Live Chats

Join Cardinals beat writer Derrick Goold for his live chat at 1 p.m. Monday

Bring your Cards questions and comments to Monday’s 1 p.m. live chat.

3rd & 7 37yd

Do the Cardinals view Liberatore as being ready to help the big league club at the beginning of the season if he is needed?

by John 3/21/2022 8:02:55 PM
They believe he is on the verge, yes. They continue to mention him as a candidate to break camp in the rotation.

by Derrick Goold 3/21/2022 8:03:28 PM
A second question: why spend $ 5 mil on Corey Dickinson and not $1 million on Moran when they have the same OPS?

by Stan the Fan 3/21/2022 8:05:18 PM
I'm not seeing where they have the same OPS, not career, not last year, not against lefties. Dickerson is a career above .800, Moran is below. This past year Dickerson had an OPS of .734 and there was Moran at .724, which is close, but how he got there was with a sub-.400 slugging percentage.

by Derrick Goold 3/21/2022 8:06:19 PM
How much did the lock out affect off-season readership interest in reading baseball articles and tweets? Can you measure it by tweet impressions on twitter, or by proprietary methods on STLtoday?

by Frank 3/21/2022 8:06:37 PM
Readership was steady, thanks to the subscribers at the Post-Dispatch and the baseball interest that is deep in the roots of St. Louis. I don't know about Twitter. Driving people to Twitter is not my goal. Using Twitter to highlight and encourage people to read the coverage at the Post-Dispatch and StlToday.com and the forthcoming expansive baseball coverage we have planned -- that's the goal. Twitter is misleading. A tweet can get more likes than it gets readers. I would rather have it the other way around.

by Derrick Goold 3/21/2022 8:08:06 PM
By Cardinals standards they came into this off-season with a small war chest of available payroll to augment their Wild Card roster. For a team that has not sniffed a World Series for almost a decade the results of this free agency were ( to date) very underwhelming. I won’t debate the impact of the players they signed, especially the three pitchers I know very little about, but where is the sizzle?

by South City Steve 3/21/2022 8:08:48 PM
Fair question. I trust it's rhetorical.
Some of that "chest" goes to Arenado this year. That is a significant part of the spending that is overlooked in this conversation, just as an FYI.

by Derrick Goold 3/21/2022 8:08:55 PM
I think the roster this year is one of the best Mo has ever assembled. How would you rank the roster that could be constructed from the players in camp with the rosters from previous years that you have covered?

by BobH 3/21/2022 8:09:51 PM
Interesting. I'm not so sure, and part of that could be because I'm thinking most of how a roster ended up. The 2013 roster was strong, deep, and the 2015 roster was superb. I look back at the 2012 roster and how it was put together after Pujols' departure and what a group that was. Depth. Versatility. Beltran and Holliday ... There were times when they had Carpenter & Wainwright as the one-two punch coming into spring training. And that was on Mozeliak's watch, even though both pitchers were acquired when he was AGM.

by Derrick Goold 3/21/2022 8:11:10 PM
I’m glad that Mr Fredrickson (aka Mr Optimism) has finally seen the light that there is NO long term future between Flaherty and the Cardinals. He seems to resent that he was drafted by the Cardinals. Just a surly individual with anything related to the business of baseball. Once healthy, get what you can in trade while you can.

by GR 3/21/2022 8:11:45 PM
Jack Flaherty has only spoken highly of how the Cardinals gave him a chance to call Bob Gibson a friend. The night Gibson died, Flaherty came into the Zoom room and for several minutes opened up about what it meant to pitch that night, what Gibson meant to him, how he wouldn't have had that chance with any other organization.
Maybe keep that in mind.

by Derrick Goold 3/21/2022 8:13:02 PM
And that's Award-Winning Mr. Optimism, to you.

by Derrick Goold 3/21/2022 8:13:36 PM
Does the Dickerson signing preclude us from getting into the Conforto market?

by Paul Dewgong 3/21/2022 8:13:44 PM
No. They were already precluded. Have not even heard his name brought up, honestly. Not once.

by Derrick Goold 3/21/2022 8:14:18 PM
Good afternoon Derrick...I don't really have a question. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the article on Goldy's bat experiment. Just another example of technology aiding baseball innovation. I'm also thrilled that the P-D is adding a dedicated reporter to the minor leagues. I enjoy reading about the up and coming players in the farm system, so I'll be looking forward to Dan's updates. Thanks again for all of the great coverage that the P-D provides, it's the main reason I subscribe!

by Eric 3/21/2022 8:14:39 PM
Thank you for the kind words and for being a subscriber. We have some notable things planned for the coverage in the coming weeks -- and you'll see soon the plan we have to expand coverage. It's exciting. It has the potential to be the biggest expansion of baseball coverage that we've had in awhile, and I'm thrilled for the challenge.
The bat story that is being reference here ran Sunday, and is still available:
The bat, man: Cardinals Goldschmidt swings new lab-designed, custom-crafted bat worth the weight
STLtoday.comGoldschmidt, changing bats for first time, and Arenado visited high-tech facility in Baton Rouge for a test-drive. The goal: 'Hitting the ball harder, plain and simple.'

by Derrick Goold 3/21/2022 8:16:18 PM
Does the cancelling of the Rule 5 draft mean that prospects like Luken Baker are back in the mix for this season?

by ChrisL 3/21/2022 8:16:26 PM
Yep.

by Derrick Goold 3/21/2022 8:16:29 PM
VerHagen and Brooks with very strong starts to camp. Anyway both make the rotation? I haven't heard much about Dakota Hudson, is he starting tomorrow?

by Paul Dewgong 3/21/2022 8:16:36 PM
Dakota Hudson is starting Tuesday, yes. Also happens to be the day he and his agent have to exchange salary figures with the Cardinals, so there's that. Unless they reach a deal ahead of the deadline. That is something the Cardinals were eager to do at last check.
Both of the righthanders could make the rotation if they start with a six-man rotation. That has not been ruled out, or some combination of pitchers like that.

by Derrick Goold 3/21/2022 8:17:33 PM
Wouldn't a Happ or LeBlanc re-signing make a lot of sense right now based on the need we have for another starter to start the season? Or are we going to see how Woodford/Brooks/VerHagen/Rondon/Liberatore/Thompson do this Spring and promote one of them?

by Andy in SEA 3/21/2022 8:17:48 PM
The answer to both of those questions -- and I mean this sincerely -- is yes.

by Derrick Goold 3/21/2022 8:18:00 PM
Hey DG, thank you for doing the chat today! What are realistic expectations for the birds this year? Is this a team that can get to the WS to send Waino and Molina off on top?

by Jake G 3/21/2022 8:18:07 PM
They should be expected to win the division. Even with the current injuries, they should be expected to win the NL Central. Anything less is a down year for this club based on its talent and roster. Enough to win the World Series? A lot would have to break right, but I think the NL is vulnerable. The Mets have remarkable pitching. The Dodgers have that terrific lineup. But neither is a complete roster, both have flaws. And we could find that with other teams too like the Braves and Padres, Giants and Brewers ... the NL is there for the taking, and the Cardinals could give their roster a booster at the deadline to put them in the conversation. They just haven't shown the recent trend of doing that ...

by Derrick Goold 3/21/2022 8:20:59 PM
Did Yadi elaborate on his personal reasons for arriving late to camp? Hope everything is ok

by Paul Dewgong 3/21/2022 8:21:18 PM
He declined when asked. There was a large group of reporters, some new, and it was all in the corner of the clubhouse. Not exactly the venue where you expect him to elaborate, honestly.

by Derrick Goold 3/21/2022 8:21:45 PM
I know you don't generally give comfort or hope, as you are a reporter of facts, cold or otherwise. But... Is pitching coming? I am concerned about innings (which is thanks to your continually pertinent reporting on such a concern)

by cardsfaninpitt 3/21/2022 8:21:58 PM
You should be concerned about innings until the Cardinals prove otherwise. Do they have that ability? VerHagen and Brooks are intriguing. Matz can take one some of that role, yes. And he should. But it has to be proven.

by Derrick Goold 3/21/2022 8:22:34 PM
Defense question: I keep seeing articles and stories that Oli Marmol plans to use match ups more in his lineups. Meaning more platoons to get favorable matchups with that days starting pitcher. All I have read about since last October is how the Cardinals are searching for pitching to match up with their 5 gold glovers. Meaning pitchers who throw strikes and specifically throw sinkers. This seems to be talking out of both sides of one's mouth. How can you rely on stellar defense everyday and literally build your pitching staff around that, then swap out those defenders when facing a certain handedness of pitcher? The biggest example of needing to be platooned that I can see is Edman against righties. But if the FO wants those ground balls gobbled up, why take Edman and his gold glove off the diamond. I am not complaining and no vitriol is intended, but am just 100% genuinely curious how these two ideas can mesh together and co-exist. Thanks for the chats as always!

by Conrad 3/21/2022 8:22:50 PM
He's talking about the order of the lineup, not the hitters in that lineup. Sometimes the matchup will be for Bader to bat leadoff and sometimes it will be for him to bat ninth, and in both of those cases, he will play center field. There will be times when the pitcher is vulnerable to lefthanded hitting and maybe that's the day that O'Neill gets a break and in comes Corey Dickerson -- who won a Gold Glove. It's that kind of matchup. It's more about the order of the hitters on any given game based on the type and handedness of the pitcher, not about reducing the defense.

by Derrick Goold 3/21/2022 8:24:24 PM
Do you think M Shidlt was just a placeholder for the managers job That Mo liked Marmol all along but DeWitt felt he was to young

by JWHelp 3/21/2022 8:24:51 PM
No, sir or ma'am. Not at all. Not given the relationship that Shildt and Mozeliak had for almost 18 years.

by Derrick Goold 3/21/2022 8:25:09 PM
Earlier in the offseason you reported that the Cardinals found the trade market to be too high in what teams wanted in return. With the potential for another innings crisis this season, are they still looking at FAs? Or could we see a trade for pitching?

MLB.com’s FA list shows that all of the starters with 2021 fWAR above 2 have been signed (Cueto’s 2021 fWAR was 2, the highest among unsigned FAs).

by AJinNoVA 3/21/2022 8:25:50 PM
They are still looking. They are still finding the trade asks high. They are not revved up by the free-agent market. Mozeliak called it "thin." Spring sometimes shales loose other options. The start of the season -- or arbitration salaries! -- can change the ask, too.

by Derrick Goold 3/21/2022 8:26:31 PM
How does Korea’s compulsory military service affect Won Bin Cho? Will he have to return home to complete this sometime in the coming years?

by Jesse 3/21/2022 8:27:09 PM
No. He has many years remaining before he has to meet that obligation. It's not immediate at 18. It's required by later in his 20s. Son, the forward for the Tottenham HotSpurs, did his service within the past few years, and it was adjusted to fit his professional schedule. Some athletes have that requirement waived if they achieve great success, such as an Olympic champion. Cho has time to see where baseball can take him, and then meet the requirements of his country, according to his representative and example elsewhere in sports.

by Derrick Goold 3/21/2022 8:28:51 PM
Thanks for the chats, I subscribed to the PD once the lockout ended to see all the excellent content you and your colleagues provide. Quick question. Did I see the CBA included a ban on defensive shifts? If so does that improve Matt Carpenter’s chances of getting an offer to play somewhere this season.

by ud 3/21/2022 8:29:04 PM
The CBA does not include a ban on shifts, thank goodness. That was tabled for 2023, at the earliest. And I hope never.

by Derrick Goold 3/21/2022 8:29:21 PM
I’m sure you will get this question plenty but just in case, do the Cardinals have any interest in Frankie Montas and would they be willing to part with Liberatore as the main chip to get him, assuming the A’s are interested?

by Dale 3/21/2022 8:30:12 PM

Live Chats

Join Cardinals beat writer Derrick Goold for his live chat at 1 p.m. Monday

Bring your Cards questions and comments to Monday’s 1 p.m. live chat.

The bat, man: Cardinals Goldschmidt swings new lab-designed, custom-crafted bat worth the weight