Pretty much just the vodka. From the freezer Brita pitcher. Premium vodka is a scam. Vodka is just ethanol, so get a mid-range vodka and throw it in a filter pitcher. I recommend the Costco-Kirkland brand. And I’m Polish.
When you drink alcohol it has ethanol in it. Denatured alcohol isn’t sold for human consumption. When you distill alcohol you get rid of the foreshots and heads (the early distillations that contain methanol and acetone).
But ethanol is the proof alcohol (also called the hearts).
And that’s why the Cardinals are reportedly taking such a hard line with requirements for Donovan. They have to think about fielding a representative team after the 2025 season and he at least his bat needs to be replaced in the OF. Agree Walker is on the bench or they use his last AAA option year, he cannot be depended on after the last several years, especially last year.
If we can boot camp Herrera into any semblance of holding runners, I'd be delighted if he could still keep his offense where it's at but free up the DH. Even if he catches 80 games that's a fantastic development in my books - though we'd probably move him off catcher by the time the team plans on relevancy again.
JJW will be at 2nd and as of right now Gorman + Arenado will be at 3B, at least most of the time.
Donnie will start at LF while Noot rehabs, assuming he needs a little extra time after the surgeries. Walker will start in RF with Church also in the mix. If everyone is healthy when Noot gets back then Walker better be performing, otherwise he moves into a platoon role.
I honestly think that the draft pick incentive is a good reason to start his clock if they have a lot of faith in him to be good right out of the gate. He would be a top candidate for ROY entering the season as is
You made a specific point about Donovan being on the roster RIGHT NOW but you're moving the goalpost back to include someone else you think might be on the roster lol
JJW is in the organization right now. Right now he's one of our 26-best players. I don't understand why we wouldn't play him. He dominated AAA. He's a top-5 prospect. He's a 2B version of JD Drew. He's going to play.
Meanwhile, Donovan is our best OF. So if the season started RIGHT NOW, Donnie would be in LF, JJW would be at 2B.
Totally agree, this has to be his final make or break year, 24 and 4th year, hope he makes it. I’m not doubting that he’ll get an opportunity in some way and not opposed to that as if what I think matters at all, which it doesn’t. Last year he was outright awful in his so-called prove it year and another prove it year is getting very old.
I completely trust what Bloom feels of course with Oli and others input. My opinion is they will give him an opportunity, but he has to demonstrate a level of improvement to not make him a roster liability. It may be 150 AB’s, a rotational role, whatever. In Bloom I trust, and they just have to be better than last year at every possible position, the fan base will not tolerate another bad season under the rebuilding theme. Giving him 350 plus AB’s no matter what I just don’t see happening. I am sure this assessment is full bore this offseason, they will know a lot even before Spring Training, and have a complete answer by opening day.
What Chaim said back in October when he formally assume the POBO office:
Jordan, we all have a good idea of what the adjustment should look like. I give him a lot of credit for trying to do that midseason. I felt it was something you hope to see good returns in season, but really the offseason was going to be the real test of trying to really cement that and have it be second nature.
I really do think (Walker) is a type of talent and player where we are going to see results at the big-league level. For his sake certainly, but also our sake as an organization, we need that to happen soon. The offseason for him is a big one.
There are two views on Walker, not mutually exclusive: the first is that he's just a bust; the second is that he's never been put in a position to succeed. Chaim seems to believe the latter. We shall see. We have seen the new group improve Baez and keep other guys on an upwards trajectory, maybe they can get Walker back on track.
I also have my doubts, but it's not like we have an overwhelmingly amount of OF talent that he's blocking. He's 23, if it wasn't him we'd probably be trying out a reclamation project or else giving Fermin or Torres more looks in the OF. If that's the alternative we may as well give Walker a little more leash.
I don’t dispute any of your points. The reality to me at the beginning of next season he will be 24 in his fourth MLB season. He certainly cannot be counted on as a starting RF. If he has adequate production he’ll play more, if he doesn’t he’ll play less or even be in AAA his last option year. After 2026 he enters his first Arbitration year and the Cardinals only have him under control for 3 more years. We can’t spend 5 years developing him and lose him if he’s good two years later.
IMO the fact that Noot has surgery on both feet bought him some time. A Donovan trade would buy him a little more. If Arenado is also traded that buys him some more still.
But by June 1 (say, or sometime mid-season) some of the following will be happening: Baez is pushing for a promotion, Herrera is getting reps in the OF, Noot is healthy, Torres is pushing for more playing time, and/or Fermin is getting platoon reps in LF.
If Walker still isn't hitting then it's down to AAA, and if he doesn't hit there I think he gets traded or non-tendered next offseason (similar to Kelenic or Bleday).
Love VS2 but it’s 2 guys that can’t hit and a guy who can’t stay healthy rn. Baez made a leap but still has a ways to go and the rest is mostly AAAA filler internally.
The bones are there for a solid IF but Chaim has a sneaky amount of work trying to restock the OF going forward
I've got my fingers crossed that Levenson's late season breakout was real, and he'll be able to continue on that trajectory. If so, he could end up at least making a big league debut after looking dead in the water just a few months ago.
No matter, I'd suggest that they need an OF prospect in a Donovan deal badly just to help infuse the system at that position. I'd even forgo pitching if a team were more willing to come off of solid OF possibilities.
Agreed. I’m skeptical of Montes but I understand taking the swing. With the post yesterday I don’t think Soler is a bad comp in terms of a realistic outcome for him. How much would that help this rebuild idk.
3 Top 50 picks in the draft this year seems like a nice place to grab 1-2 college bats
the winning story for me would be Ol' Miss if they could pull it off. Coach quits on them because he claims they can't win a 'ship and then they win it all.... too cheesy even for schmaltzy soap opera tv, lol.
The pricetag is wildly different. Just saying adding a guy like that when we're trying to firesale the veterans and not really compete in the next 2 seasons would make no sense. May is significantly cheaper and as long as he keeps his era below 5 and eats innings will be pretty easy to trade.
Money saved this season is money for free agents and contract extensions in later seasons. It's a resource to be managed. I prefer the team doesn't spend money to make a 65 win team a 68 win team and saves it for a year where it might make the difference between 88 wins and 91 wins.
Kind of a delusional way to look at it. Smart resource management is necessary in a rebuild. Money is a very important resource. Unspent money doesn't just evaporate. As important as acquiring young players during a rebuild is stockpiling cash for free agents in competitive years.
But we spend some of that money now and have a chance to trade mid-season if he’s good. It’s a valid investment idea and strategy. No matter what, we’re already saving big money this year.
It’s crazy considering how well Mo and the FO did in Asia for a while.
Taguchi, Oh, KK, Mikolas were all quality finds, and IIRC Taguchi was on Yamamoto’s coaching staff before he was posted which was a connection…until he got way out of our price range.
I think the biggest thing is we’re just not a desirable destination anymore. We haven’t been a team where guys have come and gotten better in a while, and we no longer have the appeal of sold out crowds every night and a winning tradition. That’s not even getting into STL summers…
STL isn't particularly desirable (they'll have a chance to rehab the organizational image over time; May is a shot at that), but I think this is more so one of those things where it wouldn't have made sense for the player. He turned down lower AAV longer term deals. His deal with Houston is essentially a chance to win, staying in one place, while pitching for a longer-term deal there or elsewhere. If he did translate to the big leagues well, a team like STL would probably trade him before he opted out.
Yeah I agree. Team is cutting back spending while also not really trying to compete. A lot of instability on the roster and in the clubhouse, can’t imagine a foreign player signing up for that if they have options elsewhere.
They’ll definitely need to rehab the image and it might be a minute. Gray, Contreras, and Leake are still the largest FA contracts we’ve handed out and all 3 were traded before the deal was up. Add in our lack of player development the last few years and all the aforementioned going on with payroll and the roster…fittingly Bloom and the Cardinals are in “Show me” mode with players/fans going forward.
That's why May's signing was so interesting to me. There are/were much more certain flipper guys out there. Getting out in front of him, I'd love to be privy to what their pitch was to him, how they could get/keep him healthy and make him better.
I’d imagine the large pitch was “You can work through what you need to without worrying about your rotation spot”. Under the hood I would hope there’s something they saw and want to add/tweak that might unlock more. The optimist in me hopes the same with the Boston pitchers we’ve acquired as well.
I think getting away from the sinker to a reasonable degree could do him good. Throw more FF and maybe bring back the curve he threw once upon a time.
He's effectively been a two-pitch pitcher for a while now. His stuff isn't good enough to make that work anymore. He desperately needs another secondary.
It's 2026. Anthony Rendon has been cast into the fires of Mount Doom. Is this Arenado trade with the Angels gonna happen or is it just more offseason noise?
I could see it happening assuming ownership is OK with additional dead money on the payroll. Also assuming Angels aren't taking a crack at the big free agents that might play 3B.
My gut is telling me he doesn't end up moved this offseason and instead has to prove himself healthy to get moved at the deadline.
Just to be clear I meant the Cardinal ownership paying for a player to play on another team, similar to what they've done with Gray($20m) and Contrereas($8m). I question if the ownership group has the stomach to pay $10m+ of Arenado's contract even if it makes sense to do.
I've little doubt. This is another Dexter Fowler situation. No team would pay any of the 15 million they added for next year; they'll already be on the hook for his deferred monies from them.
A team might be willing to pay 8 - 10 million this year with little to no return going the other way.
I don't think the issue here is STL ownership. I think it's finding a team that wants him having a situation he'd be good with.
Let’s go with this! How about some optimism? Here is to 2026 showing us some improvement and a bright path to the future. Happy New Years to my Cardinal peeps.
Looks like tomorrow is an off day, too.
(I can keep this joke going).
Happy National Bloody Mary Day! I like mine without the tomato juice.
So a vodka mixed with hot sauce and horseradish on the rocks with a cheeseburger jammed on to the straw?
Pretty much just the vodka. From the freezer Brita pitcher. Premium vodka is a scam. Vodka is just ethanol, so get a mid-range vodka and throw it in a filter pitcher. I recommend the Costco-Kirkland brand. And I’m Polish.
Ethanol has natural gas in it my man. Drink ethanol it will kill you.
I think you’re confusing methanol with ethanol. Ethanol is the “alcohol” in most alcoholic beverages. It’s the “proof”.
No, my company makes ethanol. Ethanol is 192 proof grain alcohol with natural gas added to denature it to prevent human consumption.
That’s fuel ethanol. It’s denatured, as you said.
When you drink alcohol it has ethanol in it. Denatured alcohol isn’t sold for human consumption. When you distill alcohol you get rid of the foreshots and heads (the early distillations that contain methanol and acetone).
But ethanol is the proof alcohol (also called the hearts).
There’s still time to make a signing/trade but…we might have the worst OF in the league rn
As of right now Donovan is in that OF, with Walker on the bench.
And that’s why the Cardinals are reportedly taking such a hard line with requirements for Donovan. They have to think about fielding a representative team after the 2025 season and he at least his bat needs to be replaced in the OF. Agree Walker is on the bench or they use his last AAA option year, he cannot be depended on after the last several years, especially last year.
He could be at second. Gorman probably DH with Herrera catching and Burleson at first.
If we can boot camp Herrera into any semblance of holding runners, I'd be delighted if he could still keep his offense where it's at but free up the DH. Even if he catches 80 games that's a fantastic development in my books - though we'd probably move him off catcher by the time the team plans on relevancy again.
JJW will be at 2nd and as of right now Gorman + Arenado will be at 3B, at least most of the time.
Donnie will start at LF while Noot rehabs, assuming he needs a little extra time after the surgeries. Walker will start in RF with Church also in the mix. If everyone is healthy when Noot gets back then Walker better be performing, otherwise he moves into a platoon role.
JJ isn’t on the 40 man roster and probably won’t be for awhile. There’s no reason to start his clock
I honestly think that the draft pick incentive is a good reason to start his clock if they have a lot of faith in him to be good right out of the gate. He would be a top candidate for ROY entering the season as is
Could be. We have the 32nd overall pick this year which is pretty close to what the PPI pick would be. This year those picks are 26, 27 and 28.
He's gonna be the leadoff hitter Opening Day.
lol
:)
He's gonna finish top-2 in ROY, too. If he wins it we get an extra pick.
He might not start Opening Day at leadoff, it might take a few weeks for him to move up there. But he'll be there.
You made a specific point about Donovan being on the roster RIGHT NOW but you're moving the goalpost back to include someone else you think might be on the roster lol
JJW is in the organization right now. Right now he's one of our 26-best players. I don't understand why we wouldn't play him. He dominated AAA. He's a top-5 prospect. He's a 2B version of JD Drew. He's going to play.
Meanwhile, Donovan is our best OF. So if the season started RIGHT NOW, Donnie would be in LF, JJW would be at 2B.
They’ll give Walker every chance, especially with Noot still up in the air
What does every chance mean? Play him no matter what with his -1.9 WAR?
He’s going to get every shot to show he can turn it around? This is obviously his make or break year
I heard that last year.
Okay. You’ll hear it again this year.
Totally agree, this has to be his final make or break year, 24 and 4th year, hope he makes it. I’m not doubting that he’ll get an opportunity in some way and not opposed to that as if what I think matters at all, which it doesn’t. Last year he was outright awful in his so-called prove it year and another prove it year is getting very old.
I completely trust what Bloom feels of course with Oli and others input. My opinion is they will give him an opportunity, but he has to demonstrate a level of improvement to not make him a roster liability. It may be 150 AB’s, a rotational role, whatever. In Bloom I trust, and they just have to be better than last year at every possible position, the fan base will not tolerate another bad season under the rebuilding theme. Giving him 350 plus AB’s no matter what I just don’t see happening. I am sure this assessment is full bore this offseason, they will know a lot even before Spring Training, and have a complete answer by opening day.
Dude I’m just going off what Goold and Co have said on his pod and doing some inference with our lack of options over him.
I’m not disagreeing with you, just stating my opinions about a lot of things around what you said, starting with I agree with you.
What Chaim said back in October when he formally assume the POBO office:
There are two views on Walker, not mutually exclusive: the first is that he's just a bust; the second is that he's never been put in a position to succeed. Chaim seems to believe the latter. We shall see. We have seen the new group improve Baez and keep other guys on an upwards trajectory, maybe they can get Walker back on track.
I also have my doubts, but it's not like we have an overwhelmingly amount of OF talent that he's blocking. He's 23, if it wasn't him we'd probably be trying out a reclamation project or else giving Fermin or Torres more looks in the OF. If that's the alternative we may as well give Walker a little more leash.
I don’t dispute any of your points. The reality to me at the beginning of next season he will be 24 in his fourth MLB season. He certainly cannot be counted on as a starting RF. If he has adequate production he’ll play more, if he doesn’t he’ll play less or even be in AAA his last option year. After 2026 he enters his first Arbitration year and the Cardinals only have him under control for 3 more years. We can’t spend 5 years developing him and lose him if he’s good two years later.
As always, time will tell.
IMO the fact that Noot has surgery on both feet bought him some time. A Donovan trade would buy him a little more. If Arenado is also traded that buys him some more still.
But by June 1 (say, or sometime mid-season) some of the following will be happening: Baez is pushing for a promotion, Herrera is getting reps in the OF, Noot is healthy, Torres is pushing for more playing time, and/or Fermin is getting platoon reps in LF.
If Walker still isn't hitting then it's down to AAA, and if he doesn't hit there I think he gets traded or non-tendered next offseason (similar to Kelenic or Bleday).
Makes total sense to me.
I heard that last year. He did the opposite of turning it around, he regressed.
Agreed, they'll trade Donnie, but as of right now they haven't.
Doubt it. This isn't a put the best 10 players on the field year. This is a play guys who will still be on the roster in 2028 year.
Move nootbaar and Donovan so we can drop the might and replace the word league with MLB.
The Phillies offer stiff competition. And they are supposed to be winning games.
KC’s is pretty bad too.
Love VS2 but it’s 2 guys that can’t hit and a guy who can’t stay healthy rn. Baez made a leap but still has a ways to go and the rest is mostly AAAA filler internally.
The bones are there for a solid IF but Chaim has a sneaky amount of work trying to restock the OF going forward
I've got my fingers crossed that Levenson's late season breakout was real, and he'll be able to continue on that trajectory. If so, he could end up at least making a big league debut after looking dead in the water just a few months ago.
No matter, I'd suggest that they need an OF prospect in a Donovan deal badly just to help infuse the system at that position. I'd even forgo pitching if a team were more willing to come off of solid OF possibilities.
Agreed. I’m skeptical of Montes but I understand taking the swing. With the post yesterday I don’t think Soler is a bad comp in terms of a realistic outcome for him. How much would that help this rebuild idk.
3 Top 50 picks in the draft this year seems like a nice place to grab 1-2 college bats
Oregons defense looks like there is an extra defender. Now that OSU is out, they’re my pick for natty.
the winning story for me would be Ol' Miss if they could pull it off. Coach quits on them because he claims they can't win a 'ship and then they win it all.... too cheesy even for schmaltzy soap opera tv, lol.
Couldn't happen to a bigger jerk.
Imai going for so little is a shame. Really wish we had any foothold in that market.
I mean a 21M/yr guy that has yet to throw a mlb pitch isn't exactly who a rebuilding team should be targeting.
I would like my team to spend money to get good players.
Over 3 years tho. With 3 opt outs. Its not too different that Dustin May
The pricetag is wildly different. Just saying adding a guy like that when we're trying to firesale the veterans and not really compete in the next 2 seasons would make no sense. May is significantly cheaper and as long as he keeps his era below 5 and eats innings will be pretty easy to trade.
What exactly are we spending money on? Our payroll is gonna be like 70 million. I'd prefer we spend it
Money saved this season is money for free agents and contract extensions in later seasons. It's a resource to be managed. I prefer the team doesn't spend money to make a 65 win team a 68 win team and saves it for a year where it might make the difference between 88 wins and 91 wins.
Money saved this season is money for BDWIII's next yacht. Or a private island in the Caribbean. Sky's the limit.
Kind of a delusional way to look at it. Smart resource management is necessary in a rebuild. Money is a very important resource. Unspent money doesn't just evaporate. As important as acquiring young players during a rebuild is stockpiling cash for free agents in competitive years.
But we spend some of that money now and have a chance to trade mid-season if he’s good. It’s a valid investment idea and strategy. No matter what, we’re already saving big money this year.
It’s crazy considering how well Mo and the FO did in Asia for a while.
Taguchi, Oh, KK, Mikolas were all quality finds, and IIRC Taguchi was on Yamamoto’s coaching staff before he was posted which was a connection…until he got way out of our price range.
I think the biggest thing is we’re just not a desirable destination anymore. We haven’t been a team where guys have come and gotten better in a while, and we no longer have the appeal of sold out crowds every night and a winning tradition. That’s not even getting into STL summers…
I dunno, to this day, So Taguchi is the only Japanese Cardinal. We've gotten some good players out of the KBO but Japan, one.
STL isn't particularly desirable (they'll have a chance to rehab the organizational image over time; May is a shot at that), but I think this is more so one of those things where it wouldn't have made sense for the player. He turned down lower AAV longer term deals. His deal with Houston is essentially a chance to win, staying in one place, while pitching for a longer-term deal there or elsewhere. If he did translate to the big leagues well, a team like STL would probably trade him before he opted out.
Yeah I agree. Team is cutting back spending while also not really trying to compete. A lot of instability on the roster and in the clubhouse, can’t imagine a foreign player signing up for that if they have options elsewhere.
They’ll definitely need to rehab the image and it might be a minute. Gray, Contreras, and Leake are still the largest FA contracts we’ve handed out and all 3 were traded before the deal was up. Add in our lack of player development the last few years and all the aforementioned going on with payroll and the roster…fittingly Bloom and the Cardinals are in “Show me” mode with players/fans going forward.
Right.
That's why May's signing was so interesting to me. There are/were much more certain flipper guys out there. Getting out in front of him, I'd love to be privy to what their pitch was to him, how they could get/keep him healthy and make him better.
I’d imagine the large pitch was “You can work through what you need to without worrying about your rotation spot”. Under the hood I would hope there’s something they saw and want to add/tweak that might unlock more. The optimist in me hopes the same with the Boston pitchers we’ve acquired as well.
I think getting away from the sinker to a reasonable degree could do him good. Throw more FF and maybe bring back the curve he threw once upon a time.
He's effectively been a two-pitch pitcher for a while now. His stuff isn't good enough to make that work anymore. He desperately needs another secondary.
Looks like tomorrow is a off day (I can keep this joke going)
I just took his joke because I don’t see him here 😏
How dare you do exactly what I would do.
🤣
It's 2026. Anthony Rendon has been cast into the fires of Mount Doom. Is this Arenado trade with the Angels gonna happen or is it just more offseason noise?
I could see it happening assuming ownership is OK with additional dead money on the payroll. Also assuming Angels aren't taking a crack at the big free agents that might play 3B.
My gut is telling me he doesn't end up moved this offseason and instead has to prove himself healthy to get moved at the deadline.
I mean, at some point a franchise has to learn a lesson to not do that, right? .... right?!?
Just to be clear I meant the Cardinal ownership paying for a player to play on another team, similar to what they've done with Gray($20m) and Contrereas($8m). I question if the ownership group has the stomach to pay $10m+ of Arenado's contract even if it makes sense to do.
I've little doubt. This is another Dexter Fowler situation. No team would pay any of the 15 million they added for next year; they'll already be on the hook for his deferred monies from them.
A team might be willing to pay 8 - 10 million this year with little to no return going the other way.
I don't think the issue here is STL ownership. I think it's finding a team that wants him having a situation he'd be good with.
1 day closer to baseball!
HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE CENTRAL UPLANDS!
GO CARDINALS!!!
Happy New Year and Fuck the Cubs
And fuck the Expos.
Lige must be hungover.
Nope, but thanks for your concern!
You were just a little slack today. LMAO!!!
LAF: Lazy as fuck.
Off work since 12/18 and been quite the night owl. Hoo hoo!
Have you also watched 3 seasons of Mad Men? What a show. Smoking, drinking, and philandering. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Yeah, you aren’t going to be worth a crap when you go back to work. :)
I wasn't before I left.
2026: Reckless Optimism
Let’s go with this! How about some optimism? Here is to 2026 showing us some improvement and a bright path to the future. Happy New Years to my Cardinal peeps.
The cardinals are undefeated this year!!