If Miles Mikolas can't pitch this season, that would change the equation. Also, now that the Cardinals are able to project some ticket income for this season, that might make management a bit more willing to add some salary here or there if needed. But management came into the spring looking to run notably less payroll than a year ago.
Managers who criticize their players for the record tend to have shorter shelf lives. And criticizing somebody a few days into spring training would be especially risky.
That project is great for the city, but there's a mammoth amount of work to do to get things headed in the right direction again.
Given the fact that Reyes has done hardly any pitching for the past few years, the management team has decided to stretch him out gradually this spring. The thought was to get him ready to be a starting option at some point this season. If he continues to look strong, it's possible that timetable could be adjusted a bit. But the caution is understandable given Reyes' extensive injury history.
A team that uses that mentality with pitchers is going to ruin a lot of pitchers needlessly. The attrition rate with pitchers is high as it is. Handling them recklessly can blow out a staff and set a franchise back for years.
Carlos pitched well in Winter Ball, so there's no reason to give up on him just yet.
The Cardinals will have replacement players handy at an alternate site, like they did last season, until the Triple-A season starts. That will be the protection against sudden COVID casualties.
Carpenter is owed $18.5 million for this season, so he will start the season with the team. Rondon would have a better chance to make the team if he had more fielding versatility. But anybody who proves they can hit in limited duty could get work with the Cardinals this season as they sort out the bench. A guy like Justin Williams is a great exampe of that. Justin Williams with his left-handed bat is a good example of that.
Torts would be more entertaining that Craig Berube. But bringing his name up week after week in this chat is a sign of mental illness.
Management does not want that because management does not want Carpenter to be raking in big coin here again next season. Management wants to get some miles out of Carpenter for the big money it has to pay him this year. And then management wants to move on from paying Carpenter huge money.
Has the regular season started? I must have missed that.
Carpenter is thrilled to have this year left on his contract. He know that the contract gave him one more chance to earn big money. He knows this is his last chance -- and that if he doesn't hit he might not even last the season.
I imagine the bygones will be bygones and Keith will likely get that honor at some point.
This assumes that the NL would have the DH in 2022 and that Albert would hit well enough to get that job. Also that assumes that Wainwright and Molina will be here in 2022 A lot of ifs there.
You might have to wait until 2022 for that.
That would make him go through waivers to go back to alternate camp/Triple-A. And that would make it more likely that he sticks with the team.
With fans coming back into the stands, it's possible the Cardinals will be more willing to take on payroll later this year. If that's the case, then, as they usually do, the Cardnals will look to fill needs.
And, no, that wasn't me pretending to be a chatter.
That's absurd. Nobody is blocking Anas or anybody else from the NHL. Those jobs are earned. The AHL is a big, big step down from the NHL. IF a guy was scoring 160 points down there and not getting a chance, then you might have something.The reality for AHL players is this: A veteran in a scoring role at that level is likely to be a poor fit to play a fourth-line role in the NHL. Those are the fill-in jobs that are there. The skill sets for those jobs are different. And a scorer at the AHL is typically not good enough to hold that sort of role for long at the NHL level.This relates to the earlier question about Lafreniere. There is not much tiime and space in the NHL.