Cardinals chat: Derrick Goold takes your questions at 11 a.m. Monday
Bring your Cards questions and comments to a live chat with Derrick Goold at 11 a.m. Monday
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It's an interesting comparison. I don't think that's the case -- but it would make for a far better story, honestly. They are robbing from the Cardinals defense to improve theirs, just as the Cardinals took the leadoff hitter from the Cubs' lineup with the idea of spurring theirs. I don't think in either case it was that premeditated. The Cardinals, for example, tried to land via trade center fielders and leadoff hitters before going to sign Fowler, and that was in part because of the cost (extra year) and boost his market was getting from the World Series.The Cardinals are committed to Tommy Edman as the starter at 2B. This is something they discussed going into the regular season last year as the reality of declining Wong's option and saving money on that position became a real likelihood.He did not break Milwaukee's bank to sign, and wouldn't have for the Cardinals either. They just have gone another direction.This is a lot like 10-15 years ago when 2B was the position in flux, year to year. -
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He has agreed to have the salary deferred. So he gets paid $15m this coming season, and he has agreed as part of the new deal to get paid the remainder of his salary over time. I haven't seen the official schedule of that. Again, he had to agree to it -- and that speaks to how much he was willing to do to make the trade happen.It also was part of the hangup with the approval from the union. The union insisted that a contract does not lose its present-day value -- the player shouldn't give a rebate, in other words -- and so the contract had to be worked out to compensate for that. Hence, the second opt-out (which has value) and the added year.
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What is this "all hands on deck" approach to finding a spot for Carpenter? Did I miss something last year, like when he hit the baseball consistently? All I remember was a lot of 3 for 28 slumps that were ended by an extra base hit and all the sudden he was "back." That and Danny Mac crowing about how good he looked taking the ball the other way in Summer Camp. Never saw that in August/Sept/Oct.
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There was a prior question about Nolan GORMAN playing positions other than 3rd and I think you misread it as Nolan Arenado given the response. Gorman joked on social media about playing 2B, so I too am curious on the answer. If Nolan Gorman has before or may be able to play other positions. Thanks.
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You are correct! My bad. I clicked on the wrong question. My fault. Thanks for the heads up. Let's get back to the right answer then ...Here's the plan for Gorman: LF, 2B, or DH. Those are the positions in play for him, and where he'll get some instruction coming into this season. How he does in spring training will certainly set the stage for where he plays at some point during the regular season. There was already some thought of moving Gorman around even before the Arenado deal because he, Montero, and Mendoza were all going to overlap at higher levels.One last thing: Gorman won't be moving entirely away from 3B. He's the starter at 3B if Arenado decides to opt out after 2021 or 2022. So he'll need to stay sharp there.
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Nolan Gorman could be in the majors by the end of 2021, and on deck to contribute in 2022. There is a clear overlap between him and the current players. His arrival is more imminent than Walker, the third baseman/first baseman the Cardinals drafted in the first round of the 2020 draft out of high school. Plenty of time for him to develop and see where that takes him. Could be that his frame and athleticism takes him to the outfield, keeps him at third, or moves him to first.One thing about baseball -- have bat, will play.There is no problem with a team having a top prospect at third base at every level. If you polled big league teams and asked them if they would want five of their top 10 prospects to be 3B at the top five levels, they would probably all take that. Good bet from that group comes a LF, a RF, and a 1B.On Twitter the other day I was scolded for suggesting that Gorman could play LF because he looks like an infielder or something something something.The list of former 3B moving to the outfield at some point is long.Gary SheffieldKris BryantMike ShannonMatt HollidayChipper JonesAlbert PujolsMiguel CabreraAnd then there's all the 3B who also become standout 1B without the stop in the outfield, like Mark McGwire, Jim Thome, Mark Teixeira.If the bat plays, the position will work out.UPDATE: To avoid further confusion or correction, I should have been clearer in the top that I was going to mention the fluidity of the positions, and that's why I included Shannon and Chipper Jones. Shannon came from the outfield in to be a third baseman, and Jones went SS-3B-OF-3B. The larger point I was trying to make is there are many many examples of 3B and LF/RF overlapping.
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Impossible to know the future -- as we've learned in the past 12 months because the conversations we're having with families are way different this Feb. 7 than last Feb. 7 -- but all indications are that he would prefer to stay.Can he use the opt-out as leverage some time to even extend his stay with the Cardinals? Possibly. But it's most likely, given today's situation and the team around him, that he stays a Cardinal through 2027 and calls St. Louis for the second act of his career.
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I don't know about rumblings. Mark Feinsand, of MLB.com, reported that the Cardinals were looking at starters, and he mentioned Paxton. I was unable to confirm that aspect of it, only that Odorizzi was of interest to them. I've been able to confirm that with two separate sources. If I could do the same with Paxton I would report it, but I haven't been able to do so.
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All I was able to confirm about Gallo was the Cardinals saw him as another one in the mix of outfielders like they believe they already have. What separated him from the group was two things -- he had done what they hope some of the young outfielders can do and his salary as a result. The Cardinal, I was told several times, were looking for more of a sure-thing if they made a move for an outfielder. Was Gallo that? I would argue that his defense made that a better conversation than the Cardinals seemed to imply. In hindsight, perhaps they meant they were looking for a "sure thing" and that was Arenado, not an outfielder at all.
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That is expected shortly. The Cardinals are going to be one of the last teams to do this, it seems, and their reasoning is they don't want to tell a young player he's going only to have to shrink the size of camp immediately after and make the call that the young player isn't going to come. They've really tried to distil that list down to a known, small, select group. Shildt told me they're bringing less to camp for that purpose.
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Is Manfred still commissioner? I was hoping the owners would make a change this off-season. As the final year of the CBA progresses, isn't it less and less likely they would make a change?
It just seems to me that Manfred will inevitably usher in a strike because there is too much baggage with the players union to overcome. -
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He is the commissioner. It's more likely that he would spur a lockout than a strike. It's important in the coming months to know the difference. Both are work stoppages, sure. But one is initiated by owners because there isn't a deal (lockout) and the other is done by the players because they don't like the deal imposed on them (strike). Good times.
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I guess you could argue that the money saved by not exercising Wong's option is the same money now going to the Angels so that Fowler can play there. It's just about an even swap. So instead of spending $25 million and having both Wong and Fowler, the Cardinals are paying $12.75 million and have neither.
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The Rockies seemed to reference their fear of Nolan Opting out and then getting next to nothing for him, but now, all anyone seems to say is that he won’t opt out here.
Baseball is a business. Would Nolan have really opted out over the city alone if it would have cost him say... $40 million in total dollars over the life of his deal?
I am just not buying the Rockies spin, I think they just wanted out of that contract in a division they can’t contend with in the near term during a pandemic. Your thoughts? -
During their hourlong press conference with media in Denver, the Rockies did say that they were convinced that Arenado would opt out. That was the opening statement from the owner. Later in the press conference, he showed his cards. He was talking about paying to get the prospects in the deal, and referenced how that was less expense than all of Arenado's deal. Arenado told Colorado reporters that he may not have opted out given the economic climate in the game and the chance he wasn't likely to do better as a free agent than the money already baked into his contract. Clearly, Colorado was willing to pay to avoid the risk of having to carry the weight of the full deal.It was likely that reality that the Cardinals pounced on when they could read it as a motivation that the Rockies either didn't articulate, or didn't want public.The actions speak differently.
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And yet teams win quite a bit, and players are still making less than the open-market would give them. The Cardinals have done well in hearings. They won against Wacha a few years. Where arbitration does benefit the players is it assures them a raise. We're not seeing that for all players in the free-agent market, and in that way the arbitration might be the best place for players to see significant rises in salary, especially for middle-range players, the ones just below the elite-level players who get the massive deals.
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Haven't heard of any outfielders that would really drive the Cardinals to sit outside the door of the other team's GM and try to make a deal. At the moment, the odds are really low of a trade happening for Knizner. The Cardinals are not motivated to trade him for trade's sake.
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glad cards got arenado. would have been happy not doing anything and just getting money off the books. Not that i liked that scenario but the payroll was what it was. When you have a shot at a player like that you go for it. I think the Cards need more starting pitching but we will see. Teams like Nats, Dodgers, that go far seem to have elite pitching. We have decent pitching. Any starters you think surprise with greatness?
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I wouldn't discount what Austin Gomber can do in a rotat-- oh wait.The Cardinals' strength will be depth, for sure. If Jack Flaherty can be the ace, see all of his talent and his desire crystalize into performance, you're talking about a bona fide No. 1 and All-Star and Cy Young Award contender. That allows Miles Mikolas to be a quality start monster, and Adam Wainwright along with him. The rotation has the look of a contender then.Kwang Hyun Kim becomes the wild card. If he pitches like a No. 2 -- and he can -- then you're talking about a rotation that matches up well with others. He'll have deception on his side, especially the first half of the season, and could be the answer to the question you ask.
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