Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals Mock Trade IGNITES Nolan Arenado, Brendan Donovan Debate – LISTEN Now!

Episode Date: November 28, 2025

St. Louis Cardinals fans brace for seismic changes as Sonny Gray departs and blockbuster trade rumors swirl around Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan. Could a three-team deal with the Mets and Mariners reshape the Cardinals’ future and free up millions in payroll? JD Hafron evaluates the wild trade proposal and spotlights top prospects like Lazaro Montes who could join the Redbirds as part of a rebuild.https://www.mlb.com/news/hypothetical-mlb-trades-2025-26-offseason0:00 - Arenado & Donovan Trade Rumors10:00 - Brendan Donovan Trade Market21:00 - Sonny Gray Trade Reactions & Cardinals StrategyFollow & 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/Follow on Twitter/X: @JDSPORTSRADIOFollow the show on Twitter/X: @LO_CardinalsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA and NFL seasons are here, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)#ForTheLou #stlcards #mlb #lockedoncardinals #stlouiscardinals Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

With Sunny Gray out the door, Nolan Aronado could be next as well as Brendan Donovan, a blockbuster mock trade that could change everything. That's next on Locked on Cardinals. 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. Haffron, a former national radio sports anchor reported raised in St. Louis, lifetime Cardinals fan.

Welcome in Locked on Lockedong. Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network. Thank you to our everydayers for continuing to be here with us, for those of you who are new. Welcome aboard. Hope you enjoy the content. This is a show serving Cardinal Nation and giving you all the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by GameTime, download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code Lockton MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Happy Thanksgiving to everybody on today's show. We've got more reactions from the Sunny Gray trade. We'll talk about

that in our Cardinals Confessions. We're going to start today, though, with a mock draft. Love us, uh, some, I should say draft. What am I talking about? This is not fantasy football. Mock trade. A mock trade that involves the Cardinals, uh, and not one, but two of their biggest trade chips in Nolan Aronado and Brendan Donovan. Now, we've gone through plenty of mock deal so far this offseason. Some of them have been interesting. Some pretty far fetched. And, you know, that's kind the fun of the offseason when you try to come up with deals with other teams. And this one's actually coming from MLB.com, Anthony Castrovince, writer at MLB.com, national guy.

And before I get you the details on this idea, please let it be known that this particular trade comes inside of an article that is listed as the seven ridiculous trades that we'd like to see. So when you go through them, it's not like all of them make a whole lot of sense for everybody involved, but he's just coming up with different ideas on how to get certain people moved to certain places. So right away, just hearing the word ridiculous inside the title, just know what you're getting into that you're probably in for a doozy of a deal. And he ain't lying because he's got the Cardinals involved in a three team trade, three team trade that includes the Mets and the Mariners,

but the Cardinals are at the center of it all, unloading aging veteran, third baseman, Nolan Aronado, and coveted utility man, Brennan Donovan. But they are going to separate places. So here is the deal that Anthony has put together. He's got the Mariners getting Brennan Donovan. He's got the Mets getting Nolan Aronado, as well as right-handed pitcher,

Gerangelo Sainte, I think is how he pronounces it. Mariners number eight prospect. Senta, maybe that's what it is, Senta. The Cardinals in return, which is what we're more concerned with than what other people are getting. Lazaro Montes, Mariners number three prospect, he's an outfielder.

And a right-handed pitcher Camden Lohman, the Mets number 30 prospect. Now Castro event starts by saying that cash is complicating factors in this trade, but he wants to try it anyway. The cash, obviously, that he's talking about is the money that is owed to Nolan Aronado, because none of these other people are making any money yet. So that's who he's talking about. Says the Mariners have highly tied to prospects, Cole Young and Colt Emerson,

as long-term options that are infield, but Young did not assert himself in 2025. Emerson has yet to debut in Seattle is clearly in a win-now mode. Donovan, who has the ability to play second or third fits their immediate need. in the infield and is under control through 2027. Seattle and St. Louis could, of course, just work out a swap together. But in this deal, in keeping with our three-team theme, we're going to use the Mariners to help the Cardinals move some money. Here the Mets take on the $37 million owed to Nolan Aronado through 2027.

And while his bat has sagged, Arnado's glove is a hot corner upgrade for a Mets team that is clearly focused on run prevention as evidenced by their trade for Marcus Simeon, which had a lot of people shaking their heads, like, what? I didn't like the trade for the Mets. I thought Brandon Nimmo was a better piece than Marcus Semyon on the downside of his career. But if you like guys who are on the downside of their career, New York Mets, say hello to Nolan Arna. We would love to take them and give them to you.

And he continues here, says to offset some of the financial burden. They're ably taking on the Mets at the intriguing switch pitcher Sente. to their system. I believe I'm saying that right. I hope I'm not screwing it up too bad. But anyway, so I guess he throws right-handed and left-handed. That's crazy. Shows you how much I know about that particular prospect.

So he continues saying, though, it only costs them money and a flyer of a prospect. I'll be the first to tell you. I don't love this trade for the Mets, but I didn't love the Simeon Swap either. At least this move is intellectually consistent with that. It allows Mark Vientos to move to first. if the Mets don't re-sign Pinalzo, and if they do sign Alonzo, Viantos is trade bait. The Cardinals aren't getting as much back for Donovan as they would in a more straightforward swap of them, but in the steel, that Aronado money is off their books.

Plus, they add the potential power bat of Montes, who could be big league ready as soon as 2026. And in each of these trades that he puts in this article, he puts, who says no? And his answer for this one was everybody, except Nolan Aronado, who has. was more open to a trade than ever. My initial thoughts on this deal is it's probably a no. It's probably a no. And it's because of Brendan Donovan. It's for the simple reason that he mentions in the write-up that the cardals aren't getting what I would deem maximum return for their biggest trade ship in Brendan Donovan. I don't care about the money side of it. That is ownership's

problem. I don't. I don't. If they have to eat money, so be it. That's on you. I'm working. interested in players coming back, guys that I'm going to see on the field, because as a fan, that's what I'm interested in. I'm not an accountant. You made a bad deal and spent money poorly. That's your fault. Not saying that the deal for Nolan Arnato was a bad deal. It just sucks that, you know, it didn't work out quite the way they wanted. But, you know, if you got to offload him by eating some money, then that's what you do. I'm interested about what you're getting back that's going to help my ball club win. And that doesn't really do. that much for me. Now, I'll admit the first prospect that they list there is kind of sexy.

Lazaro Montes is the 29th ranked prospect in baseball, according to MLB pipeline. The dude is a monster, six foot five, two 10, hit 32 home runs. This past year, minor league ball was stops at a high A and double A. So I assume he's going to make it up to AAA. He's only 21. He was an international free agent that they were able to sign, which is someplace that, you know, I'm really hoping the Cardinals get better at is the international market, international free agency. Like, they got to start signing some of these guys that these other clubs get. We need more of them. I know they're doing better.

And we've seen some of the names that they are supposed to be lined up with and signing and bringing in. And Hyde Bloom was talked about it too. Like, international free agency is monster for teams who aren't going. to spend big and free agency every year. So it helps the farm system. As long as you trust your player development to turn these guys into guys who can help you at the big league level, that's where you go. That's fine with me.

But this guy looks awesome, right? Another left hand of bat though, but, you know, Cardinals aren't really in need of one of those. But he's got massive power potential that it's hard to ignore. And it's funny because I was looking at him and I'm like, kind of reminds me of Yordaun Alvarez. And then I start going through the scouting report and they're like, gets comparisons to Jordan Alvarez.

And I think, yeah, yeah, he does, you know, because he's got this power potential, big guy, left-handed hitter, doesn't do anything else all that great after that. He doesn't run all that well. It's not a very good defender. Seems like he's going to be a DH or a first basement at some point. But, you know, you sure you'd love to have somebody who has, you know, more tools in the bag.

But when you find a slugger, you say thank you and you move on, right? you know, the second one is a 19 year old pitcher in the Mets organization, eighth round pick this past year. That that's not going to move the needle for me at all, especially when it comes to trading someone like Brendan Donovan, you know. And that's really my biggest hang up here. I want more for Brendan Donovan. And the market seems to be leaning in that direction as well. We're going to discuss what the rumors are swirling about when it comes to Brendan Donovan next on Locked on Cardinals. NFL season is back and honestly there's nothing better than being in the stadium surrounded by fans sharing on your team.

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Download Game Time today. Thanks for making Lockton Cardinals for first listen every day. and thank you for making Locked on the number one sports podcast network. Now, if you enjoy daily Cardinals content, you can follow the podcast on X at L1 underscore Cardinals. We're on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram as well at Lockdown Cardinals. So come find us. According to multiple reports,

the market for acquiring Brennan Donovan is red hot, possibly even white hot, which I have learned is actually hotter than red. We've heard that he's been drawing a lot of attention around. the league as a trade piece so far we've heard the names like the astros uh the pirates the royals the guardians those are names that have been brought up by national people it's not just you know us just throwing names up on a wall and seeing if they stick no these are legit people who have brought things uh these names up and said that they are interested uh certainly there's going to be others as well that maybe haven't surfaced yet but we know that the people like them some brend and donovan

and for good reason. We know how good Donnie is. We know how important he could be to a team that is closer to contending for a championship than the St. Louis Cardinals are right now. But the one thing that I do like about this particular situation is the Cardinals aren't backed into a corner right now. They kind of are with Nolan Aronado, right? I mean, they are.

Let's be honest. They are. They got to get rid of him. Like, he's ready to move on. The Cardinals are ready to move on. And they've made that decision to move on. In some way, somehow, Nolan Aronado is not going to be on this team. You either got to get traded or, heaven forbid, they just have to cut them and release them,

which is not something they want to do. It's something they said they aren't going to do. That's not really an option they're looking for. But if a push comes to shove, it might have to happen. It might. But the Cardinals do not have to trade Brennan Donovan. Katie Wu from the Athletic, who's been on the show before, reiterated this, saying if the Cardinals can't find the big.

return they won for Donovan, the team will pivot to moving at least one of Lars Neupar or Nolan Gorman. So lumping Brendan Donovan into a deal just to get rid of Nolan Arnao, it just doesn't, first off, I hate that, but it doesn't seem like the logical thing to do, does it? Again, I'm not worried about the money side of things. That's ownership's problem. I'm worried about what you're getting back in return. We don't really know how bad the market is yet for Nolan Aronado. We know it's not going to be robust by any means. This is not like a hot ticket that teams are lining up to get their hands on what's left

of Nolan Aronado. They want Brennan Donovan, though. You know, you've got the age working against Nolan, his contract, declining bat. I still look at Nolan Aronado with somebody that has some things to offer, though. I really do. I go and I look back at players like Evan Longoria and Matt Williams. I mean, those are the ones just off the top of my head. But guys whose skills had clearly eroded but can provide you with some positives.

I think Nato still has an excellent glove at third base. He's got the outstanding pedigree of being somebody that you can rely on. He's got a great reputation among baseball, among his teammates over the years. And he wants to win. really does. It's not like he's just kind of settling back and like, well, I'm getting older. I'll go wherever. Oh, man, the guy wants to go somewhere and win. It's the bummer part about the situation with the Cardinals is it never got back to the point that it was in 2022. So now we've had three straight ears of just meh, and he's over it. And the Cardinals are over it.

And they got to jumpstart this thing in a different way. And Arnaud was not a part of that future. But we got to find the right fit for him. And we saw ownership show the willingness to eat money to improve the return in that deal for Sunny Gray with Boston, which leads me to believe they would do the same to trade Aronano, but I don't think including Brendan Donovan in the deal makes the most sense for them. I don't like that at all. I'd rather see what you can get without the added negatives of Aronado being attached to the deal and instead add someone like a Lars Dupar in the deal.

You know, you mentioned Nolan Gorman. Could you put Gorman and Donovan in a deal together? I don't know who would want both of them at the same time. They kind of, well, I don't do the exact same thing. We're talking about two infielders, really. Although, you know, Burden plays outfield too. But anyway, it just, you know, Lars, we know outfielder only. So something like that.

Now, Newt's value can't be great right now. Injury prone guy, inconsistent in his career. He's coming off heels. surgery to both feet. Not to say he doesn't have any value, but it's got to be pretty low. We know he's got a great eye at the plate. I'm anxious to see what he does with the ABS system this year,

whether he's in a Cardinal uniform or not, because we know how many times how frustrating it's been over the years as Cardinal fans watching nude up there. And a pitch will be like an inch off the plate and he'll get rung up for it. And we know it's a ball. Lars knows it's ball. but nothing he can do about it. But now he can challenge.

So I feel like he's going to be very, very good at that. So that should help his on base percentage quite a bit, maybe a lot more walks, which is something that when he's on, he's really good at. But he offers decent defense, got a decent arm, but he's another left-hand bat.

And the Cardinals got quite a few of them already. You know, just looking at their 40-man roster. You've got Jimmy Crooks behind the plate. you got Alec Berlison, you've got Donnie, you got Gorman, you got Newt, you got Victor Scott and Center, Cesar Preeto, Nathan Church, Matt Caperniac, Brian Torres, and you're trying to make room for another left-handed bat in J.J. Weatherhole. So Southpaws are plentiful right now with the Cardinals so you can see why moving a couple of these force of assets makes a whole lot of sense. I just don't know how much they are worth to other people. We know that Brennan Donovan is worth

a lot to a lot of people. So this is a very important time for Hein Bloom, who has, you know, he's gotten some solid reviews for the Sunny Gray trade so far by national and local media as well as the fans. I mean, the overwhelming reception to the trade has been positive. People understood it. I mean, not everybody loves it. And that's fine. But, you know, it's different, though, because we respected Sunny Gray, but he's only here two years. We respected Sunny Gray, but he was never one of our guys as Cardinal fans. He was never one of our dudes, right?

Like Brendan Donovan is. Brendan's one of us, right? Came up in the organization. We've seen him grow and become so good at everything that he does. He's a fan favorite. People love him. He's got the flow, which is awesome. Always says the right things.

Very polite. Good dude. Has done everything that has ever been asked of him. You want him to hit lead off? All right. You want me to hit third? Okay. I'll hit lower the order if you need me to.

where do you want me to play second third short first corner outfields i got you i'm in and it's been pretty darn good in almost every place you put him like he doesn't kill you anywhere like he'll do what's needed for the team belt so moving him and not hitting a home run in a deal that could easily tarnish all the good that Heim Bloom has built up thus far. So the pressure is really on Heim. The great part, at least for me, because people will talk about Heim Bloom's time in Boston and how it didn't work out so well. And I, you know, at least it's not a situation. And I'm not trying to say Mookie Betts and Brin and Donovan are the same player. I'm not saying that. But obviously, Heim's taken over and he's got to get rid of some people. And some of these

guys are people, people love, you know, people like Setti Gray. People like Nolan Aronado. People love Brinandem. So moving on from him, it's not the same as that mooky bet situation where ownership is demanding a trade. That's not the case. You know, Haim holds the power here because he doesn't have to trade Brennan. He doesn't have to trade Alec Berluson. He's going to listen and he's going to make a judgment call on what's best for the team in the long run. He has never hidden the fact that the ultimate goal is not 2026. It is building this thing for sustainable success down the road. That's what we're shooting for. We're not trying to sacrifice this year. They're not going to tear it down to where, hey, we can't win. We are one of the

worst teams in baseball. They're not trying to do that. They're still going to try to compete, but the ultimate goal is down the road. So he's going to look at offers that people have. and either pull the trigger or move on to other avenues to improve the team. This is why you hired him. This is why you hired him. And you put your trust in Heinbloom and let him make the judgment calls. And you believe that he's going to make the right ones. So I think most of us appreciate how transparent he's been, how honest he's been with everything that's been going on.

It's a breath of fresh air over how John Moseylock used to explain things to us as the fans and to the media. you know, he's very secretive and used some code and stuff. People are like, I just spit it out. What are he saying? Heinbloom doesn't appear to have that problem. He wants to be open with the fans and let them know exactly how things are going to go down and where we stand. And that's where it is right now, where they're going to listen. If something great happens and comes across their desk, cool.

We'll look at it, dissect it, see if that is what we need to do to become a better organization. overall. If not, we'll move on. We'll find other ways. But one of those trades was the sunny gray one that I was surprised it happened as quickly as it did. I'm glad it's over, but we got reactions from that sunny gray deal and more coming up in our Cardinal Confessions, which we'll do next on Locked on Cardinals. The NBA is back and there's no better place to get it on the action than Fandau. The official sports betting partner of the NBA, sometimes life. It gets busy, man. Were you able to make kickoff yesterday? for the first game between the Packers and the Lions.

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you a daily blend of humor and baseball throughout the offseason you can find locked on MLB on YouTube or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. Time now for our Cardinal Confessions where you get the sign sound off on anything, anything and everything that's going on with the Cardinals. Some are happy, some are sad, some are just concerned, you know, some people just want to vent. Some want to yell at me for making Richard Fitzjokes. Okay, okay. Some people find it a little juvenile. I do too, but I had to get it off my chest. But I promise. I'm going to lay off. I'm going to relax them a little bit more as much as I can. Okay. I'll push the urge to make any sort of jokes down. Okay. But we're a little low on time.

So let's get to a few of these and rip through them. See what's we got about the sunny gray trade reactions because we got a few of them. Our first one here, I like the trade. You have a possible good middle rotation guy and another guy with exceptional upside. They could both be busts as well, but what did you expect to get for a 30. year old pitcher showing signs of decline on a ridiculously high one-year contract. I think the return can be possibly great. I feel the same way. I feel the same way. You know, you've got a guy that you believe that can help you right away.

Richard Fitz will go right into the rotation as long as he's healthy. He's a good. You can, boom, put him right in there with a rotation that's already very young and is in need of some arms. because odds are they're not all going to stay healthy. Richard Fitz has not stayed healthy. So we got to keep him healthy too. But you need more arms that can go into that rotation. I'm sure there's going to be other ways that they fill out the rotation this year.

But again, Libby, McGreevy, Fitz, Leahy, those are your top four. Palante is going to compete for a spot. I'm sure they're going to give some guys like Bryce and Mautz, Quinn Matthews, Matthews, a chance to compete for a spot in the spring. I would love for them to sign a free agent. I still like the Dustin May type of fit. We'll see. We'll see what they decide to go with.

But I feel like they're going to at least make one signing, I think, in free agency. It's not going to be a big guy, but it's going to be somebody on a one-year deal that's got something approved. We'll be excited to try to take advantage of an open spot for the St. Louis Cardinals in their rotation right away and help kind of jumpstart that career again. So I think they're going to do that. That's just my gut feeling on it. But yeah, you know, Richard Fitz will come in and then you, you know, you get the guy in Clark with the mega ceiling,

but needs some development and expert tutelage to get him to that next level. So that's, I thought they did good. I thought they did good, especially if Clark turns out, you know, fits can be solid and be a four or five in a rotation. you need those guys, maybe he becomes better. He's only 25, but, you know, Clark could be the diamond in the rough there. This one is in regard to the return that they got specifically for Clark. Survey every MLB hitter and ask them,

how would you like to face a 6-4 athletic lefty that has a deceptive arm action, hits triple digits, and has an elite slider sweeper and has some control issues? Nobody liked facing out lighter in his prime. Yeah, yeah, I mean, I bingo getting someone with a unique upside that clearly Heinbloom is huge on. If you've heard him in the press conferences talking about him, I was like he's got as much upside and as much as any other pitcher in the minor leagues from the left side. Like he loves him, loves him.

And that's why he brought Bloom here is to identify people like that in the first place. So Hyman and his teammates, as he calls them, are the ones that that ownership, has entrusted with judging the talent, bringing in the ones they think can help this organization become great again. 22 years old. So it's not like he's 19 and he's like just, this is like a five year project or something. No, this is somebody that if they can, you know, help him with the blister issues that he's had and help him out with his control a little bit.

I mean, it's somebody who could fly right through and help you out in the bullpen right away and obviously be a starter possibly down the road as well. Here's another one. It's a solid trade, got back something you can possibly use right away and something possible for the future. Yes, Clark's future should be in the bullpen. I'm good with that. Yeah, I mean, they're not going to pigeonhole him as a reliever right away, but if that

ends up being his role, then so be it. Bullpins are as important as ever with starters having shorter and shorter starts. I mean, we're like, if you get six innings out of a starter, these days, you're like, oh my goodness. If you can get a starter to throw a hundred pitches, oh, wow. But you need these bullpen arms, man. You need these guys who can come in and take care of two winnings at a time. And if that ends up being what his role is, then great. But they're very important. Bullpen pieces are very important. And they're getting used more and more not only during the postseason, which you see a lot, but also in the regular season.

Sonny wasn't happy when not winning and he was feeling the itch to go. It sucks to see him go, but that's baseball for you. There will be huge shifts coming. If High Bloom's track record holds true, then he is going to beef up the farm system to future proof the team.

He was never unsuccessful at this. And at this point, I kind of think some big changes need to be made. Yeah, you know, people, as I kind of mentioned before, they pointed that Boston Red Sox situation. And, you know, he got fired. He did get fired. But they look at it as being a fit.

because he got canned and you could look at it that way, but you could also look at what he did really, really well. He did succeed at the one thing that the Cardinals are asking him to do, and that's rebuild this farm system. He's, yes, he's also in charge of the trades and stuff, but they really wanted somebody who was really freaking good at building the farm system and helping with player development and finding people that he would trust to make good decisions

and find talent and bring them into the mix. He did that for Boston. He just wasn't around to enjoy the fruits of his labor, and I'm guessing he's learned a few things from the situation in Boston to help him do a better job in St. Louis with the other pieces of being the president of baseball operations. My question is, is that, you know, after this season, and hopefully no lockout in 2027, and when they get that labor agreement done,

what and they figured all out like, you know, how is everything going to work? What will ownership spending habits look like that? I'm not saying that I expect them to compete with the payrolls of the bigger markets, like the Dodgers and the Mets and the Yankees. I'm not saying that. But will they step up and get back inside the top 10 where they lived for quite a while when the Cardinals were doing very, very well in the last 25 years? Will they be back inside the top 10?

10 will they pay their guys that they deem worthy? You know, people like Mason Wind or Iman Herrera or, you know, J.J. Weatherholt, you know, if they continue to become the, those certain guys, they continue to become like the pillars of this franchise. And they decide to build around those guys. Are they going to fork over the money and pay them? You know, I had a discussion with some people on X yesterday, actually, talking about that and how I foresee this all working out in a positive way for the Cardinals.

They had questions. They were like, well, it's got to do more. You got to sign some people. And I'm like, yeah, you do. Do you have to sign the top of the market guys every time? It's not really how they did it back in the day. They would trade for guys who were about to be free agents and be at the top of the market. And then they would get them to sign an extension while they were still under the Cardinal umbrella,

sell them on the team, the town, the winning and everything. And that's how they would keep those guys. But they would trade to get those guys using pieces from their farm system. That was very, very good. And then they would have, you know, the guys that they brought up already. You know, they had to make trades to go get Edmonds and Renteria, Larry Walker, Scott Rowland, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Aranato. They made trades to go get these dudes.

These guys were not, they didn't come up through the Cardinal system, but they didn't sign these guys as free agents either. They signed them before they became free agents. So that's just how it worked back in the day. But yeah, you got to sign guys. You got to sign the Reggie Sanders of the world and guys to complement what you're already building. So you do have to dip your toes into free agency at some point. But the Cardinals have never been that team that, you know, goes and chases the highest,

the most expensive guy on the market. They make trades, sign that guy before he gets to that point, which is the point I was trying to make online. Hard to do it when you're just doing it through characters on your phone. But that's the kind of stuff we talk about on X. So make sure you give us a follow. Thanks for making Lockedong Cardinals. Your first listen every day.

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