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Viva El Birdos

https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/ | 291 entries published

A St. Louis Cardinals Fan Community

Latest Entries

Hope Springs Eternal: The Case for a Competitive Cardinals Season

Baseball is back! Spring training opening day has arrived for the Cardinals, which is the perfect time to suspend reality and indulge ourselves in some good old-fashioned optimism. Expectations for the team are at an all-time (or at least this century) low. It is easy for national media types and casual fans to look at […]

18 days ago | 5 reads

Live Game Discussions for All St. Louis Cardinals Spring Training Games Here

I don’t have anything especially profound to share with you other than one new fact. We’ll have live game discussion threads for all of the St. Louis Cardinals regular season games obviously, but also now for all of the Spring Training games. In a normal world, there wouldn’t be a lot to talk about during […]

MLB

19 days ago | 438 reads

Another look at St. Louis Cardinals Draft-and-Development

Spring Training is underway!  There is new stuff coming out of camps everyday now, a respite from the off-season doldrums where we hashed and re-hashed the same few unresolved debates.  Who knew that they were running a special on hamate bone repair this month? As is my want, I tend to zig on writing topics […]

19 days ago | 3 reads

Tanner Franklin is your #12 St. Louis Cardinals prospect

It’s funny that Tanner Franklin ended up at 12, because that’s about where I thought he’d end up when we started this, and yet it took him a rather long time to actually be added to the voting because he lost two initial votes to players who still haven’t been selected to the top 20. […]

20 days ago | 3 reads

Which St. Louis Cardinal Has the Most to Gain or Lose in 2026?

While most are predicting the St. Louis Cardinals will not be a playoff-caliber team in 2026, the upcoming season is full of compelling storylines including many players who have the most to gain (or lose). There are several players who have a lot on the line in 2026. The St. Louis Cardinals with the most […]

MLB

21 days ago | 2 reads

Jurrangelo Cjintje is your #5 St. Louis Cardinals prospect

Instead of sharing that Jurrangelo Cjintje lost the head-to-head vote to Quinn Mathews for the #5 prospect during our regularly scheduled programming (tomorrow), I figured it was more appropriate to have its own official post. There was an interesting quandary posted in the comments that was not a quandary at all as it turns out. […]

MLB

21 days ago | 2 reads

What is Your Favorite St. Louis Cardinals Busch Stadium Moment?

Busch Stadium is one of the anchors of my childhood. My family was never able to be a part of any playoff or World Series games, but there are still several moments that have stuck with me for decades. When you talk about Busch Stadium, you have to be specific about which one you’re talking […]

22 days ago | 3 reads

The Viva El Birdos Podcast – Episode 52: Interview with Jeff Jones

This week, Jake, Gabe, and Scott talk to one of the last remaining beat writers left covering the St. Louis Cardinals. Jeff Jones of the Belleville News Democrat (@jmjones) is currently in Jupiter, Florida, obtaining minute-by-minute accounts of players as they prepare for the 2026 MLB season. We cover topics like Jeff’s recent story about […]

22 days ago | 6 reads

Predicting the St. Louis Cardinals 2026 Roster: Pre-Spring Edition

The seeds of the 2026 Major League season are being planted in Jupiter, Florida. With that comes the annual exercise of trying to sluth out who will make the initial cut and be rewarded with riding around the warning track in a Ford-sponsored vehicle following the Clydsdales, the “poop scoop troop,” and Cardinals Hall of […]

22 days ago | 3 reads

Smart or Risky? Saggese Considered for St. Louis Cardinals Outfield

Thomas Saggese has proven that he is a versatile player, but does he have the skill set to transition to the outfield? There are reports that the St. Louis Cardinals are at least considering it. I came across this story from MLB Trade Rumors over the weekend that says the St. Louis Cardinals are exploring […]

MLB

23 days ago | 2 reads

Tekoah Roby is your #11 St. Louis Cardinals prospect

Last year, when Tekoah Roby was voted as the 10th best prospect, he had not yet proven that his stuff would return. Had fans known that he would have the 2025 season he did, he would have been voted higher. So weirdly, these rankings do not reflect his rise and fall, so to speak, as […]

23 days ago | 4 reads

Want Hope for 2026? Look at the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals

I have been rightly accused of being over optimistic about the St. Louis Cardinals and I want to be clear this is not something I share with the intention of inferring that the upcoming 2026 season will turn out this way. However, if you’re looking for just a tiny glimmer of hope that the upcoming […]

MLB

25 days ago | 4 reads

Spring Training Is Here — Let’s Overanalyze Everything

The Cardinals have had one of the more interesting off seasons in recent memory. Chaim Bloom did his best to keep the fanbase engaged by completing one big transaction each month starting with Sonny Gray in November and culminating with the Brendan Donovan trade in February. Despite Bloom’s best efforts to keep us entertained, there […]

25 days ago | 1 read

The end of the St. Louis Cardinals’ Off-season Draws Nigh

Well, I can’t say the off-season moved at a dizzying pace.  More like ambled.  But there was churn and I found myself wanting to do a 360 around the league and get a sense of who did what as the dust settles right before teams’ head to Florida or Arizona.  I worked to keep the […]

26 days ago | 4 reads

Matthew Liberatore Shows Off St. Louis Cardinals’ New $108M Training Site

The St. Louis Cardinals revealed their new Spring Training facilities by turning the camera over to Matthew Liberatore for their tour with a creative play on words. As pitchers and catchers have now reported to Jupiter, Florida, Matthew Liberatore and a lone camera person gave a tour of what the new training facilities are like. […]

27 days ago | 5 reads

Tink Hence is your #10 St. Louis Cardinals prospect

For the fourth straight season, Tink Hence has made the VEB top prospects list and he’s been a top 10 player every season. I think he was actually top 5 in the previous three years. Some of that is because Hence’s health issues have become a little more concerning, but if you took the exact […]

27 days ago | 4 reads

Why I’m Unrealistically Optimistic About the St. Louis Cardinals 2026 Season

Whenever I share content, I strive to make sure that it’s based on facts. I need to disclose that this will not be based on many of those, but instead on my admittedly unrealistic optimism about the upcoming St. Louis Cardinals 2026 season. Let’s get the facts out of the way from the get go. […]

MLB

28 days ago | 3 reads

Where do StL Cardinals fans think the Reds will finish in 2026?

Continuing my series of articles that take a look at NL Central teams using several different projection systems, I now zoom in on the Cincinnati Reds. Last week I noticed that the Pirates could have problems scoring runs, but the Reds are here to outdo them. I will re-do the Pirates article down the road, […]

28 days ago | 5 reads

Baseball Prospectus Predicts Disastrous Season for the St. Louis Cardinals

I think it’s safe to say that many of us have our expectations set low for the upcoming St. Louis Cardinals season based on the newness of the rebuild process that’s underway, but it appears that we’re likely wildly optimistic compared to the new projections just shared by Baseball Prospectus. The new PECOTA Standings shared […]

29 days ago | 4 reads

Cardinals Continue Search For Right Handed Bat?

The St. Louis Cardinals claimed 3B Bryan Ramos off of waivers from the Baltimore Orioles, and his particular fit on the roster is one that feels like a strained one at best. Ramos primarily plays 3B but has played a little bit of 2nd base and left field as well. That situation feels like bringing […]

29 days ago | 3 reads

Will the St. Louis Cardinals Trade JoJo Romero & If So, Where and When?

Most seem to agree that the St. Louis Cardinals have had a very active and successful offseason, but how likely is it that they still might trade JoJo Romero? There are many questions including if, to who and when. As of today, the St. Louis Cardinals are only days away from pitchers and catchers reporting […]

30 days ago | 6 reads