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Viva El Birdos

https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/ | 215 entries published

A St. Louis Cardinals Fan Community

Latest Entries

Separating Truth From Fiction in Brendan Donovan Trade Scenarios

I am a big believer that quality is much more important than quantity when it comes down to what we share with you here about the latest St. Louis Cardinals news and rumors. I try to make sure that I’m sharing real substance and not just the mystical whims of another sports writer. That being […]

MLB

about 2 months ago | 2 reads

A look at new Cardinal Dustin May

On Saturday, the Cardinals signed right-handed starting pitcher Dustin May to a one-year contract with a mutual option. As far as I know, the details of the contract are unknown aside from that. It’s irrelevant anyway in my opinion. If we knew the Cardinals had $20 million to spend, whatever he gets would be relevant. […]

about 2 months ago | 3 reads

What Dustin May means for the Cardinals rotation

For the 2026 version of the St. Louis Cardinals, I will call Saturday’s signing of Dustin May a “splash” move for the organization. Until this point, their biggest transaction was trading away from the rotation but the newest member of the Cardinals does provide some stability to a rotation full of question marks. Of course, […]

about 2 months ago | 3 reads

Report: St. Louis Cardinals Signing RHP Dustin May

The St. Louis Cardinals are reportedly adding a veteran to their pitching staff. A report says that the team and free agent Dustin May are in agreement on a contract pending a physical. Thanks to the always reliable MLB Trade Rumors, we know that the St. Louis Cardinals are signing right-handed pitcher Dustin May if […]

about 2 months ago | 3 reads

Prospect Volatility: Measuring Year-Over-Year Breakouts

How likely is a prospect to go from an unknown non-prospect to a top prospect in one season? Rainiel Rodriguez went from unranked by Fangraphs to hitting the Top 100 prospect list last year. That’s a little unfair though because Rodriguez was a relatively unheralded international signing that only had one professional season under his […]

MLB

about 2 months ago | 2 reads

St. Louis Cardinals’ Prospects to Watch for in 2026, v2

After sorting through and writing about the Fangraphs prospect update in recent weeks, I got to wondering about some players who weren’t on this list of prospects and who might find themselves on it after the next update. Who in the system is not on a prospect list NOW but could well be by this […]

about 2 months ago | 6 reads

St. Louis Cardinals’ Prospects to Watch for in 2026

After sorting through and writing about the Fangraphs prospect update in recent weeks, I got to wondering about some players who weren’t on this list of prospects and who might find themselves on it after the next update. Who in the system is not on a prospect list NOW but could well be by this […]

about 2 months ago | 4 reads

Cardinals Rumors: Contreras, Nootbaar and What If Nolan Arenado Comes Back

The MLB Winter Meetings this week seemed to be eerily quiet for the St. Louis Cardinals. New reports seem to indicate that there was a lot of activity happening behind the scenes as there’s new interest in both Willson Contreras and Lars Nootbaar and questions answered about what would it be like if Nolan Arenado […]

about 2 months ago | 6 reads

Cardinals select Matt Pushard in Rule 5 draft

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 […]

about 2 months ago | 3 reads

Winter Meetings: St. Louis Cardinals Trying to Teach Us Patience

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 […]

2 months ago | 2 reads

The Toughest StL Cardinal and MLB Hitters To Retire

With the unfortunate news of the Cardinals pretty much getting a worst case scenario lottery draw in the draft at 13th overall pick, I will sidestep that news for now and let someone else handle that topic. My take is that you never know, just reminds me of how Pujols was picked in the 13th […]

MLB

2 months ago | 2 reads

St. Louis Cardinals Land at 13th in the MLB Draft Lottery

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 […]

2 months ago | 4 reads

Free Agent Profile: Munetaka Murakami

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 […]

2 months ago | 2 reads

St. Louis Cardinals Nemesis Jeff Kent Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

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 […]

2 months ago | 2 reads

Could a six-man rotation answer more questions for the Cardinals in 2026?

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 […]

2 months ago | 3 reads

Breaking Down Bloom’s Hitter Blueprint: Approach, Contact, and Damage

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 […]

2 months ago | 1 read

St. Louis Cardinals Winter Meetings Predictions

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. […]

2 months ago | 2 reads

St. Louis Cardinals 2026 Roster Construction

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 […]

2 months ago | 3 reads

Cardinals Rumors: JoJo Romero Top Trade Target of Seattle Mariners

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. […]

2 months ago | 4 reads

What could the Cardinals receive in a trade for Willson Contreras?

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 […]

2 months ago | 6 reads

Looking back at consensus St Louis Cardinals projections pre-2025 season

In the early months of 2025, I wrote a series of articles about consensus projections, focusing more on the starting talent but also some of the bench roster. It may have been a mistake not to delve deeper, because the projections weren’t entirely accurate. But they never are. It’s impossible to predict a season, we […]

MLB

2 months ago | 2 reads

Report: St. Louis Cardinals Willson Contreras More Open to Trade Now

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 […]

2 months ago | 3 reads