. So that's the first one. Now, he's got the Cardinals attached to another guy as well, not a pitcher this time. Instead, it's an infielder, actually, that he has the Cardinals connected to. We will talk about him next on Locked on Cardinals. NFL season is back.

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Starting point is 00:10:27 So download the GameTime app, create an account, use code Locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, that's promo code L-O-C-E-D-O-N-M-LB for $20 off. Swipe, tap, Ticket, go, download Game Time today. Thanks for making Locktown Cardinals your first listen every day. If you enjoy daily Cardinals content, you can follow the podcast on Axe at L-O-W-U-Square Cardinals. We're also on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram at Lockton Cardinals as well. So the cardals have a lot of infielders at the moment and not enough spots to play them all.

Starting point is 00:11:07 This is a similar issue that this team has faced in the outfield for years, for years. It was always, man, we just got so many great outfielders. We don't know what to do them all. It's crazy. They're coming out everywhere. And unfortunately, every time they would make that statement. and John Moseilock would choose a player to trade away to kind of clear up this logjam, this problem that they have.

Starting point is 00:11:35 That player would go on to succeed and kick ass somewhere else while the guys he decided to keep would either underperform, would be injured, unhappy, whatever. He always chose wrong, it seemed. Now, Heim Blum has to adjust things on the infield so that he has the best product on the field moving forward. He's got decisions to make. Nolan Aronado should be traded this offseason. There's no guarantee that he will get moved as we learned this last off season. They tried, didn't work. But that should clear up a spot if Aronado decides to move on. There had been plenty of brumblings about trading Brennan Donovan, which has upset some fans. But if it happened,

Starting point is 00:12:23 that would also open a spot. But again, no guarantee that that will happen to even. either. If they move both Nato and Donnie, you would still have a nice grouping of young infielder. It's not like these are a bunch of scrubs. You would have your gold glover and Mason win at shortstop. He's feeling great after the knee surgery, won the gold glove. Awesome stuff. You've got Nolan Gorman, which I know a lot of people have already quit on. They're done with it. They're like, he's never going to be what we want him to be. Move on. But he would still. be here in this situation. Thomas Sejacy, a guy

Starting point is 00:13:01 they clearly like did not show the offensive side that we were hoping for last year, but you've seen him be very successful in the minor leagues as an offensive player. So, I mean, it was his rookie year. Maybe cut him a little slack.

Starting point is 00:13:17 He was playing off the bench most of the time. So, you know, there's still some ceiling there. Jose Fermin, a very capable infielder. backup infielder. So probably not somebody who's trying to start. But, you know, he's somebody that seems like a good utility guy, right? Top prospect, JJ Weatherholt. Obviously, somebody's going to have to move aside so JJ can play every day at the major league level when they decide to bring him up. You could also throw in

Starting point is 00:13:47 somebody like Cesar Prieto into the mix. Part of the Jack Flaherty deal with the Baltimore Orioles a couple years ago. He's on the 40 man as well, saw him for a cup of coffee at the Major League level too. So in this situation, perhaps the next free agent makes more sense. If Nato is gone, if Donovan is gone, maybe you look at the infield free agent market and see what you got. With all of those guys still here, it still feels like it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but this isn't my list. At number number. 27 on fine sands list at MLB.com. He has got Detroit Tigers infielder, Glaver Torres listed and potential fits he has got Cleveland

Starting point is 00:14:39 Guardians, the Minnesota Twins, and your St. Louis Cardinals. Here's what he has to say about Torres. Torres had to settle on a one year $15 million deal in his first four A into free agency, but he'll give it another go after making his third career all star team and first since 2019. Slash 284, 386, 437 with nine home runs and 433 RBIs in 72 games through the end of June. But his production fell off in the second half where he posted a slash line of 229, 331, 339 with seven home runs and 31 RBIs in 73 games from July 1st through the end of the season.

Starting point is 00:15:20 He says Torres's plate discipline was strong, ranked in the 100 percentile and chase rate, and 95th percentile in walk rate and placed in the top 20 percent in both width and strikeout percentage, but his defense was shaky, ranking in the 12th percentile with a minus five outs above average. So if we go to what Keith Law had to say about him from the athletic, he says his main skill at the plate right now is his ball strike recognition as he had the second lowest chase rate among all qualified hitters in 25 behind only the master of the form Juan Soto. Pitchers changed their method of attack against him in the second half, however, working more in the strike stone to Torres. The result was unsurprising. He ended up in more two

Starting point is 00:16:03 strike counts and it dragged down his performance with his strikeout rate jumping from 12.8% in the first half to 20.4% in the second. He's not a good defender at second with surprisingly poor range from a former shortstop. Now on Bowden's list, he had Torres at number 22. And said that a hernia injury could be to blame for the struggles that Glaber had in the second half, but he thinks that Torres has done enough to earn a multi-year contract in the neighborhood of four years and $52 million. So the Cardinals are definitely looking for some extra offensive thumb, right? They are.

Starting point is 00:16:47 They need more offense from the lineup. They could use more offense from the right side in particular. a lot of left-hand handers, right? In that sense, Torres's bat does make sense. The plate discipline that they mentioned is obviously a plus. But clearing a spot for JJ Weatherholt seems to be the top priority, right? Shouldn't it be? Shouldn't that be what we're focused on right now?

Starting point is 00:17:19 So adding another name to the mix of people who are blocking his path, Doesn't seem to jive with what the Cardinals should be wanting to do. Torres has only played shortstop in second base in his career. So you've got a goal glover in Mason win already. Second base. Again, you've got Donovan. You've got Gorman. You've got us to J.C.

Starting point is 00:17:45 You've got a Fermin. J.J. Weatherholt's got to play somewhere. Now, you could, if we're moving the pieces around here, you could have JJ playing third base. You could have when it's short and then Torres at second base. Now, how does Gorman fit into that situation? Is he even still around to matter anymore? We don't know that yet.

Starting point is 00:18:10 We don't know. To me, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense unless it's a one-year deal and you've already moved on from a number of people. You've still got to move a Nato, Donnie, unless Donnie's playing left field, which that could be what's happening. Do they feel more comfortable with JJ at third than second base? Does Gorman play at third? You know what I mean?

Starting point is 00:18:39 Like there's got, there's a lot of questions still surrounding that before you go off and sign an infielder. But I'm definitely not interested if it's for what Bowden predicted. Like I'm not signing this dude to four years and $52 million. that's for sure. That just doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense to me. But those are the two guys that Fine Sand says that would be potential fits for the Cardinals, for Amber Valdez, Claiboriz, what do you guys think?

Starting point is 00:19:09 Leave your thoughts in the comments section down below. You can hit me up on X as well. John Denton just wrote about how the Cardinals could have, how he could see the Cardinals have a Blue Jays like turnaround, which would be incredible, obviously. but in doing so, he brings up another familiar name as far as free agents go that just so happy to play for Toronto this year. We'll discuss it coming up next on lockdown carters. This episode is brought to you by prize picks.

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Starting point is 00:21:36 Now, we just watched the Toronto Blue Jays go from worst to first in the American League East. 20 games under 500 last year. They win the division the next year. Go all the way to the World Series. Two outs away, two outs away from winning before the Dodgers and superstar infielder Miguel Rojas broke all their hearts in Canada

Starting point is 00:21:59 with the game-tying homerun and then Will Smith stomped on him and crushed them into sawdust with his game-winning dinger in extra innings. It was a fantastic World Series. And it's every team and fan base his dream that you have one bad year where you stink. And then the next year you, whoop, turn it around, bounce back, you become relevant again and go on to do great things like the Toronto Blue Jays just did. and John Denton, who covers the Cardinals for MLB.com, kind of mapped out a way for the Cardinals to have a Toronto-like turnaround. And he mentions a couple of different aspects that, you know, we can go into in another episode of why and why not. It would make sense, you know, because I see his thought process of, you know, hey, if these certain things happen and this lines up, you know, this is why.

Starting point is 00:22:56 they could be winners again. And I get that, you know, you're seeing things through a positive lens. So maybe we can cover that in another episode. But what he says at the very end coincides with what we've been discussing today, which is the free agent market. And the final piece that he mentions in this whole, this blueprint, if you will, of turning the Cardinals around is once again, free agent pitcher, Max Scherzer. Here's what he says.

Starting point is 00:23:23 Finally bring Max Scher home. Hey, acquiring Scherzer work for the Jays. He wrote a couple of strong Mad Max playoff performances this October. Scherzer, a Chesterfield, Missouri native, was a 43-round draft pick by the Cardinals in 2003 before he opted for Mizzou. Through the year, St. Louis passed on chances to sign or trade for the likely future Hall of Famer that many fans consider the one who got away. Think Scherzer wants to keep playing?

Starting point is 00:23:49 He told MLB.com's Keegan Matheson, I may be 41 years old, but I never thought I could love baseball this much. Now, as cool as that story would be, and as much fun as it would be to see, Scher's finally wearing a Cardinals uniform, something that we have kicked around for the better part of the last decade of what it would be to have somebody of his ability, his energy, all of it, bring them home. as much as that would be great. I continue to believe that he would rather pitch for a contender

Starting point is 00:24:32 than play what could possibly be his final season as a major league baseball player, because you never know. I cannot see him doing it, toiling away with the rebuilding and hopefully competitive St. Louis Cardinals. And again, hopefully competitive St. Louis Cardinals. Because we don't know. The last three seasons have not been that competitive. They've been very many.

Starting point is 00:24:58 Unless his desire to play in St. Louis supersedes his wanting to win. If it supersedes anything else he wants to accomplish in this game anymore, then I don't see how this will happen. The only thing that I can see why he would have come to St. Louis is just so he could say he finally played for his hometown team. And he's played all over North America, Arizona. Troy, Washington, L.A., New York, Texas, Toronto. He's won in almost every single place he's played. He was only on a one year, $15.5 million deal with the Blue Jays.

Starting point is 00:25:42 In my opinion, it's not the money. That's not the problem. It's not the money that would keep him out of St. Louis. It would be his desire to be on a good team and winning. That would be the deciding factor to me. and I'm just not convinced that settling for a job in St. Louis is what he wants if they aren't going to be contending for anything. Now, if the Cardinals were in a different spot, if it was the Cardinals from two years ago when they were coming off that god-awful 20-23 season and they had a chance to sign Sunny and Max Scherzer, that would have made sense, right? but that didn't happen. Instead, it was Lance Lynn and Kyle Kipson. But that's just my opinion. That's my opinion.

Starting point is 00:26:34 And of course, you still got the Sunny Gray thing. Like, would a Sunny Gray, Max Scherzor combo be awfully nice to go along with a Libertor, a McGreevy, and whoever else they decided to put in that number five spot? Sure. But is he willing to be around for something like that? where, hey, we could be decent. We could also be below 500 again. There's a real good chance at that. If certain people don't step the game up,

Starting point is 00:27:03 we're also getting rid of guys like Nolan Aronado. He's going to be gone. We got a Willie Contreras over here. There's a lot of young guys. I just don't know. I don't know if that's where Max Scherzer would want to be. But what do you think? That's just my opinion.

Starting point is 00:27:18 What do you guys think? Can we tug at Max's heartstrings enough to make him come home and play for the Cardinals for one year at least. Or do you agree with me that he wants to be where he's got a chance to win? I mean, you saw how excited he was in Toronto, right? So let me know in the comments section down below. We can discuss it. Big thank you for making Lockedown Cardinals to all of you for making Lockedon Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:27:39 Your first listen every day if you haven't already. Give us a follow on X at L.O. underscore Cardinals into JD Sports Radio, TikTok and Instagram at Lockdown Cardinals. Like subscribe on YouTube. By the way, thank you. We did it. 13,000 subscribers on YouTube. You guys rock.

Starting point is 00:27:53 You guys are the best. Now we make the push for 15 before the regular season starts in 2026. So that's kind of the goal I've set for myself now. So if you haven't and you like daily Cardinals content, you haven't liked or subscribed yet, hook it up, man. Get it done. It's real quick. Boom, boom.

Starting point is 00:28:12 You'll get us in your notifications that every day when we drop something new, keeping you up to date throughout the entire off season. We don't venture off. This is Cardinals only. we don't slide into the other sports or whatever, although good stuff by the blues last night and winning. Watch that one. It was awesome. So if you're not a part of the Cardinal Nation here at Locked on Cardinals, you're a part of it.

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Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals Linked to TWO New Free Agents Including FORMER World Series Champion

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