Out With A Bang? Was That Lance Lynn's Last Ride With The Cardinals?

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Brenden Schaeffer discusses what may have been Lance Lynn's final start with the Cardinals, a gem on Tuesday night as St. Louis won another close one over the Pirates.

What will the Cardinals do with Lynn's option? How much change will we need to see with this roster in the offseason, the hard decisions, that will get fans to buy into the plan?

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[scottcoleman]

Lynn has lived up to his contract and done a solid job for the team this year. He's certainly been a better value than many Cardinals this season.

[andrewhoffman]

This team has some guys that need to get more playing time, some guys that just need to step up, some guys that need to be resigned, and some that need to be traded/moved on from.

For me, here's how I see it.

Let's start with the guys who need to see more playing time. Walker, Scott II, Herrera, Baker, Siani, Burleson, and several of our SP prospects. All of these guys were either not given enough playing time or still leave a bit to be desired before fully committing to them as everyday guys.

For guys who need to step up, I have Arenado, Donovan, Pages, Gray, and Libertore. To some extent, all these guys performed very well this year. But, they also had stretched of frustration for me, all in verying degrees. Some I did not expect to struggle much at all, and some more so. Not to say I don't trust these guys, but next year I'd like more consistency out of thwir performances.

For the resigning category, I have Gibby. Lynn was awesome last night, no doubt about it. But Gibby proved me wrong, and for the amount of innings you get from him, I'd say let's have him be a bridge to the younger guys.

Trades (fight me, but I'm quite done with these guys): Gorman, Matz, Mikolas (never going to happen) and possibly Nootbaar. Nootbaar and Gorman have been given some of the longest leashes I've seen in a while, and while Noot seems to have some value on the market, I said we should have traded him and Gorman after 22, when their value was at the highest.

[dennisduebelbeis]

I feel there is plenty of baseball loving plus points for Cardinal fan interest. Really enjoy watching Winn, Burleson and Arenado, think Goldie is still awesome. Young pitching prospects show great promise. Pallante growth may prove to be our future ace!

[dennisduebelbeis]

Lynn is better than any trust I would put in a cardinal future pitching acquisition.

[johnparrigon]

The last 5 minutes Brenden was speaking about possible moves, and it was the most logical discussion of it I've heard. It was maddening to realize how unpredictable things are. With rare exception there is not a player that we can't move on from, but guessing which ones will step up next year and which will continue to regress or underperform is nearly impossible. There just simply isn't anything to go on after the last two season. "So much needs to change" is an easy statement to make, but what needs to change is impossible.

[BillDownton]

We can't carry three catchers so who has the most trade value

[docholliday]

One can hope it is, but would not surprise me if Mo brings him back. You know, currently not much imagination with management. In addition, this team needs a real change in personnel in 2025.
Better hitters in the outfield!! 2nd base and 1st base need some real hitters and time to bring up the young pitchers and sign a #1 or 2 Pitcher. BUT this team cannot stay the same!!!

[the-phanatic-]

Ivan Herrera has an 800 OPS versus righties and they will not play. It is absolutely ridiculous.

[BillDownton]

I would like to see them find a leadoff and a solid clean up batter

[chrisweidner]

Not understanding why everyone is so quick to dump Lynn. He has our second best starter ERA, and this whole absorbing the 10 run game. I’d choose him over Gibson. Thinking he will be pitching somewhere next year. I’d like to see him here on a very team friendly price. Would like him as a swimgman spot starter. Etc. Much preferred over Mikolas. Burly needs to earn it in the spring. I’m thinking he’s been exposed. He has faded bigly since the all-star game. Donnie and Lars giving me promise. Play Victor in Center and Jordan in right. Weary of the Arenado show. Give it to Gorman. Also expecting Wetherholt and Matthews to be in the mix. Wetherholt is the same age as Crow-Armstrong. Let him play. Imagining a world where they sign Blake Snell. They were an embarrassment this year. The only difference this year is they didn’t have the horrific Waino tour. We don’t need nice guys .we need Alfa warriors who do not tolerate weakness.

[ryancairns]

My wife is a Jays fan and I think they benefited by clearly being sellers early on. It gave them a long, stress-free look at a lot of their young guys.

[kimbrown]

I did enjoy that game with Lynn... I have enjoyed watching Winn, Contreras(when he was healthy), Arenado, Donovan, and Siani, .... I still like Goldie and kind of hope he will be here next year. But I understand if he doesn't come back.

[billbayes]

Goldie needs to go. They need to go with Burley/Luken Baker on first base/DH.
Luken Baker doesn't have a good batting average because they haven't played him at all. Put Luken Baker in the batting order in every game from now to the end of the season and watch what happens. I just don't understand why they can't play the young man. Look at all the home runs he's hit the last 2 years at triple-a. I know that he can hit better and hit for power but if you don't play him but once every third or 4th day what else could you possibly expect.

[markhastings]

Saggase is a natural 2nd baseman. Wynn didn’t hit last fall either. Burly is your 1st baseman. Bring back gibby and fill out number 5 with the triple a guys. TRADE gorman

[chriscresswellcomposer]

I think your analysis is right. There are any number of decisions that COULD be right. In the last few years they've hedged their bets to the point that the bets aren't there. Bold action is needed and if they're wrong, they're wrong but recently they've failed to try to be right.

[KevinWM]

That may be it for Lynn with us, but I don't think he's retiring. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of McGreevy.

[alexclobes]

If I were the cardinals, I would take next year to find out what I had and rebuild for 2026. I know people might not want to hear that but with all the bad moves they did, they need a year to recoup and reposition. Completely agree with you Brenden on that. I would let Goldy walk and use a platoon of Burly, Contreas, and Baker at first. Let the kids battle for outfield. Victor Scott, Noot, Siani, and Walker. Let Saggesse play 2nd, Wynn at short, and Donavan at 3rd. I would go into next season with Starters Fedde, Grey, Pallante, and Matz, and pick up someone cheap in the offseason as insurance. I know it's not popular but I believe the cardinals have talent in their minors and let the 5th spot be rotated out with minor league depth. I'd also love to see them pick up Alex Reyes as a bullpen piece this offseason. I'd probably try and trade Ivan Herrera and maybe Gorman. I'd love to see some movement on improving hitting and pitching coaches.

[justintripp-xmfh]

I'll be at the Vandy game, you going? I usually go to 2 games a year . I need the big show to help a fella out .

[teambigv]

I would be ok with them bringing back Lynn and Gibson they have done solid work, but we do need to get a look at the young ones. Herrera looks like a keeper to me he puts the bat on the ball consistently he doesn't get enough love imo

[Samir-]

I feel like the Yelich/Ozuna comment wasn’t quite fair. If the Cardinals tried to play the patient game with the Marlins and merely *hope* that Yelich would become available, then we very well may have ended up with nobody, and that would’ve been a clusterfuck on its own and we’d be bashing them for standing pat too. And there’s no telling if the Marlins would’ve accepted that same package for Yelich instead…they got Brinson from the Brewers, and he was rated higher than any of the guys we sent them.

I think the Cardinals made the best deal they could’ve made at the time. Hindsight is 20/20 and worked out terribly for us, but at the time that wasn’t really the feeling around this move ime.