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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I think most rational fans see the ceiling for this team to be a single game playoff win in the first round of the playoffs. I see the CBA expiration as the excuse next year for DeWitt not to spend. How long do you think it will be before the fans start to actually hit ownership in the wallet to force a change? -
There is no guarantee that fans will come back in the same numbers after the pandemic, even if the team throws money at somebody to generate good PR. That is a bigger concern that fans smashing their foreheads into their computer keyboard while posting angy Internet comments and firing salvoes on social media. Baseball could be in for a major correction and major contraction. Most other franchises will operate accordingly. The key for the Cardinals going forward will be to operate smarter. This franchise will continue spending more on talent than most, but it must eliminate the sort of big-dollar mistakes that put it in its 2021 jam. -
Is it fair to say, big time players come up and make an impact immediately? I remember AP started and you knew he was the future. Same way when Arozarena got his chance . Once Voit got Playing time he showed an impact. Who had started out as a borderline player i’m (Cardinals favorite player,)and ended up great?
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Great players usually make an impact quickly, but Pujols is an extreme case. He hit RIGHT AWAY. Usually a good prospect will get a few call-ups one year, then a chance to settle in the next year after putting the lessons learned to work.Ozzie and Yadier needed a lot of time to develop their hitting, but they, too, are extreme cases. Arozarena kicked around the minors for some time before finally flashing some power. And he didn't earn a job in his first Rays camp either. Dylan Carlson wasn't consistently good in his first brief tour, but I like his chances.
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Is St. Louis University going to have a baseball season this year? Would it be worth it for the Cards to let them play some games at Busch? With St. Louis only (maybe) letting 8k-12k fans in lots of fans are not going to get to go to games, maybe they can go to Billikens games instead at the Stadium.
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Today's article about the Cards and platooning highlighted my angst with their FO. Last year it was suggested multiple times publicly they go after someone like Joc Pederson and platoon in the OF. The stats spoke for themselves. The Cards said they didn't want to go down that road. Now a year later that's exactly what they're saying and how analytics support the move. What? They all of a sudden discovered analytics? The PD writers have repeatedly shown the different splits, so they must have some inside information not available to a multi-million dollar operation.
The FO presents the narrative they support at the moment, not the direction they need to go or what makes the most sense.
With such a poor performing OF how do you platoon so many right handed batters and find improvement? -
The two outfielders who should get the most at bats this season are switch-hitters. Would it be nice to have a left-hitting opton better than Justin Williams? Sure. Cold they pull one off the pile this spring? Sure. But the problem could be solved this season if Lane Thomas can play center field and hit righties better than Harrison Bader does. Once Fowler is out of the picture, then the topic of adding a lefty outfield bat with power will resonate more with me.I love all the fancy stats discussion of platooning. You platoon because your eveyday players aren't very good. If baseball goes platoon-happy, that will illustrate just how severe the offensive erosion has become in Our National Pastime with all of this one-dimensional hitting.
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I keep reading about Carlson, Herrera, Libatore and Gorman bust realistically speaking aren't they a few years away from being CORE players? I'm not talking about being above average but being players you build a team around. Judging from Gorman's minor league stats he looks like he may be a LH O'Neil.
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Gordo,
While it is a reasonable expectation for the team to be mediocre this year given the potential loss of huge revenues, its also reasonable to expect that the Cardinals can fill a short term need in this FA market. The Cardinals can add an inexpensive player that can improve the offense on a 1 year deal and not blow their budget. The angst of the fans is self inflicted; the Dewitt's have set the expectation for championship clubs. If they decide to do nothing, don't blame the fans for spending their dollars elsewhere. TV ratings should be down for this season, and FSMW (Ballie Sports) will feel the pinch. -
I could definitely see the Cardinals waiting out the market and adding some low-cost offensive support. Given the cease-fire agreement in the NL Central, teams are generally subtracting more than they add. Given all their pitching depth, the Cardinals should stay in the division hunt such as it is.
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Did the Blues make a mistake by signing Dunn after signing Krug long term and having Perunovich in the wings? They are all LH and similar size and type and w Faulk also now another smaller puck mover it seems the Blues best lineup would add Mikkola w Paranko, Scandella, Bortuzzo/Gunnerson to give the defense more size to help Binnington and especially the PK.
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Signing Dunn for that contract was certainly not a mistake. Perunovich is at least a year away, so there is no redundancy there. Do both Dunn and Perunovich have long-term futures here in the STL? Perhaps not, for the reasons you outlined. Doug Armstrong is not shy about adjusting his roster via trades. And the expansion draft could trigger some sorting on the blue line as well.
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Up front I like Mizzou's DC hire. But it wasn't that long ago Dooley was hired and the claim was he'd bring NFL innovation while having significant college experience.
I'm curious to see what kind of DL coach he can bring in and how they'll handle Gibbs now that he wasn't selected. -
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Jeff- i continue to see veiled and not so veiled comments of trading Flaherty because of "activism". If this team had more players with Flaherty's ability i gladly would take activism . Are Cardinals fans really becoming so politicized that they would rather lose than have players who think and speak out on what they believe. I personally respect players who take on tough issues and don't try and be vanilla to please a certain segment who are apparently afraid of athletes who don't agree with their positions.
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Athletes are citizens too. They should be to speak their mind and use their platform if they have one. Some fans can't deal with that, but then again neighbors turned on each other families suffered rifts over the overheated political "discourse" of the past few years. I grew up in the 60s when were worse issues rocking the country -- assassinations, urban riots, the Vietnam War in addition to the usual murderous racial oppression -- so I tend to be bit more circumspect about such things.
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There was an article out saying SEC teams have paid upwards of $170M in buyouts to coaches since Saban took over at Alabama. That's crazy money and it hasn't stopped this year. At least Mizzou was only about $10M.
What's your take on the mess at Tennessee and the report coaches were handing out bags of cash? Would they really be that out in the open about it? Should they learn from KU and LSU BB how circumvent the rules and not be so obvious? -
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Who's the middle of the order bats(2-5) besides Goldy? Carlson has to be one, doesn't he? (a lot of pressure for someone so new), Edman regressed, DeJong has been a hopeful but disappointment last 2 years, Carp or Fowler- yuck, other 2 young OFs? Yadi thinks he should be. And what happens if we have the DH which makes lineups deeper? What should Shildt do? Punt?
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How about the Cardinals consider doing something different this year, like emphasize bunting against the shift and going the other way when hitting against the shift. I understand that Carlson and a new bat from Free Agency or a Trade will improve the lineup and we do have hitters with better upside next year. But things will not get dramatically better unless the Cards try something different and bunting and going the other way against the shift would be dramatically different than what we have seen in the past.
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There is too much talent on the power play for it to fail much longer. Montgomery is preaching the usual stuff -- quicker puck movement, more player movement and quick shot releases to get pucks throught traffic and into the goal mouth scramble.As for the penalty kill, there are personnel concerns there. Bortuzzo needed to play a bigger role this year with his willingness to block shots . . . and then he got hurt right away. As an earlier chatter noted, maybe rangy Niko Mikkola needs a regular turn back there to balance up things.
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Back to the platooning subject. TB and LAD met in the WS and Goold showed how much they platoon and shift lineups every day based upon personnel both on their team and the opponent. Does that show a lack of offensive capability in MLB or maximization of the tools you have? Do you see teams adjusting in that direction, much like Saban changed from winning with the best defense to the best offense and mediocre defense?
I know how disappointed I've become with MLB hitting in general. -
If baseball does go all-in with the platoon thing, it will be golden for the Cardinals. They would rather spend on two $15 million players -- or better yet, three at $10 million per year -- than one $30 million player. Job-sharing could be way more cost-efficient. It could minimize risk, too, since its masks individual shortcomings. One-dimensional hitters could pair up with other one-dimensional hitters to keep favorable matchups. It's not hard to imagine the analytics-driven execs getting visibly excited by this prospect.Of course, the downside too this is that teams will use eight pitchers in every game while trying to counter the platoon . . .
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Pro football is the one sport best equipped to succeed without fans. Kroenke could have made a ton of money staying in St. Louis. He could make a lot more in LA once he recoups his massive stadium investment, but that could take time given this long-term pandemic damage.
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Happy Friday Commissioner Gordon.
It seems to me the current Blues roster is built for an offensive minded coach. We’ve got greyhounds ready to run but the team’s identity has been defense first. I see a disconnect with what Chief wants and what the players’ abilities are. What say you? -
I believe the game is getting faster all the time and the Blues are suited for that. They can tighten up their play with the guys they have, but they problably won't be as smothering in their own zone. On the other hand, they could be even better at sustaining offensive zone pressure -- another hallmark of a Berube-coached team.That said, I could see this team making an adjustment or two to get a heavier look. As note before, the rangy Mikkola could become a nice fit for Berube.
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Jeff,
What are the chances that advertising on the helmets remain after the virus is passed and traditional revenue is back? I'm thinking (unfortunately) that it's here to stay. I'm quite sure we'll have jerseys with adverts paste all over similar to European leagues.
Your thoughts? -
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Did you buy up a bunch of Sears stock in the early 2010’s? It’s a store with a long and storied history of success. By your line of thinking the online shopping trend (successful tank and rebuild) should be ignored. You want to point to the teams past success but a 2019 ticket doesn’t get me into this years games. The Cardinals history is terrific, but the current trend stinks, and I don’t think it due to COVID. It has exacerbated the situation, but it’s not the underlying issue. If I thought the Cardinals would make changes in 2022 I would sit quietly while the bad contacts expire. What about this front office, not 2011’s, gives you hope that they will do anything differently?
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The Cardinals have stayed the course with a commitment to player development, especially on the pitching side. That has served them well. They made the NLCS two years ago and in face of insane adversity they reached the postseason bracket last year. We're not talking about Chesterfield Mall here.Obviously the franchise will be more careful giving out contract extensions in years to come. The same goes for long-term offers to mid-level free agents. They will be well-positioned to muscle up in 2022. Will they spend their resources wisely? We shall see.
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Waiinwright would win the latter title. Marcell Ozuna is long gone so there is no obvious WWE candidate in there. On sheer intensity, maybe that would be Molina if he returned.As for the nightclub scene with the players, I would not know. I only did that once in my career. Dennis Martinez was my guy. He got me into a place on Rush Street in 1983 during his Orioles days. There were players and admirers everywhere. I felt somewhat out of place with $30 waredrobe and $10 haircut and bailed quickly.
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Jeff, can the state of the Cards best be summed up this way? The DeWitts are more focused on their real estate investments - getting people into their Village condos than overseeing a baseball team in a complete state of flux due to a two year pandemic followed by what almost certainly will be a baseball strike in 2022?
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Well, if they have a consistently bad baseball product that undermines the other enterprises. If anything, the broad commitment made to downtown St. Louis puts more pressure on them to keep the Cardinals consistently interesting. The made their own stakes much higher and creates a greater disincentive to tank.
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Alexander Steen retired from the nhl because he knew he couldn’t compete anymore! If Carpenter is such a team player, how come he won’t do the same thing? He’s always said he would do whatever is in the best interests of the organization? We all know he has back issues and without injections and pain killers he can’t swing the bat? I Hope the organization finds a way to pay him to go away.
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Charles Harris was their classic success story. He was another talented athlete recruited out of an urban high school program that lacked the resources (coaching, facilities, tradition, competitive level) of the football prep factories that produce so many college players. Harris was raw but willing and Pinkel and Kuligowski worked the whole Mizzou-made magic on him. Back in is heyday, Gary recruited good football players from some smaller town football programs and made them better athletes And he took athletes from big city programs and made them better football players. That was his workaround to the whole four-star/five-star thing.
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