Once a potentially impactful draft that nobody paid attention to, the Rule 5 draft is now an inconsequential draft that most diehard baseball fans pay too much attention to. Present company included. I kid, sort of. But it was once a draft that gave the Pittsburgh Pirates Roberto Clemente, the Chicago Cubs Hack Wilson, and […]
Patience is a virtue or so I’m told. All I can say is that it better be as many of the St. Louis Cardinal faithful have watched the MLB Winter Meetings come and go with barely a whisper of anything meaningful getting done. Instead of fast-tracking deals, it appears that new President of Baseball Operations […]
2025 MLB Rule 5 Draft Primer / Preview
12/10 UPDATE : PLAYERS SELECTED BY CUBS IN MAJOR LEAGUE PHASE OF 2025 RULE 5 DRAFT : NONE CUBS MINOR LEAGUERS SELECTED IN MAJOR LEAGUE PHASE OF 2025 RULE 5 DRAFT : NONE PLAYERS SELECTED BY CUBS IN AAA PHASE OF 2025 RULE 5 DRAFT : Adam Stone , RHP (selected for AAA Iowa from New York Yankees Lo-A Tampa roster) Zane Mill s, RHP (selected for AAA Iowa from St. Louis Cardinals AA Springfield roster) Devin Ortiz , INF (se...
The St. Louis Cardinals had a slim chance of landing the number one slot in the MLB Draft Lottery. That didn’t happen as President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom and his team will be making a selection much later than they would have preferred. The Chicago White Sox will pick 1st followed by the Tampa […]
The owner of the Arizona Cardinals is Michael J. Bidwill. He is a wealthy man. The Bidwill family overall is rich, rich. The Bidwill’s have owned the Cardinals franchise since 1932, but the sale wasn’t announced until 1933. A member of the Bidwell family has owned the franchise ever since. How did this family become […]
The Winter Meetings so far are notable for one thing: The lack of major signings. The “biggest” thing that’s happened so far is Steven Matz, formerly of the Cardinals, signing a two-year deal with the Rays. Meanwhile, Cubs President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer talked relief pitching: After signing veteran reliever Phil Maton, team president […]
Today at 4:30 PM ET, MLB will unveil the results of the Amateur Draft Lottery. The Cardinals currently have the 8th best odds of landing the number 1 overall pick at 2.35%. The Chicago White Sox (27.73%), Minnesota Twins (22.18%), and Pittsburgh Pirates (16.81%) round out the top 3. The Orioles, A’s, Braves, and Rays […]
I don’t necessarily intend to write about players I don’t think the Cardinals will ever get. It feels like a waste of time. But well, I don’t know who I could write about if I focused on players I thought the Cardinals might get. It’s a short list and most of the list aren’t very […]
Braves Franchise History 1928 – The Cardinals sell veteran SS Rabbit Maranville to the Braves. 1987 – Atlanta trades shortstop Rafael Ramirez to the Astros for a pair of minor leaguers. 2001 – The Braves sign infielder Vinny Castilla also to a two-year contract. 2005 – The Braves acquire shortstop Edgar Renteria from the Boston […]
No second baseman hit more home runs than Jeff Kent and he’ll now take his place in the National Baseball Hall of Fame according to the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee. The National Baseball Hall of Fame has shared the news tonight that Jeff Kent will be enshrined as part of the class of 2026. He […]
The St. Louis Cardinals are officially committing to the rebuild after teasing with the transition idea at this time last year. With Sonny Gray gone, the Cardinals need to go fully into this new direction and truly look to take advantage of their trade pieces. By now, you know to me that means dealing Nolan […]
Hello Viva El Birdos! I am excited to break down some Cardinals hitters today, but I wanted to briefly introduce myself. I have been reading VEB for well over a decade at this point and credit this site’s writers and commenters with much of my education in baseball analytics. I appreciate the quality that this […]
As I write this, we are only a few days away from the beginning of the MLB Winter Meetings. There seems to be a consensus that the St. Louis Cardinals will be active, but what will President of Operations Chaim Bloom and his team accomplish over the next week? Let’s make some somewhat educated guesses. […]
Last week, I published a breakdown (here) of what could be enough “starZ” to make up a competitive roster. This week you’ll read my musing about how the Cardinal FO could apply such a model to their current roster and look to build a roster that can be competitive. There are multiple ways to get […]
As we get closer to the MLB Winter Meetings, the rumor mills are kicking into high gear and that includes new interest in a St. Louis Cardinals reliever. New reports indicate that JoJo Romero is one of the favored targets for the Seattle Mariners. There’s a new update just shared today by MLB Trade Rumors. […]
After the Devin Williams to the Mets announcement, there hasn’t been much activity in yesterday’s hot stove. The biggest move might have been the “The Athletic” beat writer Katie Woo jumping from covering the St. Louis Cardinals to the LA Dodgers. There’s no proof to the rumor that she deffered all but a dollar of […]
Earlier this week, it was reported by Katie Woo of the Athletic that St. Louis Cardinals’ 1B/catcher Willson Contreras has become more open to waiving his no-trade clause to facilitate a trade out of St, Louis. It comes in the wake of former teammate Sonny Gray doing the same thing and in turn being traded […]
So you want to trade Willson Contreras? I hadn’t intended on making this post, but since Contreras is apparently more open to getting traded, if it’s the right fit, might as well see what any potential return will bring back. I already did this with Sonny Gray (I was wildly wrong, so take this with […]
As a child of the 1970’s, I remember the St. Louis Cardinals when they rarely threatened to win their division. Contending for a World Series during that era was nothing more than a pipe dream. Looking back now, I can pinpoint 3 different December days when Whitey Herzog made key moves that turned the St. […]
Another later-inning reliever is off the board, though it’s not one who is changing teams.
Emilio Pagan is sticking with the Reds on a very healthy deal:
Free-agent right-hander Emilio Pagán back to Reds, pending physical. Story with @ctrent : https://t.co/Ns0Mwc2rPA — Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 4, 2025
Two years and $20 million for Pagan, AND he gets an opt out in-between the two years. So he’s getting the same deal as Ryan Helsley, but just a little less cas...
As the offseason began, it appeared that among the St. Louis Cardinals veterans Willson Contreras would be the most likely to remain with the team during the rebuild. A new report seems to indicate that his desire to remain with the team might have changed. Katie Woo of The Athletic dropped this curious share on […]
On December 10th in Orlando, Florida. Major League Baseball and all 30 clubs with an open 40-man roster spot will have the opportunity to steal eligible young talent from another organisation in hopes of finding a marginal advantage on the roster. Most recently, the St. Louis Cardinals drafted Ryan Fernandez in the 2023 Rule 5 […]
Even as the St. Louis Cardinals stand to post their third sub-.500 season in four years, and even as attendance and fan support plummets, and even as new management explicitly undertakes a rebuilding process that could take years, Willson Contreras reportedly wants to stick it out.
In other words, don’t expect Contreras to follow Sonny Gray out the door in the next Cardinals sell-off trade. He has a no-trade clause, it sounds like he still plans to wield it:
. @dgoold reports that Wi...
I noticed a curious thing when I was perusing potential outfielders for the Cardinals to sign. I noticed this when I made a case for Michael Conforto, which was understandably not received that well. If you hyper focus on right-handed outfielders, there’s a bunch of former Cardinals. It’s actually kind of crazy how many of […]
Good morning! It can be hard to return to work after an extended break. So do yourself a favor this morning and ease into things. Instead of going through your emails, watch this 15 minute home movie footage of the 1946 Red Sox — including the World Series against the Cardinals. Talk about what you […]