Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn had surgery to remove a cyst from his hand following the season, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak revealed at yesterday at a press conference to introduce new hitting coach Brant Brown and new assistant GM Rob Cerfolio (X link via John Denton of MLB.com). Winn recently had the stitches removed, and the minor procedure isn’t expected to impact his offseason routine.
The 22-year-old Winn was a bright spot in a lackluster season that has prompted the Cardinals to step back, focus on player development and embark on something of a reset. They’re widely expected to listen to offers on various veterans this offseason, and Mozeliak has already stated that the club’s payroll will go down next year.
None of the Cardinals’ 2024 shortcomings can be pinned on Winn. The budding star played his first full big league season and turned in a solid .267/.314/.416 batting line with 15 homers, 32 doubles, five triples and 11 stolen bases (in 16 attempts). He fanned in a well below-average 17.1% of his plate appearances and coupled that sound offensive game with excellent glovework at shortstop. Winn slumped badly in the season’s final month (.196/.234/.382) but was hitting .283/.330/.424 through Sept. 1. It’s not clear if the cyst hampered his swing down the stretch, but it won’t be an issue going forward one way or the other.
Elsewhere on the injury front, Mozeliak provided encouraging updates on right-hander Sonny Gray and left-handed reliever JoJo Romero (X link via Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat). Gray finished the 2024 season on the injured list due to right forearm inflammation but is expected to have a normal offseason. Like Gray, Romero finished the season on the shelf due to inflammation in his flexor tendon. He’s just now progressing to a throwing program that will dictate how the rest of his offseason plays out. The Cardinals don’t anticipate any additional surgeries beyond Winn’s minor procedure, according to Mozeliak.
The health of both Gray and Romero is of extra intrigue, given the Cardinals’ shift in direction. Both veterans could be candidates to be traded over the winter. Gray is entering the second season of a three-year, $75MM contract and will have his say over where or whether he’s moved, as that pact included a full no-trade provision. That, coupled with the backloaded nature of the contract, could make him a tricky trade candidate. He earned $10MM of his $75MM guarantee this past season. He’ll be paid $25MM in 2025 and $35MM in 2026, with a $5MM buyout on an option for the 2027 season. Gray, the AL Cy Young runner-up with the Twins in 2023, pitched to a 3.84 ERA in 166 1/3 innings with St. Louis this past season.
Romero is a more straightforward case. The 28-year-old is arbitration-eligible for the second time this winter — projected for a $1.9MM salary by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz — and is under club control for another two seasons. He’s coming off a career-best 3.36 ERA with a 21% strikeout rate, a 6.6% walk rate, a 48.8% ground-ball rate and 30 holds. Romero was unhittable against lefties (.181/.244/.250) but yielded a far less encouraging .264/.329/.466 line to right-handers. Still, as an affordable and relatively controllable lefty who averages 95.1 mph on his heater and is no stranger to high-leverage spots, he’d surely draw interest as the Cardinals look to boost their farm system.
Changes throughout the Cardinals organization are just getting started. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that the newly hired Cerfolio will now be tasked with hiring a new director of performance and a new farm director. Cerfolio will assist Chaim Bloom in leading both departments. Goold notes that the player development and player performance departments were previously separate entities but will be more cohesive.
“It never got to the point where we got to the point it was running at 100% in terms of collaboration,” Mozeliak said of the prior player development and player performance setup. Goold’s piece includes quotes from Mozeliak on the additions of Cerfolio, Brown and outfield coach Jon Jay, detailing what drew the Cardinals to each and also further laying out the plans for additional hires. Cards fans will want to give it a read for a full preview of what’s to come in the weeks and months ahead.
With regard to the roster itself, it’s increasingly clear what direction the Cardinals will take this winter with every media availability from their decision-makers. Mozeliak has already informed several of the team’s veterans of a plan to field a younger club, Denton tweets. “Ultimately, the direction that we’re going to be going, it’s going to be creating some opportunities for our younger players,” Mozeliak said.
Why is this site talking about how terrible the Cardinals 2024 was when ignoring the Cubs season?
Is it because there is a Cubs bias or are Cubs fans just more willing to accept mediocrity?
Both teams had the same record. The Cubs were supposed to be the better team.
Everyone is presumably aware of Tim Dierkes Cub fandom.
I don’t mind him being a fan or Nick Deeds. But be fair. Don’t selectively post things.
I remember back in August the Cubs moved ahead of the Cardinals in the standings by a half a game and there was an article about how the Cardinals are chasing the Cubs in the standings. Cardinals had been ahead of the Cubs for months but that day they weren’t and there was a post mentioning it.
The fact is both teams have problems. If you know the Cardinals and have been paying attention the last few years you know the team can cut payroll and still win games. The Cubs on the other hand haven’t proven that in a decade. The Cubs top 6 prospects are all projected to be ready in 2025. It probably makes sense for them to trim some payroll and let the young guys play but are there articles about doing that? Of course not…..
You sound really sensitive
LMAO…. the world series isn’t even over yet. There’s still time to write articles about 2025. People just love to complain.
Lots of teams had poor/disappointing seasons. (No one has used the word “terrible,” by the way.) The Cardinals, Cubs, Blue Jays, Twins, Mariners and Rangers among them.
Only one of those teams has publicly declared that they’re planning to take a step back, focus on player development, create opportunities for younger players, reduce payroll and overhaul the baseball operations department. That same team has also made its top baseball operations executives available via press conferences multiple times this season. The others have not.
No one here is saying the Cubs’ season wasn’t a disappointment. Anthony called it out as one after Jed Hoyer’s most recent comments. Tim called out the fact that their splashy hiring of Craig Counsell produced the same record that David Ross did a year ago and ended the piece noting that the Cubs have missed the playoffs all four years since Jed Hoyer took over baseball operations.
But in the still-nascent offseason (for 28 clubs, anyway), the Cardinals have been a more newsworthy club in terms of their shifting direction.
I guess Steve. Just find some Cubs articles i know you guys can do that. I will say it again and i keep saying this the Cubs top 6 prospects are all projected to be ready in 2025. Either they need to let them play or they need to use them to make the big league club better. I am sure there is something to talk about on that subject.
Tired of people acting excited and gleeful because the Cardinals are planning on spending less money. That’s not what sports are about folks. If money won games the Cubs wouldn’t have finished with the same record as the aging has been Cardinals.
@Steve Adams…Excellent, through analysis. This is why I come to MLBTraderumors.
Half the article was how great the Cardinals shortstop is. It wasn’t that bad.
He is great he’s about to win a gold glove. I don’t know if he’s ever gonna be an exceptional hitter but his defense is legit.
No he’s not and he should not. Dansby Swanson had the better year defensively. And that’s not me the Cubs fan saying that. I can back it up with facts.
What facts?
You are full of it.
There was an article the other day on Nico Hoerner, did you bother reading that?
Well.. if you knew the facts, the Cardinals were favorites to win the division at the beginning of the year. Whereas the cubs were projected to finish 3rd or 5th. That it probably why? The Cardinals underperformed more than the cubs did.
4th*
That’s not true. Pretty much everyone said the Cubs would win the division.
I don’t think Fangraphs or PECOTA had the Cubs at the top before the season. It was basically five teams bunched around .500. And in situations like that, the cream usually rises to the top. So, congratulations, Brewers.
Everyone had the Cubs at the top. Why wouldn’t they? The Cubs had the best team on paper.
mlb.com/news/mlb-2024-projected-standings-breakdow…
I am a Cardinals fan I thought the Cuba had the best team in 2024. Not sure why someone would think otherwise.
We’re talking beginning of the year predictions.
They had 1. Cardinals 2. Brewers 3. Cubs 4. Reds 5. Pirates
This is a news aggregation post for a press conference that the Cardinals had yesterday. You seem to believe that MLBTR keeps going out of their way to write opinion pieces bashing the Cardinals when they’re instead just reporting the news.
If the Cubs had a press conference that provided insights, I’m sure that there would be an article about it.
“A bright spot in a lackluster season”
That’s a bs comment
“Widely expected to listen on veterans in the offseason”
That’s not true that’s the author of the post taking liberties with what was said.
There is an article on MLB.com about the Cubs back on October 7th. In it they discuss how the Cubs had a disappointing(some might say lackluster) season and the owner says they are counting on internal improvements instead of additional spending as a way to compete in 2025. Look it up
Now a few days later there is an article on this site about the Cubs and literally half of it is about the CBT tax and how close the Cubs are to it and the penalties for going over. As if that’s happening lol.
Look them up. Look them up and tell me something isn’t right here.
Think because the cardinals are talking about cutting payroll and at least a mini rebuild.
The Cubs are talking about standing still and internal improvements. But thats not what has been reported on this site.
That’s the truth. Look it up for yourself read my prior posts and look it up.
There’s no Cubs bias that I can see. It’s in your head. The reason they keep talking about 2024 is because they had a long run of sustained success, something the Cubs have really never been able to do. Sure, they had some good years from 2015 through 2020, but the Cards are always good. So, of course it’s a bigger deal. Plus, the Cardinals are saying hemselves that they’re taking a step back. They are saying this and the site is just reporting it. People who keep accusing baseball writers and sites of bias usually are full of it. I wrote for years and while I have always been a Cubs fan, I was very tough on them and demanding. That’s what a fanbase should be like. These guys are professionals dude. Part of being a pro is putting bias aside. For the most part, they do. It’s a great site. Stop yourself already.
The Cubs have said themselves they are not adding and are counting on internal improvements. The GM Jed Hoyer said this weeks ago.
Now why wasn’t that reported here? Why instead was an article reported on a week later and then the writer here completely took things out of context and spent half the article writing about the CBT as if that makes any difference at all?
Look it up. This isn’t my opinion look it up.
And if you have been visiting this site for years, which i know you have, you would know there is a bias if you opened your eyes. I remember the Brian Roberts rumors. I can recall reading countless articles about how the Cubs are going to spend more money. Year after year after year.
It is a great site. We agree on that. But there has always been a Cubs bias here. Always.
The only bias is in your head. Relax. Your team has won the 2nd most World Series ever. The last 2 years of Cardinals’ mediocrity is more of a story because it’s out of character for them. The Cubs have always been losers. You’re not grasping this simple fact.
That’s not the point. This site is picking and choosing what articles to post and showing a clear bias against the Cardinals and for the Cubs. It’s lame as can be.and it’s definitely not the first time. Those Brian Roberts rumors were just so despicable.
The only thing they want are eyeballs. That increases advertising revenue. What do you think Tim wants more – Cubs bias or making money?
I think Tim wants both.
I will say it again Brian Roberts. Do you truly not know what I am talking about?
This site bled those rumors dry for months acting as if the Cubs were going to get Brian Roberts.
We are all fans of baseball and we all have our team or teams we root for. But biased reporting is nonsense. Nobody needs it.
I think it’s because as Cards fans we expect to win every game and have playoff teams year in and year out. You obsession with the Cubs is a waste of time. Were you satisfies with the Cards season this year? Last year??? Keep your focus where it belongs!!!! Go Birds
Of course I am not happy with the Cardinals 2024 season but it wasn’t this massive failure like the writers in this site keep making it out to be.
But thats not the point. This site is intentionally reporting things like Cardinals payroll will go down and intentionally ignoring when the Cubs GM said they were counting on internal improvements. Why? Thats lame dude. If you don’t understand that then move along but it’s lame. If the roles were reversed the writer he would get fired for this but it’s the Cubs so it’s totally cool.
WOW!!!! You are overly obsessed.. Best of luck
Just read a cardinals blog then. You cry and violently defecate your pants every time this site has a cardinals article.
Maybe because it’s an article on the Cardinals, not a Cubs vs. Cardinals. Although I would say the Cubs are headed in the right direction and the Cardinals seem to be a ship without a rudder.
What???
What on earth are the Cubs doing that indicates they are headed in the right direction when the Cardinals arent????
That’s a dumb comment.
It’s article after article about how the Cardinals are taking a step back and reducing payroll. Where are the Cubs articles? The site is run by Cubs fans let’s not pretend they can’t come up with Cubs articles for the first time in the sites history. They can they are choosing not to.
the world series hasn’t even started yet, there’s plenty of time for them to cover all thirty teams once the offseason begins for all 30 teams.
yesterday they had an article covering nico’s surgery, who is a cubs player is he not?
The article was about his surgery and was used as an excuse for why he didn’t have the year he was expected to have.
Like I said top 6 Cubs prospects all big league ready in 2025. What will the Cubs do? That’s an article. It might be in the Cubs best interest to scale payroll back and let the young guys play. Just like the Cardinals spending money doesn’t always make the team better it truly doesnt.
Matt Shaw is probably the only one of those prospects ready for the start of 2025 and he’ll still have to prove it in spring training. The other prospects will get their chance when there is an injury or if they have obviously mastered AAA – which none of them have done yet.
The Cubs don’t need to scale payroll back because they can spend to the CBT threshold and fans will still come out to Wrigley Field even if the team has been in last place for a year or two.
Wont fans show up regardless? Didn’t fans show up back when the Cubs spent less than the Cardinals? Of course they did. So perhaps the Cubs should go back to that business model. There’s an article……
Wrigley Field will always get tourists and Cubs fans are a good fan base, but attendance will suffer if payroll is cut and team performance suffers. The Cubs did see attendance decline after the team was blown up in 2021.
A small attendance decline. But they saved a lot of money. Pretty sure the Cubs are better off not spending since people will show up regardless.
What specifically would you like them to write about regarding the Cubs? Seems like there’s not much to report regarding the Cubs, aside from some coaching changes which the Athletic reported on yesterday.
I just said what I think they should write about. I literally said it in the comment you are replying to.
this isn’t an article but it’s literally what you’re asking for them to discuss:
mlbtraderumors.com/2024/10/mlbtr-podcast-changes-i…
imagine if 27 other people started whining about their team’s coverage or lack of when the world series hasn’t even commenced lol
Lol there’s a part in there about the Cardinals trading Contreras because they are cutting payroll. You did notice that right?
I was replying to your previous comment. My page hadn’t updated yet. But still, if you want coverage like that, then there are plenty of other sites that will give you exactly what you want. MLBTR doesn’t typically write pieces like you’re describing.
Dude they definitely write pieces like the one I describe. And like you said they did mention it i just don’t do podcasts so I didn’t hear it.
The Cardinals said payroll is going to go down and young giys will play. That can happen by not bringing back Goldschmidt, Gibson and Lynn. Now why is trading Contreras being discussed?
I have yet to see an article discussing 3+ prospects that would have an impact on their team the next season. If so, I’d like you to point it out.
I found a Cubs article for you:
yardbarker.com/mlb/articles/two_chicago_cubs_prosp…
We no longer need a Cubs article you just wrote one over a dozen posts.
Cardinals article need to come with a trigger warning so blackie pink can prepare accordingly
“Trigger warning”..I can see some fans feeling the way Blackpink feels. Pretty much all’s fair in the world of Fandom.
But, at the same time I feel that Steve Adams said it best, when he said the “Cardinals have been a more newsworthy club”. None of these views are mutually exclusive and there’s a bit of truth to them all.
MLB Trade Rumors is primarly a news/rumors site. Sure, they have articles that talk about more than just news/rumors and include things about specific active/former players, prospects, or coaches, but their primary focus is news headlines and rumors surrounding teams. Most teams aren’t very active right now, so it’s ovbious why some teams are getting more attention than usual compared to others.
They want eyeballs so they can sell more ad space. Tim doesn’t give a rats ass about Cubs bias. And you’re right – Steve said it very well. Blackpink is never going to understand apparently.
The mute button is cool.
I like your username. All I can think of with Kelenic is the time he kicked the gatorade cooler at Target Field lol. It was still broken when I did a ballpark tour months later.
When the Cards moved Edman, I was livid. Still am!!!
I don’t blame them for that. They had redundancy and he was nearest free agency. I knew that was coming and they got a good return in Fedde.
And it’s not as if trading Edman is why they missed the playoffs.
Tommy is a really good player and a fan favorite for a lot of reasons. Who doesn’t love the guy? But moving him for Fedde was the right move. As the other post mentions, there was redundancy at the position. and we needed a starter with Lynn on the DL and Mikolas pitching poorly. I wish nothing but the best for Tommy. He deserves to be seen as a great ball player.
I literally read and scoured the article three times—-the word “Cubs” is not in the text in any form at all.
First comment—Blackpink–guess what–talking about the Cubs.
Seems to be an unhealthy obsession. Well, maybe not seems to be.
You want to talk about unhealthy obsession? I have never said your name in a post that wasn’t addressing you. Not once.
hey, we just saying this article was kinda abt the Cardinals.
What is the argument about. It seemed to be about two+ people saying nothing worth reading. What a waste of time and space.
amen
The cardinals and cubs may have finished the same record but the cubs felt like they were a better team with more noise in the last month of the season. It looked like for a while that cubs were going put real pressure on the wild card teams at the end
Than more news sources are reporting that the cardinals are looking to reduce payroll in 2025; which means players are likely to be moved. Quick google search will show this.
While the cubs invested in a manager last year and look to add players in 2025.
What? The Cardinals were a playoff team at the time of the trade deadline.
Google Cubs offseason plans and go to the MLB.com article from right after the season ended. It absolutely did not say the Cubs are looking to add in 2025 it said they were counting on internal improvements.
Now why was this article not reported on this site? You would have to ask them that. But look it up. You are wrong.
Hey Blackpink—-newsflash—contrary to popular belief, if it’s on the internet, it is not definitely true.
Googling Cubs offseason plans will provide you absolutely zero concrete information as to what they may do in the offseason. I just checked and there is no valid, verifiable video of meetings from the administrative offices at Gallagher Way.
Me, nor you, nor MBLTR have any real idea what the Cubs may do. But, I can make a pretty hefty wager that the options of counting on internal improvements and looking to add are probably both on the table.
October 1st there was a press conference. It was reported by MLB.com and mentions numerous things that were discussed with Jed Hoyer. Look it up fella.
Valid verifiable video? What the f are you talking about?
I saw every second of the Hoyer press conference—it told us nothing as to what they are going to do in the offseason.
I can guarantee you every team in baseball is going to hope on internal improvements and add.
And, I will speak for myself—I have not been invited to any meetings, calls, pow wows with anybody from the Cubs front office so I cannot confirm what they are meeting about, what players they are discussing, etc.
When it comes down to it on March 20th–I will pull for the team they put on the field.
Other than them asking me for my payment on my tickets, they really don’t reach out to me on how to shape the roster or the organization. If they do, I will let you know—because, as a Cardinal fan, we know that you care about the Cubs a little more than you probably should.
Did you read the quotes? He said clear as day they were counting on beating projections and internal improvements. He said that. Words literally right from his mouth. That was his reply to a question about if the Cubs plan on spending this offseason. Thats as direct of a statement you will ever get from a GM.
And this site ignored it like it never happened. Then Bob Nightengale and Katie Woo say the Cardinals plan on cutting payroll and this site runs with it as if it’s fact.
That happened fella.
Boy, how the national sports media and front-running fans change the narrative on a dime.
Mets! Mets! Mets! Mets! Mets! Mets! Mets! Mets! Mets! Mets! Mets!
Guess the Phillies and Braves room with the Marlins from now on.
Lousy PoBO’s. Managers. Coaches. Players.
I got a little too much time on my hands today so I am going to lay this out for you folks in detail.
On October 1st GM Jed Hoyer was interviewed about the Cubs 2024 season and plans for the offseason. This is EXACTLY the kind of press conference that was reported on about the Cardinals a few weeks ago that started this talk of payroll dropping that the authors of post after post keep referencing on this site.
mlb.com/cubs/news/cubs-jed-hoyer-discuss-2024-mlb-…
Type the words Cubs offseason plans and this is the first thing that shows up. In it Hoyer was sked specifically about the Cubs adding more star power to their team. This was his response.
Asked about potentially seeking more star power to help the offense, Hoyer pointed to players “outperforming projections” as a main goal for ‘25.
“To get to a place where we can build our projections up,” Hoyer said, “and consistently make the postseason year after year, I think there’s a level of discipline to do that. You don’t want to take wild swings and you don’t want to do things that are going to expose you long-term. I think the goal here is getting to a place where the playoffs are the expectation every single year.”
This was October 1st. Was this article ever reported on or posted here? No it was not. Why? Thats a great question.
Fast forward to October 11th. The Cubs Owner Ricketts talked to Chicago Tribune reporter Meghan Montemurro. She asked him if they would be willing to pay the tax again the CBT tax.. Here is his reply
“The penalties on CBT, they grow over time and so you want to be careful when you do it,” Ricketts said. “And so if there’s ever some point in the future where there’s a large financial commitment you want to make midseason, you have to be thoughtful about it.”
The the next 4 paragraphs of a total of 6 in the article are all about what happens when they go over the tax and all the rules and penalties involved. Here is a link to the article posted by Mlbtraderumors
mlbtraderumors.com/2024/10/ricketts-discusses-hoye…
Now how on earth are you going to sit here and tell me this isnt biased reporting? Of course it is. Its clear as freaking day it is. Its all right there.
You make me embarrassed to be a Cardinals fan and a fan of this site. You are the most sensitive, whiny person I see comment. Nobody but you seems to think the writers at MLBTR are overly biased, or even really biased at all. Even if they were a little biased, who cares? You are complaining about what the writers didn’t write. Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? Why didn’t they write about any number of topics for other teams? Why didn’t my local newspaper write about the bathroom break I took today or what I am eating for lunch? There are a ridiculous amount of other sites you could go to in order to read baseball articles if you don’t like the way the writers here write or the number of pro-Cardinals and anti-Cubs articles they post. If you want your baseball news content to be in favor of the Cardinals or something, go check out Viva El Birdos, Redbird Rants or STL Today.
Read my posts at the bottom of the comment section it spells it out in very certain terms. Just read it.
This is shameful mlbtraderumors. It really is.
Oh you replied to the post I was referring to.
Did you read it?
I spelled it out clear as day. I don’t want a Cardinals bias i want FAIR HONEST REPORTING and that’s not what’s happening here. How are you so clueless?
The Cardinals are making significant changes to their Organization and announced a different philosophy to take this offseason.
The cubs look to be mostly running it back and counting on young guys to come up and fill in. No real surprise why the Cards are getting more attention.
This site hasn’t discussed the Cubs running it back. That’s not what this site reported the Cubs doing at all. And that’s why i am irritated. That and how they keep overexaggerating what the Cardinals are doing.
It says in this very article Mozeliak stated payroll was going down. He never said that.
mlb.com/news/chaim-bloom-take-over-john-mozeliak-c…
It’s written in the article as a quote from Mo and it’s at 13:34 for about 10-12 seconds of the 28:01 long video embedded within the article.
Ok he said it
Now why weren’t the comments from Hoyer shared on this site? Why 10 days after Hoyer said it’s status quote in Wrigleyville did this site post an entirely different article?
So just to be clear, you’re upset and think this site is biased because they didn’t post a Cubs article where the Cubs GM said they were not going to do much this offseason? That’s worth writing all these words and being upset and claiming the writers and the site are biased because they didn’t report a non-story? It must be lonely on the planet you live on by yourself…
If what the Cubs GM says is a non story why is what Mozeliak said so important?
Well said.
I wouldn’t trust John Mozeliak as far as I could throw him!!
Nothing Positive will ever happen to the Cardinals as long as Mozeliak still has any minute say so —- about anything !!!!!!
It’s absolutely CRAZY —- that the Owners are allowing the guy that has torn down this Historic Cardinals Franchise —- to have any say so what so ever in trying to build this Organization back to a World Series contender.
Look up Einstein’s Definition of Insanity!!!
And when the heck did Mozeliak say payroll was going down? When did he say that? That’s hearsay from some dipwad reporters that this site chose to run with for reasons that aren’t good ones. Meanwhile Jed Hoyer was interviewed by multiple media outlets on October 1st and gives a direct quote saying they are counting on internal improvements to be better in 2025 and this site ignores it and instead reports a different article 10 days later by a biased Cubs reporter.
This is lame. Take some responsibility for this. It’s lame.
Why are you obsessed with the Cubs? Chicago is a football town. Bears first and always. Sure some baseball fans like myself care just as much about the Cubs but for the most part Chicago fans are much more Bears-centric. Look, I am disgusted by the Cubs. All that money they never take the big swing. Hoyer is too conservative and that’s why he’s more of a fit for Ricketts than Theo was. Theo wants to win big. Hoyer wants “intelligent spending” whatever the hell that means. Tim said it himself – he is not as much of a Cubs fan as he used to be and I feel the same way. Winning the WS in 2016 made me hungry for more. But this is no more.
Dude, stop pretending that MLBTR is your own personal blogsite. Go start your own site since you seem to have opinions, of the misinformed variety typically, about anything and everything. You’re nauseating.
Put me on mute if you don’t like it chief. Tell you what I will do it myself. Then at least I don’t have to listen to you……
It was literally in the main press conference that they did the Monday after the season ended that Mozeliak specifically said to expect payroll would go down in 2025. For somebody that claims to be a Cardinals fan, how did you not know this and see or hear anything from the most important press conference the Cardinals have held in years?
Share a link to those comments. I don’t think he said that at all. I think you made that up.
mlb.com/news/chaim-bloom-take-over-john-mozeliak-c…
Per the written article:
Mozeliak, who noted that he will also take on the day-to-day general manager duties with Michael Girsch reassigned, admitted that an “8-to-12 percent increase” in investment in adding more player development staff and improved technology will lead to a decrease in payroll at the MLB level.
Mozeliak talks about the payroll going down starting at 13:34 of the 28:01 long video embedded within the article.
After reviewing, please come back to me and tell me I made it up…
Ok you are right he did say that point blank. Not sure why I needed to watch 15 minutes of the press conference he said it right away and it was very direct. He also said the money is going to player development so it’s not like the team is spending less just less on payroll.
It’s clear they aren’t doing a full rebuild. I kind of wish they were but it’s clear that’s not what’s happening. Sounds like Goldschmidt, Lynn and Gibson aren’t coming back but I dont think they are trading guys away.
Where is your apology to zpgreen accusing him of making it up?
Blackpink in the area, my very first mute.
Ok, my second but I think he needs to feel special.
Just muted Blackpink as well. Have only muted a small handful of people. I mean, we’re all a little weird…we’re baseball fans…but dude needs to chill.
Should get “top dollar” for Gray. Shorter term length of his deal brings in to the bidding war for his services small market teams that are trapped in that 5 yr cycle of winning reality. Orioles, Tigers and Royals come to mind.
I doubt they get much in return for Gray without eating salary. His backloaded contract is actually a bit of an overpay now.
I want to keep Gray, so I see the back loaded contract as a plus. Payroll can go down with Goldschmidt not being re-signed, Kitridge not being re-signed, not re-signing Lynn, while letting Polanco have a permanent starter spot as well as McGreevy. Still need to sign a 3-hole hitter, but otherwise, I think the team could be decent next year. Do I want to be better than decent? Hell yes. But I don’t think the team’s 2025 prognosis should reasonably be seen as bad. I’m really excited for some of the young players and am not giving up on this team. Fire Mo.
Uncle Charlie has said it best.
Gray has no-trade protection. One of the reasons he chose St. Louis is because it is relatively close to his Nashville home. Gray will probably only accept a trade to Atlanta or Cincinnati.
As a Cardnials fan, I hope he expands that circle to include the teams you mentioned above, but I’m not going to hold my breath.
I just came here to say I was very happy with Winn this year. Gold Glove level defense at shortstop with decent offense at 22 is impressive.
He’s the franchise. That kid is special.