The Cardinals announced that they have recalled outfielder Jordan Walker from Triple-A Memphis, with fellow outfielder Tommy Pham designated for assignment in a corresponding move. It was reported yesterday that Pham had been placed on waivers, though without being removed from the roster. It seems the Cards are committed to moving on regardless of whether Pham is claimed off waivers or not.
Teams can place a player on waivers even while they are still on the roster and participating in games. We have seen this happen this year with players like Kevin Kiermaier back when he was with the Blue Jays, as well as guys like Michael A. Taylor of the Pirates, Drew Smyly of the Cubs, Robbie Grossman of the Rangers and others.
The Cards could have waited to see if Pham was claimed and then continued to play him if he passed through, but that won’t be the case now. Pham could still be claimed off waivers by tomorrow and would be postseason-eligible with his new club. But if he goes unclaimed, he will almost certainly end up a free agent. He has more than enough time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, so the Cards would probably just release him in that scenario.
Little by little, the Cards are signaling that they are moving on from 2024 and turning their attentions towards the future. Prior to last month’s trade deadline, they acted as buyers, grabbing Pham, Erick Fedde and Shawn Armstrong to bolster the roster for the stretch run. But they have gone 11-15 here in August, dropping them back in the crowded National League Wild Card race. They are currently six games out and would have to pass three different clubs to get in, while also holding off the Giants, who are just half a game behind the Cards. The Playoff Odds at FanGraphs give them just a 1.8% chance of getting in while the PECOTA Standings at Baseball Prospectus have them at 1.9%.
Armstrong was designated for assignment earlier this week and is still in DFA limbo, with Pham now joining him there, so the Cards have quickly cut ties with two of their three deadline acquisitions. Fedde is still under contract for next year but Armstrong and Pham were rentals, so the club has little use for them as they have seemingly accepted that their chances in 2024 are low.
They will instead give Walker another crack at major league pitching. He has been up and down since the start of the 2023 season, showing occasional glimpses of his talents but also enduring periods of significant struggles. He hit .276/.342/.445 last year for a 115 wRC+ but his line is just .145/.228/.232 this season, wRC+ of 31. He’s spent most of his time at Triple-A this year, where the numbers have been better but not overwhelming. He has a .263/.326/.427 batting line for Memphis in 2024, which translates to a wRC+ of 94 in the strong offensive environment in the International League this year.
Though he hasn’t exactly been kicking the door down, the Cards have some motivation to get him regular run in the big leagues. Since they have been sending him back and forth between Memphis and St. Louis both last year and this year, he’s only going to have one option year remaining at the end of this season. He’s still just 22 years old and has lots of time to break out as a bonafide major leaguer, but his option status provides a little bit of a narrowing window.
During the offseason, the club could perhaps pursue offensive upgrades to try to compete in 2025. That could potentially make for a roster crunch that leads to Walker getting optioned again next year. For now, with the club outside contention, they have creating some breathing room for Walker to presumably get some significant playing time as the season winds down. Ideally, he can take some notable steps forward and solidify himself as part of the future, though he’ll be in an outfield mix that also includes Lars Nootbaar, Alec Burleson, Victor Scott II, Michael Siani, Brendan Donovan and others.
Mariners could really use him as a DH and PT outfielder. Better than Haniger and Garver, who should also be waived (with the almost impossible hope that some other team might want them), if not wholly DFA.
Haniger and Garver has the support of players and management. Bringing in a toxic MMA fighter wannabe for the last month of the season is how you destroy a clubhouse.
I was thinking about a trade with the Mariners involving Bryce Miller but his home road splits are crazy. Gilbert or Kirby would be nice but perhaps not available. Castillo is overpaid.
We won’t trade from our rotation not because they are good but because they cost next to nothing, ownership has to keep profits high
Our ownership isn’t the worst but when they need to pay (which they have done before) they go silent
Gilbert and Kirby are going to start costing money. And Castillo already makes a ton.
As a sad mariners fan I wouldn’t be surprised if we trade them when they cost a ton in arbitration
Gorman could be a good fit for the Mariners. But again not sure what makes sense. Gilbert doesn’t have any real home road splits he’s the guy I would want.
Trading a starting pitcher for a former top prospect whose team is giving up on him is a bit of an overpay. If they believe in Walker, they won’t trade him. If they don’t believe in him, it won’t take an established starter to acquire him.
Can’t be any worse than Lane Thomas since he’s been with Cleveland… We could use him too
Agreed. I think we may have gotten Lane Bryant by mistake
Yeah, Thomas has been horrible since coming to CLE. He still has a year left before free agency, and the FO will have to decide what to do with him this winter.
Yo-yos running this team yo-yoing their young talent. I hope they put Walker and Gorman in the lineup nearly every day the rest of the way to see what they can do.
Yankees and Verdugo desperately need a righty option option for LF.
They do, Jasson Dominguez.
Not unless the Yankees keep running DJ out there… DJ is cooked, they should be playing Peraza and Cabrera instead.
No argument that DJLM needs to go. Boone continuing to use him is baffling.
Righty is his weak side and they appear unwilling to bench Verdugo or let Dominguez come up and not be a starter. Pham could sit on the bench and play twice per week.
Addition by subtraction. Bye, little tommy.
Hi
That’s enough, Vogt.
All you have to do is say hi and it pisses people off
Its not what you say. Its how you say it!
Is this better, hiiiii
How so? He was one of their better hitters against LHP.
Hold on…..thought the Cards were geniuses that clearly won that 3-team trade at the deadline!
Good gosh. Walker has a 753 OPS in what is definitely a hitters league. And that’s just offense he’s also a poor defender.
Unlike the old days when teams could call up their entire minor league roster just for the experience, teams now must clear roster space so fringe players are dfa’d. If the cards thought pham had anything left to offer, they would keep him and do the call up on September 1
“So fringe players are dfad”..Excellent analysis. Much more on point than what I was going to add. Plus, with Tommy’s history, personality and reputation, no team is going to keep him around for the so-called “veteran presence” often coveted by many teams.
Let the young guys play out the rest of the way. There might not be a better opportunity for them to do so.
Last year was a great opportunity to do so. Lot of pitchers who deserved a chance but instead we had Barnes and 2 other bums I can’t remember their names getting playing time.
We can’t go backwards. Time marches forward. The time we have to work with is now.
Ok then why not give guys like Liberatore, McGreevy and Graceffo a shot and move on from Gibson and Mikolas?
I literally said “let the young guys play.” This would include Graceffo, McGreevy, and players with little MLB experience. It will be the Liberatore’s who have a couple years under them that sit.
Are they going to sit healthy veterans? Probably not because that violates an unwritten rule of baseball. In most cases they’ll waive them like they did Pham.
Mikolas ain’t sitting for 2 reasons. One, you don’t want to piss off a veteran player. They can poison your clubhouse fast. Second, he has a big salary, little trade value, and his contract is guaranteed next year. He can’t be moved and he could very conveniently get “hurt” next year and drag out the remainder of his contract, Gibson could do the same.
It happens, I learned that with my time in the Brewers organization. You don’t piss off the leaders, you sit middle guys.
Mikolas isn’t a leader he’s just overpaid. Gibson is probably gone after this year. Same with Lynn. Why not move on from these guys? I don’t care if Mikolas is mad next year. I am mad he sucks.
Then don’t phrase it that way, as guys like Liberatore are still plenty young. Besides, any reliever on the Major League roster is still going to get a decent amount of playing time unless they absolutely suck.
Meanwhile, Mikolas deserves a demotion to the bullpen with Lynn and Matz coming back soon, but as you said, I don’t know if the Cardinals will actually do that.
Lynn, yes, he should be gone, but I can see them picking up Gibson’s option. He provides decent enough results for a #3 starter making $10M. That would give them a rotation next year of Gray, Fedde, Gibson, and two spots of competition between Mikolas, Matz, Pallante, and the prospects like McGreevey.
Sure. Whatever you say.
Pretty much, although Goldschmidt and Arenado are still going to be in the lineup almost every game.
I have no problem with the team extending Walker’s season as long as he plays as a regular.
Who are you sitting in order to make that happen? And why should Walker get playing time over Baker?
Because Walker has a higher ceiling than Baker and this team isn’t making the playoffs. They have 3 teams ahead of them with a brutal remaining schedule.
You don’t know what kind of ceiling Walker and Baker truly have. Baker has earned the opportunity unlike Walker.
You’re one of the few people who expect Baker to be anything more than a power bat off the bench. Walker is four years younger and was once the number one prospect in baseball so nearly every expert in the game has expected more from Walker long term than Baker.
Who are you sitting in order to get Walker regular playing time? Who????
The fact that Walker was the number 1 overall prospect and was such a terrible defender means the experts were wrong.
Potential means nothing you have to perform. Baker has earned the opportunity for more playing time Walker has not. This isn’t a popularity contest you have to perform.
He was the number one prospect as a 3B. Perhaps they should play him there, if they are looking long term.
He’s no 3b. He’s a corner outfielder or maybe a 1b at best.
Oh please, it’s not that hard.
Goldschmidt, Baker and Burleson are the rotating 1B/DHs, Nootbaar, Scott and Walker are the OFs, with Donovan playing 2B, and Burleson available in the OF when someone needs a breather. With guys needing a day off now and then, everyone is basically a full time player.
And for the record, Baker is a non entity. Walker has already had more success in the majors than Baker who was hitting .244 in A Ball at Walker’s age. A Ball! Baker’s 27 years old; he’s not a prospect. The jury’s still out on Walker, so he needs to play every day.
And what exactly makes Walker more qualified as a big leaguer than Gorman?
Be specific. What does Walker do that Gorman doesn’t.
Age doesn’t matter performance does. Walker has a 753 OPS at AAA. That’s not good in case you didn’t know. Walker needs to earn his playing time and he hasn’t done that at all. Look at Gormans AAA career OPS. Then look at Walker’s. Do it.
I never mentioned Gorman, but to answer your question, he makes more contact.
Gorman struck out 37.6 % of the time this year. That may not mean anything to you, but it’s the worst in MLB, BY FAR. Next highest is Zach Gelof at 34% and then Paul DeJong at 31.5% Pay close attention to the difference. No one can survive in the big leagues if you whiff that much. He needs to make some adjustments.
Mark Reynolds struck out 233 times in 2009. He had a 33.7 K%.
And you don’t think age matters? Five years is a lifetime in baseball. If you’ve had success at age 21 in the majors, that means something.. Yes, performance does matter….and Walker has already posted an entire season of quality offense at an age when Goldschmidt was still a minor leaguer. I get the impression that Walker has been resistant to coaching changes (and this org. isn’t the best in maximizing talent) but Walker needs to play because he has the potential to be a star.
Gorman has hit better and played better defense in the big leagues than Walker in 2024.
Gorman hit better and played better defense in the big leagues than Walker in 2023.
Gorman has hit better and played better defense at AAA than Walker has.
Walker is not better than Gorman in any way whatsoever.
“Walker is not better than Gorman in any way whatsoever.”
I just explained to you one very significant way that he is. And his K rate is why he’s in the minor leagues.
You didn’t explain anything.
Gorman struck out 37.6 % of the time this year.
That’s the worst in MLB, BY FAR.
Name one successful offensive player in major league history with a K rate over 37%.
Name ONE.
Even with Gorman’s Ks and lack of OBP, his power has still made him a much better overall hitter than Walker this year, despite Gorman spending much more time in MLB. He also plays better defense and also isn’t far removed from being a top prospect. If Walker needs to be in the lineup most games, then so does Gorman.
Exactly Lanidrac. If Walker played center I would say put him out there because he’s more qualified than Scott is. But Walker hasn’t earned playing time. Wanting him to be good doesn’t make him good.
Land: I don’t necessarily disagree, unless the team is trying to help him make adjustments that might be easier to do at the minor league level where he can see some success.
Blackpink interjected Gorman into this conversation; not me.
Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for him to name one one successful offensive player in major league history with a K rate over 37%.
Gorman is currently at AAA with a better OPS at AAA and a better big league OPS than Walker. Why is Gorman at AAA and Walker called up?
K rate???
What is Walker’s OPS for the Cardinals in 2024? It’s like 500 or so. I think it’s lower actually have to look it up. Name one successful major leaguer in history with a 500 OPS.
Mic drop
Still waiting.
And here, you dropped your mic by accident.
Walker has a 460 OPS this year. And his K rate is almost as bad as Gormans is dude. But at least Gorman hit some home runs and plays defense.
Walker is awful.
“And his K rate is almost as bad as Gormans is dude”
Gorman: 37.6%
Walker: 26.6%
Still waiting…..
What’s more important OPS or K rate?
Get a clue dude
So, you give up? Smart move, because there’s NEVER been a successful offensive major league player with a K rate over 37%. NEVER. Not once throughout major league history. It should be noted too that Gorman is already 22nd worst in K rate all time, and that includes a number of pitchers ahead of him.
When a young player struggles badly, a team has two real choices: continue playing him, or send him to the minors.
Walker was already sent to the minors where he hit better than he did up here (though not great), so they brought him back up and are playing him to see if he hits better here too.
Gorman struggled mightily, they continued playing him and he continued to struggle, so they sent him to the minors.
Gorman’s failed over 400 ABs this year, Walker over 79.
Both need to be part of the Cardinals future, so Gorman needs to get fixed and Stl needs to see what they have in Walker. They hope it’s more reflected in the 465 ABs he had last year than the 79 this year.
There has never been a successful major league player with an OPS of 460.
Gorman has hit better at Memhpis than Walker has.
And defensively they aren’t even close. Walker is terrible.
Gorman has 25 ABs at Memphis, and over 400 in the majors this year. Which is more significant?
Walker has 379 at Memphis and 79 in the bigs.
I suspect Gorman will be back up Sept 1 when rosters expand, assuming he’s made the adjustments they wanted him to make.
Kc? Where pasq got hurt…..A’s fan here fyi
Guess they are no longer Pham-ily.
Tommy, Can You Hear Me?
Did Tommy try to fight his way out of this one?
That is just stupid.
What an awful GM. Why fire Shildts for a 35 year old who has never managed a major league game. Marmol commands no respect from the players. Essentially a puppet for the GM. This has gotten them nowhere. He even gave Marmol a 3 year extension earlier in the season after coming off of one of their worst years in the past 30 years. That whole organization needs to be fired, from top to bottom. The Cardinal way is over
Marmol got a two-year extension. I’d think a baseball expert would know that.
Adam Wainwright has a great Pham story. After a Cardinal loss during Pham’s rookie year, Pham went around the locker room calling players out. “YOU don’t hustle!” then finding someone else “YOU spend too much time playing video games” etc. Pham had been in the majors for two weeks at this point.
Wainwright said he wondered if he should stop him, so he looked over at Yadi, who shook his head “no – let him go.” And Pham kept going, yelling one player he wasn’t tough enough, another was too worried about his next contract. When he was done, he stormed out.
After telling the story, Wainwright said something to the effect of “I was really shocked by a rookie doing that. You don’t do that. The thing is, he wasn’t wrong. There were guys not hustling, excessively playing video games, etc.”
I think this is where a guy like Pham gets the reputation of a clubhouse cancer, but he’s not. He’s an intense, rude a-hole who wants to win and will call out anyone that isn’t doing enough to help him win. He’s not a nice guy – there’s the fight at the strip club – and in AAA, he would refuse to sign autographs for kids because he was upset being at AAA.
WTF – Sorry about this posting twice.
@wanderslust…That’s certainly an interesting and colorful story about a young Tommy Pham. I’d never heard that one before. All in all I do believe these types of players are a bit like vigilantes, they might actually mean well, but they almost always end up doing more harm than good.
Not many guys are going to respond well to being called out publicly by a fellow player. And a role/bench player at that; not exactly the same as being called out by a Yadi Molina or an Aaron Judge.
Yet, Wainwright and Molina agreed with him, but did not speak up.
Some things have to be said at the right time in the right way for the message to get through constructively, but yeah, it would have been a good question to Wainwright to explain why he hadn’t said anything yet.
It”s over fam, I mean Pham.
8 teams — either not good or a problem. — no thanks
Why is it Pham is on waivers but Lynn, Gibson, Goldschmidt, Arenado, Carpenter and Mikolas are not?
Maybe because Arenado and Mikolas are under contract for 2025? Besides, who in the minor leagues is going to burst on the scene and do much better than a 4.5 ERA down the stretch?
It’s not about doing better if it’s equal performance you go with the young guy because he can improve. And McGreevy can provide an ERA better than 4.5 so can Liberatore and probably Graceffo too.
Waivers means the other team has to take on the contract. Why not put Mikolas and Arenado on waivers? If they don’t get taken so what.
Because the Cardinals still need Arenado and Mikolas for next year (and beyond in Arenado’s case). Admittedly, not so much for Mikolas, but he still deserves one more shot next year before they consider a DFA.
Meanwhile, you don’t insult a future Hall of Famer like Goldschmidt like that, and Carpenter is a fan favorite, both of whom have still provided decent production this year.
As for Lynn and Gibson, they still need to keep as much decent, healthy starting pitching as they can to finish the season, plus they might pick up Gibson’s option for next year.
I said put Arenado on waivers not DFA him. If someone claims Arneado then he’s gone and so is his salary we could sign Chapman or someone else. And Mikolas needs to be replaced sooner rather than later. The team needs to move on from Gibson and Lynn.
The D-Backs should sign him so he could platoon with Joc. I’ll set the fire alarm and slip out the back here…
Not exactly the happy homecoming the Cardinals were expecting but it didn’t really cost them anything and they got Fedde in the deal.
Wonder who will be the next team to give Pham a shot…
Red Sox?
Not really a need unless he’s learned how to play 2B since the last time they had him
Such ugly buisness when teams are glad to see the back of you . Im kidding
I’m waiting for the first comparison between Walker and Jo Adell
“…the Cards are committed to moving on regardless of whether Pham is claimed off waivers or not.”
Pham was such a bad fit that they would rather have Jordan Walker on the roster. What a blow to Tommy’s ego. What strip club will he be assuaging his bruised pride in tonight?
Your use of the word assuage in the way you used it is commendable. Or as I say, you used a big word in a cool way!
T-Pham gonna make it rain in Washington Park tonight! (Or yell at his agent – “Why can’t you get me on the Yankees?”
I’d like to express my thanks for Tommy Edman.
Tommy Can You Hear Me?
Can you feel me near you?
I can, and it makes me a little uncomfortable.
Pardon, I do have mild voice immodulation syndrome.
I thought Pham was the guy you wanted on your team, because he was like a good luck charm when it came to making the post season?
Pham was never the plan for LAD. As far as needing a charm for the making the post season, I think they’re good thanks. Good luck this weekend. Should be fun.
He is. The eventual WS winner still has time to acquire him.
Wham, bam, thank you Pham!
Baker – .880 OPS, Walker – .753 OPS at Memphis. Do not put Walker in the lineup on a regular basis! He is no longer the darling, hot-shot prospect. If I’m pitching against the Cardinals, I’d much rather see Walker come up than Baker – not even close.
The Cardinals FO is now company with the FO’s of the Rockies, Pirates, and even the White Sox. The only difference is that they have more money to spend because Cardinals fans have great tradition and have been supporting the team. However, the owner needs to heed the call – fans don’t throw money down a rat hold indefinitely. Cardinals fans are more than a bit upset. Patience is wearing thin – as the saying goes.
But the front office did a great job improving the team to straddling a .500 record in just one year after last year’s disaster. Normally, it takes multiple years of rebuilding to pull that off. Next year, they should be even better.
The Armstrong deal aside, they also did a great job improving the team at the trade deadline. It just ultimately wasn’t enough to stay in contention.
Lanidrac;
Was the 2024 FO that’s gotten the team to around .500 noticeably different than the FO that caused “last years disaster”?
If we still had 40-man September rosters, this wouldn’t be an issue. Maybe 40 was too many, but 28 is just too few when trying give playing time to prospects and guys on the AAA shuttle after the AAA season ends.
7 teams in the 7 seasons since the Cardinals traded him to the Rays. Now an 8th? Will he catch on at all down the stretch after a negative WAR this season?
Blackpink does nothing but argue with every single person he can. Good God, the mute button is getting SLAMMED on this putz.
I’m surprised that they waited a day to DFA Pham after putting him on waivers. He doesn’t seem like the type of guy who would not be disruptive once he was on waivers.