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Cardinals chat: Hall of Fame baseball writer Rick Hummel takes your questions at 11 a.m. Monday

Bring your Cards questions and comments to a live chat with Rick Hummel at 11 a.m.

3rd & 7 37yd

Sorry to hear about the Mr Niekro passing. Interesting that the knuckler isn't used more often today. I think it's true that Bob Gibson was toying with a knuckleball in order to extend his career. His last pitch in his career may have been a knuckler that didn't knuckle, hit by Pete LaCock for a GS. True?

by fumblinbumblin 12/28/2020 8:39:05 PM
It was not a knuckler. Gibby wouldn't throw that with the bases loaded. And he also got one more man out after the grand slam to end the inning and his career.

by rhummel 12/28/2020 8:40:59 PM
We're supposed to be BFIB and most knowledgeable yet people keep repeatedly asking the same questions over and over again, like why don't the Cards trade Carpenter and Fowler they really holding the team back with their play and their contracts. But what most on here either forget or are brain dead, they have NO TRADE CLAUSES in their contracts. Start acting like the bfib instead of the stib (stupidest fans in bb)

by Dave Duncan 12/28/2020 8:42:18 PM
Your words not mine, but Fowler and Carpenter do have considerable no-trade protection.

by rhummel 12/28/2020 8:43:02 PM
Thanks for the chats Commish.
7 HOF passing in 2020; another reason to bid this year goodbye.
What do you think of Profar as a INF pickup for 3B and 2B?

by Peoria player 12/28/2020 8:43:27 PM
You're welcome. And I like Profar in left field, also. He is a switch-hitter with versatility and some pop.

by rhummel 12/28/2020 8:45:02 PM
There's HOF talk going on now about several candidates. Curt Shilling and Jeff Kent seem to be fighting an uphill battle because of personality or other factors other than their baseball performance. When can we get Curt Flood inducted into the HOF? Has he not changed, not only baseball, but all professional sports? He suffered greatly for his sacrifice. I suggest that February 1, this coming year be Curt Flood day (2/1/21) and all highly paid athletes donate huge sums of money, in Floods name, to a worth charity. Then, we get Flood into the HOF.

by fumblinbumlbin 12/28/2020 8:45:56 PM
I would sanction any campaign for Flood and a charity. Flood has been under consideration several times by Hall of Fame committees but this happens only once every few years. Maybe now that Marvin Miller is, Flood has a better chance in the future.

by rhummel 12/28/2020 8:47:47 PM
I've always thought Whit Merrifield would be an ideal Cardinal type player. I think we might have been able to trade for him last year, but this year seems the Royals are building up and would likely be averse to prospect for pro trade. Still....I think he'd be a big step in solving our offensive problem while maintaining strong defense and defensive flexibility.

by fumblinbumlbin 12/28/2020 8:48:05 PM
I love Whit Merrifield. Good for 200 hits in a regular season and a .280-plus average with versatility in the field. He doesn't provide the sock the Cardinals seem to be looking for, though.

by rhummel 12/28/2020 8:49:47 PM
Commish - Just re-watched the MLB network show on the 80's Cardinals. Do you think a GM could have a Winter Meeting performance like Whitey did in 1980 in today's game (Covid not withstanding)?

by Jock Ewing 12/28/2020 8:50:33 PM
There never has been one like it before or since. Twenty-three players changed hands in a week with the Cardinals.

by rhummel 12/28/2020 8:52:13 PM
Why do the Cardinals not trade for a ace pitcher like Snell? Padres fans are going to have a very happy new year for years to come!!
The Reds have 2 that they may trade?
Trade with the Indians get Lindor and Carlos Carrasco?
I know there are others.
What do you think Mr Hummel?

by Bryan C 12/28/2020 8:53:18 PM
The Cardinals' biggest need, however, is not starting pitching so their interest in Snell probably would have been marginal. And the Reds wouldn't deal pitching to them within the division.

by rhummel 12/28/2020 8:55:20 PM
If Rolen doesn’t hurt his shoulder in 2005 does he have a better career than Chipper Jones?

by SLH16 12/28/2020 8:55:59 PM
Not many third basemen have had better careers than Chipper. Rolen had been hurt first in 2002. That's where the problems began. Had Rolen stayed relatively free of injury, he would be a lot closer to joining Chipper in the Hall.

by rhummel 12/28/2020 8:58:12 PM
You want a more exciting brand of baseball? Ban shifting. Looks more like softball.

by Get off my lawn 12/28/2020 8:58:50 PM
Don't be afraid to bunt once in a while.

by rhummel 12/28/2020 8:59:01 PM
Which decade was worse for Cardinals fans, 70s or 90s?

by Stinky 12/28/2020 8:59:12 PM
You'd have to say 70s. No championships. One division title in 90s and McGwire breaking record.

by rhummel 12/28/2020 8:59:43 PM
I can't remember feeling so uninspired about a Cardinals team than this group heading into 2021. Flaherty and Goldschmidt are the only two closest to star status, but Goldy is 33. The organization's inability to develop an elite hitter should give pause to anyone hoping for Carlson and Gorman to be perennial All-Stars. Even if Molina re-signs, the opening day roster would have four real starters: Goldy, DeJong, Molina, and Bader. The rest are either unproven or glorified bench players. They've shot themselves in the foot with the Fowler, Carpenter, and Miller contracts. Their only saving grace is that no team in the NL Central is truly concerned with winning a division crown. Is 86 wins enough to win the NLC?

by Cherokee 12/28/2020 9:00:04 PM
Eight-six would be enough if they play 140 games. You still can win 90 in a weakened division. Not saying the Cardinals are going to do that, but you know they're going to play more NL Central than anything else and there are wins to be had there.

by rhummel 12/28/2020 9:01:46 PM
Commish,

I gotta’ admit the DeWitt profit model is stellar. I’m not saying they don’t spend. But it’s the Who they spend on.

Their collective decisions on talent evaluation has been becoming more suspect.

I’ve read in this space how St. Louis should praise this organization.

I give them credit for always trying to field a good enough team to get 3 million in the stands and have a shot at winning. Albeit a long shot in most cases.

But they have taken more than they have given.

We have won more World Series championships prior to their arrival than we have since their arrival. So they didn’t championships to St.Louis.

But they did plaster a nearly pristine organization with a cheating scandal that ended in prison time for at least one person. He didn’t work alone, but was punished like he did.

Do you think St.Louis underappreciates the Cardinal organization

by Get off my lawn 12/28/2020 9:02:27 PM
You're entitled to think whatever you want. For accuracy, the Cardinals won nine World Series in the 104 seasons before the DeWitts took over. They have won two in the first 16 seasons they were here although none in the past nine seasons.

by rhummel 12/28/2020 9:06:33 PM
We get the Seattle Mariners on cable here in Missoula, Montana where I live. In 44 years the Mariners have had 14 winning seasons. (If the ‘69 Pilots are added in, Seattle has had 14 winning teams in 45 years.) The Mariners have been to the playoffs four times. They’ve never been to the World Series. The ‘01 team won a Major League record-tying 116 games, but apparently wasn’t built to win, or even get to, the World Series. I see the other side. I’ll take Mozeliak’s and the Cardinals’ model anytime.

by ggoble 12/28/2020 9:07:30 PM
An opposing view in which to take note.

by rhummel 12/28/2020 9:08:27 PM
I disliked Pete Rose his entire career, but he is a HOFer. Do you think he should come off the restricted list? Would you vote yes on placing him in the HOF? What % of votes would he get in his first year and how many years before he would make it in.

by Ron 12/28/2020 9:09:47 PM
Rose has gone beyond the regular writers' ballot and he would fall into the purview of one of the Era committees, which, in the final balloting, are populated by many Hall of Famers. One of Rose's potential boosters, Reds teammate Joe Morgan, just died. You have to get 75 percent of those votes on the veterans' committee side, too. I don't think it's going to happen for Pete, who ironically is more famous for being out of the Hall of Fame than he would be in for being in it.

by rhummel 12/28/2020 9:12:59 PM
Commish...thank you for your time and gracious answers. There was an excellent comment noted earlier about the quality of product by Cards since 2013.

Isn't there a little too much made about the 2019 NL Central championship and NLCS appearance (though could argue they Cardinals didn't actually appear)? I get there is no way to win this argument, but most of us read the experts opinion (yours included) about the quality of the team all summer. Cardinals and Brewers punted that trade deadline, because neither saw a clear way they could make a serious run. Cardinals had a nice September, but don't we have to add context to what that team really was?

by jarrod 12/28/2020 9:13:30 PM
Of course. But don't expect the Cardinals to add a lot, because they won't be.

by rhummel 12/28/2020 9:14:57 PM
Hey Rick! Do you have an idea of what the day to day was like at the alternate site this past summer? Did they have enough players to play scrimmage games every day or was it basically just live pitching sessions, simulated innings, and batting practice?

by Trent 12/28/2020 9:15:29 PM
They had scrimmage games most of the time but there were some days when it was just living practice and situational hitting.

by rhummel 12/28/2020 9:16:07 PM
Rick
We were at the Fantasy Camp in January!
Would you like to see Eddie Rosario in our outfield In 2021?

by Tom D 12/28/2020 9:16:13 PM
I could live with Rosario.

by rhummel 12/28/2020 9:16:26 PM
Assuming Tommy Edman is the 2B, who would currently challenge Carpenter at 3B?

by Jordan 12/28/2020 9:16:29 PM
Edmundo Sosa, or TBD.

by rhummel 12/28/2020 9:16:48 PM
What’s your opinion on the Joc Peterson and Bader tandem in CF?
Would it work for theCards if we could sign Joc?

by Tom D 12/28/2020 9:16:58 PM

Live Chats

Cardinals chat: Hall of Fame baseball writer Rick Hummel takes your questions at 11 a.m. Monday

Bring your Cards questions and comments to a live chat with Rick Hummel at 11 a.m.

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