Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Three Dream Pitching Targets For The Cardinals

Starting point is 00:00:00 When talking about moves that the Cardinals can make to improve their team here in 2024, there are realistic, sensible targets. And then there are the top tier go for the gold targets. And today, we've got three dreamboats on today's episode of 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, Cardals fans.

Starting point is 00:00:34 I'm J.D. Haffern and I'm a national radio sports anchor, born and raised in the Lou and a lifetime Cardinals. And I'm your host for Locked on Cardinals, part of the Locked On Podcast Network covering your team every day. You can find me on Twitter X by going to at JD Sports Radio. You can follow the podcast at L0 underscore Cardinals. I want to make those of you who make Locked on Cardinals your first listen every day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcast.

Starting point is 00:00:58 You can also find us on YouTube. Make sure you like, subscribe, and comment. That way you're interacting. with us, hit the notification button so you know when new episodes are posted. This is a show serving Cardinal Nation and giving the best fans in baseball. All of the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode is being brought to you by booking.com. Booking.com. Booking. Yeah, the right stay can make you a fan of any city, even your rivals. Check out booking.com for your stay today. So a tough night for the Cardinals on Friday. First off, if you're watching on YouTube, you can see that

Starting point is 00:01:30 I am not at my humble abode. I am actually at my parents' house. You can see all the chotchkes behind me. They've got Cardinal stuff galore. We've got rings. We've got bottle heads. We've got hats. We got all kinds of stuff going on in the background here today.

Starting point is 00:01:46 So a little bit more of a fun atmosphere. But it was not a lot of fun at Bush Stadium on Friday night where the Cardinals got shellacked by the Cincinnati Reds by the score of 11 to 4 miles. Michaelis had one of his worst starts in his entire recruitment. career. It just wasn't pretty. Not a whole lot to really say about that game, except that he got destroyed and it was gross. The Cardinals did attempt to make a comeback, but Miles couldn't get anyone out. And the game just kind of became a laugher after a while. At one point, Brandon Crawford was warming up to pitch, but they scored too many runs. So they weren't allowed to bring in a position

Starting point is 00:02:23 player to pitch on Friday night. But hopefully they'll flip the script and things will be much better throughout the rest of the weekend. So instead of reliving that steamy pile of horse manure, I figured we could focus on something a little bit more fun, right? Like trade stuff. And as I've said before, these are going to continue to swirl. All these trade rumors and trade discussions,

Starting point is 00:02:46 they're going to continue to swirl for the next month with the trade deadline happening at the end of July. Now, our guy, Thomas Covain, over at Redbirdrance.com, he dropped another write-up on what he calls dream trade. targets for the team. Now, Thomas, unfortunately, had some scheduling conflicts. He couldn't join us here today, but gave me to go ahead and say, yeah, yeah, to go ahead, bring them up, chat about him, do what you got to do. And so that's what we're going to do here today. We're going to discuss them. He had five of them that he brought up. I'm going to talk about three of them here today. Now, yesterday, we talked about Luis Robert Jr., who was certainly someone that you could put on this, like, dream list of people, guys that, you know, would be a little far-fetch for the Cardinals to go and get, not out of like, you know, where they couldn't do it. But these are kind of the dream trade targets that are going to be difficult.

Starting point is 00:03:41 They're going to be difficult for the Cardinals to do. Although reading the comments yesterday, it doesn't seem like most of you want Luis Robert Jr. anyway. You guys don't want an outfielder, which, you know, even as someone as good as robbery, most of the people were like, eh-uh, I don't want them anyway. They want pitching. that's who they want.

Starting point is 00:03:59 That's what the top priority is for the Cardinals. Pitching is what most of you want, both starters and relievers. And I'm right there with you. I'm right there with you. I would much rather, I mean, there's a lot going on in that outfield right now. And if you do get these guys all healthy and get everybody going,

Starting point is 00:04:14 there's going to be a lot of decisions to make with Donovan, Edmund, Newt Bar, Burleson, Ciani, Walker. I mean, we just, this list just keeps going and going of people who could play in the outfield for this team. So we're going to focus on the pitching side of things. All right. Now, the bullpen, we know it's been great. It's been great. Probably the strongest part of this entire team this year has been the bullpen.

Starting point is 00:04:45 But it's also been used a ton. And perhaps we're starting to see some of the wear and tear from all of the use so far here in the first half of the season, and starting to take its toll on guys like Andrew Kittridge and Jojo Romero and Ryan Helsley, you have to admit, they haven't been quite as good as they were, say, in April and May, all right? And that's not to say that they've been bad. I'm not saying that. But you're starting to see a little bit of regression, and it would be nice to have

Starting point is 00:05:14 some other veteran arms to help them out down the stretch. Not that we dislike the guys that are in the bullpen with these guys. is there Fernandez is the Leahy's the king stuff like that but you want you want to add a little bit of depth right so that those three guys the Trinity as we've called them they don't have to throw in every game that the Cardinals are in contention which is what it feels like doesn't it and of course the cardinals also need help solidifying the rest of this rotation behind sunny gray Kyle Gibson Miles Michaels Lance Lynn um Matthew Libertor start on Wednesday amazing right we're and we're all extremely pleased with how he looked,

Starting point is 00:05:54 but he's been better in the bullpen. And the Cardinals feel comfortable keeping him in the bullpen. These were some extreme circumstances where Matthew Libertory had to make starts. Andre Palante, who was your starter on Friday. He's been up and down. Stephen Mats cannot get healthy. Zach Thompson had an excellent May for Memphis. You guys remember Zach Thompson,

Starting point is 00:06:15 who many people thought he was going to be the number five in this rotation this year, had an excellent May, but has had a couple of really rough outings in June. So he doesn't appear to be the answer right now. They don't seem comfortable with that guy. So odds are John Moselock is going to have to make a move. Going to have to make a move for somebody at the back end of the rotation. And it's always nice to have extra bullpen arms, probably not going to chase the top tier guys who are available.

Starting point is 00:06:44 I'm sure he'll kick the tires. I'm sure he'll call these teams and go, hey, what are you looking for? But over the years, you know, John Moseilock, he's at the target guys who were a lesser tier than the top shelf people. You know, J. Hab, John Lester, very low on the totem polls back in 2021. But they worked out nicely. They actually did well. Jordan Montgomery and Jose Cantana. Those were higher on the list.

Starting point is 00:07:10 They weren't, you know, top shelf guys, more middle tier guys in 2022. But they were excellent additions. I would expect more moves kind of like that for the Cardinals than who the guys were going to talk about today. Last year they were sellers, barring any major catastrophes this year, they're going to be buyers. So what if Mo decides, let's just make believe real quick, okay, that Mo in one of his final years in the chair as the wheeler and dealer of the Cardinals decided, you know what, screw it, going all in, putting all his chips into the middle there and is going to chase some of the, these big fish. That's where today's episode and Thomas Scovane's write-up is going to come into play today. So that's the mindset you need to have when you hear these names because I know there's going to be people who see the headlines and they listen to the first few minutes. They're going to

Starting point is 00:08:02 go, no way is that going to happen. Stop it. We're going to have some fun with it. We're going to name three dream targets, three dream targets that are pitchers, by the way. So we're going to go through those next for you here on Locktown Cardinals. So don't ruin our fun. This episode of Lockton Cardinals is brought to you by booking.com. Booking. Yeah. With summer travel heating up, especially travel for baseball games, it's time to explore those U.S. cities that you've always secretly wanted to learn more about. Yes, we're even talking about your rival cities, places like Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. I mean, they've got they've got nice setups. They're both on the riverfront.

Starting point is 00:08:44 Pittsburgh is a beautiful stadium. Great American ballpark. Lots going on down town there in Cincinnati with hotels and restaurants. Chicago, really? Do I have to sell you on Chicago? Chicago, clearly Monster City, dozens and dozens and dozens of places by Wrigley and Wrigleyville for you to go. The Brewers Games, well known for the tailgating.

Starting point is 00:09:08 So that's something I encourage you to take part in if you can. And with hotels, vet and breakfast, vacation. rentals resorts and so much more on booking.com, you might just find your perfect stay, even in your baseball rivals city. Just used booking.com for a hotel in St. Louis. Just did it. Wanted to find a place.

Starting point is 00:09:30 My mom wasn't feeling so good. So we use booking.com. We got a hotel about five minutes away, and we're all headed to the ballgames this weekend. So it can work in St. Louis, too. Booking.com has so many choices across the U.S. for your summer travel this MLB season, and let's not forget about all your Little League tournaments.

Starting point is 00:09:49 They're going to be taking place in different cities this summer. Booking.com has got you covered there as well. The right stay can make you a fan of any U.S. city, even your rivals. Book today on booking.com on the site or in the booking. com app. I love sports. I love them so much.

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Starting point is 00:10:45 were the hottest hitters coming into the series, Jonathan, Indiana, L.A. other crews. And they proved me right on Friday night. They hit the hell out of the ball against Michaelis. The whole lineup crushed Michaelis, let's be honest. But will they stay red hot for the rest of the series? Something you can bet on. The Cardinals have Burleson and Donovan swinging it as well as anyone as well.

Starting point is 00:11:07 Sunny Gray, is he going to dominate his former team on Saturday? Well, Lance Lynn have another solid outing after his recent start against the Braves. all of these things you can bet on. Home runs, hits, strikeouts, stolen bases, total bases, different innings that things are going to happen. It's almost limitless on the things that you can bet on with Fandall. And this summer Fandall

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Starting point is 00:11:49 all day and have to turn down the volume because of all the shouting, then make that switch to to Locked on Sports Today. It's a free 24-7 sports streaming channel program for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the screaming. Locked-on sports today brings you can't mess analysis, opinions, and news streaming 24-7 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app, all part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. You're a team every day. A reminder you can catch every pitch of the Cardinals hometown broadcast with Sirius XM. Just download the SXM app and search the word Cardinals. And thank you for making Locked on Cardinals your first list in every day. Leave your comments on YouTube in the comments section as well as on Twitter X.

Starting point is 00:12:26 Your feedback is always welcome and encouraged. We'll see what you guys think about these particular players today. Now, Thomas Cobain, been on the show multiple times, writes for Redbirdsradsrance.com. The articles linked in the description down below. So Redbirdrance.com is where you can read all of this entire article for yourself. and I'm sure once you read, you'll jump into on that magic carpet ride that is Redbirdrance.com's website,

Starting point is 00:12:55 and you'll see tons of different articles that'll interest you, especially if you're Cardinals fans, you're going to go all over the place. But you can follow Thomas at Thomas Govain on Twitter X. He's always on during the games, and he's a good follow. And feel free to hit him up with any discussion that you have about these particular dream targets

Starting point is 00:13:16 that he's come up with. So let's start with number one. And I don't think these are in any order. Maybe they are. But we're going to start with one. And it's a big one. It's a big fish. We're talking about Framber Valdez from the Houston Astros.

Starting point is 00:13:30 The Astros are currently on Saturday. The, what is the 28th? They're 40 and 40 on the season. And if they were in the national league still, they'd be right in the thick of things. But it's a little different over in the American League. They are currently three and a half back of the wild card. So they're not out of it by any means.

Starting point is 00:13:49 But for this exercise, we've got to pretend that they've decided they are going to sell and they're willing to listen on just about anybody on the roster. Why would Valdez make sense for the Cardinals? Well, here's what Thomas says about it. The 30-year-old has two All-Star appearances to his name, in addition to three top 11, Sy Young finishes. This year, he has thrown 80.2 winnings with a 3.68 ERA, 3.88 FIP, fielding independent percentage, for those of you who don't know what that means,

Starting point is 00:14:18 1.202 whip and a 108 ERA plus. Where Valdez has slipped this year is in regards to his strikeout numbers. He was once good for a strikeout an inning, but he's striking out only 7.0 batters per nine this year. His career averages at 8.6. The potential for dominance is still there, though. Valdez's 2022-2020 seasons featured him throwing nearly 400 innings with a 3.13 ERA, 3.28 FIP, 1.142 whip, and a 128 ERA plus.

Starting point is 00:14:50 Those are numbers that belong at the top of the rotation. Valdez's his career and team control, and he's a free agent after the 2025 season, are going to make him costly. That is why he is a dream target for the St. Louis Carthals, because he's going to be expensive. If the Astros do decide to punt on this season and they decide to make some trades, Bramber Valdez is going to be very, very, very expensive. And you know how the Cardinals don't appear to be willing to pay what someone like Valdez would cost in free agency.

Starting point is 00:15:27 So unless you produce talent like him in your system, you've got to be willing to trade for guys like that. It's the only other way you're going to get him. So Valdez would be an incredible co-ace with Sunny Gray, Gibson would slide to your number three spot. I think you'd feel pretty happy about that. But again, it would cost a lot to get them and the Astros have to be ready to sell, which is something at this point.

Starting point is 00:15:51 I don't think they're ready to do that just yet. There's still a lot of talent on that roster in Houston. So that one is kind of those TBA. We'll see what happens down the road. This next guy is a very interesting one for sure. Very intriguing to me. I like the name. I like the setup here.

Starting point is 00:16:13 Certainly somebody I wish the Cardinals would look into, and that would be Zach Eflin from the Tampa Bay Rays. Not to be confused with Zach Afron, although Zach Eflin is also a good looking dude. But because of his contract and what the raise situation is right now, I like this one. Tampa Bay is 40 and 41. They're four games back in the wild card.

Starting point is 00:16:37 Eflin is in year two of his three-year deal, which he signed, and it's only worth $40 million. He made 11 last year. He'll make 11 again this year. And then he's set to make $18 million in 2025, certainly not out of the Cardinals' price range and probably more than the raise would like to spend on somebody who's going to be a free agent. Now, here's what Thomas has to say about him. While most Cardinal fans see $18 million and think of Miles Michaelis and Adam Wainwright, Eflin's value far exceeds his dollar mark. The Tampa Bay raise organization is known for trading players before they enter the final years of arbitration, let alone free agents worth eight figures.

Starting point is 00:17:16 Tim Kelly, a bleacher report listed the raise as probable sellers at the deadline recently. This may be the year the raise decided trade off expiring contracts and expensive players to retool. With the bulk of their rotation on the injured list, a retool this year leading into 2025, where the restock starting pitching staff may be their best bet. due to the impending return of key starters next year, like Shane McClanahan, Drew Rasmussen, and Jeffrey Springs and Eflin's hefty salary in 2025, he could become expendable this year. The Cardinals should jump on that trade. $18 million is a sizable chunk of change, but it would likely mean the Cardinals can stray away from using high prospects to lure Eflin away from the raise. Eifflin is 30 years old.

Starting point is 00:17:58 He's 3 and 5. He's got a 4.20 ERA and a 3.79 FIP, 1.143, 1.143,000. whip, but leads the league in walks per nine at 0.7. You guys know how I hate walks. He's only walked six batters this year in 81 in the third innings. I like me some Zach Eflin, man. I dig that kind of move. Sixth of the Sight Young Award voting last year in the American League went 16 and

Starting point is 00:18:29 eight for a much better race team. They're just not doing as well this year. everything about him screams cardinals to me. I mean, we're talking about a guy in his 30s. We're talking about a guy who doesn't strike out a whole lot of people. A little bit expensive, but not like break the bank 30 million per year expensive. Veteran guy probably won't be persuaded too much by the bright lights of a bigger city. You know, so it's not like he's like, ooh, I want to see what living in New York's like.

Starting point is 00:19:04 he was in Philadelphia. He's been in a big city before. This is the guy that, you know, makes a lot of sense for the Cardinals. What would it take to get him? Considering he has just the one year left at 18 million is a real question. We don't know what exactly it would take. You know, that was kind of the reason why, you know, you're talking about Tyler Glass now for the raise. You know, he had that $25 million tag still left on him for one more year, which is why the raise were like, yeah, let's get rid of them now. and I mean, Tyler Glassdown, Zach Eflin are, you know, different levels of pitchers,

Starting point is 00:19:39 but still, I don't think the raise want to pay Zach Eflin $18 million next year for a team that we don't know if it's going to be any good. So that's where I'm at there. That's a little bit more feasible than the Framber Valdez trade. I'll be honest with you. I want to do one more of the five that Thomas gave us. This one, though, is a bullpen arm. And it's a bullpen arm that the Cardinals saw a whole lot of in the last series that they actually lost.

Starting point is 00:20:07 We'll do that next year on Locked on Cardinals. Going to baseball games at St. Louis, it's tradition. It's tradition. I'm excited to go tonight and tomorrow. And if, you know, even when the team is losing, like they're clobbered on Friday night by the Reds. But, you know, things have been much better recently. So you're starting to see Bush Stadium fill up a little bit more. Kids are on vacation now.

Starting point is 00:20:33 They don't have school or anything to worry about. So we're starting to see bigger crowds at Bush Stadium to cheer on our Redbirds. And when you need tickets to the game, look no further than the Game Time app. Game Time is an authorized ticket marketplace of Major League Baseball, which makes getting tickets faster. It makes it easier. Prices on the Game Time app actually go down. The closer it gets to the first pitch. So if you're thinking about going to Friday night's game, tickets probably going down.

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Starting point is 00:21:50 off. Download game time today, last minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed. Locked on us launched the first ever National Sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube and now it's also available on Amazon Fire TV and the free fire TV channels 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 Sports Today now available on the Free Fire TV channels app. So the Cardinals lost two of three in Miami. I know we've tried to move on from this, but it happened. They lost against the Marlins. It was a grueling series. Two extra inning games. You had the unfortunate Gibson injury in game three. The main things,

Starting point is 00:22:38 wonky from the get going that one. And in that series, both teams had to use their bullpins a ton. You know, the Cardinals are still trying to recoup from everything that went on in that series. The Marlins, since the Cardinals left town, have gone four and three. But this season is already a wash for them. They've already made it clear that they're ready for next year. They're moving on.

Starting point is 00:23:02 They're not worried about this year. They did that when they shipped Luis Arise to San Diego. It could be a lot more guys for. from this roster moving elsewhere. And the one that Thomas brings up is a relief pitcher. Left-hand reliever Tanner Scott, who pitched in all three games of the series against the Cardinals and was very, very good. Here's what Thomas had to say about Tanner Scott.

Starting point is 00:23:26 While Jesus Lazzardo may be the most obvious pick here, I'm taking a different route. The Marlins player that intrigues me the most would be reliever Tanner Scott. Scott will be a free agent at the end of the season. So he's a true rental. Rental relievers, regardless of how down. prominent they are, rarely fetch a top 100 prospect. So the Cardinals could hold on to guys like Victor Scott II, Tinkins, Thomas A Jacey, and Quinn Matthews. It's possible even to Co-Aroby will be spared. Scott has thrown 35 in relief this year. He's got a 1.54 ERA, 3.82.5 and a 1.171 whip.

Starting point is 00:24:01 It's 24.8% K-rate is nothing to scoff at. And there's room for growth there, as that's the lowest mark of his career. This is the second year in a row of Don. prominence for Tanner Scott last year at a 2.31 ERA and a 2.17 FEP. He's managed to generate lots of soft contact this year and his elevated ground ball rate will play well with the Cardinals defense. Scott can be another late game option for manager Ali Marmal. Another guy, I mean, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Tanner Scott makes perfect sense for the Cardinals. Problem is a lot of teams are going to be chasing this guy. They're going to be calling the Marlins and being like, yeah, Tanner Scott, I want to get,

Starting point is 00:24:45 what do you got, what can I do to get Lozardo and Scott off your hands? You know, that's the kind of thing, is I worry about a massive trade that is made between a team that's got a better, a better prospect list than the Cardinals right now. Remember, you got to remember last year, the Cardinals had to basically restock the organization's prospect pool. There wasn't a whole, lot going on there. They were one of the worst. Yeah, you have Walker. Yeah, you have win. And we've seen guys like Ivan Herrera help out this year. It was nice to get Siani because obviously he's been great. But, you know, as far as depth and how deep the prospect pool was, wasn't great for the Cardinal. So when they had to sell last year at the deadline, they restocked all of this stuff. And now they've

Starting point is 00:25:35 got them. And these are guys that are like a year, maybe two away. But I I don't know if they're ready to unleash the fury that it would take to put together a package that would pull a Lazzardo and a Tanner Scott. It would be great to be able to put something together to just get Tanner Scott. But I worry that another team is going to make some blockbuster deal and grab a starter and a reliever from the Miami Marlins. Or maybe even a bat. I mean, they could do that too. The Marlins are clearly open for business. So will Mo be willing to pay the price to beat out some of these other teams?

Starting point is 00:26:11 is he willing to take the risk that Scott may not return to the team next season because he's a free agent. This is why he's on the dream target list. See, now you know why it makes sense. So what are your thoughts on these three guys? For Amber Baldess, Zach Eflin, and Tanner Scott, what do you think? Who's the most realistic? Who's the guy you want the most? Who do you think they'll actually get out of those three, if any of them?

Starting point is 00:26:37 Or do you think that they're all dream targets that we'll have to, stay a dream. All of them would look great in Cardinal Red. Don't get me wrong. But the reality is they might be such popular targets that the Cardinals might have to look elsewhere for the help they seek. While everybody else is chasing these guys, that's when the Cardinals sneak in and go get not low-hanging fruit. I'm not saying that, but they go get guys who are another tier below them that will hopefully do the job just as well. That's just that kind of seems like they're a MO. So I'd expect something more like that. But let's talk about it. Leave, leave your thoughts in the comments. Make sure you hit me up on Twitter X. Again,

Starting point is 00:27:16 Thomas gave five names. So I gave you three of them. He's got two more names in this article, both from the American League. One is a young starting pitcher. The other is a two-time all-star, gold glove winner, silver slugger winner, world series winner. Find out who they are. Link is in the description and the show notes. So go check them out. for yourself and then leave the comments on who you who you like for me and for Thomas. Don't forget to hit up Thomas Cofane. Thank you guys for making Locktown Cardinals your first list every day. We have it already.

Starting point is 00:27:49 Please give us a follow on Twitter, X at L.O. underscore Cardinals and the JD Sports Radio. Like, subscribe on YouTube, help our channel and love for the Cardinals grow. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason, and we will see you next time on Lockdown Cardinals.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Three Dream Pitching Targets For The Cardinals

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