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Cardinals Trade Deadline Recap: Helsley, Matz, Maton dealt in sell-off · Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

0:05
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, let's just all take one big deep breath.
0:10
Speaker 1: MLB's trade deadline is officially over, and the Saint Louis
0:14
Speaker 1: Cardinals did indeed trade the three players we all thought
0:17
Speaker 1: they would, and nothing more. Welcome back to Cardinal Territory.
0:20
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Katie Wu. Let's break down the last
0:22
Speaker 1: forty eight hours. They were big. In case you missed it,
0:25
Speaker 1: Ryan Helsley went to the New York Mets, Stephen Mattz
0:28
Speaker 1: to the Boston Red Sox, and John Moseylack trade deadline
0:32
Speaker 1: tradition unlike any other. Phil Mayton went to the Texas
0:35
Speaker 1: Rangers minutes before that five pm Central Time deadline. One
0:39
Speaker 1: minute and eight seconds to be exact, is what he
0:41
Speaker 1: told us. Moe does a buzzer beater at the deadline
0:46
Speaker 1: every year, so at least he's going out on a
0:48
Speaker 1: consistent note. Saint Louis landed six total prospects in return.
0:52
Speaker 1: If you need a refresher, I got you, shortstop, Hey.
0:55
Speaker 1: Sus Baia's and right handers Nate Dome and Frank ellis
0:58
Speaker 1: Alt went to Saint Louis in exchange for Ryan. That
1:01
Speaker 1: trade went down Wednesday afternoon. Bay has entered the season
1:04
Speaker 1: listed as the mets seventh RNGTH prospect and dome at
1:07
Speaker 1: number seventeen. Per the Athletics Keith Law, all three prospects
1:10
Speaker 1: in this trade were playing for the Mets High A affiliate,
1:13
Speaker 1: and all three will join High Aporia. I believe they
1:15
Speaker 1: were all added to that roster Thursday morning. Blaise Jordan,
1:19
Speaker 1: a corner infielder in Triple A, was the lone return
1:21
Speaker 1: for Stephen Mattz. He has an eight twenty o ps
1:24
Speaker 1: with six homers and eleven doubles over forty four games.
1:27
Speaker 1: After being promoted midway through the season, Jordan was added
1:31
Speaker 1: to Triple A Memphis roster on Thursday. Obviously, there's a
1:34
Speaker 1: connection here with Boston High and bloom Well burst with
1:37
Speaker 1: that farm system after spending four seasons as the Red
1:40
Speaker 1: Sox chief baseball officer. That clearly went into play with
1:44
Speaker 1: this deal. For Phil Maton, the Cardinals landed minor league
1:48
Speaker 1: pitching prospects Mason Molina and no relation to Yadira and
1:50
Speaker 1: Skyler Hale's plus international bonus pool money. Molina is a
1:54
Speaker 1: left hander who's twenty two years old. He's made eighteen
1:56
Speaker 1: appearances seventeen starts in hi A Ball this year he
1:59
Speaker 1: has a three one with ninety two strikeouts ever seventy
2:02
Speaker 1: four innings, so that's intriguing. Hales iss Avariety. He was
2:05
Speaker 1: the Rangers' fourth round pick in twenty twenty three. He
2:08
Speaker 1: struggled between double and TRIPAA. This year has a seven
2:10
Speaker 1: to six four ERA over thirty four games. But the
2:13
Speaker 1: Cardinals will need to backfill their depth in Memphis and
2:16
Speaker 1: per MLB Pipeline, these are two top thirty prospects in
2:19
Speaker 1: the Rangers organization. So landing that for a two month
2:23
Speaker 1: rental plus bonus pool money, that gives me an initial
2:25
Speaker 1: feeling that this is a good trade for Saint Louis. Again,
2:27
Speaker 1: that trade went down minutes before the deadline, so we
2:30
Speaker 1: are still configuring what exactly that return looks like. Here's
2:33
Speaker 1: my disclaimer, you guys, I'm no prospect expert. We can
2:37
Speaker 1: go off rankings, but rankings are subjective and each publication,
2:40
Speaker 1: whether it's the Athletic, MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, they all
2:43
Speaker 1: do a fantastic job. They all evaluate minor league systems
2:46
Speaker 1: and prospects differently. Also, team rankings vary by organization. What
2:51
Speaker 1: I do know it will likely be years before we
2:54
Speaker 1: can truly evaluate if these trades panned out for Saint Louis,
2:57
Speaker 1: which brings me to my next point. John Mozella held
3:02
Speaker 1: a zoom call with reporters. He was coming from his
3:05
Speaker 1: office at Bush JADM. Most of us are in San
3:07
Speaker 1: Diego for the three game series that begins on Friday,
3:11
Speaker 1: and he gave us a rundown of the deadline in
3:13
Speaker 1: which he said the long term view was the priority.
3:17
Speaker 1: The Cardinals did not want to sell. It's clear that
3:21
Speaker 1: their play in July made this the most sensical solution.
3:23
Speaker 1: This is what they should have done, even though it's
3:26
Speaker 1: not a popular choice. Even though it's disheartening, it's disappointing.
3:29
Speaker 1: It's a disappointing day for the organization. There's no way
3:31
Speaker 1: around that. But the hope is that if we look
3:34
Speaker 1: back at this year, or i'm sorry, this day many
3:37
Speaker 1: years ahead, that it was ultimately got the organization on
3:42
Speaker 1: the right foot, trending in the right direction as they
3:44
Speaker 1: look to rebuild their player development system and bolster their
3:47
Speaker 1: farm system. We knew that was the priority for the
3:50
Speaker 1: organization going into the season. So here's what MOE had
3:53
Speaker 1: to say about the deadline. His final deadline. As the
3:55
Speaker 1: Cardinal's President baseball Operations, he said, the goal of this
3:59
Speaker 1: trading deadline was about the future, and I don't think
4:01
Speaker 1: it's necessarily about the immediate future. It's about the long
4:04
Speaker 1: term view of the Saint Louis Cardinals. What does that mean.
4:07
Speaker 1: It means the Cardinals targeted the best available minor league
4:10
Speaker 1: talent that they could get for three rentals, and they
4:13
Speaker 1: did not covet major league or knocking on the door
4:17
Speaker 1: major league ready talent. The Cardinals went into the deadline
4:20
Speaker 1: trying to move their expiring contracts. We know that we
4:22
Speaker 1: knew that they were going to move Helsley, Mayton and Matt's.
4:25
Speaker 1: The only question was what would they be able to
4:27
Speaker 1: get for three rentals. Knowing that, the relief market really
4:32
Speaker 1: kind of blew up because there was no front line
4:35
Speaker 1: starting pitcher available, so most contending teams elected to bolster
4:38
Speaker 1: their bullpen. You look at what the Mets did and
4:40
Speaker 1: their super bullpen. You look at what the Padres did
4:42
Speaker 1: adding Mason Miller from the A's. That was a crazy move.
4:47
Speaker 1: So there was a demand for believers. But at the
4:51
Speaker 1: end of the day, they are all three rentals, so
4:53
Speaker 1: that is going to play into the return. Most said,
4:57
Speaker 1: the goal of these moves I'm quoting him here was
5:00
Speaker 1: to position the organization for future talent, not necessarily just
5:03
Speaker 1: guys that are knocking on the door for BIB League
5:04
Speaker 1: opportunities next year. It was really about trying to create
5:07
Speaker 1: as much prospect value as possible, and we felt we
5:10
Speaker 1: achieved that. Again, it's going to take a long time
5:14
Speaker 1: before we see if these panned out for the Cardinals.
5:17
Speaker 1: I will say to me, this deadline is a much
5:20
Speaker 1: different from when the Cardinals sold in twenty twenty three. Yes,
5:23
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three, the Cardinals also only traded players
5:26
Speaker 1: on expiring deals, same as this year, but what they
5:30
Speaker 1: targeted in twenty twenty three was pitching depth, specifically in
5:33
Speaker 1: the upper minor league system and soon to be major
5:36
Speaker 1: league ready talent. And the reason that they did that
5:38
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three, with the reason why that the
5:40
Speaker 1: front office looked for that specifically and in return, was
5:43
Speaker 1: because they wanted to return to contention soon. They wanted
5:46
Speaker 1: to compete in twenty twenty four. They thought maybe they
5:48
Speaker 1: could get away one more year of building a team
5:52
Speaker 1: possibly good enough to contend for a wild card spot
5:54
Speaker 1: and maybe get in. They wanted to avoid a rebuild
5:58
Speaker 1: this year, they have seemed to acknowledge that is not
6:01
Speaker 1: going to be possible. They went and they got a
6:03
Speaker 1: ton of high A guys. Boase Jordan is the only
6:06
Speaker 1: one in double A or above right now. We'll see
6:08
Speaker 1: where those two Rangers prospects slot in. But like Mos said,
6:13
Speaker 1: the goal was to acquire the top talent they could get,
6:15
Speaker 1: not necessarily players that would come in and immediately help
6:17
Speaker 1: the organization or look to twenty twenty six. That to
6:21
Speaker 1: me signals that this is going to be and we
6:22
Speaker 1: talked about it on the show before a multi year transition,
6:27
Speaker 1: and the point of the twenty twenty five year was
6:30
Speaker 1: to see how long this reset, call it what it is,
6:34
Speaker 1: it's a rebuild, would take. The Cardinal Seam resigned to
6:37
Speaker 1: the fact that this is going to be a multi
6:40
Speaker 1: year project and heim Bloom will have his work cut
6:42
Speaker 1: out for him as he takes over the organization come
6:45
Speaker 1: this offseason. It's disappointing, but I think it's refreshing that
6:48
Speaker 1: the organization had this honest assessment after multiple seasons of
6:53
Speaker 1: trying to skate by and trying to just kind of
6:57
Speaker 1: compete but not really acknowledge the major problems in their
7:00
Speaker 1: player development system. So is it disappointing that the Cardinals
7:05
Speaker 1: look to you know, they won't be competing for the
7:07
Speaker 1: rest of the year. Twenty twenty six might be similar
7:09
Speaker 1: to this year. Yeah, of course, but when you're looking
7:12
Speaker 1: at the long term view, like the organization did, I
7:14
Speaker 1: think this was the right call. Plenty more to discuss
7:18
Speaker 1: about the trade deadline, what Mode did, what he didn't.
7:21
Speaker 1: We'll get into why he decided not to trade his
7:24
Speaker 1: position players or players with multiple years of control first though.
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8:33
Speaker 1: So. In his press conference with Sam Lueli's reporters, John
8:36
Speaker 1: Mozelax said the Cardinals were hit hard on their left
8:38
Speaker 1: handed hitters, specifically Brendan Donovan, Alec Grilson, and Lars new Bar.
8:43
Speaker 1: And if that's the case, and if acquiring minor league
8:46
Speaker 1: talent was the priority, why didn't the Cardinals try to
8:48
Speaker 1: capitalize by moving their position players. That's probably the question
8:51
Speaker 1: you have. That was my question as well. The answer
8:54
Speaker 1: the Cardinals were to say that they were going into
8:57
Speaker 1: this deadline only willing to move their pending free agents,
9:00
Speaker 1: that'd be disingenuous, that would not be totally accurate to
9:04
Speaker 1: say that they were not motivated to trade their position
9:07
Speaker 1: players or players with multiple years of control unless they
9:10
Speaker 1: were blown out of the water with the return price.
9:13
Speaker 1: That is accurate. Here's a quote from John mozaylog we
9:16
Speaker 1: got hit a lot on our left handed hitters, but
9:18
Speaker 1: none of the types of offers we were getting for
9:20
Speaker 1: those players were compelling for us to do it. We
9:24
Speaker 1: were not motivated to move players that we had under
9:26
Speaker 1: control unless we were to put it mildly blown away,
9:29
Speaker 1: and we just weren't. So the Cardinals instead kept their
9:32
Speaker 1: position playing cores. Obviously, new Bars on the il Nolan
9:35
Speaker 1: Gorman as well. Both are expected to return to the
9:37
Speaker 1: club though at some point during this upcoming road trip.
9:40
Speaker 1: Three games against the Padres, three games against the Dodgers.
9:44
Speaker 1: But let's go back to why the Cardinals didn't trade
9:48
Speaker 1: their players. We knew that Brendan Donman was extremely coveted.
9:50
Speaker 1: We reported on that dating over the last couple of weeks.
9:53
Speaker 1: Girl listen to new Bar as well. I think this
9:58
Speaker 1: might be frustrating for fans to hear, but I try
10:00
Speaker 1: to look at this objectively. I think this was the
10:02
Speaker 1: right call for the organization right now. Because if you're
10:07
Speaker 1: hem Bloom, don't you want to make those decisions. This
10:10
Speaker 1: is your roster. This will not be John Mozaelock's roster
10:13
Speaker 1: come October. I think if you are going to be
10:16
Speaker 1: the president Baseball Operations for this twenty twenty six roster,
10:21
Speaker 1: it should be your final call on which players go
10:24
Speaker 1: and which players stay and what the return is. I
10:26
Speaker 1: am not at all suggesting that heim Bloom was not
10:28
Speaker 1: involved in that process. I know for a fact that
10:30
Speaker 1: that's incorrect. He was in the room with John Mozelock
10:34
Speaker 1: offering different input on the returns. Moe, as the current
10:38
Speaker 1: president of Baseball Operations, ultimately made the final say. But
10:41
Speaker 1: to say that Hein Bloom had no say in this process,
10:43
Speaker 1: that's incorrect. If the Cardinals are going to look to
10:49
Speaker 1: trade some of these players because history suggests that they
10:53
Speaker 1: will not pay these players when they get to their
10:56
Speaker 1: final years of arbitration, that should be a Hein and
10:59
Speaker 1: Bloom decision. And Moe kind of hinted that Derek Goold
11:03
Speaker 1: to the Saint Louis Post Dispatch asked a really good
11:05
Speaker 1: question about the Cardinals maybe missing an opportunity to alleviate
11:09
Speaker 1: some of their logjam on the roster with all these
11:10
Speaker 1: position players, they had an opportunity to capitalize again on
11:13
Speaker 1: the seller's market, chose not to. Most said it was
11:16
Speaker 1: a good question. Here's his answer. Maybe we reflect on
11:20
Speaker 1: this a little bit more in the sense of what
11:21
Speaker 1: does this really mean for next year? When the question
11:24
Speaker 1: was asked if we were not willing to move players
11:26
Speaker 1: under control, the answer is the timing wasn't now. He
11:29
Speaker 1: also went on to say that with Gorman and Nubar
11:31
Speaker 1: on the IL, it was just a little complicated. But
11:33
Speaker 1: this sentence was telling to me, quote the question is
11:36
Speaker 1: a good one and one that will ultimately be resolved,
11:38
Speaker 1: probably over the next six months. To me, that's foreshadowing
11:42
Speaker 1: that this off season will be when the Cardinals really
11:45
Speaker 1: start to entertain the value perceived value, I should say,
11:50
Speaker 1: of players like Burlison, Donovanar Gorman. So that is the
11:56
Speaker 1: organization's answer. We can debate if that was the right
11:59
Speaker 1: decision or the wrong decision. I know plenty of you
12:01
Speaker 1: have said if the Cardinals were gonna sell, they might
12:03
Speaker 1: as well have gone all the way. It kind of
12:05
Speaker 1: feels like a half in half out effort to trade
12:09
Speaker 1: only rental relievers. I can see that side. I can
12:13
Speaker 1: also see the organization saying, let's just wait and see
12:16
Speaker 1: what we can do in the off season. It's a
12:18
Speaker 1: very weird time when you essentially have two general managers
12:21
Speaker 1: in the same organization. But I think most fans would
12:25
Speaker 1: agree that if this is going to be him Bloom's
12:28
Speaker 1: roster next year, he should be making the roster decisions.
12:33
Speaker 1: Questions about this year's roster The biggest one who's left
12:37
Speaker 1: to pitch? Obviously, the Cardinals will need to fill three
12:40
Speaker 1: spots on their active roster. Their top three relievers are
12:43
Speaker 1: out of here. We asked mo what the Cardinals could do.
12:47
Speaker 1: Who's coming up, Who's gonna take over the closer role?
12:50
Speaker 1: The Cardinals are still figuring that out. Manager Allie Marmele
12:53
Speaker 1: has options, but none of them really all that experienced,
12:57
Speaker 1: And I am not envious of the position he and
12:59
Speaker 1: Dusty Blake are going to be in over the final
13:01
Speaker 1: two months of the season. When you think about how
13:04
Speaker 1: valuable Hellsley Mayton Matt's were for the seventh, eighth, ninth innings,
13:09
Speaker 1: it gets a little dicey real quick. Let's look at
13:11
Speaker 1: the options currently on the active roster. I asked John Mozelac,
13:15
Speaker 1: who is the front runner to close. He did not
13:18
Speaker 1: necessarily specifically say that Jojo Romero would be the closer,
13:22
Speaker 1: but he did identify Romero as someone who is going
13:25
Speaker 1: to see high leverage opportunities increase. I'm a little surprised
13:28
Speaker 1: Romero wasn't moved, to be honest, but Cardinals got to
13:31
Speaker 1: have someone for the ninth I guess Riley O'Brien, Gordon
13:33
Speaker 1: Grissefo also identified by Mo as guys that will see
13:36
Speaker 1: their roles increase. The Cardinals have used Kyle lah Hey
13:39
Speaker 1: sporadically in high leverage. He can handle it. We'll see
13:42
Speaker 1: that as well. Ryan Fernandez is in Triple A. We
13:46
Speaker 1: know how his April went with the minor or with
13:48
Speaker 1: the major league club. Not great. But credit to Fernandez,
13:51
Speaker 1: he's had a major turnaround in Memphis. He has I
13:53
Speaker 1: believe a three twelve ERA over forty appearances and a
13:57
Speaker 1: strikeout rate of over twelve strikeouts for each nine innings.
14:01
Speaker 1: So that's encouraging. Not official, but he's it's pretty much
14:04
Speaker 1: a lock that we'll see him on Friday in San Diego.
14:07
Speaker 1: Two more spots are open. We'll see how that goes.
14:10
Speaker 1: I asked Mo if the Cardinals could do a closer
14:12
Speaker 1: by committee, and he said basically, they're still trying to
14:17
Speaker 1: figure that out. We will see opportunity for plenty of
14:19
Speaker 1: these relievers. How that opportunity goes, what that means for
14:22
Speaker 1: late innings, I don't know. The Cardinals when they sold
14:26
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three didn't really have a lot to
14:27
Speaker 1: offer in their bullpen. They finished the season twenty games
14:30
Speaker 1: under five hundred. I don't think it's going to get
14:32
Speaker 1: that bad, at least I really hope not. But if anything,
14:36
Speaker 1: the Cardinals are going to be able to answer some
14:37
Speaker 1: questions about who they can count on for twenty twenty
14:40
Speaker 1: six based on how several of these relievers step up.
14:43
Speaker 1: We could see Chris Roycroft. Andre Gernillo is a sure
14:46
Speaker 1: bet to come back to the organization once he's eligible
14:48
Speaker 1: to be recalled. He was optioned on Monday, Cardinals without
14:52
Speaker 1: John King for a while. He went on the injured
14:53
Speaker 1: list on Tuesday with a left oblique strain that I'll
14:58
Speaker 1: say this about the Cardinals. That was their first active
15:02
Speaker 1: major league pitching injury all season, and that took place
15:06
Speaker 1: on July thirtieth, and it wasn't even an arm injury.
15:09
Speaker 1: That is a little bit of luck, but also a
15:12
Speaker 1: huge testament to Dusty Blake, Ollie Marmle, the Cardinals' training staff,
15:17
Speaker 1: and the Cardinal medical staff for keeping their arms healthy.
15:19
Speaker 1: That's just an insane run. To go through April, May,
15:23
Speaker 1: June July, four months without a pitching injury. That's pretty significant.
15:28
Speaker 1: So yeah, who's going to pitch? We don't know. We'll
15:30
Speaker 1: find out on Friday. A couple more trade deadline questions
15:35
Speaker 1: for you, some wrap ups we got to hear from
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16:44
Speaker 1: We heard the word runway way too often over the
16:47
Speaker 1: first half of the season. Get ready for our new word.
16:50
Speaker 1: It's opportunity. The cardinal's chance to extend opportunity to multiple
16:54
Speaker 1: players is not just limited to the bullpen. We'll see
16:57
Speaker 1: that throughout the roster. We already that's already started. Herrera,
17:00
Speaker 1: as we talked about last episode, will see considerable considerable
17:05
Speaker 1: time in left field this year. Mozaellack identified Nolan Gorman.
17:11
Speaker 1: I'm losing it, guys, I'm losing it. Mozaelack identified Nolan
17:14
Speaker 1: Gorman as someone that they would really like to continue
17:15
Speaker 1: to see an opportunity for what that means for Nolan
17:17
Speaker 1: Aronado remains to be seen. I will say this, the
17:21
Speaker 1: Cardinals aren't going to platute him. Okay, they're just not.
17:24
Speaker 1: You don't platoon someone that you have that you used
17:26
Speaker 1: to love forty million dollars too. But it is an
17:28
Speaker 1: opportunity for the Cardinals to get creative and get Gorman
17:31
Speaker 1: more opportunity when he comes back. Thomas the jac will
17:34
Speaker 1: see some time still working on Jordan Walker. His advats
17:38
Speaker 1: have been really encouraging since he came off the IL
17:40
Speaker 1: a lot of hard contact. The swing path is much better.
17:44
Speaker 1: So hey, Silver Linings, I guess uh, and we'll continue
17:48
Speaker 1: to see that throughout the second half. So I know
17:52
Speaker 1: it's disappointing, guys. This is maybe how we thought the
17:55
Speaker 1: season would go, but it doesn't make it any easier
17:58
Speaker 1: when your team is essentially out of it before August.
18:00
Speaker 1: So I hear you. I sympathize with you. And one
18:04
Speaker 1: thing I do want to say before we sign off one,
18:07
Speaker 1: I'll actually we'll do two a little story about what
18:10
Speaker 1: it's like to be a beat writer, and I'm not
18:12
Speaker 1: asking for sympathy here, I just want you guys to
18:13
Speaker 1: laugh at me. So the Cardinals, as we know, had
18:16
Speaker 1: a night game on Wednesday and trade deadline eve against
18:18
Speaker 1: the Marlins, and an off day in San Diego. The
18:21
Speaker 1: best thing that could happen as a baseball writer is
18:24
Speaker 1: trade deadline falling on a team off day. So unfortunately
18:28
Speaker 1: for Saint Louis writers, that off day was a travel day.
18:31
Speaker 1: I decided I did not want to risk flying on
18:35
Speaker 1: deadline day because I didn't want to miss any trades.
18:38
Speaker 1: I wanted to be in the best possible position if
18:39
Speaker 1: any of these things went down. We all know it's
18:41
Speaker 1: a big deal. I know I had a big responsibility
18:43
Speaker 1: to get this information out to you guys. It's my job.
18:46
Speaker 1: So I thought, well, I might as well just call
18:49
Speaker 1: an audible skip Wednesday's game, which I don't like doing,
18:52
Speaker 1: but the trade deadline takes priority, and try to fly
18:54
Speaker 1: Wednesday night and stay ahead of the game. And that I
18:57
Speaker 1: was four minutes into my flight, I was like basically
18:59
Speaker 1: flying over the Gateway arch when the Ryan Helsley trade
19:02
Speaker 1: went down. So that really just was that was fun.
19:06
Speaker 1: That was fun. That was a great experience. My plane
19:08
Speaker 1: touched down as the Stephen Matts trade was coming to fruition.
19:12
Speaker 1: So of the three trades the Cardinals made, two happened
19:15
Speaker 1: when I was in the air. And that's why we
19:16
Speaker 1: don't plan. That's baseball. Uh just I tried my best. Whatever.
19:22
Speaker 1: I will say this about the three players traded, whether
19:24
Speaker 1: it's Ryan Helsley, step Stephen Matts, Phil Mayton, all three
19:27
Speaker 1: were really good Cardinals. We'll start with Mayton. I know
19:30
Speaker 1: he wasn't here very long, but the difference that he
19:32
Speaker 1: made in this Cardinals clubhouse. When you ask anyone, whether
19:36
Speaker 1: it's a reliever like Helsley, whether it's a veteran like Matts,
19:41
Speaker 1: or rookie like Kyle Layy, all had incredible things to
19:44
Speaker 1: say about lay I mean about Mayton, just a true
19:48
Speaker 1: leader inside that clubhouse. I remember having I had a
19:50
Speaker 1: conversation with Kyle lay about Mayton helping him become more prepared.
19:55
Speaker 1: He said he learned a lot about how to scout hitters,
19:57
Speaker 1: how to go into his work and do his everyday routine.
20:00
Speaker 1: He was a really good Cardinal, total pro to work with.
20:02
Speaker 1: I said this on last Week or Yester Yesterday's show,
20:07
Speaker 1: I think the Cardinals should consider bringing him back next
20:09
Speaker 1: year as a free agent. I know he did not
20:10
Speaker 1: want to leave Saint Louis and enjoyed his time here.
20:12
Speaker 1: Stephen Mattz. I don't know how fondly that contract will
20:15
Speaker 1: be remembered, but I will say in his final season,
20:18
Speaker 1: he stayed healthy and he was a pivotal member in
20:21
Speaker 1: that bullpen, and I know that meant a lot to him.
20:23
Speaker 1: I know that he came into the twenty twenty five
20:25
Speaker 1: season disappointed. How has Cardinal's tenure went down? Felt like
20:30
Speaker 1: when a team brings you in for free agency, you
20:33
Speaker 1: want to do your best to show that you were
20:35
Speaker 1: worth it. And the first three seasons he spent injured
20:38
Speaker 1: and not able to perform, and that war on him.
20:40
Speaker 1: That really kind of rubbed him the wrong way. And
20:42
Speaker 1: I know he really tried to stay healthy this year
20:45
Speaker 1: and do his best and perform well for the team,
20:47
Speaker 1: and he did. He was a great Cardinal in the clubhouse.
20:50
Speaker 1: He was voted by the clubhouse for the Saint Louis
20:52
Speaker 1: Baseball Writer's Dinner a Daryl Kyla Ward. That's the highest
20:55
Speaker 1: honor of clubhouse can give its player. Did a lot
20:57
Speaker 1: of good things for the community. Was always out there pregame,
21:00
Speaker 1: batting practice, signing autographs for kids, having his charity come
21:04
Speaker 1: out and bring people to the ballpark. And then Ryan Helsley.
21:08
Speaker 1: Ryan Helsley was one of four players still remaining from
21:11
Speaker 1: my first season the twenty twenty one club, and from
21:14
Speaker 1: day one he had been nothing but a pro, easy
21:17
Speaker 1: to work with. Just it's hard when you have a
21:22
Speaker 1: player like Helsley who grew up a Cardinals fan, drafted
21:25
Speaker 1: by the team in twenty fifteen, the longest tenured Cardinal
21:28
Speaker 1: grew up watching Wayne Wright, Molina Pooholes didn't want to leave.
21:34
Speaker 1: It's hard when you know that he has to, and
21:36
Speaker 1: he handled the past nine months of trade speculation honestly
21:40
Speaker 1: about as well as anyone could. He was a great Cardinal.
21:43
Speaker 1: I know he'll remembered fondly, but I want to just
21:45
Speaker 1: credit all three of those guys for being total pros
21:48
Speaker 1: during their stints as Cardinals. They'll be missed, I think,
21:51
Speaker 1: by the organization, and I wish them all the best
21:54
Speaker 1: with their new adventures. Don't forget our whole territory shop
22:01
Speaker 1: is open, doo. Check out your first look at our
22:03
Speaker 1: new merch I'm excited to spend my paycheck at the store.
22:08
Speaker 1: Maybe we'll do a giveaway. We should do a giveaway,
22:10
Speaker 1: huh Okay, I'll work on that, but not after tonight,
22:14
Speaker 1: in which I'm going to go get a margarita because
22:16
Speaker 1: that's the least I deserve tonight. Thanks is all for watching.
22:20
Speaker 1: I know you guys have been waiting patiently for this episode.
22:22
Speaker 1: I got to it as soon as I could. We'll
22:24
Speaker 1: break down more things. I'll probably have one out for
22:26
Speaker 1: you tomorrow about once we know the roster moves. Happy
22:29
Speaker 1: deadline guys. It's unfortunately probably gonna be the most exciting
22:33
Speaker 1: day of the second half here. Hey, but you know
22:35
Speaker 1: what we're gonna get through the next two months together.
22:37
Speaker 1: Thanks as always for supporting Cardinal Territory, for carrying what
22:40
Speaker 1: I have to say. You can read more of Cardinals
22:44
Speaker 1: where to Go, There we go everything Cardinals trade douneline related.
22:48
Speaker 1: Here at the Athletic. Our staff is going absolutely crazy
22:50
Speaker 1: with all thirty teams. So subscribe if you haven't already.
22:53
Speaker 1: It's two dollars a month. And yeah, that's all I
22:56
Speaker 1: got for you, guys. Have a great Thursday night. We'll
23:00
Speaker 1: talk again Friday, where the Cardinals kick off a three
23:02
Speaker 1: game set against the Padres. Hopefully no drama, but we'll see.
23:06
Speaker 1: As we recall earlier last week, that wasn't exactly the case.
23:10
Speaker 1: All right, this is another episode your trade Deadline recap
23:12
Speaker 1: for twenty twenty five. I'm Katie Wu. We'll talk over
23:15
Speaker 1: the weekend. Thanks, as always for watching