Join Jeff Gordon for his live STL sports chat at 1 p.m. Friday
Bring your Cards, Blues, Mizzou, SLU and MLS questions and comments, and talk to columnist Jeff Gordon in his weekly live chat.
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The Indians got:Shortstop Andres Gimenez, a 22-year-old who broke in last season. He is a solid MLB-ready shortstop who will provide a low-cost fill at the position for years to come. Sorry, Edmundo Sosa, there is no compable Cardinal.Shortstop Amed Rosario: At 25, he's already had a few seasons as a big league regular before falling back into a utility role. I suppose Tommy Edman is the comparable.Starting pitcher Josh Wolf: He is a high-ceiling power pitcher drafted out of high school. He has just five games of pro experience at the lowest rookie league level. Maybe Tink Hence is the comparable for the Cardinals, although he is not as polished.Outfielder Isaiah Greene: He is a speedy, line-drive hitting outfielder drafted out of high school. Not sure of a comparable here, because some of the better Cardinals prospects coming out of high school (Masyn Winn, Patrick Romeri) have major power potential.
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Colorado is the clear team to beat, but I can see the Blues sliding into second play with their exceptional offensive depth. Vegas will be right there as well, but they got weaker down the middle by moving Paul Stastny to clear salary cap space for Alex Pietrangelo.
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Bill DeWitt Jr. is looking to lower payroll, so I see him sticking in the bargain bin for free agency. There might be some decent values there, since the Mets and Padres can't sign everyone. I'd be surprised if Wainwright landed elsewhere. I would not be surprised in Molina landed elsewhere.
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It could well go that way. This is shaping up a bleak economic season for baseball with the pandemic raging and the vaccine rollout sputtering. Most owners are feeling real pain.Even in better times the players and owners don't get along well. And remember last year, when the two sides disagreed vehemently about what they had already agreed to at the bargaining table? That sort of incompenent bargaining is never a good sign for the future.
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And they might not be rushing the gates either way, That's the danger baseball faces. What will be the new normal for the Cardinals? Back to $3 million fans? Just 2.5 million? Just 2 million?I would expect plenty of personnel activity ahead of the 2022 season once the team cycles out bad contracts. Also, the NL Central teams seem to have a mutual disarmament agreement that will keep the Cubs, Cardinals and Brewers in the playoff chase despite their refusal to upgrade.
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It seems like DeWitt and Mo's greatest fear with signing large contracts is time. So why not be the pioneers and start replicating the NBA model, 5-year deals at $40M per? Because as a fan I am tired of this team saying they "can't" do it. They absolutely can, they just want it all on their terms.
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Signing players on your terms is how you succeed in the business of sports. The Cardinals. It could take DeWitt a while longer to cross the $30 million/year barrier and I don't know that he would ever get to $40 million per year with one player. His way of doing business has made the Cardinals a model franchise in mid-sized markets and I don't see him changing.
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St. Louis will have a chance when a multi-billionaire decides that St. Louis should have a team. Otherwise, there is nothing about this market that makes the NBA higher-ups drool. They were OK with the city getting the Grizzlies, but Bill Laurie's impatience blew up that possibility.If another billionaire comes along looking to get a team here, then maybe it could happen. The NBA is considering grabbing some expansion billions to offset its pandemic losses.
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The new school managers are nothing like the old school greats like Tommy Lasorda,, Whitey Herzog and Earl Weaver. Those guys were not only great managers, they were great showmen and salesmen of the game. They managed with their guy and they put their passion on display.
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The NBA has a competitive balance problem because the league's best players want to consistently team up, which makes only a handful of teams legitimate championship challengers. MLB has a much more insidious competitive balance problem because only a half dozen teams a year decide to even compete for a WS. Jeff, how much longer can baseball endure all but a handful of teams shedding salary, sitting out free agency, and years of telling fans to believe in "the process" of tank and rebuild before the game enters a death spiral it can't escape?
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Our National Pastime needs to address the tanking issue. I am sure that will be a hot topic in bargaining for the next collective bargaining agreement, but absent a revenue sharing model -- which the players do not want -- then it will be really hard to create parity with CBA rules. It's great to see a Tampa Bay here or an Oakland there make a run in baseball, but it's terrible to see teams like Pittsburgh and Florida just giving up for three or four consecutive seasons.
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Jeff, my question concerns the advertising in the NHL. Can the teams make their own decisions on ad placement or is it all orchestrated in Toronto? The ads on the helmets are awful, no Blues logo on the side either. I suppose it’s another change thanks to Covid.
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Jeff, I saw an interview with Elon Musk and he says Happiness equals Reality minus Expectations. Since he's one of the smartest people ever can you tell the other PD writers to lower our expectations like you do? They could start off by admitting that Carlson probably won't be an impact bat and if he is it's a couple years away. O'neill and Bader are 7 and 8 batters. Gorman probably won't be an impact bat until 2024 or 2025 and just give us reasonable expectations like you do. Some of the others tend to raise our expectations and then we're not happy. Thanks for the chats!
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I think Carlson could be a pretty good hitter next season. He has to learn to handle changeups. If he can at least fight off those pitches, he can be a plus. And Gorman's ETA should be earlier than that. But at this point in my life, I tend to view every situation from the worst case scenario and work my way back. Some may find that pessimistic, but I am just trying to be realistic. And I am a regular sunshine pumper compared to the late, great Joe Strauss.
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Happy New Year JG. I won't complain about the front office. I wouldn't want their job . But Jeff the are God awful boring.... Is there anything that the Cardinals can do ( with the exception of bobbleheads) to make this team a litlle exciting ? Remember about 5 or 6 years ago they were hitting about 335 with runners in scoring position? That was fun to watch !
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Hey, I covered the Kansas City Kings for a bit. Yes, I was there when Darryl Dawkins blew up the backboard at the old Municipal Auditorium, while Kemper Arena was undergoing repairs. I'm old.Now K.C. has a nice dpwntown arena and an appetite for a winter sports team. I could definitely see it.
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