Would TRADING Willson Contreras Be A Stroke of Genius or Another St. Louis Cardinals’ BLUNDER?

Would TRADING Willson Contreras Be A Stroke of Genius or Another St. Louis Cardinals’ BLUNDER?

How about a hypothetical trade between the Cardinals and the Mets involving Wilson Contrarus? One has emerged. Is it good? Is it bad? A little bit of both? We’ll talk about it on today’s episode of Locked on Cardinals. You are Locked on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. Hey there Cardinal fans. I’m JD Haffern, a former national radio sports anchor born and raised in St. Louis and a lifetime Cardinals fan. I’m your host for Lock on Cardinals, part of the Lock on Podcast Network, covering your team every day. This is a show that’s serving Cardinal Nation, giving the best fans in baseball, all the info about the birds on the bat. Today’s episode brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use the code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Uh on today’s episode, we’re going to be previewing the Cardinals prospects that are participating in the Arizona Fall League. Uh the team that the Cardinals are on is actually going to get started today. So, uh we’ll introduce you to some of those guys. We’re going to take a gander at what’s going on in the MLB playoffs. Dodgers, Brewers, Blue Jays, all looking pretty nasty, looking looking a little scary here in the month of October, which is a good time to to look scary. Uh but today we’re going to start with an idea that was brought up recently by a former Mets GM involving a trade between the Mets and the Cardinals. Uh the Cardinals are probably going to be making some deals, right? They’re probably going to make some deals. Him Bloom’s probably going to be working the phone lines this off season. Who and what teams involved obviously is going to be up for debate till things get cooking. Uh we’ll have plenty of time to go through those. So, I like doing this in the offseason where we just we find areas in the internet where people are talking about different trades that are involving the Cardinals, ways to improve their teams, ways to improve the Cardinals. And when they pop up, I like I like to talk about them and see because sometimes they’re fun. Sometimes they’re actually not bad ideas. Sometimes they’re absolutely foolish. But I got a lot of requests for some traded free agent talk. And so this one came across the desk over this weekend and I I thought, hey, let’s chat about it on Tuesday when I get back in. So of the three veterans on the Cardinals right now with no trade clauses, you’ve got Will Contrarus seems like the least likely to get moved, right? You know, when Mo approached him about getting moved last off season, he made it known that he’d prefer to stick around. Enjoys being a Cardinal. Uh now this offseason, new president of baseball operation time Bloom also has talked with Wilson Contrarus and stated that Wilson once again would prefer to stay with the Cardinals. And I appreciate the loyalty. I really do. He did say though that you know if something came up and it made sense for both Wilson and the Cardinals that Wilson would be more than happy to take a look at it. But it’s clear from these conversation at least to me that Willie wants to be in St. Louis. He likes being a Cardinal. he enjoys it. Uh, and you know, he wants to have a positive impact on this organization moving forward over the last couple of years that he’s got a contract with them. And, you know, he wants to be a reason why this thing gets back on the track, so to speak, and headed in the right direction. And I I think that’s great. I think that’s great. At the same time, you can’t not look around and see if there are some deals. And I mean, I think teams would be interested in Wilson Contraras. He he’s especially now that he he can play first base. I think that that that adds an added dimension to him where maybe people didn’t like what he did behind the plate, but now he played a pretty good first base this year. So, I I feel like that might entice some people to be a little more interested. Now, who is Zack Scott? Does anybody know who Zack Scott is? Raise your hand if you know who Zack Scott is? Because he was the Mets GM back in 2021. He took over for Jared Porter after he was let go. He didn’t last very long in the position. Uh it was less than a year I believe. Um but either way, at one point he was the GM of the New York Mets. Um so that’s who he is. Came up with this trade idea recently involving the Mets and the Cardinals looking for because he does uh you know talk about what the Mets need to do. He still talks about them. So we’re all familiar with the catastrophic demise of the Mets this year. They fell apart so badly during the second half of the season that they they failed to make the playoffs despite signing Juan Sodto to that 15-year $765 million deal. They they brought back Peter Alonso on a two-year deal. They signed Klay Holmes and Frankie Monttos and Griffin Canning. They made trades with the Cardinals for Ryan Hley. They went and got Gregory Sodto and Cedric Mullins. And all of it failed miserably. They went 3855 to close the season and the Reds ended up making the playoffs instead of them. So, some changes are going to come for the Mets as well, just like we expect changes for the Cardinals. So, for these two teams to hook up again on a deal like they did with the Ryan Hley deal, that wouldn’t shock me. Not at all. Um, it didn’t work out so well for the Mets. Ryan Hley was not very good with New York, which did not surprise me at all. uh jury is still out on the prospects that the Cardinals got in return for Ryan Hley. Um and in this particular trade, this one’s not about prospects, which is which is more fun. It’s about players that you’re familiar with. It’s about players who are on the active roster. So, here is the proposal uh as made by one Zack Scott, former GM of the New York Mets. The Cardinals would trade first baseman Wilson Contrarus to New York in exchange for Mark Vientos. Now, Scott’s thought process here, he explained it, is that, you know, the Mets would would move on from Pete Lonzo and try to improve themselves defensively. His idea is that Sodto would shift to a full-time DH, which is hilarious to me that you would pay 15 you would give 15 years and $765 million for a DH. That’s all he’s got to do is hit. Wow. Then you replace Pete Alonzo with a better defender aka Wilson Contrarus who was very good at first base in his first year playing the position and uh also wasn’t too shabby with the stick. 257 20 dingers, 80 ribbies, OPS 791 in 135 games. Nowhere near the production that Pete Alonzo gave you, but he’s also not going to cost as much as Pete Alonzo probably will, who’s more than likely going to opt out of uh that two-year deal and hit the free agent market again. Mark Vientos. Now, Mark Vientos is 25 years old. If you’re unfamiliar with him, he can play both corner and field positions. Had a really nice 2025 season, hitting 260 or 2024 season, I’m sorry, hitting 266 with 27 dingers, 71 RBI’s, OPS plus of 134. He had a war of 3.1 in just 111 games. He was really, really good. A big surprise really for the Mets. uh he he was a highly regarded hitter coming up through their system, but I I don’t think they were expecting that much production in that in his first, you know, full year there. And it seemed though that like he was ready to become one of the the next big sluggers in that Mets lineup along with Alonzo and Sodo and Francisco Lindor. But 2025 was a bit of a struggle. In April, he hit just 212, four home runs, 15 RBI’s. May just two home runs and six RBI’s. And then June, he hurts his hamstring, misses almost the whole month. July, one home run, 10 RBI’s as he tries to, you know, get his timing back. Then he heats up in August. August was great for him. 278, eight home runs, 22 ribbies before crashing and burning again in September when he fell to 184 with two home runs and eight RBI’s again on the year. He finishes at 233, 17 dinger, 61 RBI’s, OPS plus 97. Pretty disappointing overall. you know, he had the one really good month and then everything else was well below average. So, um, you look at the moneywise, does it make sense? Uh, moneywise, you got Willie making 18 million in 2026, 18.5 and 27, club option for 28 at 17.5 million. Bentos made just under 789K last year. He is pre-arbitration eligible next season, but then the arbitration will kick in in 2027. So, you’ve got him under control for quite some time. Moneywise, this makes a lot of sense for the St. Louis Cardinals. Out with the older, way more expensive player, in with a younger, more economically friendly player. Um, more upside in my opinion with Vientos as far as offense because he’s almost 10 years younger than Wilson Contrarus. Uh, Contras eventually the the slide will begin. It’ll happen. Uh, and you don’t want to be, you know, caught when it starts to go down. We’ve seen how that happened with Paul Goldmid and Nolan Arnado. You don’t want to be on the hook for a couple of years with a guy who’s going the wrong direction. Um, so offensively, you like the upside of Entos. Defensively though, he was awful. Terrible at third base. Fielding percentage 950. His defensive runs save -10 outs above average minus seven just to put it in perspective. And we know how Nolan Gorman struggled to get reaclimated to third base. Although he got better uh as he spent more time over there, but he was minus three DRS and minus N outs above average. So Bentos was worse than Nolan Gorman. Just think about that. It’s quite the drop from Nolan Arnat the past few seasons. Now Bentos, he was better at first base, but he didn’t play there very much. He only logged 23 innings. The Cardinals need offense in a major way. They need a slugger. They’d prefer to save money and move on from the aging expensive veterans. You can’t stick them at third base if you were to make a deal like this. But if you’re just swapping the two out and you were like, “All right, Ventos for Contraras. Ventos stays at first.” Um, you could see the logic. You could see the logic for this for the Cardinals. Bentos coming off kind of a bad year, though. So, it’s not like his stock is real high. you’re you’re in a way buying low on him because if you tried to trade for him after, you know, 24, they’d have been like way more expensive. Um, and Willie was was good here in this last year, the OPS Plus at 122. You liked him at first base, but is he going to continue to be that good or is he going to start to dip as we get into his mid30s? So, um, let me know in the comments section below on your thoughts on a deal like this. Would you be willing? And of course, Wilson has to sign off on this because he’s got the no trade clause and he would have to want to go to New York. I don’t know if that’s something he would want to do. My my gut instinct is no. He does not want to be in the city of New York. Uh he seems that very comfortable in the Midwest. But um you know if you get to play he bloom right now, would you swing a deal like this if it was available and Willie said yes and then use the money that you’re saving instead of paying Will Contra you could use that on pitching. What do you think? Does it sound good enough to to pull the trigger? Let me know. Uh Arizona Fall League started uh this week. Started on Monday actually. The the the team that the Cardinals are prospects are playing on will actually start today. Uh, I’m going to go through the the participants, the prospects that the Cardinals have in the Arizona Fall League. We’ll talk about those coming up next on Locked on Cardinals. Most people can’t name all their financial accounts or even what they’re worth, whether it’s 401ks, properties, or investments. And when you don’t have the full picture, that means you can end up leaving money on the table. Nobody wants that. You don’t want money on the table. You want money in your pocket. You want it in your bank account, right? That’s why there is Monarch Money. It’s an all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, easy to use interface on your laptop or your phone. Monarch is built for people with busy lives. So, if you put off organizing your finances, Monarch is here for you. They they do the heavy lifting for you. You can link all your accounts in minutes. You can see clear data visuals, get smart categorization of your spending, and finally feel in control of your money without ever having to touch a spreadsheet. Maximize investments, increase your savings rate, easily review your finances with your partner or your financial advisor, giving you a clear view of your financial health week to week and of course longterm as well. So don’t let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use code locked on MLB at monarchmoney.com in your browser for half off your first year. That’s 50% off your first year at monarchmoney.com with code locked on MLB. Thanks for making Lock on Cardinals your first listen every day. If you enjoy daily Cardinals content, you can follow the podcast on X at l_cardinals. We’re also on YouTube, Tik Tok, and Instagram at lockdown Cardinals. We’d love to have you each and every day if you’re if you’re willing to be with us. Uh each year teams send players and prospects to the Arizona Fall League. Some of you might be familiar with the AFL, some of you may not be. So, um, this is for players who they want to get some extra reps in, a little extra seasoning, maybe some guys that are that are prospects that they were injured a little bit during the season and didn’t get a full workload uh, during the regular season and the the Cardinals would like to see them, you know, finish their year, you know, get to a certain level of at bats or innings and whatnot. Uh once again they got a group of uh players that are going. They got eight people this year. Uh and going to be a part of the Glendale Desert Docks. Their group will join members of the Blue Jays, the Braves, the Dodgers, and the White Socks. So here are the selected members from your St. Louis Cardinals. Uh Chinway Lynn, right-handed pitcher. Tyler Brat, right-handed pitcher. DJ Carpenter, right-handed pitcher. Randall Clement, right-handed pitcher. Uh or is it Clemente? Can’t say I’m super familiar with all these guys. Uh Travis Honeyman, outfielder. Darlin Saladin, Saladin, I think is how I pronounce it. He’s another right-handed pitcher. Grayson Tarlo is a catcher. Miguel Aguetto is an outfielder. Um the name that’s going to stand out of these, the ones that I’m familiar with, because I gotta be I don’t know every prospect that the Cardinals have, okay? But the name that stands out in a big way both on and off the field in this list is going to be Chinu Lin. All right, he’s a 6’7 Taiwanese right-hander. And he’s huge. All right, I got a picture of him if you’re watching on YouTube. Like very Adam Wayrighty, you know, like he’s very lean, very thin, long arms, long legs. Um he’s the number 16 prospect for the Cardinals according to MLB pipeline. And this past season he played at three different levels. He began at Palm Beach, moved up to Peoria, then got to Springfield. Now some of these numbers are not going to jump off the page at you. They’re just not. All three levels combined, 17 starts, 0 and2 with an RA of 5.54. All right, you’re like, “What in the what? What? How’s this guy your number 16 prospect?” All right, here’s how. First off, he didn’t throw very deep into games. Um, only threw 15 or third innings this year in 17 starts. So, if we do math, which we could do real quick just to kind of help the cause here, but uh here we go. Calculator 50 / by 17. So, we’re talking three innings is what he did. Um, and again, 17 starts. So, they were they weren’t pushing him. 70 strikeouts in those 50 and a third innings. Opponents hit just 199 against him. Now, there’s a bit of an explanation to that. At Palm Beach in 24, he was very good. 10 and five kind of breakout season for him. 10 and five, 2.79 RA. Arm talent is there. Obviously, the guy can hit triple digits. Fantastic. He’s only 23 years old. Awesome. Control issues. That has been the biggest hurdle for Chinu Linton. Um, MLB wrote this that he can show off three pitches, 95 97 comfortably with the fast ball, 82, 84 slider, upper 80s change up. They say the last of which is his best offering. They like that a lot. Certainly a guy that you want to keep an eye on this fall, but when you’re not throwing strikes, people aren’t going to swing as much at your pitches. And obviously, when you’re not throwing strikes, people aren’t going to hit it very often. So, uh, 199 batting average against can be a little bit deceiving. There’s another one of these prospects that’s got similar numbers, uh, where you’re going to be like, “Wow.” But then you’re like, “Oh, that’s why.” Uh, so that that that’s obviously a a huge huge piece of what could be the Cardinals puzzle, whether he’s going to be a starter, whether he’s going to be a reliever at some point, but you love the size, you love the the velocity, and you just got to, you know, reel it in is what you got to do and be able to throw more strikes. Um, and if you think Lynn is big, the next guy on the list you’re not going to miss when he’s standing in line somewhere or in in front of you uh at the movies, and that would be the 6’8 DJ Carpenter. 6’8, 25-year-old, former 14th round pick out of Oregon State 2022. Made 36 relief appearances this year at Peoria, 3-2 record, 5.35 ERA. Can’t teach size. You can try to uh take advantage of it, which is what they’re going to try to do. Uh Randall Clemente is a 23-year-old righty out of the Dominican Republic. MLB said this about him that he climbed three levels as a reliever. Can touch the upper 90s and flash a plus plus slider, though his control is also a major question mark. So here you go. 76ks in 53 innings at Palm Beach. Very nice. Very nice. Also at Pure and Springfield. Should mention that all three levels that’s all those combined opponents only hit 170 against Whoa. So, let’s see. 76ks, 53 innings, only hitting 170 against him. All right. What’s wrong with him control had 40 walks in those 53 innings as well. He’s like nucleouch from Bull Durham. Uh Darlan Saladin is also a 23-y old righty out of the DR. He was at Poria this year, making 26 appearances in 13 starts, 3 and five, 4.85 RA. I think I’m saying his name right. I apologize if I’m not. Uh Tyler Brat is a 24year-old right-hander from East Carolina. 16th round pick back in 23. This past year he spent time at both Poria and Springfield when it combined two and five with a 2.98 erra over 37 appearances. So you like that he made three starts. Opponents hit only 192 against him. But again, control issues seem to be the biggest problem here. He walked 47 hitters in 63 and a third innings. He did have 68 strikeouts. So again, teach these boys some control. hopefully um they become better pitchers for it. Offensive players consist of outfielder Travis Honeyman, who was the 11th rated prospect in the Cardinals organization just last year in 2024, but has fallen outside of the top 30. Now, he was a third round pick out of Boston College back in 2023. This year, he hit .287 in 82 games for Palm Beach and Peoria. He has very little power. He does not steal many bases, although he’s got above average speed. The OBP is something that stood out to me though. He had a 411 on base percentage. So, good guy at the plate, doesn’t chase a lot of stuff, takes walks, gets on base. You like guys like that. You know, having people on the base pass is a good thing. You know, uh, how many times do we did we complain this year about guys just just up at the plate with non-competitive at bats and just not working their way on base, not taking walks and not taking singles and this and that and just looking lost. Like see a guy with an OBP of 411. I’m intrigued because the guy knows how to get on base and that’s going to cause problems for the opposition. catcher Grayson Tarlo, 24 years old, former 19th round pick in 2023. Hit 296 with Peoria in Springfield this year. Um, not gonna lie, I wasn’t looking for Grayson Tarlo as a catcher to be in the AFL this year. I would have rather have seen somebody like Rainell Rodriguez or Leonardo Bernol, you know, one of these top catching prospects for the Cardinals in their organization. Uh, but instead you get Grayson Tarlow. Okay. Uh, and last was 23-year-old outfielder Miguel Aguetto, who spent some time at Palm Beach in Peoria. Mostly a double A Springfield, though this year, hit .254, only two home runs, 27 RBI’s, 11 stolen bases. Um, the team, like I said, Glendale, they’re going to be playing their first game today. It’s an afternoon game. Um, what is it? Glendale. What? Hold on. I got to look this up again. Glendale Desert Dogs. Glendale Desert Dogs. We’re all big fans of the Desert Dogs. Now, uh first game today, Honeyman is batting. Uh Honeyman is batting cleanup. Tarlo is behind the dish. So, we’ll keep you posted throughout the fall on how these guys do. Sometimes it’s really cool. You get to see some of these guys do some really special things. Victor Scott was somebody who was there uh not that long ago and uh had really good numbers and it was something that kind of put him on the map um as far as making the major league club. So, um Thomas JC recently also did very well in the AFL. So, uh, we’ll keep an eye on it and see how things are progressing, uh, over the the fall season. It’s not long. They only play for like a month. So, um, but yeah, so we’ll see. Hopefully, uh, some good news comes out of that. Up next, we’re going to talk about the MLB playoffs because it’s playoff time. The Cardinals aren’t there, and I’m sad, but at the same time, there are some reasons to make Cardinals fans smile at this point of the year. Has something to do with that Milwaukee and Cubs series that might be making you guys a little happy. So, we’ll get into that coming up next on Locked on Cardinals. There’s nothing like catching a baseball game live. You got the energy, you get the crowd, you get the chance to see your favorite team and favorite players in person. And downside of it can be trying to get your tickets in the first place. Cues, login screens, surprise fees. No, hate them. Sucks. Surprise fees are terrible. They are the enemy. takes all the fun out of buying your tickets. That’s why I use Game Time. Have been for years now. It is the app that gives the advantage back to fans. 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Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Download Game Time today. Thanks for making locked on card your first listen every day. For your second listen, check out Locked on MLB Game Night. It’s every game every night until the World Series champion is crowd. You get local analysis, but on a national scale. Find MLB Game Night on Locked on MLB’s YouTube channel or wherever you listen to your podcast. So, the NLDS took center stage on Monday night with the Dodgers hanging on to beat the Phillies four to three. The Brewers beat up on those Cubbies again seven to three. My first thought watching the playoffs is that, you know, this stinks because we don’t get to see our Cardinals in the postseason for the third straight season. I see the crowds and I see how much fun everybody’s having and I I I really miss it and I’m like, “Wow, we haven’t seen this since Pooh Holes and Yachti and Weno three years ago, man. And it seems like it’s been 10 years though. Um, second thought that comes to mind, the Brewers picking on the Cubs is probably making some Cardinal fans happy, right? Brewers win with a bullpin game on Monday. Fell behind three to nothing on a Sea Suzuki three-run shot. Remember, he got hot at the end of the year against the Cardinals. He’s been hot in the playoffs. Uh, hits a three-run shot in the first and the Brewers still went on to dominate this game by a score of seven to three. Chuck from Locked on Brewers was saying before the playoffs began that, you know, the the Brewers, they they just needed a break. They were they were kind of running on fumes there at the end of the regular season and they they really needed a break. They wanted to rest up and he said they’re going to be fine. I promise you, they’re going to be better in the playoffs than you’ve seen recently. And he wasn’t lying after smoking the Cubs in game one by a score of 9 to3. They score seven unanswered runs to Barry Chicago again in game two. And they did it with the long ball, which is not something that the Brewers did a whole lot of this year. Uh Andrew Vaughn, who they got from the White Socks for Aaron Savali. Just it just seemed like, hey, we’re just getting Savali out of here. He doesn’t want to be here anymore. Okay, we’ll take Andrew Vaughn. He’s now batting cleanup for these guys. Tied it up in the bottom of the first with a three-run jack off Showtime. Then it was Willy’s brother, William, with the solo blast against him in the third inning to give the lead to the Brewers. Then it was Jackson Cheurio. Three-run zinger in the fourth off Palencia makes it seven to three. All three home runs came with two outs as well. So talk about back breakers. Brewers are now up in the series. Two games to none. Have a chance to sweep the Cubs on Wednesday in Chicago. I can’t say I’m surprised by any of this. Uh I didn’t think Chicago, we saw that first half, Chicago, the first half of the season, they were pretty darn good. And then we saw the offense just fall off a cliff. And for the most part, none of it has picked back up. I’m curious what Kyle Tucker is going to make this off seasonason cuz um this second half half has been ugly. It’s been ass. Yes. Uh has been ugly and he ain’t doing much in the playoffs either. On the other side of the NLBS, Dodgers take down the Phillies four to three thanks to a late rally by Philly who scored two in the ninth to make it interesting. Former Cardinal Tommy Edmond almost almost choked it away at the end. He spiked the final ground ball for the final out of the game and he spikes it in the dirt and tying run was on third base. So that’s scoring and Freddy Freeman made an outstanding pick and was somehow able to stay on the bag as well to end it almost a disaster there for Tommy Edmond who was 0 for four at the plate with 2ks hitting just 182 in the postseason. Far cry from the numbers we saw him do last year. Uh Harrison Bader had a pinch hit single for the Phillies in that ninth inning, but it was all about the pitching in this one. Blake Snell, Jesus Lazardo, both both of them were excellent. Snell was just a little bit better, more dominant once again, nineks in six innings. Postseason usually comes down to pitching, right? You know, we we we saw it back when the Cardinals were winning postseason games when you saw the the great efforts from guys like Chris Carpenter, Adam Way, right? Obviously, Jeff Supan, uh you know, Anthony Reyes against the Detroit Tigers, like you see these games and you’re like, “Wow.” um they hold these good offenses at bay and now these teams, you know, they’re they’re starting to piggyback their good starters because their bullpens are are kind of the weak spots for these teams. Dodgers have been doing it uh in this series and they did it against the Reds as well. Kind of set the tone with this idea where they’re like, “Well, our best pitchers are starters, so we’re just going to keep bringing them in.” So, that’s kind of what people are doing now is uh like the the Phillies are are set to start Aaron Nola and then Ranger Suarez this year and Suarez was a better starter than Nola this year, but they want to give uh the the Dodgers a different look. I’m sure it’s one of the things I brought up. I was like three left-handers in a row probably not a great idea. Uh ALDS today, Seattle at Detroit series tied at one. Toronto looking to finish off Paul Goldman. The Yankees tonight, New York with a two to nothing series lead. uh back-to-back three-to2 games between the Mariners and the Tigers who will have former Cardinal Jack Flity getting the start. Hasn’t faced anyone except the Guardians since 10th. Three straight starts against Cleveland. Uh Mariners certainly a different animal than than Cleveland is offensively. So, good luck, Jack. Uh meanwhile, the Blue Jays have been curb stomping the Yankees, outscoring them 23 to8 in the first two games, which I believe was an MLB record for the most runs scored uh in the first two games of the postseason for a team. When the Cardinals played Toronto this past year, I remember pointing it out. We saw how exhausting that lineup can be. Like they they just put the ball in play. They foul the ball off all the time. They don’t strike out a lot. They were very very annoying to play. They were just like exhausting was my my best description of them. And this is a Blue Jays team that doesn’t have one of their best in Bob Bashette right now. Same with the Brewers. You know, the Brewers are one of those teams that just they just take great at bats against you. And um you know, I hope one day that’s how the Cardinals will look offensively. I’m not expecting them to all of a sudden have three or four 30 home run guys in their lineup. Uh especially playing at Bush Stadium doesn’t make as much sense. But I want them to be exhausting to pitch against. and we saw them kind of look like that in the first couple months of the season, but then it faded off after the month of May and you saw their record uh go down down down the rest of the way as well. So, I hope they can get back to that in 2026, that kind of style, that kind of approach. Just just be a pain in the butt when you’re when you’re in the box. Just just be annoying. And I feel like that can take a team like the Cardinals, they can they can benefit from that and win more ball games and uh get back to having a 500 record again. All right, that’s going to wrap it up. Thanks for making Lock on Cardinals your first listen every day. If you haven’t already, please give us a follow on X at L_Cardinal and at JD Sports Radio. We’re on Tik Tok and Instagram at Locked on Cardinals. Like, subscribe on YouTube. Help our channel and our love for the Cardinals grow. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. And we will see you next time on Locked on Cardinals. Have a good one.

Cardinals trade rumors heat up as Willson Contreras’ future hangs in the balance. Could a potential deal with the Mets reshape St. Louis’ roster?

JD Hafron breaks down the proposed Contreras-for-Vientos swap, analyzing its impact on the Cardinals’ lineup and payroll. The discussion shifts to St. Louis’ promising prospects in the Arizona Fall League, spotlighting standouts like 6’7″ Taiwanese hurler Chen Wei Lin and outfielder Travis Honeyman. JD caps off with crucial MLB playoff updates, dissecting the Dodgers’ nail-biting win over the Phillies and the Brewers’ unexpected power explosion against the Cubs.

Tune in for expert analysis on the Cardinals’ offseason strategy and how it could shape their 2024 World Series aspirations.

0:00 Intro: Hypothetical Cardinals-Mets trade discussion

5:10 Analyzing the proposed Contreras-Vientos trade

13:20 Cardinals prospects in Arizona Fall League

24:37 MLB playoffs: Brewers dominate, Dodgers win

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