BenFred Live
Ben Frederickson is here to answer your sports questions, so pile them on!
-
You would have to ask him.Personally, I would rather play for the Cardinals than the Phillies if the same money was offered by both teams.The assumption that he's going to the Phillies seems based upon the assumption that the Phillies are going to floor everyone else with their offer. -
-
-
I saw in Gordo's article that Nightengale wrote, "The St. Louis Cardinals don’t have bright lights," in regards to Harper going to Philly and not St. Louis. I'm confused by that statement. When it comes to baseball bright lights, I would think St. Louis ranks with the best of them. Can you explain the allure of Philadelphia over St. Louis?
-
-
-
-
-
i know drs are not as sexy as hrs, but i think dealing for someone like crawford or simmons, moving dejong to third, and blowing your big money on bullpen arms is more pragmatic approach than signing someone like harper. i mean, listen to how much people whine about fowlers deal. imagine a banged up harper getting 35 mil a year in his 30s while nursing an ailing oblique. doesn't sound like the best of times.
-
The Cardinals are going to make bullpen changes no matter what.No change they make to the offense or defense is going to stop them from tweaking the bullpen.As for the argument they should spend big money there, I tend to disagree.Holland, Cecil and others come to mind. Norris was one of the most reliable relievers. He was a bargain-bin guy. It's a crapshoot, paying for relievers.As for the defensive upgrade at shortstop argument, it undervalues DeJong's defensive improvement there. He had a higher DRS than Crawford this season. He's also 25 years old compared to Crawford's 31 and Simmons' 29. I'm encouraging Cardinals fans to practice patience when it comes to DeJong. People forget how young he is and how much better he got on the fly last season.Moving Paul to 3B is fine but it likely eliminates the idea of improving the lineup. DeJong has plus power potential for a SS. Not for 3B. And he would be replaced by a less impactful hitter at SS. I'm out.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
BenFred, with the upcoming Mizzou at Arkansas game at "neutral site" Little Rock, people are wondering if Mizzou could play games in Kansas City or St. Louis. Kansas City has an obvious NFL venue. My question is, is a Mizzou football game in St. Louis a possibility?
-
Seemingly less so with the dome being a non-football facility now. It's main purpose is conventions.Busch Stadium can do it. Has done it in the past. Not for Mizzou that I can remember. That would be quirky, and cool.Illinois and Mizzou have kicked around the idea but nothing is planned officially that I know of.
-
What stage are the discussions with FAs in at this point? For example, with Harper, is seems like the first step is getting the ballpark structure down -- X years and Y dollars (or if a graded scale), with opt-outs, etc. Guess I'm looking for some insight into the day-to-day process. Thanks!
-
-
fair enough. i'm a small ball guy. the things that had me concerned about the birds last year were, in order: bullpen, defense, strike outs (at the plate). i feel spending money on short term deals for proven guys is better than an albatross contract, but i've been wrong in the past.
-
-
-
-
Not much.Is it a smart bet to say Team X is not going to land Harper? Sure.Because there are multiple teams that are interested, so singling out one that won't is a lot safer than picking the one that will.Yes, the Cardinals are looking into corner infield upgrades.Yes, the Cardinals are not determined they need an outfielder just to get a new outfielder. If they don't get Harper, they probably should not add another outfielder. Singing Michael Brantley, for example, doesn't really change that much. It's like trading in your car for one with 5,000 fewer less miles. Better? Maybe. Probably. But worth the process? Probably not.Yes, these things can be true and the Cardinals still realize what Harper represents in terms of filling their needs across the board, and give chase because of that.I would not bet on the Cardinals signing Harper.History tells us to stay away from predicting such things.I don't feel comfortable saying they are out of it, though.And I've yet to see convincing evidence of that.
-
I understand each team / agent / etc are different, but what does it mean for Boras to "slow play" the game? I know it means we won't have a signing quickly, but does it mean he just waits days or weeks between contacts? Or he is playing teams against one another in the interim? Or ...
-
In these situations, he tends to take his sweet time.He keeps teams on the hook. He gives interested teams time to consider, to counter, to counter other team's counters, and so on.I can't imagine Harper will sign until Boras is sure every interested team has had a chance to top the asking price of a competitor.In short, he's good at what he does.
-
-
-
-
-
You're a big proponent of the DH, but do you not care that a lot of fans might walk away? I hate AL style baseball, find it incredibly dull (when the criticism that baseball is already too boring). I don't know if I'd remain an engaged fan. Does MLB have any concerns about alienating that side of the fan base that grew up watching the NL style of play?
-
-
-
-
-
-
That would make sense, sure.Stanton's trade timed up with last years, and he came and did a press conference in pinstripes.As for Mo's Q&A, I caught bits and pieces online.One thing that jumped out to me was his interest in recasting something he said during the end-of-season press conference, about the face of the franchise.He had mentioned something along the lines of the Cardinals needing to find that, but upon looking at what he said, he felt he did a disservice to Yadier Molina, who is the face of the Cardinals' franchise.In the moment, I understood him as talking about lineup cornerstone, but I see why he wanted to clarify.So he did.
-
-
-
-
They do!KSDK will show it on Wednesday December 19 at 9 p.m.Truly one of my favorite events of the year.Perfect for getting in the holiday spirit.If you have not been, please consider attending.I'll have a column on award recipient Jim Thome this week, and a column on the awards as well.