Cardinals chat: Derrick Goold takes your Cardinals questions at 11 a.m. Monday
Bring your Cards questions and comments to a live chat with Derrick Goold at 11 a.m. Monday
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
They have expressed frustration in part because distribution is one of the big things that kept the Cardinals with Fox Sports Midwest and didn't go launch their own network. So, yes, it's a significant issue, but it also leads the team to continue to explore how streaming could be the alternative. Their gear with FSM is structured to allow that, to even inspire that, and to allow for additional revenue if they can get to that point.
-
-
Entirely fair. It does put a spotlight on idleness. The Cardinals also don't play to the crowd by leaking out rumor and innuendo for the sake of moving the needle while not making moves. They operate more quietly, and that sometimes even goes for agents/teams that keep up with them. Some teams make a lot of noise not moves, and maybe that's more exciting. Not sure.
-
-
-
-
Cardinals have made bad moves ever since they traded for Brandon Moss!!!!! A series of panic moves. Buy high, sell low. It’s seems only a handful of teams will even talk to Mo. DeWitt will continue to sit on his $4 Billion as long as fans keep piling into the stadium. The ownership knows all they have to do is try to be just good enough to make the playoffs. That keeps fans coming to the stadium and buying apparel!!!!
-
That's ... wow. I'm not sure you could get a consensus that trading for Paul Goldschmidt wasn't a strong move, or that even a move like signing free agent Brad Miller 11 months ago didn't work out for the Cardinals. Gallegos, Genesis Cabrera -- they are set to be prominent parts of what could be the best bullpen in the NL. The trade for Ozuna didn't work out as they needed it to, and that was magnified by Yelich going to the Brewers. The inability to work out a trade for Wheeler with the Mets was a big miss at the moment, and even more so in hindsight. I'm having a hard time drawing the line at ... Moss.Fans haven't "piled" into the stadium since 2019, and few are expected in 2021.Most apparel revenue is shared between 30 teams. So, the Blue Jays signing Springer and selling new Spring jerseys or the Mets trading for Lindor and selling Lindor jerseys is a good thing for the Cardinals, too. And the Padres. And the Rays. And the Yankees.
-
-
I do not know. Interesting question. The Cardinals' policy on championship rings is if the player was in the majors during the year and contributed in some way. Matt Carpenter, for example, debuted in 2011, and he has a World Series ring from that year. David Price would not qualify under those rules for a ring. But it's a pandemic. Rules change. His teammates may get to ultimately make that choice and lobby for him to get one.
-
In a recent BPIB, you touched on the wealth of bullpen arms for the Cards.
Do you think that’s one area of surplus asset that the team can convert in trades?
If so, (1) who do you think are the most valuable to other teams (talent, years of control etc..) and (2) who do you think are the most realistic players that the Cards would be willing to include in a trade? -
Thanks for listening to the podcast. That is an area of depth for the Cardinals -- but not exactly one that is readily sought in trades because of the abundance of relievers available in the marketplace. Check out the Ottavino deal that is reportedly happening today. It's almost like a free-agent signing. Boston is taking on money and sending a minor-leaguer over. It's likely that some of the Cardinals' relief depth would outfit a deal, not be the centerpiece of the deal. There was a time -- and will be another time -- when Jordan Hicks could have been the centerpiece of a deal and there were teams to trade for the young, rising closer-fireballer. Now, the Cardinals get the call on the lefties, Thompson and Liberatore, because they're starters, and there's interest in Ponce de Leon, for example, if he's blocked for the Cardinals, but what's the return? A deal hinged around relief depth isn't going to bring in that cleanup hitter. Relief would sweeten the offer without costing the Cardinals.1) The answer will be Hicks, when he shows his health. Whitley, Oviedo, and Helsley are the others that have interested teams at some point. Genesis Cabrera should.2) Depends on the trade. They'll trade from depth, but not for kicks or charity.
-
-
I don't. Not at this point. Boston was one of the teams interested in Wong. But not the only team. He had offers from at least one other team and likely two others. And he was receiving interest from a handful (five, six) total. According to sources, again, the Cardinals were not actively one of those teams, as of last week.
-
Here's to hoping that Paul Goldschmidt remains productive through the end of his contract. If the NL adds the DH, that should help I would think. Is there another first baseman on the horizon around that time frame? Possibly a move across the diamond for Jordan Walker, given his height and power potential?
-
There are three at the moment:-- Gorman-- Mendoza-- WalkerAnd Nunez should not be dismissed from this conversation. He's 19, and he might be the inside-baseball pick as a possible future DH.The Cardinals preference is to have Gorman remain at third base, obviously, but the speed of the game as he climbs will also play a part in that.
-
Derrick, how likely is a Flaherty trade looking, based on how he values himself vs. how the Cardinals value players? With this being an unofficial "transition" year, and the Cardinals are obviously not a very good offensive team, trading him by the deadline could return the Cardinals a nice bat for the future. I do hope they can sign him long term, but I'd say the chances grow more slim each day.
-
-
A trade of Flaherty is not imminent because it makes zero sense. The Cardinals aren't going to get a return that is better than the value they'll have with Flaherty, even if they just continue to play out their years of control and even if they lose this arbitration hearing. They're not exactly trading him at peak value. They would be trading him knowing his best is yet to come. By any measure, that's a foolish trade to entertain unless they're getting ... I don't even know who in return ... Walker Buehler? Kyle Lewis? I just don't get how this would work.I think your too optimistic on the return -- or perhaps too pessimistic on how good Flaherty will be.
-
Hi Derrick,
Bit of a different question for you. I see that Sinclair has removed FSMW from Hulu+ and YouTube+, leaving very few options for fans in STL to watch the games. That's quite the difference from the approach the NFL is taking by simulcasting on new stations like Nickelodeon and Disney XD to reach a younger, broader audience.
At any point do you see the MLB stepping in and trying to broaden the reach of broadcasts? Hard to build a sport that's so difficult to watch.
Thank you! -
Absolutely. This is going to become a frontburner conversation for baseball especially as a new CBA comes onto the horizon and dominates conversation after the complications of the pandemic are addressed. It's important to note that you're talking about two significant different issues, though. The NFL has national broadcast deals. Fewer games, so they can do the national deal for all of them. Baseball, hockey, basketball -- they have the local rights holders because they have so many more games to broadcast. That's way different. Requires a vastly different infrastructure and price tag and, yes, delivery is part of it.So the way for baseball to get on Disney+ with a game -- and that would be fantastic -- isn't to do it through a local deal, like Fox Sports Midwest, it's through the national deal, via ESPN. So, for you as a Cardinals fan, that might mean you get the Cubs-Nationals on Disney+ some Sunday night, but doesn't change how readily available Cardinals games are.For the local rights holders, the ones that carry the bulk of the games in baseball (again, vastly different than the NFL), the streaming platform is going to be what changes access.
-
-
-
-
-
-
This was brewing last week. The significance of today is letter sent that is signed on by all of the mayors and officials there in Maricopa County. Definitely sends up an alert to MLB -- and reminder to everyone what we've been saying all along: The virus remains in control of MLB's schedule. Arizona officials have been concerned about spring training coming in, and the Los Angeles Times had an excellent article exploring why and what that could mean. Teams in Florida have also been monitoring the situation there and waiting for word on what kind of gatherings they'll be permitted to have. It's been part of the discussion the Cardinals have been having for how to orchestrate and organize workouts for minimal attendance if the group sizes are limited in Palm Beach County.
-
-
-
-
Does DeWitt have 5 plans on his desk from Mo and is just waiting for any news to go ahead and pick one? No DH and no fan attendance for 100% of games, No DH and 20% capacity from beginning with chance to increase, DH and 50% capacity, etc? I'm sure they have models that say how much revenue per fan we could get, and what that would look like in terms of signing free agents. They just don't know yet and can field a competitive NL Central team without doing anything
-
It's something like that. I don't think it's organized on his desk in quite that simple of a format, but it has been described to me that the Cardinals have authored a variety of approaches to take this winter, and that the decisions are a sliding scale based on the information you described here -- fans in the crowd, DH in the NL, Molina back or not, and so on.More than five plans on the desk, it's more of a flowchart of decisions once info is available.One interesting thing that came up from the Winter Warm-Up is the idea that the ballpark could start with capacity slightly less than 30 percent -- and not grow over the course of the summer until there is clearance to get 100 percent. So, it wouldn't grow incrementally from 30 percent, to 50 percent, to 75 percent -- not under current policies. What is that? Geometry, my friend. If the team is required to have fans at a social distance, there is only so much space that can be created between pods of fans (groups of two, four, six) and as a result they will, by rule, have to keep areas of the ballpark free of fans until there is a) a change to the social distancing rules (is 4 feet a thing?) or b) they're free to open up in full. That was the explanation president Bill DeWitt III gave and it makes a lot of sense.
-
-
No, I didn't forget about him. He had more than 30 doubles at High-A Palm Beach in 2019 and that is not to be ignored. Strong performance there for a strapping big hitter. He's viewed as a possible DH. Nunez doesn't get talked about enough. Baker gets talked about enough, but his power should get more attention. Those doubles are noteworthy.
-
-
-
The Athletic points out that the Cardinals have done absolutely nothing this offseason. The market is finally moving and there is not a dramatic Covid discount. Will the Cardinals add some bats to make the team better? If not, will they just admit they aren’t good enough and commit to a one year rebuild/re-tool?
-
-