Yes, new Cardinals baseball czar Chaim Bloom would love to move veterans Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras for longer-term assets.
He must see if these guys are willing to move and, if so, what other teams are willing to offer for them. If the franchise must eat tens of millions of dollars to get a better return, so be it.
But, no, the Cardinals don’t have to blow up the roster and start over. As you saw again Monday night (if you bothered to watch), Ivan Herrera and Alec Burleson reaffirmed their standing as offensive cornerstones.
Brendan Donovan and Masyn Winn established their value over the past two seasons. Thomas Saggese is passing his first big league test too.
JJ Wetherholt excelled at Triple-A level this season while posting a .978 OPS at Memphis through the weekend. He has a career .905 OPS in the minors with 33 doubles, 19 homers, 79 RBIs and 25 steals in his first 138 professional games. He is an obvious cornerstone as well.
On the pitching side, Matt Svanson emerged as a high-leverage reliever. Riley O’Brien and JoJo Romero have utility. Starter Matthew Liberatore finally got over the hump.
Michael McGreevy is another back-of-the-rotation starter to take forward. Kyle Leahy could be an intriguing project for the starting rotation while Andre Pallante should return to his previous life in long relief.
Promising Springfield starters Bryce Mautz (8-3, 2.98 ERA) and Ixan Henderson (9-7, 2.59) need to join fellow lefties Quinn Mathews and top 2025 draft pick Liam Doyle in the Memphis rotation next season. All four could see time in the majors.
With Tekoah Roby and Cooper Hjerpe recovering from surgical repairs and Tink Hence facing an uncertain future after breaking down again this season, that quartet with be a focal point for the near-term future.
These are the guys Bloom can build around. There are multiple holes, given the prospect pitching injuries and the failure of Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker to take off this season, but there is still a solid foundation.
Tipsheet would like to see catchers Jimmy Crooks and Leonardo Bernal repeat at Triple-A and Double-A respectively. They have the tools to become big league catchers, but both must take another step at the plate.
Crooks didn’t look out of place during his big league trial, but he didn’t produce either. The same goes for outfielder Nathan Church. And the same goes for Victor Scott II, who still must develop his hit tool to earn everyday usage in center field.
It will be fascinating to see if outfielder Joshua Baez can handle Triple-A pitching after finally finding himself at the plate. He posted an .887 OPS at Class A Peoria, then an .883 OPS for the mighty Springfield team at Double-A during his breakout campaign. In 117 games between the two stops, he produced 23 doubles, 20 homers, 54 stolen bases (!) in 117 games.
Tipsheet expects changes on the major league field staff, but manager Oliver Marmol deserves for time after looking sharp wearing his player development hat this summer.
Writing for CBSSports, Dayn Perry noted this:
Marmol is under contract for 2026, and indications are that Chaim Bloom, who will soon take over as the Cardinals’ new president of baseball operations, will retain the manager for the final season of that contract (and maybe more). However, the other reality is that the Cardinals under Marmol will soon have missed the playoffs in three straight seasons. They’re also on pace for their second losing season under Marmol in the last three years and their third straight season with a negative run differential. Still, the organizational emphasis right now is on player development, and Marmol has been fairly adept at his oversight role in that plan while also working with complicated rosters.
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE
Questions to ponder while wondering if elbow repairs can revive Herrera’s catching career:
Has Pedro Pages done enough at the plate to cement his spot on the 2026 26-man roster?
Will the Cardinals regret holding Wetherholt back this season for roster management reasons?
Did Cardinals outfield prospect Chase Davis finally figure it out after snapping his vexing midseason slump in Springfield?
TALKIN’ BASEBALL
Here is what folks have been writing about Our National Pastime:
Gabe Lacques, USA Today: “As September dawned, a Major League Baseball stretch drive virtually devoid of tension loomed. Yet the abject failures of a handful of front-running teams have suddenly made the final week of the season cause for Dramamine binges, not champagne showers. For that, we can largely thank the Detroit Tigers, on the verge of blowing one of the biggest leads in baseball history. The Tigers led the Cleveland Guardians by 15½ games on July 8, by 12½ games on Aug. 25 and 8½ games on Sept. 11. Yet, that advantage is almost all gone. Cleveland reeled off a 10-game winning streak, pushing its September record to 15-1, just as the Tigers were losing eight of nine and 17 of their last 24, to trim the Guardians deficit, stunningly, to one game. Sept. 21 brought relief, kind of, to the Tigers: Sure, they lost their sixth in a row and ninth in 11 games as Atlanta completed a sweep, but the Guardians lost – finally. Minnesota salvaged the final game of a four-game series, keeping the Guardians at bay long enough for the teams to begin a three-game showdown at Cleveland, beginning Tuesday, Sept. 23.”
David Schoenfield, ESPN.com: “What makes this Guardians run so unbelievable is that they aren’t exactly sending Manny Ramirez, Albert Belle and Jim Thome out there. Their lineup has one power-hitting star in Jose Ramirez, who leads the team in most offensive categories, including with 5.6 WAR, and then outside of Steven Kwan, who boasts 3.4 WAR, no other non-pitcher has more than 1.8. Remember, as well, the Guardians were soft dealers at the trade deadline, trading starter Shane Bieber to Toronto. Their former ace hadn’t yet pitched in 2025 at that point, but he was rehabbing in the minors as he recovered from the Tommy John surgery he had in 2024. Closer Emmanuel Clase had been put on nondisciplinary paid leave on July 28 and starter Luis Ortiz on July 3 as MLB conducted a sports betting investigation into both players. (The pair remain in leave ‘until further notice’ while the investigation continues.) The Guardians didn’t bother to replace either Bieber or Clase at the deadline, just riding with what they have. Somehow, they started winning anyway. Since Aug. 1, they have the lowest ERA in the majors and have given up the fewest runs in the AL. They’ve thrown five shutouts in September, including blanking the listless Minnesota Twins in both games of Saturday’s doubleheader, and the bullpen has been lights-out with a 2.64 ERA during this 20-6 stretch.”
Ken Rosenthal, The Athletic: “The Reds’ surge hasn’t been nearly as impressive as that of their Ohio neighbors, in large part because it isn’t much of a surge at all. Since July 27, the Reds are only 24-26. But by winning 10 of their last 15, including a four-game home sweep of the Chicago Cubs over the weekend, they are in surprisingly good position. And with a rotation headed by Hunter Greene and Andrew Abbott, they could be dangerous if they win a wild card. The Reds next host Pittsburgh for three before ending the season in Milwaukee against a Brewers team that already has clinched the NL Central and holds a three-game lead over Philadelphia for the No. 1 overall seed. The Mets finish with a six-game trip to Wrigley Field and Miami. Their lead over the Marlins – the Marlins! – is down to four games. For years, Mets fans blamed the Wilpon ownership for the team’s repeated stumbles, and not unfairly. Well, at his introductory news conference in November 2020, Steve Cohen said he would consider it “slightly disappointing” if the team did not win a World Series in his first three to five years as owner. This is year five. And for the second time in three seasons – the other being 2023, when they traded Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer at the deadline – the Mets have badly underachieved.”
MEGAPHONE
“We’re in, I think right in the beginning of, the best era of Padres baseball.”
Padres manager Mike Shildt, on getting his team back to postseason play.
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Jeff Gordon | Post-Dispatch
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