He is. He's been in the majors. He's on there.
He hit a lot of home runs last year. Lots of players hit a lot of home runs these days. I was not surprised at the length of Moustakas' contract, just that he didn't get closer to QO. This is just me, but I think you should expect more from the word "great."
A work in progress. They want to see better snap and results in the games, but the past four, five days have gone a long way toward that. Some of the players who have a good feel for such things are encouraged -- but know that winning has to happen, or else it won't matter.
I've packed my own lunch/dinner for years because of this, and I have not been one to frequent the spread at games for other reasons. But health is part of it. Don't care about the reaction of others. Mock the kale all you want. Joke about my sparkling water. I'll live to meet another deadline, pal. Better to control what you can because... But, hey, tell my wife I'm working on it. Or my doctor. Or whoever put you up to this.
To themselves? No. They don't gain or lose a pick to themselves.
Not yet. But it could be discussed.
Hey, 25, isn't old. Let's keep this in perspective. Carson Kelly could be 25 when he's the starter at catcher, or soon after. It wasn't too long ago that players were considered in their prime when they reached 27 and had their breakout. So, there's no egg-timer on him. He's pushing hard to be in the conversation right now for a opening day assignment, and if not opening day then he'll be in the rotation mix as described earlier in the chat. He's going to get starts and get opportunity and what he does with those things will determine if he's regular just like Grichuk got before him, Pham got last year, and Bader is going to get at some point.
And, yet, these are the first muscle injuries of his career. Isn't imploding stereotypes fun?
That's the idea. He's Randal Grichuk. With options still intact. No service time. Three years before arbitration. And all of it. He's Grichuk when the Cardinals got Grichuk, and that's all part of the prospect crop rotation that the Cardinals are doing. This is very much the plan.
It's the means not the ends. Means not the ends. His means were better in the third start. Forget the results, just look at the means. Just as in the previous two starts his means were off, and the ends didn't matter. They illustrated what was the issue. Means. Not ends.
I have to imagine some will get itchy to take. Also, we're probably going to see some players seeking extensions like DeJong and Piscotty and all of that with teams as soon as that possibility arrives. Wouldn't be surprised if we see that at all.
Playing right now at the coffee shop, Mike Maddux's theme song for 2018: Elevation, U2.
Different people, different routes to the majors, and maybe even different situations/opportunities when they arrive. I wouldn't get too caught up in the O'Neill is going to be Grichuk, and that's his future and why replay this situation. That's not possible. But O'Neill is like Grichuk, and the Cardinals would rather have a younger, cheaper, more control upside slugger like him around and on the roster to possibly get the same thing (or more) than know what they have and pay the freight and see the clock tick toward free agency. Look, every team does this. No surprise that the Cardinals added Derian Gonzalez to the 40-man roster a few years after losing Luis Perdomo, or that the Cardinals traded Aledmys Diaz in one deal and then acquired Yairo Munoz in another. Or, that they need Sandy Alcantara to get Ozuna, and then in another deal got hard-throwing Conner Greene. These are moves that mirror each other, address depth, and replace the players they had with similar players who are younger, maybe more volatile, maybe more upside, but definitely more years of control.
Which one? The fact that he got out of trouble or that he caused it? Depends how you ask.
It's the theme of the chat. Cannot say it enough. And good teams do this. It's not isolated to STL.
I like Freshii and Crux coffee. Those are the go-tos for me. I'm a creature of habit, I guess.
Ask the guy who called him that.
That's what Mozeliak called him, and that's based on where he thinks Mikolas should fit into the rotation based on the projection for his performance, which gives you a sense of why they offered him the contract he did. It also speaks to what they want from him, and how they want to unleash him when it comes to innings and protect their young arms when it comes to their workload.
The Cardinals, as of today, appear ready/resigned to the eight-man bullpen. Mike Matheny recently told us that "the more the merrier" when it comes to relief. He was somewhat joking, but arguing the overall point of preferring the extra reliever. The front office would prefer the extra bat, but also wants to give the manager the tool box he's more comfortable using. We'll see how Maddux feels about all this in the coming weeks. But this much is clear by the calendar: We don't know the rainouts that are coming, and the off days aren't as many as you imply, not like other teams.
