When I evaluate the St. Louis Cardinals actions during the offseason so far, there’s only one thing I’m certain of and that’s the fact that President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom and his team are smarter than I am. That realization gives me peace because otherwise I would have to wonder if the Cardinals are the kings of the waiting game or if the team is once again overvaluing players.
As of this moment, the St. Louis Cardinals have yet to deal arguably two of their most valuable players. All-star Brendan Donovan and lefty JoJo Romero are still on the St. Louis Cardinals roster despite the assessment by many that their value will never be higher than it is right now. I saw a conversation on the St. Louis Cardinals sub-Reddit which made me think. One commenter mentioned that he believed Brendan Donovan was comparable to Tommy Edman who the Cardinals traded away too late according to some opinions and didn’t receive the return they would have gotten if John Mozeliak had been willing to trade him at the height of his value. The general theme was to learn from mistakes of the previous administration.
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Last time I checked, I am still not a mind-reader which is a shame because I would love to know what Chaim Bloom is really thinking when it comes to Brendan Donovan and JoJo Romero. That means we’ll have to settle for hearsay for now. A report from Sodo Mojo claimed that the St. Louis Cardinals asks for prospects with the Seattle Mariners were treating him as a cornerstone player “while other clubs view him more like a high-end supporting piece”. A report by Ken Rosenthal The Athletic inferred that the Cardinals prospect demands for Brendan Donovan were on the same level as Nico Hoerner and Ketel Marte who are both WAR rated about 1.5 higher than Brendan.
There is hope that Chaim Bloom’s patience might still be rewarded as many believe the New York Mets traded prospects they shouldn’t have for Freddy Peralta. The same can be said for the Chicago Cubs who traded their #1 prospect and two other players for Edward Cabrera. Could it be that Chaim Bloom really does have the winning hand that he’s betting on? The “experts” at ESPN still believe that the San Francisco Giants will eventually give the Cardinals the prospects they want for Brendan Donovan. Buster Olney says that the Seattle Mariners will end up with JoJo Romero. I’m frankly surprised that JoJo hasn’t been traded already, but that makes me wonder if a blockbuster deal that includes Brendan Donovan and JoJo Romero to the Seattle Mariners is a real possibility. If the Giants aren’t willing to let go of their #1 prospect Bryce Eldridge, I prefer many players the Mariners reportedly are willing to make available.
I’ve seen the last few weeks of this offseason before Spring Training begins described as a game of chicken. Will Chaim Bloom blink before his competitors do? If the Cardinals are found guilty of overvaluing their players again like many of us believe they have done in the past, we risk of passing the opportunity to turn this rebuild into a supercharged juggernaut instead of a tepid work in progress. I’m gonna fall back to my first thought. Chaim Bloom and his team are smarter than me and that’s a fact that gives me hope that we’ll be the benefactors of the perfect waiting game and not a what could have been.
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