Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Two Teams In The AL East Could Be Interested In Arenado

Episode Date: November 25, 2024

- Nolan Arenado Trades - Boston Red Sox - New York Yankees - Jasson Dominguez - Tendered And Non Tendered Players Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms… 🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOSTLCardin...als?sid=YouTube Locked On MLB League-Wide: Every Team, Prospects & More 🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnMLB Follow on Twitter/X: @JDSPORTSRADIO Follow the show on Twitter/X: @LO_Cardinals Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. Omaha Steaks From legendary steaks to mouthwatering desserts and more, save fifty percent off site-wide at OmahaSteaks.com. Plus, our listeners get an extra thirty dollars off with Promo Code MLB and a thirty-dollar reward card when you shop early. Ibotta Download the FREE Ibotta app now and use code LOCKEDONMLB to get 100% cash back on your Thanksgiving feast starting November 1. FanDuel You can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - if you win your first FIVE DOLLAR BET ! Visit FANDUEL.COM 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.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Trade rumors and proposals involving multiple cardinal players, including Nolan Aronado and Ryan Helsley, a couple of doozies with some teams in the AL East. We'll talk about it on today's episode of Lockdown Cardinals. You are Locked on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked On Podcasts network, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, there, Cardinals. I'm J.D. Haffern and I'm your host for Lockdown Cardinals, part of the Locktown Podcast Network, We're covering your team every day.
Starting point is 00:00:34 You can follow me on Twitter X at JD Sports Radio. You can also follow the podcast at L.O. underscore Cardinals. I want to thank those of you who make Locked on Cardinals, your first list. And every day we are free and available wherever you get your podcast. You can also find us on YouTube. If you haven't stopped by yet, do so. Give it a try. Like, subscribe, comment, hit that notification button so you know when new episodes are posted.
Starting point is 00:00:55 This is a show serving Cardle Nation and giving the best fans in baseball, all of the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by Fandall. You can start the season with a big return on Fandall. New customers can place a $5 bet, and you'll get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet. Visit fandle.com to get started. So it is the holiday season.
Starting point is 00:01:18 We are at the week of Thanksgiving. We've made it there. So for those of you who are off today and the rest of the week, Bravo. Bravo. Congratulations to you. Use the time wisely, I suggest. either relax and take her easy, get some shopping done before the holidays, maybe hit up a golf course one last time before it gets really, really, really cold outside.
Starting point is 00:01:40 This is that time of year where I always wonder, what the hell am I doing in the Midwest? Why do I live here? What is it about this place? Do I really like ice, snow, coughing, sneezing? But we grew up here, so this is what we do. So let's talk about Nolan Aronado. Trade rumors, more specifically, shall we? nothing is concrete yet, right?
Starting point is 00:02:05 Nolan Arnado, he has not demanded a trade publicly. The reports were it was a Derek Gould that said that, you know, he's never said, hey, I won out, trade me. We have not heard that. So we don't know if Nolan Aronado even wants to leave. We're just assuming, which, you know, makes an ASS out of you and me, we know the rule there. But we're assuming that he's open to the possibilities.
Starting point is 00:02:31 You know, those who covered the sport continue to believe that eventually he's probably going to get traded. It just seems like it makes sense for everyone involved at this point in time. Cardinals are looking to shed payroll and go younger. Aronado wants to win a championship. Doesn't want to wait anymore. Once to play for a contender. Cool. Again, it's nothing personal.
Starting point is 00:02:51 It's strictly business. Godfather, 1972. Jim Bowdo from the Athletic was answering questions from fans again. And in one of his recent articles, he got a couple of them. involving the Cardinals. One of them was asking, do you think the Cardinals realistically can or will move Nolan Aronado? Now, Jim responded basically with the good and the bad of what Nolan Aronado is right now. Aronado is owed 32 million in 2025, 27 million in 2026 and 15 million in 2027. Rockies on the hook for 5 million in both, 26 and 27. Age and decline have caught up with him.
Starting point is 00:03:31 three seasons. His sluggy percentage is dropped from 533 to 459 to 399 and his home run output has fallen from 30 to 26 to 16. He's still a 2.5 war player and an elite defender at third base. He's a future Hall of Famer. However, he's entering his age 34 season and this is in 2022 when Arnada posted a league leading 7.7 war. If the cardals are willing to eat a significant part of the contract, there's a possibility they could move him, but it's not a slam dunk. Arrana would be a difficult player to trade because of his remaining contract, there's no trade clause, and there are not a lot of teams that need a third basement. So it doesn't sound all that promising that no Arnaud would get shipped anywhere, right?
Starting point is 00:04:16 Well, he said there's not a lot of teams. It's not that there aren't any teams that would be interested. And in the American League's, American League East, there's a couple of teams that have been rumored to possibly be interested in what Nolan Aronado would offer them if certain things happen. All right? So we're going to start with the Boston Red Sox here. This is something that it's been talked about. We've mentioned them before among the possible suitors for Nato.
Starting point is 00:04:50 One of the issues clearly is that Raphael Devers, who's arguably the best player on their team, best hitter, plays their base. according to reports, the Red Sox have held internal discussions regarding the possibility of moving. Their longtime third baseman, Raphael Devers, off the position per a report from Mass Lives Sean McAdam. Now, McAdam goes on to suggest that the clubs view a trade for third baseman Nolan Aronado with the Cardinals as a potential option to fill their vacancy at the hot corner in the event that Devers would change positions. whether that be a move to first base or D.H. An issue, though, is whether or not Devers actually wants to swap positions. His agent recently was quoted as saying he is a third baseman,
Starting point is 00:05:36 and he will continue to play third base and work hard to get better at it. That's his position. That's what he likes to play, and that's what he will be playing. Now, the Red Sox also have Tristan Casas at first base as well, who he's only 24, hurt most of this past year, so he didn't hear a whole lot about him. has been a pretty productive hitter since coming up to the major leagues, hence why you may have seen Cassis's name brought up in trade rumors
Starting point is 00:06:03 as the Red Sox apparently are on the search for pitching. Pitching, pitching, pitching is what they're going after. Now on the surface, a move of the Cardinals trading Nolan Arnado to a team like the Boston Red Sox, in theory it makes sense. You know, most of the complications here are really, what is he bringing to these other teams? It's not so much that the Cardinals have a problem with trading them outside of the no trade clause. And no one has a choice.
Starting point is 00:06:32 He can say, I do not want to go to Boston. So I will veto no matter what you get out of this. So that's always a possibility. But it makes sense, you know, because Devers, I don't know if you know this, and you pay attention to the Boston Red Sox at all. But it's our job to kind of be aware of what's going on around the league. Raphael Dembers is a terrible third baseman. I don't know if you know that.
Starting point is 00:06:57 Him becoming a first baseman or a DH makes a whole lot more sense to keeping him over there at the hot corner. I don't know why he'd want to stay over there, to be honest with you, because he's not very good at it. Led the American League in errors at third base for this past year has done it for seven straight years, has made the most errors over at third base in the American League. Okay. last year, lowest error total of his career, which was 12, which still led the American League, and that was only in 130 games. Obviously, that's an upgrade with Nolan Aronado going over to third base if they were to make this deal. And I, you know, again, I keep thinking about
Starting point is 00:07:35 ballparks that have short porches in left field. Nolan Arnano likes to pull the ball, you know, and we brought up the Houston Astros. I'm pretty sure Nolan Arnautto would have a good time hammering line drives off the green monster in left field if he became a red sock. I think that would be something he would be excited about. I don't know if his home runs will go up that much because of the green monster, but he's going to, he's going to put a lot of dense into that wall. We saw former Cardinal Tyler O'Neill rejuvenate his career in Boston this past year. So who's to say it couldn't work for Nolan Arnado as well?
Starting point is 00:08:11 We know that Hyme Bloom is quite familiar with the Red Sox organization. Of course, the farm system. He was a reason why they were able to build it up and make it one of the best in baseball right now. They are particularly strong in position players over pitching, hence why they would want to trade a guy like Casas to go get pitching because they don't have a lot of that in their farm system. They got a lot of position players, though, that are highly touted. So, you know, it seems like it would make sense and it would be a decent fit. It's just there are some things that have to be done on the Boston side to make it work. And again, does Nolan Aronado want to go there?
Starting point is 00:08:49 Bowden also responded to a fans trade proposal involving the Cardinals and the Yankees. There's a couple of them I want to bring up. The first one did not include Nolan Aronado, although there is another one that does. So I'm going to share those with you coming up next on Locked on Cardinals. Nothing delivers comfort and joy quite like the unrivaled quality and taste of Omaha Stakes. Now, this year, skip the holiday hustle and bustle. and you can save 50% off sitewide during their cyber sale at Omaha Steaks.com. Plus, you get a $30 reward card when you shop early and score an extra $30 off with promo
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Starting point is 00:10:26 Leave your comments on YouTube as well as on Twitter X anytime you want your feedback. Always welcome and encouraged. I also would like to point you in the direction of Locked on Blues and our girl Haley, who is pretty busy right now, pretty busy considering the big coaching change that happened with Jim Montgomery, Monty, back in the fold. Poor bastard. But we always knew he probably wasn't the long-term answer at the head. coaching position. So in honor of that, I'm wearing my blue stuff today if you're watching on
Starting point is 00:10:58 YouTube because I'm excited about the move. I'm glad Monty's back. All right. So Tis the season for trade ideas, right? Some good, some bad. And once again, Jim Bowden at the athletic was fielding questions about certain trades involving all sorts of teams around the league. And he got a couple of questions, as I mentioned, about the Cardinals. And I just told you about what he had to say about what the difficulties and positives of moving Nolan R&A would be for the Cardinals. Then he was given a trade proposal. And this was from a listener, Dennis Kay, who suggested the Cardinals trade, Ryan Housley, Victor Scott II, and Stephen Mats, eating all but five million of his 12.5 million salary
Starting point is 00:11:43 to the Yankees for Jason Dominguez. Who says no and why? So that's the trade proposal. proposal. And, you know, Ryan Housley, obviously stud, Victor Scott the second. We know what he can do defensively. We know he's got the speed working on the hitting side of things. And of course, Stephen Matt's, I think would be a valuable piece to a lot of teams if he can stay healthy. He'd be a valuable piece to the Cardinals if he could stay healthy, but we don't know if that's going to work out so well. So making him part of a deal and shipping him out is something that I'm sure the Cardinals are interested in. Jim Bowden's response to this particular trade.
Starting point is 00:12:25 Again, this is the one that doesn't involve Nolan Arnado. He says, that's an interesting trade idea. I'd make it if I'm the Cardinals because they're building for the long term. And I think Dominguez will be the best player in this proposal in the long term. The Yankees would get one of the best closers in the sport and a speedy center fielder who would fit nicely between Juan Soto if they resign him and they're a judge in the outfield. However, Dominguez is the Yankees best prospect. And I wouldn't trade him if they don't resign Soto.
Starting point is 00:12:54 So if the Yankees don't resign Soto, they say no. Now, Jason to being, guys, for those of you who are not familiar, has been one of the kind of the crown jewels of the New York Yankees farm system for a couple of years now. He's not a big guy, all right? He really like five nine, five nine. They list him at 190 pounds, although he looks a little thicker than that to me. But he's a switch hitter. He's got speed.
Starting point is 00:13:20 He's got power. for those of you who play MLB the show. He's had cards that you can play with for a couple of years now. And they've always some of the best ones in the game. So that's how I first got familiar with and was just playing that video game. But the write-up by MLB pipeline on, Dominguez says, amid the most hype for any international amateur ever, Dominguez signed for $5.1 million out of the Dominican Republic in 2019
Starting point is 00:13:45 and quickly earned the nickname The Martian because of his out-of-this-world ability. While he hasn't lived up to reports of possible well above average tools across the board, who could, he reached New York at age 20 despite losing his first full year as a pro to the pandemic. He homered off Justin Verlander in his first big league game and went deep three more times in his next seven contests before injuring his right throwing elbow, which required Tommy John surgery. Dominguez's signature tool is his prodigious power, which he generates with massive strength and tremendous bat speed from both sides of the plate. he looks to turn on pitches, but won't maximize his home run potential until he drives the ball in the air more regularly. Scouts are confused by his approach, which can look disciplined at times and then too passive than others.
Starting point is 00:14:31 But the bottom line is that he draws more than his share of walks while also accruing plenty of strikeouts. Built like an NFL running back at 5'9 and considerably more than is listed at 190, he has solid speed and runs the base as well, though his instincts aren't as sharp in the outfield. His reads and routes will have to improve if he's to remain in centerfield. And the more likely outcome is that he'll become a corner outfielder with solid 2 plus arm strength. So that's the background that they give on Dominguez. You heard them mention the Tommy John surgery that he had to undergo. And that was at the end of 2023.
Starting point is 00:15:06 So last year, he's coming back from the arm surgery, played in just 58 games. And 18 of them were at the major league level where, you. He hit 179, two home runs, four RBIs, 67 plate appearances. He did that five stolen bases, and he walked 11 times in that span. He also struck out 19 times in that span as well. But combined with his numbers in the minor leagues for last year, 314 average, 11 home runs, 35 RBI, 16 stolen bases in 250 plate appearances. To me, it appears that he doesn't have much else to prove at the minor league level.
Starting point is 00:15:43 And I'm telling you, like he's got some skills that you just don't see from everybody. You know, like Jordan Walker has got all these skills and he's this massive man, right? But he could never play center field where Dominguez could play center field, which brings me to this next trade idea because we're talking about center fielder's because in my eyes you're starting center fielder right now is large new bar. That's where I would go. If everybody's healthy and everybody's where they need to be, I got Lars Newbar in center field for the Cardinals. So this trade proposal also involving the Yankees is a little bit bigger.
Starting point is 00:16:23 It's a little bit bigger. Nolan Aronado is in this one. So is Lars Newfar. And then Ryan Fernandez instead of Ryan Helsley in exchange for Jason Dominguez. Now, this is a trade I saw on a couple of different sides. So I'm guessing they're sharing the same guy's idea. And again, these types of trades that could or might happen with the New York Yankees, it all depends on what happens with Juan Soto.
Starting point is 00:16:49 All right. That's going to hold everything up right now. If they can't get Juan Soto back in free agency, then all of this is null and void because it's probably nothing's going to happen. But if they do get them, then they can move a guy like Jason to Vingez and move him for another area, which third base is something. that the Yankees are going to need. So his name is Matt.
Starting point is 00:17:15 I don't want to butcher it, but it's spelled Musico, but Musico maybe is how he pronounced it, but he's with Newsweek. And he's the one who brought this trade up, where it's Aronado, Newpar, Fernandez for Jason Dominguez. Says this about Dominguez. Brings top prospect pedigree, but the soon-to-be-22-year-old is far from a sure thing
Starting point is 00:17:39 and shaky defensively. Trent Grisham is better as a fourth outfielder and his judge continues aging. It would be better if he didn't spend most of his playing time in center field. Aronado's got a no trade clause in his eight year $260 million contract, but his name has been churning through the rumor mill as the Cardinals Mullery set. Newbar is a primary center fielder, which would allow judge to move to a corner to preserve his body better.
Starting point is 00:18:04 Now, how much stock do you put into these trade proposals? Not a ton. Not a ton. It's just discussion. Okay. This is me and you and a couple of guys at the bar. Throw them back some nanny lights or some tall, cool Budwisers and just shooting the poop, right? We're just coming up with ideas, talking about different scenarios that could happen for fun. Okay. So don't get all bent out of shape about when you hear ideas like this. or don't get overly excited either if you like the idea. I think some people would love either of these trades, to be honest. I mean, I don't know what giving up Ryan Fernandez does for the Cardinals because he's not making any money, but I don't know. Part of it wants me to combine the trades a little bit and kind of go with, you know, what a Halsley Aronado trade.
Starting point is 00:19:12 make more sense and then have dominas like in center or left and keeping it but if they need a center fielder i guess you'd have to throw in that's where victor scott would come in instead a new bar but i don't know but you could combine you could come up with different ways to to turn this thing around and make it better i think if you were to make these deals um it's just fun to talk about and whenever the one soda stuff finally gets figured out then you'll begin to see teams start to pivot in different directions because there's a lot of teams right now that genuinely believe they have a shot at signing Juan Soto. And certainly the Yankees are one of them. I think the Red Sox were mentioned in there. There's a few of them out there still.
Starting point is 00:19:58 But until that gets settled, we're all kind of in a holding pattern, right? And, you know, winter meetings are going to be coming up here. What are we? A couple of weeks away from that. So you'll start to see more. But until we get to the market starting to move a little bit, It's just going to be us doing this. We're just throwing things up against the wall, seeing if they'll stick and just discussing them. So give me your thoughts on these trade deals with Boston, with the,
Starting point is 00:20:22 with the Yanks. I know we didn't have like an actual proposal, but what would you want in return for Nolan Aronado if you were to send them to the Boston Red Sox, who don't have a lot of pitching in their farm system? Like what would you, what position would you want in return? Because, you know, looking at the Cardinals right now,
Starting point is 00:20:40 really not a lot of spots open, unless there's something that just blows you out of the water and you, you know, put that person in that spot. So I don't know. Tell me what you think about it. McCartle's non-centered another member of the 2023 trade deadline group on Friday, but they also tendered a lot of people. So we're going to talk about that next on Locked on Cardinals. Get ready to tackle the NFL action with Van Dole. America is a number one sports book because right now new customers can bet $5 and get $150 and bonus bets.
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Starting point is 00:22:46 Sully brings you a daily blend of humor and business. baseball keeping you updated on everything that's happening this off season. I know we had a deal today. There was a deal today. The Angels ended up signing Usaic Cacucci, three-year deal. Was it $63 million or something like that? I mean, $21 million from UCCacucci, who was really, really good with the Houston Astros, but it wasn't very good with the Toronto Blue Jays before he got traded.
Starting point is 00:23:13 And that guy is going to get $21 million per season. Crazy, right? Crazy market. You can see why the Cardinals are trying to grow talent instead of going out and buying talent when you get a guy who is 9 and 10 with an ERA over 4, getting 21 million per. That's crazy, right? Anyway, locked on MLB. So he's got you covered in all things.
Starting point is 00:23:34 Let's get to the business side of stuff for the Cardinals over the last couple of days in case you hadn't heard the deadline to tender and non-tender players has come and gone. And the Cardinals tendered contracts to relieve a Ryan Helsley, Bernard Donovan, Lars Newpar, Jojo Romero, Andre Palante, and John King, meaning they will be eligible for salary arbitration in the coming months. All of those guys are going to get raised. You know, Lars, probably, if there was one,
Starting point is 00:24:00 it's not going to get a huge bump, probably Lars Newport. But everybody else, they're going up. And none of that is breaking news. None of this is not expected. All of them played pivotal roles in the Cardinals 83 win season last year. and all of them either met or exceeded expectations in my eyes outside of Lars Newfar, who dealt with injuries again.
Starting point is 00:24:23 Helsley had that monster year, setting a new club record for saves in a season with 49, wins the Trevor Hoffman Award as the best reliever in the NL, his first team all MLB. Absolute stud. His money is going to go way up, way up. Brin Donovan, steady as usual, 278, 14 home runs, 78 ribbyes, OPS plus, 12 took over the left field job as well as playing second base well enough to become the another finalist for the utility goal glove award again he's part of the glue of this roster so we love us
Starting point is 00:24:58 some brenda donovan donnie is badass uh newt was a disappointment yet again this year coming out of the gate and spring training another injury another injury that rib fracture set him back uh then you had the oblique at the end of may once again we question whether or not large newpar is ever going to up to the expectations we had for you know and it's not due to lack of effort it's not like large new bar is like a bad baseball player or he doesn't give 130 percent or it's nothing like that everything about large is great except he can't stay on the field the production is there when he's healthy and he just can't stay on the field you know when he plays for long stretches it seems to me that he's one of those guys that kind of checks all the boxes of what you're looking for,
Starting point is 00:25:48 you know, good defensive player, got a very good arm. Good speed, great batting eye. He gets butchered by the umps all the time. Always gets called out on pitches that are balls according to the little box on the tube. Um, he's got power. I know he started to show it off a little bit more at the end of the season there. He should be a big part of the Cardinal's future, but every injury knocks him out for long enough that, you know, he's got to start all over again, he's recalcimated to everything, which takes time. And it seems like whenever he's finally back to looking in full Lars Neupar form, another injury pops up. And then here we go. Again, it's like this vicious cycle that is Lars Neupar. It's frustrating for everyone. But all you can do is
Starting point is 00:26:36 hope that eventually this injury curse that follows him around, we'll just shoe fly and go away so that we can get the full newt in 2025. Jojo Romero, despite tying for third in the league and blown saves last year with eight, he was a really nice surprise overall. Tied for third in the league and holds with 30, probably just was a little bit worn down in the second half, which led us some struggles. First half, dynamite, right?
Starting point is 00:27:02 4-1, 2.43 ERA and 43 appearances. and then in the second half, three and two, five point four zero ERA in just 22 appearances. But when you play as many close games as the Cardinals did last year, it forced Ali Marmal to rely on his top guys more often, Healsley, Romero, Kittrich. And they were out there a ton, a ton last year. So to see him and Kit wear down a little bit where Helsley was able to stay strong, right? He was elite the whole time.
Starting point is 00:27:33 But Romero Kittridge, first half. incredible second half kind of back to earth a little bit but still you like what you're getting from jojo speaking of believers how about john king who saw the king be honest who saw the king being as good as he was in 2024 not me not me part of that trade with the rangers uh got him thomas a jacie aunt's koa roby for jordan and uh chris stratton was the other one uh king has been a very pleasant surprise for me last year called up for good with the team at the end of April and made a career high 56 appearances with a 2.85 ERA. And that was after being really, really good after the trade where he had a 1.45 ERA with the
Starting point is 00:28:16 birds in 2023. And he's not a strikeout guy. That's not his game. His game, ground balls. Ground balls. Whenever you need a double play, you need a ground ball. John King is your man. Denton says that he had a ground ball rate of 61.7 percent, which among the 160 relievers
Starting point is 00:28:35 who pitched at least 50 innings in 2024. Only Tim Hill, Clay Holmes and Yaneer Canoe, had higher groundball rates. And then there's John King. Just there is. And we know how important the bullpins are and how much they're becoming more relied on than starters. Starters are going four and five innings.
Starting point is 00:28:54 And that seems to be about where managers want to stop. And then they're ready to turn things over to the bullpen and getting it from that guy and an inning from that guy. And then that's how they wrap things up. So John King has been, has been excellent, anything you could have asked for out of him. And then there's Andre Palante, who we've talked about a ton on this show. We don't really have to go on to him a lot,
Starting point is 00:29:18 but a very bright spot from last year after joining the starting rotation following, you know, he began as a reliever, didn't work out, went back down to Memphis, starter 8 and 7, 3.56 CRA and 20 starts, and now was positioned himself to be a member of the starting. rotation right away in spring training. Like he's, I would have him locked in as a four or five right now for the Cardinals. Now the Cardinals did non-tender one player and that was right-handed, right-hand pitcher Adam Klopfenstein, which reduced their 40-man roster down to 38 leaving space for two more players.
Starting point is 00:29:53 He was part of that 2023 Jordan Hicks trade with Toronto, which also netted the Cardinals starting pitcher Sim Robbersa. He would have been eligible for the Rule 5 draft in 2023 had they not added him to the 40. So it made sense to keep them, see what they had. They weren't winning anyway. So kept them on. And per John Denton's story at MLB.com, Klopfenstein, who made his debut with the Cardinals in the Rickwood game in Birmingham, the game they won, by the way, and worked a one, two, three, eighth inning to record a hold was the second pitcher acquired by St. Louis in 2023 to be removed from the 40-man roster this week. He joins Drew Rahm, who they got in the Jack Flaherty deal with Baltimore Orioles.
Starting point is 00:30:36 But he was hurt all this past year. They moved him off the 40 man. He did clear waivers and rejoined the club on a minor league deal. So Drew Rom is still in the organization. But Klopfenstein 4 and 5, 4.74 ERA over 17 starts, excuse me, with Memphis this past season, he is now automatically a free agent. So he didn't have to go through waivers. So he is literally at this moment, not within.
Starting point is 00:31:01 anybody as far as I don't think anybody signed him yet but not with the cardinals so unfortunate that he wasn't able to land a spot but um you know not all trades work out perfectly you do have some robbers out of that one still and there's still some hope that he could have a bright future uh with the additions of matt coperniac which i'm so glad they had him on the 40 that made me happy uh matt's fonson obviously could have a roll in the bullpen this year teen kens to go roby with those guys added up and then raman Lofenstein removed, again, 38 players now on their 40-man roster. So there is room to make some addition.
Starting point is 00:31:38 So if they were to start dealing and stuff, there are spots available that they could put some guys on there. So we'll see what happens. Again, I wouldn't expect a whole lot until these winter meetings get underway and until Juan Soto signs with whoever he ends up signing with. But we'll keep you posted on all of it and keep chatting about the latest. rumors and different ideas and different trades and stuff. If you have any, you want to send, by all means, set up.
Starting point is 00:32:07 We'll do a fan feedback. And we'll go through some of them and either applaud you or we'll all laugh together. Okay. Thanks for making Locktown Cardinals. Your first listen every day. If you haven't already, please give us a follow on Twitter ax at L. underscore Cardinals and at JD Sports Radio. Like, subscribe on YouTube, help our channel and love for the Cardinals.
Starting point is 00:32:25 You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. I will see you next time on Locked on Cardinals.

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