Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals NEED To Find A Star Like Fernando Tatis Jr. to IGNITE Their Franchise Future

Starting point is 00:00:00 Could or should the Cardinals swing for the fences in a deal to land one of the most exciting players in the sport. We'll talk about it today 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 Jady Hafer, a former national radio sports anchor born and raised in St. Louis and a lifetime Cardinals fan. And welcome to Locked on Cardinals, part of the Lockdown podcast. network. Now the number one sports podcast network. Yes, you're going to get the clapping. A big thank you to all of the everydayers who have been here with us throughout this entirety. You guys are great. And for those of you who are new, welcome in. This is a show serving cardal

Starting point is 00:00:54 nation and giving you all the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode being brought to you by Fandall. Right now new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the app today. So on today's show, we're going to discuss the Say Young. I don't even know what I said there. Say Young award winners in Major League Baseball. I want to compare them to the last time a Cardinals player won the award and it's been a bit. So we're going to do that today. But we're going to start today's episode with a story from Rob Raines at STL Sportspage.com. If you don't follow him, I think you should. I encourage you to do that. Just another solid journalist that covers our St. Louis Cardinals. And I love his stuff

Starting point is 00:01:39 during the season, like the postgame stats. Like he's always got the cool stat stuff that are always fun to go through the nerd inside me geeks out over that kind of stuff. So give him a follow on on X and make sure you go to STL SportsPage.com. Check out his work. But anyways, this is his story, which I am going to link in the description so you guys can give it the proper hits and check it out for yourself in its entirety. And his suggestion for our St. Louis Cardinals is to go get Fernando Tatis Jr. from the San Diego Padres. And I know, I know, you're probably laughing right now.

Starting point is 00:02:21 You're giggling, you're like, what? You might have just spit your drink out onto your laptop or in your car, wherever you're listening. Maybe a trip that fell off the treadmill. Like, what did he say? and I get it. I get it. I do. But, but let's hear him out before we say things like, I'll have whatever he's smoking or whatever he's drinking. Give me that. Give me a double of that juice. Pillars instead of fillers, as Rob calls it in his article. Apparently got that phrase from

Starting point is 00:02:54 former Cardinal Andy Van Slyke, which I love. I think it's great. And the need for more pillars instead of the fillers goes along with things that we have been saying here at Locked on Cardinals for the last couple seasons. And that's where are the star players for the Cardinals? Where are they? Where have they gone? You know, for years, the Cardinals have had guys carrying the torch that were elite players in the league. Some of the best of the best. You know, Albert Poolews, Mattia Molina, Jim Edmonds, Scott Rowland. Larry Walker came here at the end of his career, wasn't the MVP guy by that point,

Starting point is 00:03:36 but he came in the end. Mark McGuire, Will the Thrill Clark, who filled in for Mark McGuire when he was injured. Carlos Beltron, Lance Berkman, Matt Holliday, they go get Nolan Aronado. They go get Paul Goldschmidt. I mean, how many of those guys were actually homegrown stars? Not many, not many.

Starting point is 00:03:59 just Albert and Yaddy, but they used their farm system, which was considered very good at the time to go get those guys, to go get the big names that they needed. And to grab all those wins and to get all those banners and those trophies that we see around Bush Stadium. Now we've come to the end of the road, just like boys to men, he used to sing about a ballad, which still bangs, by the way, for you younger people

Starting point is 00:04:27 and don't know the boys to men. and end of the road. Ask your parents about it. Check it out on Spotify. But the end of the road of the Goldie and Aronado era. And unfortunately, that era ended quicker than I think the Cardinals anticipated and also without the success that they were hoping for too. No championships. And it was such a missed opportunity in 2022. Remember with Goldie, the MVP, Nato, one of the runner-ups. He was a finalist. Poo holes is chasing history. The final year of Yadi, Tommy Edmund at a 6.2 war that year. You had an outfield that featured Harrison Bader and Tyler O'Neill and Dylan Carlson,

Starting point is 00:05:07 Brendan Donovan was there. Those were like your younger core, although Bader ended up getting traded at the deadline to go get Jordan Montgomery. And then they get bouncing around one and it all comes crumbling down after that. Notto and Goldie fade big time in 2023 as they get, they just fall into the, into the crowd. of one of the worst records in baseball. Poo holes in Yaddy retire. O'Neill and Carlson flame out.

Starting point is 00:05:32 Michaelis and Wainwright, bottom out. And since then, the Cardinals haven't had any star players to really leave the charge and make the Cardinals feel relevant anymore. Obviously not winning. Also has a little something to do with that as well. You know, the idea was that Aronado and Goldie were going to be your stars until the next group of stars were ready to come up. and that hasn't happened.

Starting point is 00:05:58 And when the Cardinals almost made the trade to go get Juan Soto that year, the thing that I was most thrilled about before he got shipped to the Padres was that they were trying to acquire another superstar, not just, let's get a good piece. You know, they were trying to get somebody of elite talent to lead them, somebody young, somebody who was special, stood out amongst everybody else, and they were going to make a run at it.

Starting point is 00:06:24 and it didn't happen. The Nationals got a better offer from the Padres, and they went that way instead. The Padres had a better farm system. They had better players to offer, and that's what happened. They tried to get Giancarlo's Stanton, if you remember, after his MVP season.

Starting point is 00:06:41 He didn't want to go to St. Louis. He wanted to go be a Yankee. That's what he wanted to do. So that didn't work, and they ended up getting Marcelo Zuna instead. That didn't work out. The Cardinals still need a young superstar to build a restaurant.

Starting point is 00:06:54 They thought Oscar Tavares was going to be that guy until his untimely death, right? They thought, and I think the idea was, the plan was, is that when Nato and Goldie started to get into the twilights and they were ready to move on from them, that you would have Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman, your first round picks, those would be the guys that would take over the mantle. And that has not happened in spectacular fashion, right? they've got good pieces they've got evan herrera they've got alec burleson they've got mason they've got mason when j jay j weather holt is on the way but you need a guy that people fear that demands attention and when i did the the cardinals blue jays comparison um was that last week before i don't know they all run together after a while but when we were talking about that after the world series and i was just like you know let's for fun let's let's let's just kind of compare what the cardinals have

Starting point is 00:07:51 to what the Blue Js have. And there were certain spots that, I know you all laughed at that too, but that matched up okay, that there was some similarities. They had decent solid bats to surround their star hitter, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The Cardinals don't have one of those guys, right? I know Bobuchette was very good, so was George Springer this past year, but Vladdy is the man, right? He's the face, he's the straw that stirs the drink.

Starting point is 00:08:21 He's the guy everybody wants to talk to. When you think Toronto Blue Jays, you don't think George Springer, you don't think Bobaich yet, you think Vladimir Guerrero Jr. When you say St. Louis Cardinals, who do you think of right now? See? See what I'm saying? That's the thing. That's the thing. The Cardinals need that guy.

Starting point is 00:08:42 They need the dude. The one guy that you can just be like, Cardinals, bam. This is the guy. For years, it was Albert. And then it was Yadi. Wayne Wright was a part of that. But who's the guy now?

Starting point is 00:08:57 Who is it? So that's kind of where we're at here. And Rob gives some reasons why this move would make a whole lot of sense for the Cardinals. And you might still be laughing. I know. I know. It seems absurd. But these are the things that we got to talk about in the offseason.

Starting point is 00:09:13 So I'm going to share his thoughts with you. I'll give you my thoughts, why it's a good idea. One thing you're actually going to question is like, wait, hold on. Doesn't he have like a massive contract? Yeah, he does. But Rob makes a good point about how the Cardinals can make that work. So we'll get into all of that coming up next on Locked on Cardinals. The NBA is back and there is no better place to get in on the action than Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA.

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Starting point is 00:11:00 We do not switch sports here. We do not move around. We're not going to start talking soccer or how I might throw a little hockey in there but it's all about baseball here at Lockstone Cardinals. And again, I want you to check out Rob's article at sdlportspage.com. But let's put on, let's put on our comfy pants real quick, all right? I want to get you comfortable. comfy pants, put on the hoodie.

Starting point is 00:11:24 Let's get settled in and let's dream a little, right? We're dreamers. Just picture. Fernando Tatis Jr. in right field for your St. Louis Cardinals. Platinum glove winning Fernando Tatis Jr. in right field. Three-time All-Star face of MLB's hat commercial, which I saw a bazillion times this year in right field and batting third for your St. Louis Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:11:51 Doesn't it make you feel all warm and tinglingly inside a little bit? Don't it? Don't it? So why or how is this a thing you ask? Well, here's what Rob Rain says about. Rumors circulated as baseball executives gathered for the annual general manager's meetings this week in Las Vegas that the Padres might entertain potential trade offers for Tatis. Padres GMAA J. Preller has collected a lot of pillar-type players in the last few seasons. And despite coming close, he has not seen his team reach the World Series. Those players don't come cheap.

Starting point is 00:12:26 Tatis is one of five players on the Padres set to earn at least $18 million next season. and one of four who will earn more than $20 million. Three of those players are set to earn at least $24 million every year from 26 to 2033, creating the obvious need for some financial relief. Now, I've already read articles today that despite these rumors, the Padres are like, he's not on the market. He's not on the market. We're not trading for Nanotatis in 2026.

Starting point is 00:12:58 So shut up. Okay. Where there's smoke, there's fire, usually. These things normally don't just get made up. So despite those reports, we're going to go into this because it's fun. And I would love to imagine Fernando Tetti's Jr. as a part of the Cardinals. That would be entertaining. I want to get on MLB the show right now and trade for him and see what he would look like in a Cardinals uniform.

Starting point is 00:13:24 But there are several reasons why this would make sense for the Cardinals. Number one, you're upgrading the production in the outfield. That's imperative. That's imperative. The Cardinals' offense production from the outfield last year was fugly. It wasn't just ugly. It was fugly last year. Raines even says the team's outfielder only hit 38 home runs in 1,745 at bat

Starting point is 00:13:48 while hitting 23 and with a 634 OPS. That is disgusting from an outfield. That's what you expect from, you know, a group of your bench players to do that. not your outfielders as a whole. That's awful. We know Victor Scott is not that guy, right? Heck of a glove, heck of a base stealer. He's not a bopper.

Starting point is 00:14:12 Nobody expects him to be a bopper. You just want him to be on base, right? But your other two outfield spots in the corners, you need production out of those dudes. And Newport and Jordan Walker just were not it last year. You got Burley, who plays some outfield, but he wasn't out there the whole time. He's going to de-h.

Starting point is 00:14:31 He's going to play first. as well, but you need more from those corner spots to go with what Burley gives you wherever else he's playing. And you just drop a Tatis Jr. in there. Chef's kiss, beautiful. It would be amazing. Age-wise, perfect, 27 years old is in his prime. Hopefully he's matured from, you know, the PED suspension that he went through. You've seen the blowups in the dugout with teammates before. Hopefully those days are done. They need to be over if you were to make a move. like this, especially in a Cardinals organization, which, you know, they just don't put up with stuff like that. You know, this is, this is not where the hot heads go. The hot heads get shipped

Starting point is 00:15:12 out of St. Louis. They don't get to stick around. The defense second to none, just won the Platinum Glove Award for the National League. Again, this would be quite the upgrade from what we've seen in right field over the last few years, to say the least. And again, superstar, face of the franchise that they have longed for for quite a while right now. Here, look at his face on YouTube. Gorgeous, right? So that's what you need. Because right now I got Mason Wendon in that role as kind of the face of the franchise.

Starting point is 00:15:44 But pairing him up with a guy, you know, because Mason Wynn's got some swagger. But you pair him up with a guy that's got some swagger, nicknamed El Nino for a reason, who's been on the cover of MLB, the show, who oozes. confidence and excitement and has got a flare for the dramatics and he's got the skill to back up all that swagger. Yes, please. Give me more. Give me two scoops of that. The one thing that Rob brings up that most fans are going to question, myself included when I first started reading about this, is how does the money work? How would the money work for the Cardinals? Because as we know, you know, they've been shedding payroll, not adding it in recent years. So how would they even make this work?

Starting point is 00:16:29 they even think about something like Fernando Tatis Jr.'s contract. And Rob breaks it down like this. He says the contract shouldn't scare the Cardinals away. He does have nine years left on a 14-year deal, which I know sounds bonkers in your mind. But it began in 2021. He'll only be 35 when the contract expires in 2034. He is owed a lot of money, as Rob says. But it is still a very reasonable deal for the next three years.

Starting point is 00:16:56 He's set to earn 20.7 million in 2026. 25 million of both 27 and 28. And the contract does jump up to 36 million in 2029 with the same amount due each year until 2034. I know that sounds expensive, but you do know that contracts are just going up, up, up, but there's also a new labor deal that's coming down the pipeline at some point. Hopefully we don't have a work stoppage. Obviously, us in the business are very concerned about that because what do we do? What do we do if that happens?

Starting point is 00:17:29 But if they get this new labor deal done, it should be done before, you know, obviously the escalation of the contract. And he says, who knows what the overall financial situation will be in the game at that time, talking about the later years of Tatisa's contract. So, you know, eventually you have to pay people. That's just the way it is, you know? Like, unless you want to sit in mediocre or, or worse, purgatory for the rest of your days,

Starting point is 00:18:04 you got to produce stars. You got to pay to keep them. Or you need to trade guys that you are producing in your farm system. Go get other guys and then pay those guys. But you got to pay people. You just can't keep cycling them out and expect to get to the top of the mound. The Cardinals have been paying guys like Nolan Aronado, Miles Michaelis, Paul Goldsmith,

Starting point is 00:18:30 while he was here, Sunny Gray at the moment, still with the Cardinals and they're set to pay him $35 million this year. They've paid those guys quite handsomely. They will pay their stars. They just don't want to go buy them in the free agent market when everything is, you know, Scott Boris bloated. And you can't really blame them for that, you know, only a select number of teams can afford those people on the free agent market. The Cardinals aren't, they don't want to play that way. They don't want to do it that way. They want to produce their own stars and pay those guys. But you can also use those guys to trade for guys who are under contracts that you don't think are entirely outrageous. So what would it take to get them? That's the next question people are going to say.

Starting point is 00:19:13 I have no idea. Again, they're saying that he's not even available. Rain suggests you could dangle Sunny Gray and his contract. Padre is one pitching. The contract is up after this year and maybe even the next year. obviously you'd have to add stuff to that. You would have to add people with upside. You know, Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman, Thomas C.C., one of the catching prospects, probably, you know, Bernal, Rodriguez, you know, some of your pitching guys, maybe like a teen tense. I mean, it would take quite a bit.

Starting point is 00:19:45 Like, it would be a massive haul. But that's what you do to get these guys. Like, you've got to do stuff like that. Is the farm system built up to a point where you'd feel comfortable moving all? of those pieces. Well, probably not. Probably not. And after all these rumors started, again, the Padres are stating that, you know, he's not available this offseason. Maybe he is, maybe he isn't. But it's still an avenue to keep an eye on because if it's not Tatis Jr., it's still something that the Cardinals should be looking at and keep in mind. They need a star

Starting point is 00:20:23 to build around and as unlikely as this is to happen, I'm not pretending that it is, this offseason, probably not going to happen as long as it, but it's something they need to address eventually. All right, they got to get something like that. So an everyday player, star player, I think, is what they need. Somebody's going to be out there all the time, you know,

Starting point is 00:20:44 as great as it is to have a, you know, a Cy Young Award winner. He only helps you every fifth day. So an everyday player that the, the fans will want to come and see every day. That's what they need to be looking for. Tatis Jr. fits the mold. He would be perfect. It's not going to happen, probably.

Starting point is 00:21:03 But it's fun to think about. And maybe at some point, there are other players around the league that will be available in a similar situation as Tatis Jr. If he's not. And Cardinals should definitely put in a call and talk and see what they can put together. Up next,

Starting point is 00:21:22 Speaking of Si Young Award winners, let's talk about the new Sy Young Award winners. And I want to compare them to the last Cardinals winner, my guy, Chris Carpenter. We'll do that next on Lockdown Cardinals. Thanks for making Lockdown Cardinals, your first list, every day for your second list. Check out Lockdown MLB hosted by our guy, Sully. Brings you a daily blend of humor and baseball throughout the off season. You can find Lockdown MLB on YouTube or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. The Cy Young winners were announced on a Wednesday night and the Tigers Terrick Scoobel.

Starting point is 00:21:53 won for the second straight year in the American League, and it was the Pirates Paul Skeens, winning it for the first time in the National League, unanimous winner, too, which surprised me a little bit. A little bit. I thought maybe one or two voters would go to somebody else, but obviously both of them are very deserving.

Starting point is 00:22:10 And the AL Scoobel got 26 first place votes, finished ahead of Garrett Crochet of the Red Sox and the Astros Hunter Brown, became just the 12th pitcher to win the award in back-to-back seasons. The last to do it, Jacob de Graeme. Jacob de Grom with the Mets back in 2018 and 2019. St. Louis native Max Scherzer did it with the Nationals in 2016 and 17. I don't know if you guys heard.

Starting point is 00:22:31 He's a free agent. He's a free agent. Breaking news. Max Scherzer is available. Bob Gibson won two Sigh-Young Awards. Never won it back to back. Never did. His wins were in 68 and 70.

Starting point is 00:22:46 The N.O. winner in 1969. Nice. The Mets, Tom Siever. Now, I can make an argument. I can make an argument that Bob Gibson should have won three in a row and beat Siever that year. He had a lower ERA. He had 28 complete games compared to 18 for Seaver.

Starting point is 00:23:09 He had more strikeouts, but whatever, whatever. The media loved the Mets that year. They were the cool team in 1969. So, whatever. We know how good Bob Gibson was. Tom Severe was really good, too, by the way. I'm not putting him down. I'm just saying.

Starting point is 00:23:24 I'm just saying. We're trying to be nice to our Cardinal guys here. Last Cardinal Cy Young Award winner, Chris Carpenter, 2005. So for fun, I thought we could compare what Carpenter did in 05 to what these guys did here in 2025, 20 years, 20 years. Carp went 21 and 5 that year. 21 and 5. Scoobel was 13 and 6.

Starting point is 00:23:46 Skeens 10 and 10. So point Carpenter. 20 game winners, man. When are we going to get another one of those? What are you going to get that one? Cardinals, not just in baseball. I mean, Cardinals. I need another 20 game winner.

Starting point is 00:24:04 That would be nice. Let's go to how about ERA. Carpenter 2.83, scuba, 2.21. Skeens, 1.97. Point schemes. Excellent here. Strikeouts, carp, 2.13. Scobble 241, skeens, 216, points scubel.

Starting point is 00:24:26 Scuba with outrageous this year with the strikeouts. ERA plus, Carbenter, 150, scuba 187, skeins, 270. Point skeins. Fielding independent, FIP, carp, 2.90, scuba, 2.45, skeins, 2.36. Point, skeins. Whip, Carpenter, 1.05, scubel, 0.891, skiing 0.948 point, scubel. All right, I got one. I got one that Carpont. I got one that Carpont. Let's show. Because you don't see this anymore. Chris Carpenter, seven complete games, four complete game shutouts.

Starting point is 00:25:19 Scoobel had one complete game, and it was a complete game shutout this year. had one complete game. No complete game shutout. So carp wipes the floor with scoobel and skeens in that particular category. More wins. It was a different era. I get that. I get that.

Starting point is 00:25:40 But carp was awesome. But it just shows you how dominant these guys in baseball war this year with scoble and skeens. Like, what a year. And now scuba is rumored to be on the trade market. Skeens? Not yet. Not yet. But there was a story today that Pittsburgh might actually try to spend a little

Starting point is 00:25:58 this offseason so that Skeens wouldn't demand the trade because he's about there. We'll see what they do. Either way, I love Chris Carpenter. My favorite pitcher growing up that I watched. And I just loved his attitude, his grit, that warrior mentality that he brought to the mound. And the dude could sling it. He was really, really good. Top pitching prospect, Liam Doyle reminds me a lot of him, like,

Starting point is 00:26:25 just the way their demeanor is on the mound, the presence on the mound that Doyle shows. It reminds me a lot of carp. So I'm looking forward to seeing if he can back it up in his first full pro season in 2026. So looking forward to that. MVP's will be announced tonight. I got Otani and the NL.

Starting point is 00:26:44 Can't really say anybody else deserves it over him. And the AL, the big debate, is it Cal Raleigh? Is it Aaron Judge? I went with Cal Raleigh all season just because the demand of being a catcher and doing what he did offensively is just insanity to me. But I'm sure Judge will get some boats as well, well deserved, but I think Cal Raleigh takes it home tonight. Thank you for making Locktown Cardinals. Your first listen every day if you haven't already. Give us follow on X at L.O. underscore Cardinals into JD Sports Radio, TikTok, and Instagram at Lockton

Starting point is 00:27:15 Cardinals. Like, subscribe on YouTube. Help our channel and love for the Cardinals grow. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. I'll see you next time on Locktown Cardinals.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals NEED To Find A Star Like Fernando Tatis Jr. to IGNITE Their Franchise Future

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