Join Hall of Fame baseball writer Derrick Goold from the GM meetings in Vegas, 11 a.m.
Bring your Cards questions and comments to Monday’s 11 a.m. live chat.
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It's not a question of who do I "think" they are most "likely" pursue. It's who I can report and confirm that they are at least considering at this moment. And based on the reporting we've put in the paper and I can share here in the chat, I've been able to at least connect the Cardinals to all of those catchers in some way other than Kirk. I've heard plenty of speculation about him, sure. But I've not been able to connect the Cardinals with him because reporting has not revealed whether he's a real possibility for Toronto to move. But reporting in the Post-Dispatch and elsewhere has made it clear the other catchers are at least being discussed by the Cardinals.Two, Vazquez and Murphy, stand out as strong fits, per sources who are not affiliated with the Cardinals but interested in the catcher market.
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Yes. The Cardinals "checked in" with almost every team, including the Cubs, on the availability of catchers, and they did the same with almost every team about starters. It's what they do at the trade deadline. They make calls to the other 29 teams to see what shakes loose, and it was widely known that the Cubs were willing to trade Contreras, so the Cardinals did their job, made the call, heard the asking price or the Cubs' hopes, and then went in another direction. But they checked in. Tell me a player who could or was traded and there's a good bet the Cardinals "checked in" on them, too.
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There were three elements to the new CBA that stand out with service time manipulation and could radically change that approach for teams.1. Any player, regardless of when he comes to the majors, will receive a full year of service time if he wins the Rookie of the Year Award.2. Teams are rewarded with a draft pick if the player they promoted for opening day finishes high in any of the prestige BBWAA awards -- Rookie, MVP, Cy Young. But but but, a key point here, to get that draft pick the team has to have already given the player a full year of service time. Brendan Donovan will not score a draft pick for the Cardinals with a top three ROY finish, for example.3. There is a bonus pool of money that will be used to increase the salary of those players who are not yet arbitration eligible but have performances that put them among the top in their peer group. Edman is due a bonus this year through that process.Hope that helps.
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Derrick,
I would never excuse what Chris Correa did. Full stop.
However, he made accusations that the Astros front office stole some intellectual property from the Cardinals. I my mind, the “banging on trash cans” incident makes one question the ethical rudder of that Astros front office and potentially lend some credibility to Mr Correa’s claim.
Your thoughts? Opinion on his accusation? -
Those accusations were not new and coverage of them has been a staple of the coverage of these events in the Post-Dispatch since the beginning. The similarity between what Houston launched and what the Cardinals had was covered in the Post-Dispatch before the hacking was revealed, years before, and I confronted Luhnow about the similarities during spring training, right behind home plate. It was a whole thing. He said they built their approach "from scratch." I pointed out that Ground Control and Red Bird Dog had too many similarities to make that case. He took issue with what I was suggesting and said they had to start "from scratch" and did not bring anything they had built in STL. Granted, it was only a note in the paper at the time, but I felt it was important -- given the story that appeared in the Houston Chronicle that week (2014) about the new Ground Control they brought in.Correa's accusation in open court as well as the similarities that court documents revealed were also included in the Post-Dispatch's coverage at the time.I'm slowing down the chat looking for a story where the Post-Dispatch even reported on the use of a Cardinals' phrase/stat that was revealed as part of Houston's database in emails available through court documents, but it's taken me too long to find. That report is out there, too.
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They have 36, including the two players listed on the 60-day IL, which will now count against the 40-man roster as the offseason begins.They had 40 non-60-day IL players, and then:-- dropped Whitley.-- dropped Robertson.-- Molina retired.-- Pujols retired.-- Dickerson became a free agent.-- Quintana became a free agent.That's 34.From 60-day IL-- Add VerHagen.-- Add Alex Reyes.Back to 36.
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I do not know the timing of those ticket sales, honestly. I know a lot of people have been asking, and the Cardinals are getting those questions, too. Eager to see what they do about the price point given the reaction to the cost of tickets for the Korea tour that then did not happen.Yes, there will be travel packages, though I don't know if those will be through the Cardinals, their partners, or other travel agencies. That is something that I really hope they just purchase ads to promote in the paper, right?
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I would like to give it some more thought, but if there options are unlimited then I'd have to stick with the players I've already voted for (Bonds, Clemens, Schilling) and then also renew my support of McGriff.And I would finally, eagerly, happily, joyfully get a chance to vote for Murphy.I would take great pride in casting a vote for Dale Murphy, if I ever get a chance.
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