While the Cardinals are again shaping up nicely to compete for top honors in the National League Central, they’ll be faced with some important decisions a year or so from now. Among their starting rotation, only Steven Matz is signed beyond the 2023 season, with Jordan Montgomery, Adam Wainwright (who will retire), Miles Mikolas and Jack Flaherty all slated for free agency in November.
Replacing four starters in free agency is no easy feat, particularly given the way starting pitchers were priced this winter, and while they do have Dakota Hudson and prospect Matthew Liberatore as options, it should come as little surprise that Derrick Goold of the St Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the team is planning to open discussions over an extension with two starters this spring.
As Goold notes, Mikolas and Montgomery would appear to be the obvious candidates, with Flaherty a possibility as well – although he has dealt with injuries over the past few years. Montgomery, 30 last month, worked to a 3.11 ERA over 11 starts for the Cards after coming over from the Yankees at the deadline last year. He’s been a steady mid-rotation arm for a few years now and agreed to a $10MM salary in his final year before free agency. Mid-rotation arms such as Taijuan Walker and Jameson Taillon were sought-after commodities in free agency this year, and Montgomery would likely fit into that bracket next winter.
Mikolas, 34, worked to a 3.29 ERA over 202 1/3 innings last season. Another year like that in 2023 would set him up for a nice payday late in his career, so perhaps the the Cardinals could try and get ahead of that and lock up Mikolas for another few seasons.
Here’s some more notes from around the NL Central:
- The Pirates move to bring back franchise icon Andrew McCutchen has been met with positivity around baseball, and Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sheds some more light on the matter. As it turns out, a return to Pittsburgh seemed unlikely until as recently as New Year’s Day when McCutchen sent a text message to Pirates owner Bob Nutting laying out his desire to return to Pittsburgh to finish his career. As Mackey relays, Nutting then approached general manager Ben Cherington, who then met McCutchen for coffee in Pittsburgh’s northern suburbs to see if a deal could be made.While veteran signings on rebuilding clubs are often done with an eye towards the trade deadline, Mackey reports that it’s more likely McCutchen returns to the Pirates in 2024 than is flipped at the deadline. That’s not to say there’s no chance of a trade, but it does seem like McCutchen is motivated by helping Pittsburgh’s young core return to relevance, and Mackey adds that the 2013 MVP sees similarities in Pittsburgh’s 2009-12 rebuild that wound up in the team going to the playoffs three straight years between 2013-15. The Pirates don’t seem quite ready to return to playoff baseball just yet, but it would make for quite the fairytale if McCutchen were to be part of the next playoff team in Pittsburgh.
- The Cubs have been aggressive in free agency this winter as they look to return to the top of the Central. The team has inked long-term deals with Dansby Swanson, Jameson Taillon and Drew Smyly, while also adding the likes of Cody Bellinger on significant deals. The team currently has a bit of wiggle room under the first luxury tax marker, but they’ll surely be approaching it over the next few years as they make more free agent additions and deal with Nico Hoerner’s arbitration raises. Per a report from Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune, owner Tom Ricketts spoke of a strategic approach to the luxury tax as the team moves forward.“There will be times I’m sure in the near future where we’ll go over. But we’ll always keep in mind that there’s a balance there you have to always look to manage. Just like we did a few years ago, we’ll go over, but we have to be careful of how long and by how much,” Ricketts said.The Cubs’ luxury tax payroll currently sits at $215MM (according to Fangraphs’ calculation), with the first threshold coming at $233MM.
I find it amusing when the media gives the cubs so much attention while ignoring better teams. The cubs aren’t going to contend for anything this year. They aren’t going to threaten St. Louis or the Brewers. They should be watching out for the Pirates. You could look only at their additions, which the media will do, or you could look at all of the many holes still remaining in the their lineup, which the media will not.
The Pirates are not good and certainly will not be better than the Cubs this year. When they breakout it will be because of their prospects and top farm system, not because of some mediocre veteran signings who will probably be n the team for two or three months before being flipped at the deadline.
Some mediocre veteran that hit 17 homers and drove in 69 runs despite spending time on the IL.
You’re one reason I detest Yankee fans, they think they know everything when they don’t know squat
A 1.1 WAR player is about as “mediocre” as you can get for a veteran player, as is a 99 OPS+, especially for a guy that is a bat first player at this point in his career.
Maybe the “problem” with pirate fans is that it’s been so long since they’ve seen what good baseball looks like they forgot what it is.
my problem is it’s been so long that I’ve read an intelligent comment, I forgot what they were like
TheMan 3’s problem is he swaggers around here thinking he’s a genius who knows more than everyone, while complaining that others think they know everything, yet he can’t even tell or admit when he’s been intellectually bested. Cutch…IS…mediocre. 99 OPS+ says so. Checkmate goes to drasco.
If you’re so content with mediocrity, you’ll love this years Pirates team. Have fun in your own little delusional fantasy land buddy. 70 win season incoming, but don’t act like I’m not completely correct in my assessment of the team.
I don’t think I know everything but as a devout fan of the Pirates since 1966, I am confident that I know more about them than an arrogant Yankees fan.
I have no dog in this fight as I equally detest the Pirates ownership for their undefendable cheapness, as well the the Yankees, because they think they can just outspend anyone and more times than not just embarrass themselves by wildly underachieving.
Plus their fans are just wretched. That fight they had with the Cleveland player last year was “Pure Yankees”.
But Cutch is truly one of the good guys in MLB and I’m glad to hear he has a chance to go back home. A great story.
So Pirates have Cutch to play part time in LF and Yankees have Hicks. Not every player is going to be a super star, even in NY. More Pirates fans will buy a ticket to see theirs. But you’re right that it will be the young players that will get the team to the top. Pirates have more of those, too.
Maybe Yankees fans should be more concerned with Orioles, Rays, & Blue Jays than Pirates. It’s almost as if they’re still holding onto the angst brought on by Maz’s Series winning HR over 60 years ago.
Is that it Pinstripes?
Yankee fans think they are God’s gift to elitism and purity, yet even with their high priced players, they still haven’t won a World Series for awhile
Yes the Pirates have been horrible over the last few seasons but they don’t have the resources, the financial flexibility or a television contract that the pinstripes have.
I’d rather see a 100 loss season on a $40 million dollar payroll than see a $200 million dollar payroll that can’t win a WS
Totally agree. Another very sensible comment.
“I’d rather see a 100 loss season on a $40 million dollar payroll than see a $200 million dollar payroll that can’t win a WS”
With that comment you should just quit before further embarrassing yourself.
I don’t remember the high payroll Yankees winning the World Series last year or the year before or even the year before
Case closed
Who said anything about McCutchen’s bat leading the team back to the postseason? He wants to be part of the growth of the team’s young core, more as a mentor and veteran presence that has been severely lacking from this squad.
Maybe he proves to be a good influence on Oneil Cruz’s and Ke’Bryan Hayes’ hitting. Maybe his presence inspires Bryan Reynolds to buy in.
That’s speculative, of course, but his veteran presence is much of McCutchen’s value to a small-market team trying to crawl out of the basement.
There’s more to baseball than just the numbers.
All pinstripes said was that Cutch’s return would make the Pirates better than the Cubs. Typical baseball banter. Nothing about the postseason.
actually pinstripes never said Cutch would make them better, maybe take a course in reading comprehension
@Moonlight Graham
This is a brilliant comment. Well done Sir. Baseball is a team sport, ask any sport’s psychologist about the importance of non statistics related ‘human’ input.
A great comment.
The cubs and the white Sox are pretty much in the same place. I assume you are a Sox fan based on your obsession with the cubs. They are .500 teams hoping to compete for a playoff spot in a weak division. Nobody is suggesting otherwise
White Sox at least have very good rotation and a decent lineup. Would it shock anyone if they won the AL Central? not really but if the Cubs won the Central, that would be shocking
Another jealous, delusional White Sux fan. That “very good” White Sox rotation and “decent” lineup produced an exact .500 record last year, and they were trying to win. They haven’t done much in free agency so they should be the same in 2023.
The Cubs have made significant additions to their team and will be better this uear.
White Sox fans seem to be very high on that rotation but the rest of the world not so much. It’s not very deep, injury prone, and a good chunk coming off very bad years.
Nope not a White Sox fan qt wll but nice try bud. Cubs will be lucky to win 76 games this season. Lineup has no star power whatsoever. Rotation is solid but that can only get you so far.
Not a White Sox fan but put their rotation up against the Cubs and which are you taking?
I think they are both middle of the pack rotation. Cubs have more depth and Sox a little more upside. Giolito, clevinger and Lynn were all pretty bad last year. Kopech had a career high 119 innings and I don’t see much depth or help coming. If healthy the entire year id probably give the slight edge to the white Sox but wouldn’t be surprised at all if the cubs were better in 2023. I’d take Tailon, Stroman and Steele over anyone not named cease.
Interesting discussion, the White Sox have a higher ceiling but the Cubs have a higher floor.
I personally think the White Sox are going to flame out this year and enter their next rebuild. The loss of Hendriks is going to hurt them badly and I also think Abreu being gone is going to have a much larger negative effect than people realize.
The Cubs only way the Cubs compete for a playoff spot is if Steele pitches like he did in the second half of the season, Mervis comes up and immediately starts producing, Suzuki plays like the All-Star he was in Japan and Bellinger bounces back some.
And Swanson, Hoerner, Happ can’t regress
And Wick has to be a decent closer.
And they have to squeeze 162 starts from a pair of old catchers.
Hughes is going to be the closer but yes… I agree. Hoerner cannot regress at the plate but he is going to be an absolute defensive stud at second base. He was upper tier at short but second is his best position.
Agree. No chance wick is the everyday closer. I think they also have guys like Suzuki who played great down the stretch will take another step forward. Hendricks supposedly healthy and feeling good. This rotation could be very deep.
How could you possibly have any more faith in the Brewers over the Cubs when the Brewers have done basically nothing and the cubs have improved almost every positional hole they had going into the off-season. The Cardinals are once again relying on the strength of their offense which may be enough to win the division but their pitching is an issue. The cubs have to have quite a few things go their way to come out on top, but to say they are grossly inferior to anyone in the central is a years long joke. I think the division is up for grabs again this year but definitely won’t be producing anything but a one and done playoff appearance for the winner….whoever that may be. Not the Pirates tho. They still suck.
The Brewers have a great pitching staff and I like the addition of Winkler, coming back to a strong hitters park and the NL Central in general.
With the Cubs bullpen, I think they can steal several wins but without a couple players really taking a step forward they are not going to compete for a playoff spot. I don’t think they are better than the Cardinals, who have two MVP candidates manning the corners, good young talent, experience and added Contreras (don’t love him behind the plate but I don’t think aside from this season, he will start primarily at catcher).
There are a couple things though, I’m interested to see the Cardinals without Bader, who I loved/hated manning center field for them. That dude was absolutely amazing defensively. The Brewers wheels fell off last season and if one of their aces gets hurt then the Cubs could leap frog them.
I think STL is probably the favorite, but I don’t have a ton of faith in Goldschmidt, Arenado and Wainwright to repeat 2022.. The first two had career years and Wainwright is 40. I’m surprised the cardinals haven’t done more so far this offseason.
I think the central will probably come down to whichever team can best avoid injuries to key players. I do agree that whoever wins the central is likely facing an early exit from the playoffs.
Cardinals have a lot going for them…the hope this year is a healthy rotation…the past two years the rotation has been riddled with injuries in which mid season trades have saved them…a healthy rotation and a bounce back year from O’Neill the cardinals will be dangerous…plus they have Jordan Walker coming up, of course that is s wait and see prospect but hopes are high…they are better prepared for injuries with the rotation this year and have exciting arms coming up..not Libertore…Graceffo and Hence look good though…I know people say the cardinals didn’t do much this offseason but if you look at the farm, which is a top 5 system right now, they didn’t need to do much
Woodruff, Peralta, Burnes, etc. Brewers have holes but that roation will keep you competitive.
Depends on Peralta. He’s a wild card.
@Avengers Well you could try not read Cubs-centric articles where this piece sources from the Chicago Tribune. I don’t go reading the Oakland’s East Bay Times for Yankees news.
Boom!
As a Brewer’s fan, I could certainly see the Cubs having a better upcoming season. They’ve made improvements in several areas and Brewers offense continues to look weak. I imagine the Cardinals win the division by a comfortable margin, but don’t find it impossible for Cubs or Brewers to surprise everyone.
Oh no, we’re better than the Brewers already though not by much. Our only “hole” at this point is lack of top tier talent. We are solid or better at every position after this offseason, and with reasonable upside beyond that.
cubs are a .500 team IMO. Brewers are not worse than they were last season, and they were above .500. cubs will get there, just not this year
So Pirates have a feel good story with Cutch return, great but rather sigh higher end players to give hope……
Not with current ownership. Sadly they just don’t spend money. Also why isn’t Cobra in the hall? Harold Baines ….ugh. Harold baines.
ownership has no decision on whether Parker is voted into the Hall of fame and while I agree with you that he deserves to be, the drug scandal of the 80’s hangs over his head
Welcome back cutch….and the pirates won’t flip him at the deadline…it would be a public relations disaster
apparently mr know nothing pinstripes didn’t read the article, Buuba.
It clearly said that Cutch probably will be playing for the Bucs in 2024 and not get dealt at the deadline
I know.. man 3…these Yankee fans think they are privileged .. anyway I love this move
You know what’s sorry than a Yankees fan? A Yankees hater. pinstripes and Drasco showed you what’s what with Cutch. haha.
*more sorry
Cornelius was a name of an ape in planet of the apes…it figures
A Yankee/Yankee fan hater is sorry because they think they know everything while complaining that Yankee fans think they know everything. How pathetically simpleminded is that? haha. TheMan 3 was schooled on Cutch by pinstripes and drasco. Called Cutch mediocre, which he is at this point, and The Man 3 argued he wasn’t because of 17 HRs and 69 RBI’s. He’s the fool. Nothing spells mediocre better thn 99 OPS+. That was drasco’s point. Cutch is a feel good story but the Pirates won’t be contending because of him. That was pinstripes’ point. And I’m not even a Yankees fan or a Pirates hater. Just don’t like haters.
Buuba ho tep doesn’t even know the source for utah cornelius.
The source for Utah Cornelius is written on toilet paper
You made my point. Still don’t know it. And you’re just an ignorant Yankee hater. What’s more you’re on the wrong side of the argument with TheMan 3 and can’t admit it.
Troll
Please keep making my point.
nah, the Yankee fan is definitely more sorry. sorry
You need to read pinstripes original comment again then explain how he “ schooled” me
Incompetence is running rampant on this thread
I didn’t realize that Nostradamus was resurrected into you, Utah
No one can say how good or bad any team will be next year considering injuries, slumps, high expectations that can easily become disappointments
Tell you what, break out your crystal ball and predict the second coming
MLBTR writes about the Cubs, Yankees, etc because they have a ginormous fan bases. Not so much for the Brewers or Pirates.
And the Pirates will be awful again this year. They simply do not compete.
this article is partly about the Pirates, or can’t you comprehend the written word either, bronyaur1
Furthermore you aren’t nostradamus either
It doesn’t take Nostradamus to figure out that the Pirates are not a competitive MLB franchise. It only takes a handful of functional brain cells.
Why would you think that Pittsburgh won’t totally suck this year. The only decent player you have loudly wants out. He seems to be aware of what you aren’t.
Absolutely nobody outside the relatively tiny Pirate fan base cares about this total failure of a team.
Pirates have improved. They are not likely to challenge for the division, but .500 is a solid step in the right direction. They will not be an easy win, and should be fun to watch this summer.
Pirates have a plan. They have promising young core of Contreras, Keller, Cruz, & Hayes, with Endy, Priester, and others coming this year. They have brought in vets with defined skills to fill gaps and mentor these promising young players.
Will it produce a winner this year? Probably not, but it certainly will help build a foundation for ‘24 and beyond.
A team cannot base MOST of their signings on such things as veteran leadership, if the production is not going to make them better.
When it comes to someone like Cutch, however, he is perfect coming back to Pittsburgh for the last year or two. The team is young, and is starting to show some talent that would be served by having one of the best leaders in all of baseball there to show them the way to be a professional. And he can still add value on the field when used correctly. The dynamics within a clubhouse matter, and he can make a huge difference in this situation.
CarverAndrews;
I was very positive about the Pirates rebuild the past couple of years. This year I turned negative, primarily because of 2 things: 1) the lack of fundamental play and hustle by the young players on the field; and 2) the manager and coaches which relate to #1. Also noted a lack of veteran leadership, something it appears they were sticking on Bryan Reynolds – which it seems he doesn’t have the personality to do (most players don’t). This year they brought in Santana, Choi, Hill and Hedges which I thought was a good start. McCutchen’s rep and personality though is on another level.
The fact is that a manager and his coaches only have so much hold over players. Leadership has to police the clubhouse and hold players responsible to some degree, with management stepping in as well.
The fact that the Pirates organization didn’t understand how necessary this is made me do a 180 on their rebuild. Teams a year or two ahead of them on rebuilds – the Guardians and Orioles – totally understood the need for veteran player leadership in the growing process.
Someone needs to tell Cruz he isn’t a SS. That OF’s have to back one another up, and when balls to the OF get on the ground the player retrieving it needs to get it the cut-off man…..and the cut-off man has to be between the OF with the ball and the base the lead runner is going to…..not standing on 2B or off 1B like he’s waiting for a bus. Baserunning counts. The break between pitches should give all defenders the chance to size up the game situation and determine what they should do if the ball is hit to them or put in play elsewhere. As for the pitching…..not much position players can do about that. Maybe Rich Hill can lead by example.
I still have doubts about what the Pirates are doing. The Reynolds situation is awkward as he’s played 4 years for them (only 3 counted against his service time), and knows that in 2023 only some of the Pirates prospects will be up….with more coming in 2024….and they’ll all need a year to adjust to the level of play in MLB. By that time he’ll be 30 years-old as a FA…..and who knows how all those prospects will work out.
If the owner and GM were smart, they’d look at developing McCutchen to manage by 2025.
Samuel…he doesn’t want to manage or coach after he retires. He made a lot of money. Time for cutch to be a family man after he retires
@Samuel – well, you definitely should have doubts about the Pirates ownership and approach. The have taken a great baseball town with one of the best ballparks and turned it into a very frustrating experience.. The city deserves better.
It’s only a one-year contract. Depending how things are going with the season, McCutchen could be on board with getting flipped for a prospect at the deadline, and then sign back again with Pittsburgh for 2024.
May not be a trade deadline flip ploy. Cutch coming back is a marketing move? He is there to help get fannys in seats.
The article does state that he’s open to being moved at the deadline to a contender.
@YBC; I read it again. Looks like Cutch reached out to the Pirates expressing interest in finishing his career there. I do see the “flip” part too, but is that Mackey speculating?
Cardinals rotation does not look very good. Bottom 10.
At some point this year trades will be made to bring in pitching. It’s not a bad idea to see what’s happening early in the year before making moves. They can win the central with what they have. The improvements need to come before the playoffs.
Cardinal’s MO. They will absolutely be supplementing that starting rotation mid-season and probably heavily.
Bob likes Andrew. I really hope 2023 is at lease a league average run for Andrew so he is more likely to resign in 2024. Assuming it is true that there is little interest in flipping him I would’ve put vesting options on him to keep him until age 40.
Now if the pirates can sign J-Hay the dug out attitude would likely be much better. Not much room for him but the chemistry might be worth it.
Maybe bring back the Z.
just the emotional wants, doesn’t make a lot of baseball sense given the ‘youth movement’ more specifically with J-Hay.
I love the cutch signing letting him finish in pgh an still can play in a platoon role an will help the younger guys but let’s not get crazy bring back jhay is a joke I hope we can be a team of old men just for nostalgia an even though I loved watching that team I don’t want any of them now other then cutch
yeah yeah yeah, i know but… awe heck i’ll just go watch the old tapes lol 🙂
I’d still take j-hay if there were room… but there isn’t so doesn’t matter.
“…it would make for quite the fairytale if McCutchen were to be part of the next playoff team in Pittsburgh.”
Small market fairy tales are quite measured and humble.
No Reds news. No surprise. Sell the team Bob.
Heywards $20+ million comes off the books after this season.
plus Stroman could opt out of the last yr of contract – another $20MM and cubs won’t pick up Hendricks option another $14MM Thats $50MM to use on 2 starting pitchers
You are forgetting Bellinger, too. The Cubs will be at about $120 Million in 2024. Ricketts today said they are fine with being over the luxury tax threshold some years. So they could have $100 million or more to spend next offseason and with another year of development for PCA, Devers, Brown, Alcantara, Wicks, Horton, Ferris, Hernandez, Caissie, Triantos, Wesneski, Davis, and etc.
Why can’t the Pirates contend this year? I think they’re one good starting pitcher away from a seat at the contending table. Michael Wacha is still out there. Or go talk with the Marlins about a starting pitcher.
I understand why the Bucs aren’t interested in trading Reynolds now. They want to contend. Good for them.
This about building a winning culture. It helps to have a helpful veteran voice and ear in the clubhouse. They won’t contend but they’re better with than without.
Because they may have, at most, 4 hitters that are even average?
They have more than 4 average guys. Problem is they are only average. They need more than 2 guys who are significantly above average.
If adding Wacha could take you from a 70 win team to a contender he wouldn’t be a free agent still. Marlins have some better options but won’t move the needle enough and who are you giving up? There’s one guy available for free who could move the needle though.
They won 62 games last season and haven’t done much to move the needle this offseason. Getting back to .500 this year in itself would be a huge accomplishment.
The Cards are clearly the class of he division, but the Cubs finished the second half strong and had the 3rd best record in the majors last year vs teams with above .500 records. Chicago has added a lot of helpful pieces this off-season and shored up their defense up the middle in a big way. They won’t win the division but they will be one of the wild card teams in 2023 and then onward and upward from there in 2024 and beyond. I like this team. They will definitely be fun to watch.
I’ll be surprised if a wildcard comes from the NL Central this year. Two from the east and one from the west is much more likely.
It will certainly be tough, but I think the Giants and Braves take a step back this year. I’ll go with:
West: Dodgers
Central: Cardinals
East: Mets
WC1: Padres
WC2: Phillies
WC3: Braves
WC4: Cubs
That would set up a tasty first round series of Cards vs Cubs. Anything can happen in a 3 game series. Just can’t pitch Drew Smyly because the Cards FEAST on LHP. Anyway, just my thoughts. I love the way teams spent overall this off-season and it should be an exciting 2023 season.
CardsFan57,
I agree, but I had the Cubs as the 4th wild card team along with 2 from the east and 1 from the west as you alluded to.
I would put money on the Cardinals finishing the season 2nd or even 3rd in the central. They have two guys in Goldy and Aranado that are great, but I think Goldschmidt is likely to have a not-great year next season. I think injury keeps him out a lot of the season. The rotation is not very good either and Flaherty has a tough time staying healthy too.
Easy come and easy go with the money. It’s a quite a stretch saying the Cardinals are a two man roster. Granted they only have two players who finished in the top 3 for MVP last year. They still have plenty of above average players around the diamond. I think it’s more likely the Cardinals run away with the division than they are to finish second or third.
If you lost one of those two though, I think it would be an average lineup.
As would almost every other team in the league that loses an MVP caliber player.
I disagree, I think other teams have better depth.
We’ll have to disagree. The Cubs are treading water with this off season. Everything they gained offensively was lost when Contreras signed with the Cardinals. Catcher was the Cardinals biggest offensive weakness last year. I look for the Cardinals to once again score 115 runs more than the Cubs. If O’Neil and Carlson return to 2021 form, it will be an even bigger gap. The rotation is the Cardinals biggest weakness. They have the prospects and a surplus of good young players to correct that when the season begins. Frankly, Cathcer is still the only position where there isn’t an above average backup player ready to step in.
That cardinals rotation is thin and without yadi this year. I have no idea what to make of O’Neil or Carlson but I am glad Bader is gone. The offense should be very good but Arenado and Goldschmidt both had career years, zero chance there isn’t regression. I think the central is going to be a dog fight.
The Cubs just added Mancini, they are significantly better than they were even earlier today. Mancini at DH makes them MUCH better. This is going to be an interesting season for certain.
Shock top, I’m hoping I’m wrong – but I don’t understand why you feel Mancini moves the needle. Him nor Hosmer. What could help big time, would be giving Mervis an opportunity, and seeing him deliver. Cubs need a GOOD LH bat, added to this lineup.
Mancini has had two things work against him. In 2020 he did not play, in 2021 he had to come back from that year off, and then in 2022, they moved the fence back 30 ft at Camden Yards, and then got traded halfway through the season to play for the Astros. He would have hit more home runs at Wrigley. The odd man out might end up being Hosmer. I think they could use Mancini to spell LF and RF at times and Hosmer will have a short leash with a league-minimum salary.
Mancini has power and he hits lefties and righties. Great pickup.
The cubs were 9 games over the second half last year and with the addition of a couple key players they can build on it.
The Cubs rotation is a little better, they don’t have Wilson calling the games and they added bats, so a wild card is not out of the question nor is winning the division.
This smells like 2015 again.
Matt Liberatore will be interesting to see in the future. He has pretty high WHIPs with the Rays, but he never gave up HRs so the results kind of fell in line with the talent.
Maybe I’m too suspicious to Tampa trading players, but this seems quite convenient to me. I think they recognized his 2018 and 2019 weren’t sustainable due to the HR/rates and saw him as a rapidly depreciating asset.
I don’t see him as a starter, personally. His fastball is weak and his slider isn’t mlb quality. I could see him doing alright out of the BP
I now have him as the Cardinals 3rd best pitching prospect. I expect okay back of the rotation at best from Liberatore. He could surprise me. Hopefully he will.
I’m not too familiar with the cardinals system, but I hope you have Tink Hence above him. I think he could be a some special for you guys.
Hence is one. Graceffo is the other.
Cards might win the division again but dont see them making much noise beyond that thier starting pitching will be an issue ..against teams with 2 aces like mets or dodgers yea ..
Any team with two good right handers will beat the Cardinals in a 2-3 game series. Goes without saying. Almost impossible for them to win. Plus the Cardinals have left the need for more lefty pitching or a legit ace without being addressed,…so far.
The Cubbies have just quietly re-made themselves as the team to beat in the Central. The Brewers have been quiet but have the pitching to win. STL Cardinals have been sitting on their laurels banking on their young unproven and uncontrolled pitchers for a division win and playoff run… or the last hurrah for Mo. There is still time to beef up the Cardinals weaknesses but time is running out. Interesting developments for sure.