Join Cardinals beat writer Derrick Goold for his live chat at 11 a.m. Friday
Bring your Cards questions and comments to Friday's 11 a.m. live chat.
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Fans are getting all hyped up about a potential Soto deal. I would handicap the odds at 1 in 10 and that might be generous. This organization some time ago adopted a risk adverse win now strategy in favor of a consistency model anchored by home grown talent. I would imagine Mozaliak’s phone call to his Wash counterpart lasted about 5 minutes. Where am I wrong? -
I don't have a stop watch on the phone call -- and who knows if there actually is a traditional phone call. It could all be done by texts these days. Anyway, the only thing I would point out: The Cardinals fan base is not alone in this. Check out social media of your choice, and you'll find many fan bases dizzy with the notion that their team will get Soto. -
On Soto, what do the Nats want? Short answer, they don't know. The owners, the Lerners, nixed a Bryce Harper trade to the Astros only to lose him to free agency. The Lerners are exploring a sale. GM Rizzo and Manager Martinez were just extended by a year. But getting a package that will add value to the team for an ownership sale will be difficult to pull off, according to the experts in DC. The haul would have to be extraordinary not just because of Soto but bec of the prospective sale. ANd Corbin might need to be dumped on top of that. Meanwhile, the Cardinals still need starting and relief pitching. Getting Soto would scuttle any trade for quality pitching if they don't want to empty the talent pipeline.
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They announced the signing of Tanner Jacobson, 10th-round pick. They have others close to completion and agreements in place with several top picks. They'll be announced at some point. The Cardinals tend to play by the rules and announce when they're not going to skew the bonuses around them. But they have agreements in place that they'll finalize soon.
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If the Nat's could move Corbin's salary along with Soto, and get Liberatore, Woodford, Carlson, and Burleson in return, that's a great outcome. Two young starters, two young bats, and huge payroll relief to set up the sale of their franchise. Isn't there the outlines of a deal to be had here?
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It's worth noting that the Cardinals have been in desperate need for a starter all season and how often they've turned to Woodford and Liberatore to make those starts. The Nationals watch baseball too and will see what Cardinals' use tell them about those scouting reports. Are the Nationals going to have far better scouting reports that suggest something different? Maybe. But not for the centerpieces of a deal.I see what the Cardinals get. I don't see what the Nationals get here, not that is the high-ceiling, lots of control that they will want, again, if their motivation is to replenish a tapped system.
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Derrick,
The past few two seasons the Cardinals have been short on pitching depth to handle the inevitable injuries/ineffectiveness of a season, especially in the rotation. Do you see the front office changing their philosophy going forward when building the pitching depth in the offseason? It's a shame they have to give up assets at the deadline when they could have just signed the pitchers they needed when it only cost money. -
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DG. I was fortunate to be in San Francisco and in the stadium the night Jack Flaherty made his very first start. I recall telling my wife we could be witnessing the start of the career of the greatest Cardinals pitcher since Bob Gibson. Injuries happen and he cannot be faulted for that but it all seems like a pipe dream now. My fear is he will be on the first plane out of town for the west coast at his first opportunity. He will likely blossom for another team. How likely is that to happen? Thanks
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I have no clue at the moment. I don't know if a West Coast team will rush to sign him as a free agent. Don't even know what kind of career he's going to have had when he reaches free agency. He's going on more than two years here lost to injury and curious scheduling around a pandemic. It's just not clear what the market will be because there are months yet to shape it. Could be the Angels. They always need pitching. Could be the Padres, given where some of the contracts are for their rotation. Who knows. Could be the Baltimore Orioles that make him the biggest offer because it's finally time for them to contend and coming off a healthy season, they see him as the upside starter they can commit to and have them lead them to October. The next Mike Mussina.You can speculate yourself into any scenario you want. Read tea leaves and t-shirts and conjure up some narrative where he bolts home at the first chance. Some did the same thing for Max Scherzer. Did not happen.Flaherty has never once said his preference is to leave St. Louis at the first chance. He has said publicly how much Bob Gibson means to him, and he has let on privately that Chris Carpenter is a big influence on him. He wants that moment -- and Carpenter had it with the Cardinals.The noise about Flaherty leaving comes from a loud pocket of folks on social media and somehow their voices have replaced his. It's bizarre.If it happens, those critics will be quick to say I-told-you-so. Maybe instead they should take credit.Or blame.
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None, really. Some travel cost is covered, but players are always allowed to go beyond that. Same thing for players returning to the Cardinals. They had a charter flight set for the team yesterday to Cincinnati. But players could fly themselves from their home to Cincinnati if they wanted. There are substantial bonuses for making the All-Star team, and it's somewhat of a tradition for the established, high-dollar players to get a private plane and invite teammates or even competitors with them. Goldschmidt brought along Helsley. I'm not sure how it was finalized, but Pujols had a plane, and one of the Reds was going to fly with him at one point. I kind of dig that tradition of players spending that time on a flight on their way to their first or 14th All-Star Game. Atlanta chartered a plane because the entire coaching staff had to go. Cardinals did the same back in 2005 to get from San Francisco to Detroit, you'll recall.
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Interesting question. That would be a fascinating fallout, for sure. My sense is that it will still weigh into it because you're going to have an imbalanced schedule of 14 division games, and unless they radically change the structure of the playoffs, the route to the playoffs will still be as a division champ, so those games and those standings matter, just less so. I think you've asked a really cool question here and it's something to watch, especially if the expansion to 32 teams rewrites the divisions in a way that there isn't as much emphasis on those standings.
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Derrick. Thank you for your thoughtful response to my question about your take on Jack Flaherty's future (or not) with the Cardinals. His desire to leave (or not) is just my personal opinion. I hope he stays and creates his own legacy in the STL. I try not to let others shape my opinion. These chats are as close as I EVER get to social media. There is evidently way too much hatred and vitriol spewed with the courage inspired by anonymity for this old sports fan. Or so I have been told. Thanks again for taking my question!
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I don't agree with the premise, sorry. They've tapped out their bonus allotments pretty consistently, and a few years ago they were one of three teams to have spent above their purse every draft and paid the penalty as a result. The evidence does not support your stance. Though, we will see how this year goes, and if they come in well under the purse, then you'll have a chance to see if that becomes a trend.
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I am not speaking about you, Derrick, but some sports commentators in all sports will say that a player “deserves” to make a certain amount, like $50m a year. Really? Families across this country struggle to make ends meet and these athletes can be such prima donnas sometimes. Why, because they can hit a ball with a bat or make a basket? There is no awareness about their fan base. At least someone told some of these athletes not to say anymore that they need to make millions a year “to put food on the table” for their families when there are millions of families in this country are actually struggling to do that.
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You can say this about me, as long as I can explain myself. That's fine. Players have a lot of talent and put in more time than many many many many fans realize to maximize that talent. Plus, they're in a competitive business where someone is coming for their job at every turn. I'm in a competitive business, and I have received many emails from people saying they're coming for my job, and maybe they are, and that's fine -- but I don't face that challenge daily, weekly, monthly, or even year to year.Plus, 50,000 people aren't buying tickets to see me type or another million aren't subscribing to cable and having to pay for a live feed of me furrowing by brow on deadline, whether they ever watch it or not.Do you have an issue with movie stars that pull down $20 million or more per movie? Then why begrudge a baseball player for doing the same in a season? Is it because they play a game? That's like saying actors play make-believe.I say this because I want be clear that I'm speaking from my point of view, which is this: Major-league baseball players are part of the 1% of the top 1% in their profession, and they should make -- like any of us -- exactly as much as someone is willing to pay us. Owners are willing to pay a premium for premium talent because we buy tickets and cable subscriptions and merch to see and support that premium talent.Yes, there are profession that deserve to paid more (first responders leap immediately to mind; I'm the son of two people who met as teachers, so I've got a bias there, too). But that's because we should recognize that, not subtract from other professions.I like a system that allows the best at what they do to also make money. Maybe instead of bashing baseball or movies or basketball for letting that happen, we should question where that's not taking place, where the best aren't being allowed to maximize their earning potential, and why.
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You mention 32 teams below and expansion came up this past week at the ASG. When that happens, could you see MLB abandoning the AL/NL designations now since everyone is now playing under the same rules? An East/West split like the NHL would be interesting, to me, at least. A Cards, Cubs, Royals, Twins division would be fun, for example.
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