Hochman: One Cardinals fan鈥檚 dream: driving team truck to spring training from 最新杏吧原创
Bob Amelung, 70, is the longtime truck driver with the dream 最新杏吧原创 assignment: He drives the Cardinals truck to spring training. Photo by Benjamin Hochman
He is the man who brings baseball to spring training.聽
His name is Bob. A 最新杏吧原创 lifer. Bob Amelung. He鈥檚 70 now. Done this for over 30 years now聽鈥 longer than any player on the Cardinals鈥 roster has been alive. Each February, he arrives at Busch Stadium with an empty freight liner聽鈥 and he drives off with basically everything except Fredbird.
Ronald Greco, right, wraps a piece of medical equipment as Bob Amelung, left, stablizes it before loading it onto a truck at Busch Stadium in 最新杏吧原创, on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. The 最新杏吧原创 Cardinals head to spring training in a few weeks and Cardinals staff and truck personnel helped pack and load equipment, clothing and bags to send to Jupiter, Fla.
In today鈥檚 10 AM 鈥淭en Hochman,鈥 brought to you by Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium at Cardinals鈥 spring training, Ben Hochman discusses new Cards prospect Tai Peete from the Brendan Donovan trade! Also, a happy birthday shoutout to Alice Cooper! And as always, Hochman picks a random Cards card out of the hat!
The big deal: What have Cardinals added with all of this subtraction?
The Cardinals' winter of accumulation climaxed with the trade many months in the making: They moved All-Star utility fielder Brendan Donovan in a three-team trade to Seattle and received a windfall that included two of the Mariners' top-10 prospects and two draft picks, one each from the Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays.
More than a year into Bloom's revitalizing (and now restocking) of the farm system, the Cardinals have risen to their highest ranking by the magazine since No. 1 in 2013.
In an elaborate three-team, seven-player deal finalized Monday evening, the Cardinals sent their only All-Star from this past season to Seattle for a windfall of potential.
As Chaim Bloom tries to chart a new course to future success, he has cleared room for younger players in the majors as well as stocked the minor league system.
Cardinals claim 23-year-old infielder Bryan Ramos off waivers from Orioles
With less than two weeks before their first full-squad workout of spring training, the Cardinals on Friday added Bryan Ramos to their 40-man roster after claiming the 23-year-old infielder off waivers from the Orioles.
Ramos was designated for assignment by the White Sox in late January and acquired by the Orioles on Feb. 1 in a trade that sent cash to the White Sox. Baseball America ranked Ramos as the No. 4 prospect in the White Sox鈥檚 system in 2024 before dropping to No. 15 ahead of the 2025 season.
Best Podcast in Baseball: Cardinals' fresh approach shapes reimagined farm system
Worthy: Brendan Donovan was the cost the Cardinals paid for falling behind rest of MLB
As Brendan Donovan鈥檚 departure from the Cardinals has sunk in, my thoughts keep coming back to a fan at the club's annual Winter Warm-Up event who pressed new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom on the idea that 最新杏吧原创 had become 鈥渢he farm team鈥 for the rest of MLB.
Cardinals Chairman and CEO Bill DeWitt Jr., left, and President Bill DeWitt III speaks with the media during the Cardinals鈥 Winter Warm-up on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, at Busch Stadium in 最新杏吧原创.
The Cardinals set to represent their respective national teams in this spring鈥檚 World Baseball Classic will include six players from their 40-man roster and four non-roster players from within the farm system, it was announced Thursday night.
The group of Cardinals headed to the WBC will include catchers Ivan Herrera (Team Panama) and Leonardo Bernal (Team Panama), right-handers Riley O鈥橞rien (Team Korea), Gordon Graceffo (Team Italy) and Luis Gastelum (Team Mexico), infielder Thomas Saggese (Team Italy), and outfielders Bryan Torres (Team Puerto Rico), Matt Koperniak (Team Great Britain), and Zach Levenson (Team Israel), and utilityman Noah Mendlinger (Team Israel).
最新杏吧原创 Cardinals Iv谩n Herrera (48) tosses his bat after hitting a 2RBI home run off Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Robert Gasser (54) in the third inning of a game between the 最新杏吧原创 Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, at Busch Stadium.
'It's a huge honor': Cardinals coach Stubby Clapp on Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame
Cardinals first base coach Stubby Clapp to be inducted into Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame
Cardinals first base coach Stubby Clapp talks with second base Thomas Saggese in the dugout before the start of a game against the Pirates on Monday, Sept, 16, 2024, at Busch Stadium.
Laurie Skrivan, Post-Dispatch
As a kid from Windsor, Ontario, Canada, who 鈥渇ell in love鈥 with the Olympics and with the 鈥渄ream鈥 of playing baseball representing Canada, Cardinals coach Stubby Clapp will be enshrined for his role in shaping his home nation鈥檚 game.
Described as 鈥渙ne of the most accomplished and respected figures in Canadian national team history,鈥 Clapp, a former player and coach on Canadian national teams, was announced Thursday as one of six inductees for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame鈥檚 Class of 2026.
Cardinals farm system jumps to No. 2 in Baseball America rankings, highest in 13 years
The Cardinals鈥 yearlong reimagining and restocking of the player development system has led to a meteoric rise in the industry鈥檚 view of their farm system, and that was even before this week鈥檚 windfall.
Baseball America , their highest ranking since being No. 1 in 2013, the same year as their most recent World Series appearance.
In today鈥檚 10 AM 鈥淭en Hochman,鈥 brought to you by Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium at Cardinals鈥 spring training, Ben Hochman discusses new Cards prospect Tai Peete from the Brendan Donovan trade! Also, a happy birthday shoutout to Alice Cooper! And as always, Hochman picks a random Cards card out of the hat!
Hochman: Brendan Donovan's other 最新杏吧原创 legacy? Helping veterans.
Cardinals infielder Brendan Donovan, traded to Seattle on Feb. 2, 2026, meets with fans connected to聽Veterans Community Project of 最新杏吧原创 before a 2025 game.
Courtesy Rebecca Tallman
They were told someone from the Cardinals organization wanted to tour their site.
So the folks at , including retired Air Force Master Sgt. Rebecca Tallman, waited by the front door on North Grand Boulevard.
Brendan Donovan deal puts exclamation point on Cardinals' rewrite of farm rankings, focus
At the outset of an offseason that would not only reshape their roster but their very brand, the Cardinals had one of the bluest chips available via trade in Brendan Donovan and other deals, involving three high-dollar veterans, they sought to make.
Those three moves had to be found and even financed for the players' immediate futures. A Donovan deal, however, had to be capitalized on for the Cardinals鈥 long-term future.
With automated ball, strike challenges coming to MLB, minor leaguers detail what to expect
Answers may vary depending on which young Cardinal you ask about the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System that will make its way to the majors in 2026 and the clarity it gives the strike zone.
鈥淚 really like it, personally,鈥 infielder Thomas Saggese said recently at the Cardinals鈥 annual Winter Warm-Up fan festival. 鈥淚 think the consistency is very much there. I think that it gives the umpires a better idea of what the zone actually is. Some pitchers might think it's small.鈥
Ten Hochman: What to make of new Cardinals prospect Tai Peete, a 1st-rounder from Donovan deal
A look at the 4 big trades the Cardinals made and the players they landed
With Monday's trade of Brendan Donovan, the Cardinals completed their fourth major move of the offseason, all shipping out a veteran for younger players and draft picks.
As Chaim Bloom, the team's聽new president of baseball operations, tries to chart a new course to future success, he has both cleared room for younger players in the big leagues as well as stocked the team's minor league system with more talent.
最新杏吧原创 Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) motions in celebration of a double in the seventh inning of a game between the 最新杏吧原创 Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds at Busch Stadium in 最新杏吧原创, on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025.
最新杏吧原创 Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras (40) holds up four fingers after scoring a triple to celebrate four RBI's during the eighth inning at a game between the Athletics and the 最新杏吧原创 Cardinals at Busch Stadium in 最新杏吧原创, on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025.
Liz Rymarev, Post-Dispatch
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Hochman: I鈥檝e been down on the Cardinals鈥 Nolan Gorman. Will this year be different?
The Cardinals鈥 Nolan Gorman flips his bat after hitting a three-run home run off Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt in the fourth inning Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at Busch Stadium.
Laurie Skrivan, Post-Dispatch
Nolan Gorman, if you鈥檙e reading this, you鈥檝e received quite a gift, man.
Most guys with your strikeout rate and OPS don鈥檛 get something like this. But with the trade of Brendan Donovan, you鈥檝e essentially received a starting infield job with the 最新杏吧原创 Cardinals, alongside Masyn Winn, JJ Wetherholt and Alec Burelson.
