Latest / Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast / Saying Goodbye to Goldy

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Saying Goodbye to Goldy · Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

0:01
Speaker 1: Awesome. Welcome back to the third episode of Cardinal Territory.
0:09
Speaker 1: I'm Katie Wu. He's Trevor Rosenthal. We officially survived one
0:14
Speaker 1: week of the show. Trevor, how are you feeling?
0:17
Speaker 2: I am doing great, Katie. It's Christmas time? How are you?
0:23
Speaker 1: It is Christmas time. I'm back in California. I'm visiting
0:26
Speaker 1: my family. I just I'm a last minute everything kind
0:30
Speaker 1: of person. It's why I'm a reporter. I'll write on
0:32
Speaker 1: deadline it's my best work, and I have that same
0:35
Speaker 1: energy for Christmas shopping. So I have been putting in
0:38
Speaker 1: work the last two days, and I have one more round.
0:41
Speaker 1: I'm gonna knock it out right after this, and then
0:44
Speaker 1: I will actually feel like it'll be a festive time.
0:48
Speaker 1: My heart goes out to the baseball reporters who have
0:51
Speaker 1: had to deal with an insane weekend. A ton of
0:54
Speaker 1: moves were made just off the top of my head.
0:57
Speaker 1: Heyesusiszarno goes to Philadelphia. That rotation is going to be nasty.
1:01
Speaker 1: Sean and Ayah back to the Mets. Josh Peterson is
1:04
Speaker 1: a ranger. I mean, we can go on and on.
1:07
Speaker 1: Walker Buehler goes to the Red Sox, and then of
1:09
Speaker 1: course the very sad news that the Hall of Famer
1:12
Speaker 1: and all time great Ricky Henderson passed away over the weekend.
1:16
Speaker 1: So that was all very sad, but some big news
1:20
Speaker 1: in Cardinals land as well. Paul Goldschmidt. He's going to
1:24
Speaker 1: be in Pintrick's reports on Saturday said that Goldie signed
1:29
Speaker 1: a one year, twelve point five million dollar contract with
1:32
Speaker 1: the New York Yankees, effectively ending his time in Saint Louis. Trevor,
1:37
Speaker 1: what are your thoughts on the gold Schmidt deal and
1:40
Speaker 1: then the Goldschmidt era here in Saint Louis.
1:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, as a Cardinal fan, I think you
1:45
Speaker 2: have to be very satisfied and happy with the time.
1:50
Speaker 3: That Goldie was.
1:52
Speaker 2: You know, doning the birds on the bat, I mean,
1:54
Speaker 2: really seemed to get him, maybe not his prime, but
1:58
Speaker 2: kind of like the the tailwind of a prime for
2:03
Speaker 2: you know, arguably a Hall of Fame player and certainly
2:05
Speaker 2: a Hall of Fame individual. Everything that I've heard from
2:08
Speaker 2: teammates of Goldie is that he's an incredible person, but
2:11
Speaker 2: you know, his numbers really speak for it, being a
2:14
Speaker 2: you know, he was an All Star in twenty two
2:16
Speaker 2: and he really puts together some solid years in Saint Louis.
2:21
Speaker 2: So I think as a Cardinal fan, I'm happy the
2:24
Speaker 2: time that we got to enjoy Paul, and then you
2:27
Speaker 2: have to be happy to guy go into the Yankees.
2:29
Speaker 2: I mean, granted, the grass isn't he always greener on
2:32
Speaker 2: the other side, but you know, as a player, you
2:35
Speaker 2: always hold a certain amount of respect for the New
2:37
Speaker 2: York Yankees, very similar to the Saint Louis Cardinals, two
2:41
Speaker 2: very successful organization.
2:42
Speaker 3: So you know, I'm.
2:45
Speaker 2: Happy for Paul to go out and continue his career
2:48
Speaker 2: and have another opportunity to do that in a winning
2:51
Speaker 2: and winning organization, a winning environment. So I'm super happy
2:55
Speaker 2: for him. Obviously, he's this is where he wanted to go, right,
2:58
Speaker 2: Like the ball is kind of in your court when
2:59
Speaker 2: you put together career like Paul Goldschmid hash when you
3:03
Speaker 2: I'm sure there was a lot of people coming knocking
3:05
Speaker 2: on his door this offseason, and it makes a lot
3:08
Speaker 2: of sense for him to go from one, you know,
3:10
Speaker 2: perennial playoff organization and Pennant Race team to another. So
3:16
Speaker 2: happy for Paul. What do you What do you think, Katie,
3:18
Speaker 2: What do you think about Paul. You got to work
3:19
Speaker 2: with him the last few years.
3:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, And you know it's always sad because you cover
3:24
Speaker 1: players and you have this, you know, the professional boundary
3:27
Speaker 1: of course, but Goldschmidt from day one was nothing but
3:30
Speaker 1: a total pro. And to have him for you know,
3:33
Speaker 1: when I first started covering the Cardinals in twenty one,
3:35
Speaker 1: he'd already been there for a couple of years, and
3:38
Speaker 1: he just had so much He made me want to
3:40
Speaker 1: do my job really well. Like he whether he realized
3:43
Speaker 1: it or not, talking to gold Schmidt helped me become
3:47
Speaker 1: a better reporter, especially early on when I really was
3:49
Speaker 1: kind of spiraling and was like, am I are we
3:52
Speaker 1: sure I'm doing this right? Just such a respective figure
3:57
Speaker 1: in that clubhouse, and we talk about it a lot,
3:58
Speaker 1: how he's not a vocal They didn't have to be
4:01
Speaker 1: Trevor right, like, this is a guy. When you think
4:03
Speaker 1: back throughout his Cardinals tenure, four postseason appearances, gold Glove
4:07
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one, the MVP in twenty twenty two,
4:11
Speaker 1: And you know what I'll remember most is not the
4:14
Speaker 1: accolades he did on the field, but how he treated
4:17
Speaker 1: others off of it. Him and his wife Amy were
4:19
Speaker 1: so charitable and generous with their time, not just in
4:22
Speaker 1: Saint Louis, but throughout baseball. And I think when you
4:26
Speaker 1: look towards the youth movement for the Cardinals next year,
4:28
Speaker 1: there is so much to be excited about. But then
4:31
Speaker 1: you missed that veteran presence, right, You miss that this
4:34
Speaker 1: is a guy who, at thirty seven years old, is
4:36
Speaker 1: just now just now completed his first ever run in
4:39
Speaker 1: free agency. Like that's crazy. He's been in the game
4:41
Speaker 1: for I mean, he was someone that I watched growing
4:44
Speaker 1: up in high school, right Like I would turn on
4:46
Speaker 1: the National League West growing up on the West Coast
4:48
Speaker 1: and there'd be Golding a Diamondbacks uniform and he just
4:51
Speaker 1: really liked to watch him. So on a personal note,
4:54
Speaker 1: nothing but respect for Goldschmidt. I wish him all the
4:56
Speaker 1: best in New York. It will be very strange to
4:58
Speaker 1: see him without a beard. Maybe he'll res more like
5:00
Speaker 1: his rookie years. We have like a photoshopped thing that
5:04
Speaker 1: we'll put on as our thumbnail on YouTube, and I
5:06
Speaker 1: was looking at him photoshopped in pin starts out a
5:09
Speaker 1: beer and I was like, Okay, looks a little weird,
5:11
Speaker 1: but he'll be exactly Maybe and then you know, I'm
5:15
Speaker 1: sure he's hoping that his numbers in twenty five will
5:18
Speaker 1: resemble more of what they did and you know, twenty
5:20
Speaker 1: twenty two, twenty nineteen, et cetera. So yeah, for the Cardinals,
5:24
Speaker 1: you know, really not much of a surprise if you're
5:27
Speaker 1: a Cardinals fan. They told Goldschmid at the very end
5:29
Speaker 1: of the season, hey, look, this is the direction we're
5:32
Speaker 1: going is about the kids, and we're going to start
5:36
Speaker 1: trimming payroll. And I firmly believe this is my speculation
5:39
Speaker 1: that if this was not the direction the Cardinals were going,
5:41
Speaker 1: that they would have extended him. But unfortunately, you know,
5:44
Speaker 1: they're they're taking a step back, they're focusing on their
5:47
Speaker 1: internal talent, and there just wasn't a logical piece for
5:50
Speaker 1: Goldshmid in the future. And it was all but cemented
5:52
Speaker 1: at the GM meetings when John Mozela came out and said,
5:55
Speaker 1: Wilson Contraras will be playing first Space. So I am
5:59
Speaker 1: interested to see how Goldschmidt does in New York. You know,
6:02
Speaker 1: he's again thirty seven years old and coming off what
6:05
Speaker 1: he would say is the worst professional year of his career,
6:09
Speaker 1: of his career, but there are some things to be
6:11
Speaker 1: excited about if you're a Yankees fan, I think he'll
6:13
Speaker 1: be a prime bounced back candidate. You never know. And
6:16
Speaker 1: when Paul Goldschmidt is really locked in, when he's hitting
6:19
Speaker 1: the ball, well, he's driving that ball to right center,
6:22
Speaker 1: right field, can I go to short porch? You know,
6:24
Speaker 1: maybe this will be something that really benefits him. And
6:27
Speaker 1: I hope it did. I hope it is.
6:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I didn't really I didn't think about
6:32
Speaker 2: this and you brought it up, and it really hits
6:34
Speaker 2: the nail on the head. You know, a guy like
6:35
Speaker 2: Paul gold Smith, even for you KTE, you said he
6:38
Speaker 2: had that impact on you or was like, I want
6:40
Speaker 2: to do my job better because I see someone else
6:42
Speaker 2: that just shows up every day with the level of excellence.
6:45
Speaker 2: And this is something I mean, the Cardinals have to
6:47
Speaker 2: be cognizant of. I mean, we talked about it last
6:50
Speaker 2: week when I was on the show. But I was
6:52
Speaker 2: the result of so many players like Goldman. Granted their
6:55
Speaker 2: names were Wayne Right and Carpenter and Melina and Holiday,
6:59
Speaker 2: but that does have an effect on your young players,
7:02
Speaker 2: that certain type of veteran presence. And even though you
7:05
Speaker 2: know in a year like last year, a veteran player
7:07
Speaker 2: that has a down year, it's hard to really quantify
7:10
Speaker 2: the effect that he had on those players outside of
7:13
Speaker 2: the field. So you know, I hope they're you know,
7:16
Speaker 2: keen to that and they're not losing sight of the
7:19
Speaker 2: type of player these these veterans are and the experience
7:23
Speaker 2: and that level of excellence that it brings. It impacts
7:26
Speaker 2: an entire organization. And you know, especially during spring training
7:30
Speaker 2: when you do have those young guys shown up, there's
7:33
Speaker 2: a lot of these new draft picks. It's going to
7:34
Speaker 2: be their first time in a major league clubhouse. So
7:37
Speaker 2: who are we putting around them? Who's going to set
7:38
Speaker 2: the example of how to be a professional, of how
7:41
Speaker 2: to show up and do the work every single day. So,
7:44
Speaker 2: you know, you're right, the Yankees are. They should be excited.
7:46
Speaker 2: The Yankee fan, theay should be excited to get a
7:48
Speaker 2: player like Paul Goldschmidt and you know.
7:51
Speaker 3: Happy for him to continue that legacy. Yeah.
7:54
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I think you're spot on. And I'm not sure
7:57
Speaker 1: how the Goldschmidt era will be remembered in Saint Louis.
7:59
Speaker 1: I hope it'll be remembered fondly, But you know, one
8:02
Speaker 1: of the last conversations we had in twenty twenty four,
8:05
Speaker 1: he spoke about the last four years where kind of
8:08
Speaker 1: the gold Schmidth Nolan Arnatto era really took force, and
8:11
Speaker 1: come early twenty twenty one, people were so so excited
8:13
Speaker 1: about it. And you fast forward four years later they
8:16
Speaker 1: played in just three three playoff games and didn't win
8:19
Speaker 1: a single one. And gold Schmidt was so candid about
8:21
Speaker 1: his times in Saint Louis, how much he really enjoyed
8:24
Speaker 1: playing here, how much he loved the fan base. He
8:26
Speaker 1: loves the heavy expectations, and this is something you know well,
8:30
Speaker 1: that city expects you to win, that city expects you
8:32
Speaker 1: to play well. When he wasn't playing well in twenty
8:35
Speaker 1: twenty four, fans let him hear it, and he never
8:37
Speaker 1: went shied away from it. But I thought it was
8:39
Speaker 1: so revealing. He told me that ironically, probably his most
8:44
Speaker 1: appointing season, disappointing season was his best personal season in
8:49
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two. Right, he wins the Nation League MVP.
8:52
Speaker 1: He is just absolute must watch baseball. For most of
8:55
Speaker 1: the season, the Cardinals, you know, in my opinion, looked
8:58
Speaker 1: like they were going to make a deep run in
8:59
Speaker 1: twenty two and then this very ill fated ninth inning,
9:04
Speaker 1: two outs away Game one against the Phillies in the
9:06
Speaker 1: Wildcard Series. Cardinals fans don't need to hear me rehash
9:09
Speaker 1: this just kind of derailed everything. So to hear him
9:12
Speaker 1: kind of speak to his disappointment and to call twenty
9:15
Speaker 1: twenty two is most disappointing year. I thought that said
9:18
Speaker 1: a lot, and I think that kind of sums up
9:19
Speaker 1: the Goldschmidt era. It's complicated, right, like there were so
9:22
Speaker 1: many good memories, there were so so much good baseball,
9:26
Speaker 1: but at the end of the day, both him and
9:28
Speaker 1: Nolan felt short of their expectations here, and it's just
9:31
Speaker 1: a it's hard to fathom. You know, what that quarter
9:34
Speaker 1: infield looks like and what it will look like without them.
9:37
Speaker 3: Oh my goodness.
9:38
Speaker 2: I mean not not easy guys to replace, certainly Paul
9:42
Speaker 2: gold Smith. And then you know, we were talking about
9:45
Speaker 2: it last week, the possibility of a guy like Nolan
9:48
Speaker 2: Arnaudo not being in the infield any longer either. So
9:52
Speaker 2: we know the talent is one thing, but the experience
9:55
Speaker 2: is a whole other thing. So yeah, it's gonna be
9:58
Speaker 2: some big shoes to feel phil for whoever the Cardinals
10:02
Speaker 2: have in mind.
10:04
Speaker 1: Proll perfect segue. You're on it. Let's talk about what
10:06
Speaker 1: the Cardinals in fields will look like next year. So
10:09
Speaker 1: we know about half of it, right, Mason, when he's
10:11
Speaker 1: not going anywhere, he'll be that shortstop. You know, the
10:14
Speaker 1: majority of the time, Wilson Contreras will be playing first
10:18
Speaker 1: base and DH which is not something I saw coming right.
10:23
Speaker 1: I always thought that when you signed a five year,
10:26
Speaker 1: eighty seven million dollar contract to be a starting catcher,
10:29
Speaker 1: you would last more than two years. But I understand
10:32
Speaker 1: what the Cardinals are doing here. I think it's smart,
10:35
Speaker 1: given the direction that they're suddenly pivoting to right. You
10:37
Speaker 1: want to create playing time for Ivon Herrera. Pedro Pajz.
10:41
Speaker 1: Put Contraras at first, you keep his bat in the lineup.
10:43
Speaker 1: He was always a bat first player, and he did
10:45
Speaker 1: a lot of work behind the scenes to improve over
10:47
Speaker 1: the last two years behind the plate. It's not his faults,
10:50
Speaker 1: of course, that he was injured from half of the
10:52
Speaker 1: twenty twenty fourth season, But I like Contreras at first base.
10:56
Speaker 1: We'll see where he is defensively. He told me the
10:58
Speaker 1: other day he's going to win a glove there, So
11:00
Speaker 1: I love that energy. But we have kind of two
11:03
Speaker 1: question marks, right, Mason Win at shortstop, Wilson Contraras at first.
11:08
Speaker 1: On the off chances hee DH's you'll probably see Alc
11:10
Speaker 1: Burlsten step in there. But we don't know what third
11:13
Speaker 1: base is going to look like, and because of that,
11:15
Speaker 1: we don't know what second base is going to look like.
11:17
Speaker 1: So let's go through two scenarios. Scenario one, Nolan Arnado
11:20
Speaker 1: is traded, right, that opens the door for Nolan Gorman,
11:23
Speaker 1: who came up through the cardinal system as the third
11:26
Speaker 1: baseman to get significant reps at the hot corner. Brendan
11:29
Speaker 1: Donovan he can play anywhere, so you could see him
11:32
Speaker 1: at third, you can see him at second, you can
11:35
Speaker 1: see even Thomas to jac should he make the opening
11:37
Speaker 1: day roster, kind of bounce around the Cardinals like those
11:40
Speaker 1: robing utility guys.
11:41
Speaker 3: You know this.
11:42
Speaker 1: Then their scenario number two, where they don't trade Arnado,
11:47
Speaker 1: so he's at third. You still have Mason at short
11:50
Speaker 1: Do you keep Gorman at second? Do you move Brendan
11:53
Speaker 1: Donovan and keep him in that superutility role? Does Donovan
11:55
Speaker 1: take over at second and then Gorman becomes a DH.
11:58
Speaker 1: It's kind of messy and that's okay, it's supposed to be.
12:01
Speaker 1: It's December. They don't need to have the roster all
12:03
Speaker 1: the way finalized. But I'm wondering what that infield looks
12:07
Speaker 1: like if Nolan stays, and could it, you know, could
12:11
Speaker 1: the Cardinals surprise some people if are not overmains with
12:14
Speaker 1: the organization.
12:16
Speaker 2: I mean, I think that's the situation we would all
12:19
Speaker 2: hope for as a Cardinals as a Cardinals fan, is
12:22
Speaker 2: you know, having an Ernado in the mix definitely brings, uh,
12:27
Speaker 2: gets rid of a lot of the question marks and
12:28
Speaker 2: brings some certainty to an infield that really only has
12:32
Speaker 2: one guy, Mason Wynn that's has been there and done it,
12:36
Speaker 2: and you know that he's experienced at the position. I mean,
12:39
Speaker 2: I'm I have a lot of faith in Wilson Contraras.
12:40
Speaker 2: He's a phenomenal athlete and a great competitor. And I mean,
12:45
Speaker 2: I haven't seen a guy that works as hard as
12:47
Speaker 2: Wilson Conturish. It was it was impressive to see how
12:49
Speaker 2: fast he came back from the hand injury that he
12:52
Speaker 2: had as well.
12:52
Speaker 3: I just want to mention that.
12:53
Speaker 2: But you know, it's hard to speculate on what happens
12:57
Speaker 2: with Aeronada. We've we've already seen how difficult it can
13:00
Speaker 2: be to get to get him shipped off. I mean,
13:04
Speaker 2: trades are hard to execute.
13:05
Speaker 3: On to begin with. But then when when a guy
13:08
Speaker 3: makes in a no.
13:09
Speaker 2: Trade clause and he has a you know, certain preferences,
13:12
Speaker 2: obviously it's gonna make it difficult because not only do
13:15
Speaker 2: the Cardinals have to have something lined up that they
13:17
Speaker 2: think is beneficial, but they also have to pass it
13:20
Speaker 2: through Nol, through Aeronato and make sure that he's on board.
13:24
Speaker 2: So I would like to see, you know, as as
13:26
Speaker 2: if I'm a Cardinals fan, if I'm in the front office,
13:29
Speaker 2: senior or not, to walk through the door in spring
13:30
Speaker 2: training makes me feel a lot better about the situation.
13:34
Speaker 2: But you know, at the same time, hopefully we have
13:36
Speaker 2: some surprises. Hopefully there's a breakout year for somebody in
13:39
Speaker 2: there and they can show up and surprise us all
13:41
Speaker 2: and really take over of that opportunity. I know, if
13:44
Speaker 2: I was a third baseman or an infield or headed
13:46
Speaker 2: into spring training this year, I'm doing everything I can
13:49
Speaker 2: to take advantage because I know the door is wide
13:52
Speaker 2: open on multiple areas in the infield and if obviously
13:55
Speaker 2: offense is very important. If I can, if I can
13:58
Speaker 2: show that I'm ready one, opportunities are going to be there.
14:02
Speaker 2: So that has to be exciting for young players coming
14:05
Speaker 2: in if this is their first or second or spring
14:08
Speaker 2: training or first opportunity to make a big league roster,
14:11
Speaker 2: you know, exciting times as a player for sure.
14:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, I'm one. I think one of those
14:18
Speaker 1: players that they're really counting on, and we've talked about
14:19
Speaker 1: this before, is Nolan Gorman. I mean, John Mozelaf told
14:22
Speaker 1: me during the winter meetings they'd like to see Gorman
14:25
Speaker 1: get between five hundred to six hundred played appearances. They
14:29
Speaker 1: want them playing every day. It's just where is he
14:31
Speaker 1: going to be playing? And they don't know that unless
14:34
Speaker 1: they know what they're going to do with Nolan, and
14:37
Speaker 1: it's you know, I'm torn, right And because we talk
14:41
Speaker 1: about Goldschmand, I feel the same way about Arnatto, someone
14:43
Speaker 1: who like I want to be better at at my job.
14:45
Speaker 1: He's been nothing but good in my four years here
14:48
Speaker 1: to me, and I can see where the Cardinals obviously,
14:51
Speaker 1: if your goal is to win games, you win games
14:53
Speaker 1: by having a Hall of Famer at third base on
14:56
Speaker 1: your roster, hitting clean up every day. That would certainly help,
15:00
Speaker 1: but are you also blocking players, Like how can you
15:03
Speaker 1: create opportunities for Gorman and Donovan and so jac and
15:06
Speaker 1: go on and on and on. Bur listen if you
15:09
Speaker 1: have someone because if Arnatto stays he's playing every day, right,
15:13
Speaker 1: he's not gonna sit the bench. That's not how this works.
15:15
Speaker 1: So that, to me is the most fascinating thing. And
15:18
Speaker 1: here's the thing, Trevor is I actually like, I don't
15:22
Speaker 1: know if no one ar is going to be traded.
15:24
Speaker 1: I don't know, and I go I have a different
15:26
Speaker 1: answer every week. So I feel like, whether it's a
15:29
Speaker 1: radio show or something in a podcast, the biggest question
15:32
Speaker 1: is of what what are the odds Nolan gets traded?
15:34
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know anymore. So it's so confusing.
15:37
Speaker 1: I'm back to fifty to fifty. I was like sixty
15:39
Speaker 1: forty one week. I was even eighty twenty that he
15:41
Speaker 1: was going to go in the beginning of December. But
15:44
Speaker 1: now we're back to fifty to fifty. Uh you know, well,
15:47
Speaker 1: we'll recap the last week of Astros Drama. Cardinals had
15:51
Speaker 1: a deal in place to send Nolan Arnauda to Houston.
15:53
Speaker 1: No one said, hey, not right now. Didn't feel like
15:56
Speaker 1: the timing was right, but we'll keep in contact. The
15:58
Speaker 1: Astros said, hey, I understand, and no hard feelings, but
16:01
Speaker 1: we have to pivot for what's best for us. So
16:04
Speaker 1: a couple of days later, they go out and they
16:05
Speaker 1: sign Christian Walker to a three year, sixty million dollar deal,
16:09
Speaker 1: all but ensuring Nolan will not be an Astro after all.
16:12
Speaker 1: So two teams remain pretty you know, in the mix,
16:15
Speaker 1: with their their interest kind of varying. The Boston Red
16:18
Speaker 1: Sox and the New York Yankees continue to check in.
16:20
Speaker 1: Those are teams that have been pretty busy obviously, you know,
16:22
Speaker 1: they had some big signings Goldie to New York and
16:25
Speaker 1: Walker Bueler to the Red Sox Monday morning. But as
16:29
Speaker 1: we've seen, trades are complicated. As you've said, trades are complicated.
16:33
Speaker 1: If Nolan isn't traded, this will impact the Cardinals offseason
16:37
Speaker 1: in terms of who else they're willing to trade because
16:40
Speaker 1: of that. So let's say we get to like mid January.
16:44
Speaker 1: Believe that players want to know where they're going to
16:46
Speaker 1: be right like in your in your perspective, if you
16:48
Speaker 1: don't have a home per se by mid January, you know,
16:51
Speaker 1: pitchers and catchers are just a few weeks away. What
16:53
Speaker 1: does that do to a player, Yeah.
16:55
Speaker 3: It's hard.
16:55
Speaker 2: I mean, you definitely like to have the ability to
16:59
Speaker 2: play in and get it everything set up and go
17:00
Speaker 2: into the season and have a level of comfort. But
17:03
Speaker 2: when I look at Aeronaudo's situation, he's aware of what's
17:07
Speaker 2: going on, and I would say in his eyes, it's
17:10
Speaker 2: he's planning on being somewhere other than Saint Louis, with
17:13
Speaker 2: all just the talk and speculation, and obviously there's already
17:16
Speaker 2: been offers that have come in that he's turned down.
17:19
Speaker 2: And because he's turned down that offer, I mean, whether
17:22
Speaker 2: there's a list or not, or whether he has preferences
17:25
Speaker 2: on where he would like to be, he's thinking about
17:28
Speaker 2: it and he's thinking, I'm going to be somewhere where
17:32
Speaker 2: a team is excited to have me and they're bringing
17:34
Speaker 2: me me in for a specific purpose. And you know,
17:37
Speaker 2: contrary to what the Saint Louis Cardinals have expressed as
17:40
Speaker 2: their plans, like, you know, they plan on being a contender,
17:42
Speaker 2: they want to win. They're not completely throwing in the towel,
17:45
Speaker 2: but they're not in the same position as the Mets.
17:47
Speaker 3: Or the Yankees or the Dodgers who are going all in.
17:50
Speaker 2: And you know, for me, if I'm Nolan Aeronaudo or
17:54
Speaker 2: kind of what I think is going on in his
17:56
Speaker 2: mind is he's planning on being somewhere else. And so
18:00
Speaker 2: if I'm him, like I'm I'm excited, I'm keeping myself ready.
18:03
Speaker 2: And if it doesn't happen in January, maybe the season
18:06
Speaker 2: gets started, maybe we get through spring training, maybe it's April.
18:09
Speaker 3: May.
18:10
Speaker 2: I know, there's me doing well and performing well is
18:14
Speaker 2: gonna help my value and it's gonna encourage that team
18:17
Speaker 2: that is really looking for help at third base to
18:20
Speaker 2: make that move and make it enticing enough for Saint
18:22
Speaker 2: Louis to come on board. And then you know, it
18:25
Speaker 2: seems that Aeronauto has some destination in mind. Whether whether
18:28
Speaker 2: it's the West coast or the East coast, I'm not sure. Maybe,
18:31
Speaker 2: like I said, we've we've heard about a list. Whether
18:34
Speaker 2: whether there's a specific list or not, I'm not sure,
18:38
Speaker 2: but it seems like he's anticipating moving on from Saint
18:41
Speaker 2: Louis at some point too.
18:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, I would, I would agree, because these kind of
18:45
Speaker 1: negotiations don't take place publicly. If both parties aren't motivated
18:49
Speaker 1: to strike a deal, and mo has said that. What
18:53
Speaker 1: I've found interesting about this is deals like this happen
18:55
Speaker 1: all the time, situations like this, where an organization approaches
18:59
Speaker 1: another one with a potential trade, they agree to it,
19:01
Speaker 1: something falls through, and then teams pivot. This coming out
19:05
Speaker 1: so publicly, I think was very interesting for fans to
19:08
Speaker 1: see because this happens all of the time. Usually it
19:11
Speaker 1: just isn't out there for the public to follow every
19:13
Speaker 1: step of the way. But when Moe came out and said,
19:16
Speaker 1: you know, we certainly intend to try to move Nolan
19:18
Speaker 1: and that would be best for both parties, I think
19:20
Speaker 1: that backs up exactly what you just said. But there
19:23
Speaker 1: is a reality where that doesn't happen. Now, if the
19:27
Speaker 1: Cardinals come up to you know, middle of February and
19:30
Speaker 1: Nolan's at third base, they still want to trim payroll,
19:33
Speaker 1: so that could impact players like Eric Fetty Stephen Mattz.
19:37
Speaker 1: The most logical thing, and this is what you know
19:40
Speaker 1: I've heard as well, is if the Cardinals can't trade Nolan,
19:43
Speaker 1: they still have to shed some payroll, so that would
19:45
Speaker 1: most likely come from the rotation Miles Michaelis and Sunny Gray.
19:49
Speaker 1: They make the most money, but they also have full
19:52
Speaker 1: note trade clauses Steven Matts. It makes about twelve million
19:54
Speaker 1: next year Eric Fetty seven point five. Given those prices,
19:58
Speaker 1: because starting pitching is like astronomically expensive as always, they
20:02
Speaker 1: would be very easy trade candidates and an easy way
20:05
Speaker 1: for the Cardinals to trim pay roll. It's just not
20:07
Speaker 1: what they want to do. They want to keep Eric
20:09
Speaker 1: Fetty at least, and they'll they'll look for Mats, but
20:12
Speaker 1: their primary, like plan A, was to move Nolan. So
20:17
Speaker 1: if they don't end up doing that, like, things can change.
20:19
Speaker 1: Right it's December twenty third, we still got about six
20:21
Speaker 1: seven weeks before spring training officially starts. Things can change.
20:25
Speaker 1: But if they don't trade Nolan and they have to
20:27
Speaker 1: move it to starting pitching, I'm interested to see how
20:30
Speaker 1: that whole like domino effect happens without the organization, Like
20:33
Speaker 1: who would step up internally? Are we going to see
20:36
Speaker 1: where we know we're going to see Andre Pilante. Are
20:37
Speaker 1: we going to see more Mike McGreevey. Can some of
20:40
Speaker 1: these top pitching process like tank hence Quinn Matthews, Can
20:43
Speaker 1: they make a jump. We'll see, But it's all so connected.
20:46
Speaker 1: And the reason we've been talking about Nolan over this
20:49
Speaker 1: entire offseason is because it really is the Cardinal's most
20:52
Speaker 1: pressing needs. So I expect that conversation to continue into January.
20:58
Speaker 1: And hey, you know what if he's not traded, come
21:01
Speaker 1: pitchers and catchers. He's coming off what he would say
21:03
Speaker 1: is his worst career, his worst year of his career.
21:06
Speaker 1: He's motivated. He can play himself out, or maybe he
21:09
Speaker 1: figures out like, hey I can I can tough this
21:11
Speaker 1: out and I want to be here and the Cardinals
21:12
Speaker 1: win some games. So we'll see. Not the worst thing
21:15
Speaker 1: in the world either way, but certainly a compelling storyline nonetheless.
21:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, not a bad situation either way. I mean, he
21:23
Speaker 2: he was excited to come to Saint Louis from Colorado,
21:26
Speaker 2: and I'm sure he's happy there.
21:28
Speaker 3: I'm sure he wished that there.
21:29
Speaker 2: Was some more playoffs game playoff games that he had
21:31
Speaker 2: an opportunity to win, like we talked about with gold Schmidt.
21:35
Speaker 2: But no, he'll be happy and it will be interesting,
21:39
Speaker 2: you know. You know, you know one thing I think
21:42
Speaker 2: for all the players that you mentioned involved is everybody's
21:45
Speaker 2: wondering am I going to be here? Is this an opportunity,
21:47
Speaker 2: opportunity for me to go somewhere else.
21:49
Speaker 3: I better show up, I better do well.
21:51
Speaker 2: And and when you have players thinking that way, I mean,
21:54
Speaker 2: it's good for the Cardinals too. Everybody's wants the best
21:57
Speaker 2: for themselves and in turn that that works out well
21:59
Speaker 2: for or the organization. But the other thing I've seen
22:03
Speaker 2: too with Saint Louis, and even with my time in
22:05
Speaker 2: Saint Louis, is you wonder the front office and how
22:08
Speaker 2: they view the assets that they own. Do they have,
22:11
Speaker 2: do they overvalue them?
22:12
Speaker 3: Sometimes? Are they expecting maybe more in return?
22:15
Speaker 2: And that's what causes these roadblocks and causes these deals
22:19
Speaker 2: to ultimately not get done.
22:20
Speaker 3: Should they be more realistic? I don't know. I haven't
22:23
Speaker 3: been in that room.
22:24
Speaker 2: I don't see the behind the scenes, but I know
22:27
Speaker 2: from the clubhouse. Sometimes it's obvious or seems to be
22:30
Speaker 2: obvious that a player should be moved at a certain
22:32
Speaker 2: point in time, and they end up not being moved,
22:34
Speaker 2: and then that window closes and you're kind of stuck
22:37
Speaker 2: with them at that point. And so you know, in
22:40
Speaker 2: the rebuilding year or or a pivot sort of year,
22:44
Speaker 2: I'm not sure how we're categorizing it, but I think.
22:46
Speaker 1: It's there's so many different ways.
22:48
Speaker 3: There's so many different ways to spin it.
22:50
Speaker 2: But you would hope with a guy like Aeronauto, a
22:53
Speaker 2: guy like Matt Sveetti, whoever it may be, that you
22:56
Speaker 2: don't put too much value on that asset and miss
22:58
Speaker 2: out on an opportunity to bring in some players that
23:01
Speaker 2: could have an impact for the future of the organization.
23:05
Speaker 1: Yes, and Cardinals fans are familiar with players that the
23:08
Speaker 1: organization perhaps kept too long, Tyler O'Neil, Dylan Carlson. The
23:12
Speaker 1: list goes on and on, but hey, that's in the
23:16
Speaker 1: past and we are looking towards the future. On this podcast.
23:19
Speaker 1: We are looking forward to twenty twenty five, which will
23:21
Speaker 1: be here sooner than we think. But first we'll celebrate
23:25
Speaker 1: the holidays. So that's a wrap for episode three. You
23:27
Speaker 1: can follow us on X Twitter whatever I'll never call
23:30
Speaker 1: it X whatever had Car territory. You can like and
23:34
Speaker 1: subscribe to our page on YouTube, find us on Spotify, Apple,
23:38
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts, and most importantly, very happy
23:42
Speaker 1: holidays from Trevor and myself. We're so happy that you
23:45
Speaker 1: have joined us for this podcast, and we hope you
23:47
Speaker 1: continue to Trevor, what you got sign us off?
23:50
Speaker 2: Hey, Merry Christmas, Katie, this is what an exciting time
23:54
Speaker 2: to reign in the new year CT. I mean, this
23:57
Speaker 2: is my gift, right, this is the gift that I
23:59
Speaker 2: got for.
23:59
Speaker 3: Christmas this year.
24:00
Speaker 2: A new show with Miss Katie Wu and Cardinal Territory,
24:04
Speaker 2: a spin off of the Foul Territory Network. I'm excited
24:07
Speaker 2: big things to come ahead, and I've enjoyed it very
24:09
Speaker 2: much so far. So yeah, follow along with us. I
24:13
Speaker 2: think this is gonna be an exciting time and hopefully
24:16
Speaker 2: between Katie and myself, obviously we have two different backgrounds,
24:19
Speaker 2: but hopefully we can bring an interesting spin on all
24:22
Speaker 2: the action that is going to come and take place
24:24
Speaker 2: over these next few months.
24:26
Speaker 1: Right like this is the off season, We're in like
24:28
Speaker 1: the dead period. Just wait, just wait till we're like
24:30
Speaker 1: in the dog days and then we're just off the rails.
24:32
Speaker 1: It can only go up from here. Fore cover. I
24:34
Speaker 1: am Katie Wu. We will talk to you Trevor next week.
24:38
Speaker 1: I'll be with you guys on Friday. Have a very
24:40
Speaker 1: merry Christmas, Happy holidays. We will talk soon