Sure, but then you're giving both defense and OBP to replace Wong with Edman. So the move better compensate both of those things elsewhere to make it work. I just get the sense that we're operating off different baseball cards sometime.
I don't bet, sorry. And I've made these predictions at the start of the season, so I'm sticking with that, otherwise, why make it? Cubs win division. Cardinals get a wild card. Brewers get to snack on curds during October.
Do you have a few hours to kill?
We could. We could fund a poll that would take into account all corners of Cardinals Nation, and not just the loudest, online ones, and really see what the view is of the team. I imagine it wouldn't be as extreme as you suggest and would be less revealing than you hope. As detailed earlier, the vocal and online group is going to skew negative, and still they sell 3.4 million tickets. There's no real good way to do this unless we do a legit poll like, say, a CNN or Fox News or Quinnipiac would do for a presidential race. I honestly wonder whether that time and money is better spent covering the team because the only referendum on the front office and this roster that matters is where it finishes in the standings and how strong the farm system is. Would you like a popular general manager, or a winning one? If you want a winning one, then we have a way to measure that without much trouble, and for the past three years the Cardinals have had a winning record, but they have not followed through on their promise to fans, their pledge to fans, their brand. They have not been a playoff team. That's the bar. Meet it.
Allow me to suggest something that was true with pitching this season: Please don't confuse quantity with quality. A team can throw quality at any issue, for sure, but it needs quantity to contend. Impact. The Cardinals don't need numbers, they need impact.
He would be a great candidate, deserving, and would likely be in if not for one thing: He has insisted that he does not want to be. He has passed that word along to the Cardinals and to members of the Red Ribbon Committee. He has been approached multiple times to change his mind, and has not. Electing him would be doing so against his wishes, which I'm often inclined to believe we should do.
Sure. That works. I'd slide a lefty into that mix of righthanded hitters in the middle. But that's nit-picking.
Lower the strike zone -- extending it down by a few inches. It's that simple. I'd do that.
I don't have a strong opinion or view on this particular issue. Munoz has done well. Hits fastballs. Has a strong arm. He's in a good role for him. DeJong is the shortstop. As he should be. Bader struggled to hit. And as I tried to warn people at the beginning of the season, if the whole offense struggled then it would be harder for them to carry his glove, and he would take the hit for a team that didn't hit. Look what happened.
We know the answer. Play him until he helps get them to October, or doesn't.
Potential. That's the best way to put his answer. This chat has become fixated.
That is correct. And the Dodgers play a style of play that is relentless, fierce, feisty, and will be a chore for any team. Teams with three-headed monsters on the rotation tend to do well, and Houston is the team that has that, today.
There hasn't been from what I can tell, or from what I've heard.
They don't need to unless other teams want what the Cardinals have. It makes sense for the Cardinals to try and make a move, for sure, but they're not the driver in that conversation. What should govern the Cardinals is upgrades. Upgrades. Upgrades. Upgrades. If the Cardinals can find an upgrade at center, make it. They don't need to trade for the sake of trading and can keep some of those players in the minors or use them as complements. Upgrade. Upgrade. Upgrade. And if a player is blocking Carlson from LF or a player is blocking Bader from center, then make sure it's a better player. Like an impact player. A legit, everyday impact guy. Upgrade is the rule. Not simplify or reduce the complexity or even shed -- because they can keep all the talent. They need to upgrade.
To me, I saw sellers approach the July 31 deadline expecting the urgency of a drop-dead deadline from the buyers, and I saw buyers approaching the July 31 deadline with the pragmatism and stoicism and data-driven decision making of a weekend in December. The sellers thought they could extort talent because of the urgency, and the buyers, ever pragmatic, didn't bite. I don't know how baseball solves that. Because data is here to stay. Risk-averse front offices are here to stay. And even a hard deadline didn't crack it because numbers don't crack.
It's increasingly prevalent. Used a lot, and has seen the same increase at the higher levels as the majors have, if slightly less orchestrated for the individual hitter vs. the type of hitter. (I.e., a lefthanded hitter gets a shift.)
They do not have to make either of those moves. They can explore those moves. They probably will explore either of those moves. They do not need to make that move, no.
There are some in this chat that sure hope so. There are others in this chat that aren't sure. The Cardinals would welcome that. The stats don't suggest that. Not today.
