With top left-handers Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery still unsigned into March, agent Scott Boras declared today that four new teams had checked in regarding those pitchers since the opening of spring camps. It doesn’t seem the Cardinals are among that group. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that, as of this afternoon, the Cards had not recently reached out to Boras about Snell or Montgomery.
That’s not a surprise, particularly as it pertains to Snell. St. Louis hasn’t been substantively tied to the defending NL Cy Young winner at any point. They’d left the door ajar to bringing Montgomery back at the time they traded him to the Rangers, but that possibility seemed more or less closed with the front office’s activity early in the offseason. The Cardinals added Sonny Gray on a three-year, $75MM pact as their big rotation pickup. They brought in Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson as hopefully stable sources of innings at the back end.
Gray’s tenure in Cardinal red has started somewhat shakily. The three-time All-Star was removed from his Spring Training appearance today with right hamstring tightness. Gray declined comment pending the results of an MRI; the team is expected to provide more information tomorrow.
While Gray’s status could theoretically spur the Cardinals to seek out additional pitching depth, that won’t be known until the team gets clarity as to whether he’s still on track to be ready for Opening Day. Even if he does need to spend time on the IL, a push for Montgomery or Snell would be a surprise.
St. Louis has roughly $185MM on the books for the upcoming season, according to RosterResource. That’ll be a franchise high for Opening Day, approximately $8MM above last year’s team-record figure. Their competitive balance tax number is around $215MM. Signing either pitcher, especially Snell, would push them near or beyond the $237MM luxury tax threshold. The cost for narrowly exceeding the threshold for the first time isn’t all that significant — a 20% hit on spending between $237MM and $257MM — but Goold notes that team officials have suggested they have no desire to push into tax territory.
If Gray remains on track for Opening Day, he’ll front a rotation also including Gibson, Lynn, Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz. Should anyone from that group miss time, young southpaws Matthew Liberatore and Zack Thompson are probably next on the depth chart. Drew Rom made his MLB debut late last year but was tagged for an 8.02 ERA over eight starts. Sem Robberse and Adam Kloffenstein are also on the 40-man roster and have yet to reach the big leagues.
That’s a questionable group of depth starters for a team expecting to compete in the NL Central. Mike Clevinger and Michael Lorenzen headline the crop of unsigned starters beyond Snell and Montgomery. If the asking price for that duo is beyond the Cardinals’ liking, players like Zack Greinke, Eric Lauer and Noah Syndergaard wouldn’t command more than a few million dollars if they’re able to find a major league offer of any kind.
I don’t even know why they write a story about this. St.louis doesn’t spend money like other teams. They were out on these guys the minute free agency started!!!
“Team X doesn’t inquire” is the antithesis of the daily “Yankees interested in Y” article. The yang of the mlbtr yin
I think all teams were out when free agency started bases in their asking prices. And that’s probably why they remain unsigned. Bellinger and Chapman certainly didn’t get huge contracts. If the price drops a lot of teams could be involved that weren’t earlier.
They should do a series on this topic. I suggest the Guardians, next.
I’m beginning to wonder about the Cardinals Ownership????
Is it that they “Won’t” spend the Money on top Quality Players?
Or that they “ Can’t” spend the money because they haven’t got it????
Either way, because the Cardinals “don’t spend the money” as Pennant Contending teams do on Quality players —— that’s the reason this Storybook Franchise has been gradually sinking to the bottom of the Barrel in the National League over the past
9-10 years.
Their miser spending on aging Starting Pitching has already reared its ugly head in Spring Training. The Cardinals new Ace pitcher is already down for the count. Gibson may also be down.
Keeping Adam Wainwright an extra year too long should have shown the Cardinals that Aging, injury prone Starting Pitching is not the way to improve a Baseball team.
No Quality moves will be made to improve the Cardinals by John Mozeliak. It looks like 2024 could possibly very well be a repeat of 2023 without Quality Additions.
What a moronic post. I stopped reading halfway through.
Boras says people are calling and Phi and Stl immedediatly say “not us”
Definitely some mind games being played. I really think it’s down to Giants and Yanks with the dark horses being Mets and Red Sox for these two.
It makes you wonder what type of offers Montgomery has received so far. Initial reports were that Monty was looking to match or exceed Aaron Nola’s contract (7/$172M). No one is going to pay that much for him. Boston makes so much sense for him personally but I bet the Red Sox won’t go beyond 3-4 years and/or $20M-$22M per year. I wonder if Boston offered 5/$110M if Monty would take that? They could front load it 25/25/20/20/20 and throw in opt outs after years 2, 3 & 4.
Monty is not worth 5/110, he’s never won more than 10 games and is being positioned after having 3 great months in a solid but not special career. He’s a #3 who might be #2 but just as easily a #4. He will help solidlfy any rotation, but he’s not that good.
I don’t think the Cardinals, aka Mozeliak wants to deal with Boras at all. I don’t believe they currently have any of his clients on the roster after trading ONeill.
@ Blackpink – I agree
good post area
It’s a freaking hamstring injury geez…oh no he will be out two weeks of the regular season if it’s serious at this point
It honestly depends on the severity of the injury. If it’s just a strain then you are right, he’s back by mid April at the latest. If he really tore his hamstring (Grade 3 I believe they call it), that can take 10-12 weeks to fully heal. The fact that they are sending him for an MRI immediately isn’t a great sign, but they might just want to get confirmation that it is not too serious. Regardless, a hamstring injury is much better than a shoulder or arm injury for sure!
Per the MLBTR report on the injury:
Gray missed roughly a month of the 2022 season with a strain in that same right hamstring as a member of the Twins back in 2022.
Oh wow what a surprise
At this point the ‘four teams’ that checked in are probably the San Francisco Giants, Long Island Ducks, Chunichi Dragons and the Monstars.
“At this point the four”…Heyman is reporting the Savanna Bananas are checking in and interested to know about Monty’s & Snell’s dance moves. If Scott Boras confirms either guy can moonwalk or line dance, it’s pretty much a done deal.
All this means is Liberatore will be in the rotation now. Snell and Monty are pipe dreams. This front office painfully spends money on bandaids instead of ponying up for a guarantee.
Thompson is definitely on track to start before Libby…
Sure they have, Scott, sure. 4 new teams? Really? I love how you do your job but you’re a little transparent these days.
I think Rich Hill is available
So nothing happened today. Got it.
They darn well need to be picking up the phone and dialing Boras.
MLBTR: Taylor Swift has not recently inquired about Snell or Montgomery. I felt like that was the last rock you hadn’t turned over.
Maybe Boras is washed up. He’s gained such notoriety as a hard nose negotiator for the elite that his mid elite people are getting BS called on them and then getting set up for failure by starting half way through camp or after the season.
I think it’s because he uses the same exact tactic on both types of players and expects the same results. Teams are reliant enough on analytics to draw a hard line on these types of players, and the analytical valuations are ubiquitous now, so just about every team is holding to the same standard deviation, with only a few exceptions.
I perceive the biggest problem for Boras is that his schtick hasn’t evolved, but teams have.
I agree 100. he is washed up. He has rode out his stay and like Manfred it’s time for him to leave. Having your private meeting at the AS game and at the winter meetings doesn’t have the same effect now that everyone has the internet and analytics at their fingertips. It’s not moneyball times anymore.
@Lonnie, Boras is the head of an 80 employee Corporation. They represent roughly 175 MLB player’s.
You speak as though he is making all the decisions and the only agent representing these players. That’s over 1/5th of the league.
You should familiarize yourself with something before formulating opionions…
Well said Clipper.
Boras has always been a one trick pony and teams aren’t falling for his trick any more.
Cardinals should look into Trevor Bauer… $750k for a high ceiling potential pitcher to pair with Gray
I would love for the Braves to but I feel he wouldn’t fit in.
First, the Cardinals will never sign Bauer. Second, he’s making between 4 and 5 million in Japan.
As I wrote on the Phillies “uninterested” post, Snell does not deserve ace money. Teams pay ace pitchers to not only put up great numbers but to also go deep into games and give their bullpen a rest. Snell averages less than 5.1 innings pitched for his career so he actually taxes his team’s bullpen versus giving it rest when he pitches. Teams aren’t going to pay $30-$35M per year over multiple years for those results, Cy Young award or not.
Zack Wheeler has career-averaged 6IP/9 with a 115 ERA+. Snell has a 127 ERA+. That’s a significant gap when he’s healthy enough to pitch. I’m not saying he deserves $42MM AAV but it’s not unreasonable to expect $30MM+ in today’s market. It just a matter of contract length.
Cheap cheap fun fun
St Loo could be proactive and sign Clevinger or Odorizzi … the division is fairly wide open
Clevinger was solid last year for the White Sox, and he wouldn’t break the bank. But Mo doesn’t seem to want to budge, even though he got Lynn and Gibson, Lynn has a lot more questions around him than Gibson.
It’s not Mo who sets the budget, it’s the owners.
Same messaging from every team. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.
Ok the Cardinals don’t have a number 2 starter. So there is a need even if Gray is healthy.
Snell no chance too risky. Montgomery slight chance. It would require trading Matz and probably backloading Montgomerys contract which might work because Boras could save some face and get a good AAV.
I don’t see it happening but it would make some sense if a team would take Matz.
They do have a full rotation. You just don’t agree with it.
When did I say they didn’t have a full rotation? It’s full. It’s full of middle to back end starters short of the guy who appears headed for the IL. The team doesn’t have a number 2.
Dear Cardinals,
Thanks again for rushing out to sign Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson for 25 million at the start of free agency.
Sincerely,
Rest of the NL Central
Right there is a good chance those guys would have gotten peanuts if they waited.
The signing of Lynn and Gibson is okay with me but why the Cards won’t pursue Montgomery is a mystery to me. They could easily work out deal that would keep them be under the cap. The fans should revolt, not that it would mean anything.
They won’t pursue him because the budget was spent on… Lynn and Gibson….
With Gray starting off the season injured , it doe not look good for our only quality starting pitcher we signed . The DeWitts say they are committed to winning, I’ll believe it when i see them open the purse strings, Dewitt is among the wealthiest in the MLB. Now is the time to show the fans they are actually committed to winning, not just filling their pockets due to the fans who loyally fill the stands.
I’ll play for league minimum.
There not old enough for the cards maybe lefty grove or possibly cc they only sign old pitchers maybe a Brandon looper??? Maybe zg if they will splurge
This team is NOT small market as they claim it’s a disgrace!!! There tv market in FIVE states you think Bally is going to effect them??? Come on…. They don’t spend because they cry wolf…. It’s a shame they get a comp pick every year….. why???? You have a five state market??? It’s bs
Since when do the birds get a comp pick.
with walker’s gold glove defense in right all the cards need is someone to throw strikes
Walker puts on three times the shoe mileage in RF than any other player, because he runs a number of figure-8 routes to every ball.
If any metal metaphor attaches to his glove, it’s not gold, it’s iron.
Sign Trevor Bauer!
Stop trying to figure out who the 4 teams are. They are Hope, Desire, Want & Wishful Thinking.
Boras, once again, as always, has multiple inquiries by unnamed teams in attempts to increase bogus demand for his clients.
With Gray starting off the season injured , it doe not look good for our only quality starting pitcher we signed . The DeWitts say they are committed to winning, I’ll believe it when i see them open the purse strings, Dewitt is among the wealthiest in the MLB. Now is the time to show the fans they are actually committed to winning, not just filling their pockets due to the fans who loyally fill the stands.