Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - The Victor Scott II Hype Train Is At Top Speed, Bullpen Ups And Downs, Dylan Cease Rumors Are Back!

Episode Date: March 13, 2024

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Robinhood Robinhood has the only IRA that gives you a 3% boost on every dollar you contribute when you subscribe to Robinhood Gold. Now through April 30th, Robin...hood is even boosting every single dollar you transfer in from other retirement accounts with a 3% match. Available to U.S. customers in good standing. Robinhood Financial LLC (member SIPC), is a registered broker dealer. Amazon Fire TV Fire TV recently created Fire TV Channels to deliver a constant supply of the latest videos from your favorite sports brands, all for free. That includes all of us at Locked On and most of the big pro leagues and college conferences as well. To Learn More, visit www.amazon.com/LockedOnFireTV PrizePicks Go to PrizePicks.com/lockedonmlb and use code lockedonmlb for a first deposit match up to $100! eBay Motors With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. FanDuel New customers, join today and you’ll get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS if your first bet of FIVE DOLLARS or more wins. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started. 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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 The Victor Scott the second hype train is real, but is it realistic to expect him to make the opening day roster? We discuss that and more today with Thomas Govain 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. Haffern and I'm a national radio sports anchor, born and raised in the Lou and a lifetime Cardinals fan. and I'm your host for Locktown Cardinals, part of the Locktown Podcast Network, covering your team every day. You can follow me on Twitter X at JD Sports Radio. You can follow the podcast at LO underscore Cardinals. We do want to thank those of you who make Locktown Cardinals your first listen every day.
Starting point is 00:00:52 We are free and available wherever you get your podcast. You can also drop us a line on YouTube. If you're going to come over there, make sure you like, subscribe, and comment. So you can interact with what we're talking about on the show with me and Thomas here today. Hit that notification button so you know when you're going to be. episodes are posted. This is a show, serving Cardle Nation and giving the best fans of baseball all of the info about the birds on the bat.
Starting point is 00:01:14 Today's episode brought to you by GameTime, download the GameTime app, create an account, and use the code locked on to get $20 off your first purchase. So Thomas Cobain from Redmond Rance.com in the house, once again, well, in his house, not my house. We're all in, I guess, one big house known as the St. Louis Cardinals family. But joining us here today to talk some Cardinals baseball. Thomas, how are you today, sir?
Starting point is 00:01:38 I'm doing well, actually. I got a little bit of a cough, so I'll be sipping some tea, but other than that, I'm good to go. He's calling it tea. It could be something else, but I don't want to get him into trouble, but we'll say tea. That's fine. So lots going on with the St. Louis Cardinals right now.
Starting point is 00:01:55 The big news has been injuries, three big ones, the Sunny Gray injury. It was obviously a big scare, the hamstring strain, which seems to be moving along okay, so we're not going to talk about it too much. But the outfield has dealt with a couple of big injuries. Tommy Edmund, which we knew was going to be out for a while when we found out he had wrist surgery this off season.
Starting point is 00:02:18 Things are progressing, they say, but it seems to be a slow progression. So we're not expecting him to return anytime soon. And then, of course, Lars Neupar gets hurt in the weirdest ways. And he does it again where he jams his own elbow into his ribs and has two fractured ribs now. and he's going to be out for a little bit. They don't think it's going to be anything major, but you never know how these things are going to play out. You never know how somebody heals.
Starting point is 00:02:45 And Newt's dealt with a lot of injuries over his time in the major leagues. And it's just another weird one, which is going to knock him out. And most people expect him to at least be out a couple of weeks. We don't know if he's going to make the opening day roster and instead start the season on the IEL. They haven't said that yet. I'm just throwing it out there, that it's something that could happen,
Starting point is 00:03:05 puts where the outfield is in flux just a little bit because now you're replacing not one but two of your projected starters in the outfield already. And we talk about replacing these guys. And there are really some, it's the center field spot that most people are concerned with. Alec Berlinson taking over in left field doesn't seem to be a big problem. He's hitting very, very well this spring. People seem excited about that. but center field is where the real questions are, right?
Starting point is 00:03:37 You know, the competition that's going on in center field is really between three guys. You've got Dylan Carlson, Victor Scott the second, and then Michael Ciani. Jordan Walker is going to be in right field. We know that. So center field, Dylan Carlson, what have you seen from him so far, Thomas, and what makes you think he may or may not be that starting center fielder come opening day against the Dodgers? So far he hasn't shown much promise in spring. Now, disclaimer, it's just spring training.
Starting point is 00:04:07 So take those stats for other worth. He actually just hit a home run off of a right-handed pitcher, which I guess is a good sign of things to come. What? I know. Yeah. I wish we had a breaking news sounder. Right.
Starting point is 00:04:19 Breaking news. Dylan Carlson goes yard from the left side of the play. Good for him. Because honestly, it always sounds like I'm bagging on the guy. And I'm really not. I'm rude for this dude because he's somebody that is, you know, hitting kind of the prime of his career right now. And this is where he should be excelling and we just haven't gotten a chance to see it yet.
Starting point is 00:04:38 You know, from a prospect that had so much promise when he came up and to see him fizzling out the way he's been, you know, I want to see him take advantage of this situation. But like you said, yeah, it's just spring training. But still, I mean, this is the competition right now, you know? Yeah, and it's messy out there. I mean, you'd love to see Dylan Carlson turn the corner and show what he showed back in 2021. one, but he hasn't been able to, whether it's due to injuries or his confidence just seems off to. So I'm not sure really what's causing the issues for him. I would assume he'll be the opening day center fielder, but Victor Scott's second's definitely given him run for his money.
Starting point is 00:05:16 And at this point, that's something I've brought up too before is with Dylan Carlson. Doesn't it the body language? Like he just looks like he's not having fun playing baseball. Like it's like he's, you know who he reminds me a little bit of? And I hate to say it. It's like JD Drew didn't look like he had a lot of fun. out there on the field, even though he says he was, but it's just his demeanor. So I don't know if it's different.
Starting point is 00:05:37 We're not in the clubhouse, although looking at my background, you would think I am, but we're not in the clubhouse. We don't know Dylan Carlson as a person. So this is me being kind of, you know, I'm just talking out of my butt here. But it just doesn't, it doesn't, he doesn't exude like, woo, I'm so glad to be out here playing ball each and every day. It looks like he's just miserable most of the time. Yeah, and to be booted off the starting nine last year by talking.
Starting point is 00:06:01 or O'Neill and he came back from injury. I think that did a number to his confidence, but he's only 25. I'd love to see what he has left him in these next three years of control. You brought up Victor Scott the second, which is the guy that everybody wants to talk about right now and rightfully so because he's as exciting a player as you can find because of that speed.
Starting point is 00:06:22 He's got that aspect of just elite speed that. We've seen a couple of Cardinals players have that in recent memory, you know, Tyler O'Neill and, Harrison Bader when they were healthy and they were just coming up, those type of guys where their speed was in like the upper percentile of all of Major League Baseball as far as speed getting around the bases, getting the first and stuff. And Victor Scott could do that, except he's better than them at stealing bases. Those guys weren't necessarily base Steelers. They just were very fast. Victor Scott brings all of that to the table. And he's in this competition right now with
Starting point is 00:06:57 Dylan Carlson, and he's kicking his butt, to be honest, if you just went off of the spring training stats, you're like, there's no way Victor Scott is not going to win this job, but there's some reason to be hesitant there because of he hasn't played AAA yet. Yeah, I think we need to put some pause on the Victor Scott talk. He's exciting. He's fast. He's a defensive wizard out there in centerfield, but I just don't know if he's quite ready yet. I'd love to see him get some reps in AAA. We did the same thing last year with Jordan Walker, probably brought him up too early.
Starting point is 00:07:31 May have put his development back a little bit. So just give him, maybe a month or so, AAA, let him see if he can continue his spring training stats and then call him up if Tommy Edmund isn't back, isn't ready, if Mason wins struggles, anything like that, just to have a true center fielder out there. Now, the other guy that is also in competition for a spot on the roster, a guy that not a lot of people know much about.
Starting point is 00:07:53 He was somebody that the Cardinals grabbed at the beginning of September last year, waiver wire got him from the Reds. And that's Michael Ciani. And he offers a couple of things that make him an attractive piece to this team on opening day. And that's defense and speed as well. And he makes a lot of sense to be that guy at the end of the bench. Like last year we talked about, you know, people were freaking out because Paul DeYoung was on the team. And I'm like, yeah, but you need guys who are okay with just sitting around and don't have to play every day. You need those guys because you've got the starting nine or ten dudes that are always going to be out there.
Starting point is 00:08:27 And Michael Siani kind of fits that bill as a fourth, fifth type of outbuilder, doesn't he? Yeah, and I believe he's on the 40-man roster, too, so there's going to be no manipulation on that aspect of it. He won't hit too much, but you can bury him in the ninth hole, eighth hole, let Goldie Aronato, Contreras, Walker, Gorman, let all them carry the offense and just get Siani out there for a sure glove and some speed on the base paths. Now, let me throw this scenario at you. Let me know if you agree or disagree. So this is what I feel like things are going to, how are the things are going to shape out? The Victor Scott, as sad as it's going to make people,
Starting point is 00:09:02 is not going to make this team. Number one, you brought up 40-man roster. He's not on there. So a move would have to be made there too. Siani is. Lars Neupar is expected back sooner rather than later. So would it not make sense for the Cardinals to go into opening day, at least the first couple of weeks of the season as Siani with the backup?
Starting point is 00:09:22 And then you've got Burleson and left. You have Dylan Carlson and Sondon. Center and Jordan Walker and right. Does that make more sense to you? Or do you think Victor Scott, because he's done so well this spring, should get a shot? Knowing the Cardinals organization, I think that's the right, they'll go with Siani instead of Victor Scott the second. I think that they're going to be patient with Scott's development. I think they're going to like Carlson get some run out there in center field, give him some assurance of his position, and then keep Siani as insurance. All right. And if Victor Scott continues to tear things up at AAA, how
Starting point is 00:09:55 on do you think before they're like, all right, we can't hold this kid down anymore. We've got to bring them up. What would be a time frame that you would expect a move to possibly happen, considering everybody's healthy because if something else happens, then obviously things will change. But if everybody remains healthy, Tommy Edmund's still a little bit of ways away. How far along the timeline here do you think it might be Victor Scott time in St. Louis? If he continues to go off in AAA, I could see them bringing him up at some point before summer. but they held Mason wind down last year, let him develop, keep him down there, and he had a good season too.
Starting point is 00:10:29 They waited for an opportunity to give him, not just to put him on the roster to be a fourth or fifth outfield or infielder on the back of the bench. So I think they'll do the same thing with Victor Scott and just hold them off until they need him. All right. Well, let us know your comments and thoughts on this. I know a lot of people want to see Victor Scott in the show. We get it. I understand. But it just, there's different variables here, and it makes more sense to not have him there on opening day. We're not saying the whole season that he's got to stay down there until September like Mason Wend did if he continues to do very, very well. But it's something that they're going to be a little bit careful with because they don't want to bring him up too quick and then screw things up for his future. All right.
Starting point is 00:11:08 Coming up next, we're going to talk about the bullpen because there have been some guys that have looked really good so far in the spring. And then there's been some guys that we thought the cardals might depend on that not so good. So we'll get into what the bullpen's looking like next on locked on cardinal. You can now win up to 100 times your money on prize picks with as little as four correct picks. You can turn $10 into $1,000 with NBA, NHL, and college basketball entries today on prize picks. America's number one fantasy sports app. It's just you against the numbers, okay? You're not going up against some nerd who does so much fantasy stuff that he knows every single stat and detail.
Starting point is 00:11:51 You don't have to worry about that. It's you against the numbers. Instead of battling thousands of other players, including the pro, or the sharks. You pick more or less than on two to six player staff projections, and then you watch your winnings roll in. It's simple. Conference tournaments that are underway, which means the biggest moments in college basketball are getting closer, and you could be a part of the action on prize picks for both men's and women's college basketball. You know, insurance is real, in the real life world necessity, right? We got to have it on your house, your car, your health
Starting point is 00:12:21 insurance. It's important. Prize picks offers you injury insurance as well. well. That way your entries stay in play even if one of your players gets injured. For basketball games, if you got a player who exits the game in the first half and does not return in the second, that player projection won't count against you and the rest of your entry will stay live. Price fix is really simple to play. You can make your picks and submit an entry in less than 60 seconds. Not going to take up a lot of time. And you know what else is quick? Getting your money back. When you do win, quick withdrawals, easy gameplay and an enormous selection of players and stat types are what makes price picks the number one, daily fantasy sports app.
Starting point is 00:12:59 So download the app today and use the code locked on MLB for a first deposit match up to $100. This is the perfect time to do it because you've got so many college basketball games going on today, tonight throughout the weekend. It's a whole lot of fun. Download the app today. Use the code locked on MLB for a first deposit match up to $100. Locked on his lunch, the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube.
Starting point is 00:13:30 And now it's also available on Amazon Fire TV and the free fire TV channel. app. Lockdown Sports Today is here for you 24-7 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local experts of Lockdown Plus our national shows covering every league. You can find Locked on the Free Fire TV channels app. And thank you guys for making Lockton Carta Cardinals your first listen every day. Leave your comments, leave your suggestions on YouTube as as well as on TwitterX. Anytime you want your feedback, always welcome and encourage. We've got Thomas Govain from Redbirdrance.com joining us today. You got his Twitter handle there on you too, but it's Thomas Govain
Starting point is 00:14:03 in case you're wondering if you're listening to the audio version of this. So don't be shy you love to talk ball with each and every one of you. We're going to talk about the bullpen now, which in my opinion, I don't know if you share the same opinion, Thomas. I feel like the bullpit as a whole have been pretty impressive so far this spring. What do you think?
Starting point is 00:14:19 Yeah, absolutely. I just wrote a piece that came out and I looked at just the five newcomers, five of the newcomers on the team, and they have all had great spring trainings. I mean, you'll find at least 70% of the relievers are doing well so far. So it's really reassuring, especially given how our starters have been doing this spring training. Yeah. I wasn't going to go down that path. Yeah. It's just spring
Starting point is 00:14:44 training. And I don't know what it is that our starters are working on in that first inning, but they suck at it. Whatever it is, most of them have been awful outside of like Michaelis and Thompson. It's been a rough go. But the bullpen, which, you know, obviously was a big problem last year as well, has come up pretty big so far. Who are a couple of the names off your list there that you've been impressed with so far before we get to the negative guys? Yeah, I've been impressed with three guys in particular.
Starting point is 00:15:11 Riley O'Brien, the guy we traded for just cash I think it was the Mariners. And then Drew Rom and Andrew Kittrich, those three guys have really been impressive, especially Rom the other day. He went three innings in relief. I think he had two clean, one, two, three innings as well thrown in there. So those three guys seem to be carrying their weight.
Starting point is 00:15:29 Yeah, the Riley O'Brien. I mean, if Victor Scott's train of hype is the biggest one going right now, the next one is Riley O'Brien because people are loving what they've seen. It's weird because he's not, he doesn't have the strikeout numbers so far this spring, but guys aren't doing much against him. Like they are just not hitting the ball all that hard. And when he has been in trouble, he's gotten out of it pretty quickly. You mentioned Drew Rom. This is a guy that, okay, because this is going to take me into the negative guys real quick, because, uh, of the fact that Drew Rahm is a left-hander. And the bullpen, despite the fact that, you know, the left-handed specialist isn't really a thing anymore because of the three-batter rule. So that's kind of moved that aside. But you still need some left-handers out in the bullpen. And a couple of the guys that, at least one that was expected to be on this team for sure,
Starting point is 00:16:21 has struggled. We're talking about Jojo Romero and then John King. Both left-handers have not had good starts to their spring. Romero last year, I don't think we expected a lot of them when they made that trade with Philly to get him. And then last year, he gets a 3.68 ERA as a 2.22 FIP, which is fielding independent pitching for those of you who aren't aware, which focuses on strikeouts, walks, hit by pitches at home runs. So the lower it is, kind of like your ERA, the lower it is, the better. So 2.22, very, very good. Did that over 36 and 2 thirds innings.
Starting point is 00:16:56 but this spring, something's missing, man. Jojo has not been all that impressive so far. Yeah, he's giving up a lot of runs and a lot of hits, and that's something you never want to see out of ear relievers or really any pitcher in general. He was supposed to be a part of the three-headed monster with Gallegos and Halsley in the back, but it seems to be that he has fallen off slightly,
Starting point is 00:17:16 but it's just spring. So we really don't know if he's trying to work on a pitch, get his locations, down his command, whatever it may be. But his numbers are not very promising so far at least. I'm going to speak for the Cardinal fans who are listening and watching right now. Work on getting dudes out. Stop working on your pitches. Get people out.
Starting point is 00:17:35 That's what we want to see. Another guy who has not gotten a lot of people out so far. That is John King. And I feel bad because John King comes over and he's like that throwing guy in the Rangers trade with Montgomery and Stratt. Nobody knew much about him. He comes over and he pitches really well, right? 1.45 BRA in 18 to two-thirds innings.
Starting point is 00:17:55 The FIP is a little high. which kind of makes you think that he was getting lucky on some stuff. He had a 3.84 FIPP last year. And then this spring, he's just been getting knocked around left and right. What is the future for John King? Because, you know, Jojo's struggling, but Jojo is going to be in this ballpoint. I'm not worried about him, not making the team by any means. But John King, I don't know if you're going to be on this team, man.
Starting point is 00:18:20 The things have not looked good for him. Yeah, he's struggled. He's given up 700 runs, just five innings, 14 hits. Those are crazy numbers in very limited time that you never want to see out of a reliever because five innings isn't sound like much, but that could be, what, 18, 20 percent of his total next year, which could hurt him quite a bit. I would suspect he starts down in AAA. There's a lot of other talented guys. We just brought up three of them with Riley O'Brien, Drew Rom, and Andrew Kittred, who could vary. I mean, they're probably already ahead of him on the depth chart.
Starting point is 00:18:49 So I don't think that he'll get much time in the majors next year. Yeah, Ketridge obviously going to be on the team as well. But the Drew Rom thing is interesting because when you have, and as I mentioned, like, you need at least one or two lefties out there. And with, because we don't know what the sunny gray injury is going to be like. We don't know how he's going to start things. So now we're watching Libertor and we're watching Zach Thompson compete for what we think is the fifth rotation spot right now. Could end up just being the sixth spot. And when you look at it and you were thinking, all right, well, you got this lefty and you got, you know,
Starting point is 00:19:25 maybe a John King. Libertor is the guy that seems like the fit to go to the bullpen. I mean, so far in the competition scale of things, it's been all Zach Thompson in this one. You know, this is like Mike Tyson playing, you know, boxing dudes early on in his career where he's knocking him out right away because Zach Thompson has been incredible, pitched amazing again today against Minnesota. Libertor, I was kind of pro sending him back down because I want him to be a starter. I feel like that's where he was going to be. But from what I've read and stuff,
Starting point is 00:19:59 it appears the Cardinals are comfortable with having him just be a reliever this year. What are your thoughts on that? Yeah, I think Jeff Jones sent out a tweet recently. And he said, now is when you start watching who's starting games and who's coming in as a reliever for spring training. That's pretty telling. And Thompson's been starting.
Starting point is 00:20:14 I do think Libby has a lot of value as a reliever. He can touch 9798 in short spurts. His curveball can be pretty wicked if badgers don't see it often. and I could see a lot of value out of him. It's almost like a reverse Adam Wainwright, you know, where he came in as a reliever and then switched to a starter. Libertur's been a starter his whole minor league career. Just flip him around, send him into the bullpen where it can be really effective in short spurts.
Starting point is 00:20:36 And I will say one good thing that Matthew Libertor has said out loud in interviews is that he doesn't care whether he's a starter or a reliever. You know, sometimes guys are like, no, I do not want to be in the bullpen. I don't like it. I want to be a starter. That's who I am. And he has said, no, I don't care. As long as I'm at the major leagues and I'm contributing to this team, that's where I just want to do whatever I can.
Starting point is 00:20:58 And he seems to be comfortable with being in that bullpen, which the way things are looking, that's exactly where he's going to be, which kind of puts Drew Rahm in a tough spot because there's not a lot of openings there, especially in the rotation right now later on in the year when injuries and stuff happened. Sure. But it seems like he's pretty much, despite how good he has been in the spring, is kind of destined for Memphis, isn't it?
Starting point is 00:21:21 Yeah, I'd say so. It's always nice to have a plethora of bullpen arms to have to worry about sending down and have them ready to be called up though. Absolutely. So any other guys that as far as the bullpen rotation, anybody else that has stood out to you in a good or bad way that you're either super excited about or overly concerned about so far. I don't know if super excited is the right word, but Ryan Fernanda is the rule five pick we got from the Red Sox. I like him. I love this dude. I think he's great.
Starting point is 00:21:51 He's been putting on a show too in spring. And I think he's one of the guys that the Cardinals are going to keep, I wouldn't say regardless, but I think they're really holding on to him. Otherwise, his rights will go back to the Red Sox. And he has been putting on a show this spring. I think he's only given up one run and five innings pitched, a little few hits. So I think that he could easily make the cut as he'll literally be the last bullpen arm, probably, but I could see him making the roster.
Starting point is 00:22:16 Yeah, I would love to see him make it. Andre Palantes made things tough for people too. He's pitched really well this spring after a rough 2023. And, you know, the guy that's, you know, out, Wilkin Rodriguez, he's been terrible. Five appearances, seven runs, seven hits, six walks. That's not good in four and the third. So nice to know you, Wilking, but you go home.
Starting point is 00:22:39 All right. Coming up next, we're going to talk about a guy whose name, huge this offseason, huge this off season. All the Carls fans are arguing about how we got to get him and what the trade package is going to be. and then everything's simmered down because the White Sox said, hey, we're really not interested in moving Dillon Cease. But now his name's starting to pop up again.
Starting point is 00:22:59 And we're going to talk about should the Cardinals jump in on this? Is this an opportune time to land him once again? We'll get into it next with Thomas Govain on Locked on Cardinals. You shouldn't have to worry when you buy tickets to your next big event. Game time is the fast and easy way to buy tickets for all of the sports, the music, the comedy and theater events near you. We got a lot of concerts that are starting to go up. Avenge Sevenfold is coming around and I'm a pumped for that.
Starting point is 00:23:27 You can get tickets to go see bands like that. Or you got comedy, Anthony Jesselnik, one of my favorite comedians. He's out there touring right now. You can get tickets to go see him. And obviously you've got all the baseball. You got the college hoops right now. All of the sports come in your way. And they've got so many ways for you to get hooked up with the right deals for the right prices.
Starting point is 00:23:48 Killer last minute deals like tickets where you don't think they're available. Look it up that day. Boom, you're going to find some killer last minute deals to save you some money. You get the all-in prices, so there's none of those sneaky little fees that make things way more expensive than they look when they first send them to you. You get views from your seat and the best price guarantee. Game Time just takes the guesswork out of buying your tickets. So download the GameTime app and create an account and use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.
Starting point is 00:24:15 Again, create an account, redeem the code locked on, which is spelled L-O-C-E-D-O-N for $20 off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Lockdown has launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube, and now is also available on Amazon Fire TV and the Free Fire TV channels app. Locked on Sports Today is here for you 24-7 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local experts of Lockdown plus our national shows covering every league. You can find Locked on Sports Today available now on the Free Fire TV channels app. Again, joined by Thomas Govain, wonderful writer from Redbird Rants,
Starting point is 00:24:57 We're going to put the link in the description and in the show notes for you listening on the audio version here. So you can go and read all of the different articles that Thomas puts out. He puts out a bunch of them each and every week, as does the entire Redbird Rants.com staff. So a lot of reading up. They've got a lot of opinions and a lot of information for you. So go ahead, check it out and just be ready to be on that site for, I don't know, a good hour or so because there's a lot of good information there available. One of those stories, Thomas, you just put out there, is about one Dylan C.
Starting point is 00:25:30 Sue, I will say I'm bummed a little bit because he has a beard now and is not rolling with the cool mustache that he had last year. Maybe he thinks that was the problem. And now he, because he's looked pretty good this spring, looked really good against the Reds last night, made them look pretty silly. So rumors are starting to swirl again as injuries begin to pop up for different teams, including the Cardinals with Sunny Gray. but, you know, the Yankees just found out Garrett Cole might be out one to two months, if not longer. So you're starting to see this stuff, and I feel like this was the idea is that they didn't like the packages they were getting. So they're going to wait around to see if anybody gets desperate, and that might be happening now. So Dylan Cease's name starting to pop up in the rumor mill again.
Starting point is 00:26:12 Your thoughts on what the Cardinals should do or not do when it comes to the White Sox star pitcher? I think they should absolutely target him. It feels like the Cardinals are one true star pitcher away from being mentioned in the likes of the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles doctors. And to get Dylan Cease, pair him with Sunny Gray at the top, we've got a serious one-two combination with good innings, good depth in the rotation. It'd be quite the benefit to get him. Like you said, we'd be going up against teams like the Yankees, the Orioles, I'm sure, looking for pitchers. Ken Rosenthal mentioned the Texas Rangers by name. there's some big boppers out there that we'd have to contend against for a trade package.
Starting point is 00:26:52 And it's funny because nobody seems to want a pony up to get the reigning NL. Sy Young Award winner Blake Snell or former Cardinal Jordan Montgomery. You're not hearing much of anything. You know, the Yankees have been the name that's kind of sniffed around Snell the most, but that could just be John Haman not having anything else to talk about. So he just keeps bringing up the Yankees and Blake Snell. But nothing has gotten done yet at the time of this recording. And Dylan Sees, what's great about him,
Starting point is 00:27:18 in the Cardinals idea here is that it won't be money that they're having to fork over because we know how they're kind of afraid of going to those long-term contracts with anybody through free agency when it comes to starting pitching. But you'd have to give up some prospects and pretty good ones because you saw some of the possible deals this offseason that the teams said that the White Sox won in return. I know this is just throwing one at you real quick, but what kind of package do you think it would take for the, the cardals to pry Dylan sees from the White Sox.
Starting point is 00:27:51 Based on Rosenthal's reporting for the Rangers, I put two packages together. They might be a little bit low. I know we always give our players a boost in trade packages, but the first one was Brendan Donovan, Toccoa Roby, and Gordon Grispho. I think that Roby's the high-end pitching prospect that the White Sox will like. Brendan Donovan is a utility player. They can put anywhere they need on the infield, especially after losing Tim Anderson. And then the second package was a little bit more.
Starting point is 00:28:18 prospect laden. It was Thomas Sejacy, Toccoa, Robi, and Matthew Liberator for Seas. And that one felt a little bit lower than the first. I think that the White Sox might ask for another prospect, maybe Travis Honeymoon, Juan Vinchot, someone from that 10 to 15 range of our list, just to top it off. Yeah. Oh, man. See, at this point of the year, I cannot see them moving of Brennan Donovan. So I don't know if that's one that the Cardinals would even think about. But we're talking about prospects that aren't going to be on this team at the get-go of the season. I feel like that be something they're more apt to go with. What if they threw Victor Scott in at the,
Starting point is 00:28:58 if the Whitewax were like, Victor Scott or no deal? What do you do, Thomas? We're going to make some Victor Scott truthers angry this episode. I don't know if they'd asked for him. They've got their center field or locked up for quite a while, and he's pretty good out there. So I don't know if they'd ask for Victor Scott.
Starting point is 00:29:14 I think they'll definitely go for one of our. two top prospects in pitching as far as Robey and Tinkent's. Now price asked for a conglomeration of utility guys and outfielders from there. What if it was just, what if it was Tinkent's, Liberator, Gricefo, and Sujacy, would you do it? Yeah. Yeah, pretty quickly. It's a lot. I know.
Starting point is 00:29:41 I know, but. It's not an easy thing to answer, but. You never know with prospects, though. Dylan Cese is a proven top of the rotation guy will happen for two years at this point. Cardinals are prone to locking up trade guys for long-term contracts. He's only 28. It'd be tough to find a package that I wouldn't say yes to for Dillan C's. So I would do that.
Starting point is 00:30:01 All five top prospects in the MLB pipeline. Would you trade all of them, Chase Davis and Company and Victor, all of them? They all have to go for Cs. Yes or no? Yeah, but throw in Luis Rivera, Rivera, Jr., and then we've our top five prospects for those two. I was hoping they were going to try to get him out of there last year. I thought there was a moment that last year where they were like,
Starting point is 00:30:23 maybe we ought to move, Robert. And then it went away and then he lit it up. And then there was no chance after that. But yeah, I don't know if it's going to happen. I might, you know, knowing the card dolls, I feel like they're like, oh, we're good. We're not doing anything moving on unless it's with our own organization. So I'm not getting my hopes up about it.
Starting point is 00:30:43 But I can see one of these other teams getting desperate as we get closer to opening day. And things aren't working out quite the way they thought they would. So we'll have to see. Thomas, as always, appreciate you joining the show here today. Redbirdrants.com. Go see Thomas Govain and all his work and the rest of the great crew over there at Redbirdrants. com new stuff popping up each and every day for you guys to browse through. So thanks for hanging out here today, man.
Starting point is 00:31:07 All right. Thank you, J.D. Have a good day. Thank you guys for making Lockton Cardinals your first listen every day. If you haven't already, give us follow on Twitter X at L0 underscore Cardinals and a JD Sports Radio. Again, you can follow Thomas at Thomas Fogovain. And also, like, subscribe on YouTube. If you haven't done that, help our channel and our love for the Cardinals grow.
Starting point is 00:31:24 You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. And we'll see you next time. We'll lock down Cardinals.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.