Join baseball writer Derrick Goold for his live Cardinals chat at 11 a.m. Monday
Bring your Cards questions and comments to Monday’s 11 a.m. live chat.
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Interesting point. If Paul Goldschmidt wins the MVP, is he in that conversation. Or, is Nolan Arenado, as one of the best all-around players in the game, at that level these days? You could make the case that Arenado is to defense at third base what Albert Pujols was to hitting in the first decade of his career. -
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Cody Bellinger seems like a great fit for the Cardinals. He has a + glove in center, can play right field, first base and DH. He hits with power and has + speed on the bases. His batting average has not been good since he hurt his shoulder. Do you think Bellinger is a good fit for the Cardinals?
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It seems to me that the Cardinals have a fairly good degree of roster/payroll flexibility and the ability to upgrade the team in multiple ways this offseason, without any single glaring need (outside of starting catcher). Obviously there have been reports about LH hitting, potential protection for Goldy/Arenado, and/or rotation/bullpen help. Do have any inclination that the FO would prioritize a frontline starter, or are they primarily focusing on catcher/impact bat?
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He's on the Florida Complex League roster. A strong athlete who came to the Cardinals without much experience when it came to the level of baseball he was about to be asked to play. That's been a big leap for him, and his development has not gone as swiftly as hoped, not when it comes to getting into a Class A lineup and showing strides toward improvement in all elements of his game. That said, he's 21. So, there's a lot of time there -- and he's entering a season where they would like to see him get into those full-season teams.
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Look, sure. That's their job. I hope in these chats I've given you the tools to better understand that when there's a tweet about a team like the Cardinals "checking on" someone, well, of course they are going to do that. It's their job, as one executive told me with a shrug. I'm not yet convinced -- or able to confirm after asking around -- that they have either of those outfielders up on the list of bats they're prioritizing. Benintendi does have a tie to St. Louis. He has spent offseasons here in the past, and part of the reason was his friendship with Tate Matheny. They were together in Boston's farm system.
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MLB teams can only trade specific draft picks, and that is relatively new. Those picks are the competitive balance picks. For a long long long long long time, MLB teams could not trade picks. Heck, they could not trade drafted players for a year. They changed that rule too and that's how Atlanta traded Shelby Miller to Tony La Russa's Arizona team for Dansby Swanson so early in his career..
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Probably not much, honestly. They bring different things to the table, and they did as colleagues -- Turner Ward was part mechanic, part cheer squad, and part peer, in the sense that he could relate to the hitters in a way with a way of talking that was really helpful for this past year's team. Heck, his sayings got their own t-shirt. That shows you how he was able to connect. Brandon Allen is going to join the hitting coach group, and he'll bring some of the same approach that Albert did, and Packy Elkins is going to remain as the coordinator, so the analytics and how those are being used will be about the same.
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How, on 11/14, do you see the cardinals OF playing out? Do you see them sticking with what they have or going out of house? I personally don’t see any FA that would peak their interest from an every day perspective. Only one maaaaaybe is Conforto as a LHB but the layoff and lack of power in 2021 makes him hard to peg. What say you? Trade?
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He wasn't released. He was not protected on the roster, and he elected to become a free agent. He had that right. He was used as a utility player and his bat just had not come around like it needed to in order to get to the next level, the major-league level. He opted to be a free agent, and that's partially because he can find a better opportunity -- maybe a starting shortstop job? -- elsewhere in the minors. That wasn't going to happen with Cardinals.
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They could. Not sure that KC is motivated to trade him, at all. They are looking into the other catchers you mention, for sure. They've had talks with those teams, and they spent time in Vegas specifically looking at that market. Jays are not looking to trade Moreno at last check. They're listening on the other two, but the Jays GM said they could go into the season with all three catchers if their price is not met.
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Mr. Goold, thanks as always for the chats. Is next season when the balanced schedule goes into effect where all teams play each other the same number of times? If so, how does this affect the mindset of offseason acquisitions for the Cards knowing it's not just enough to beat up on substandard teams within their own division?
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Sort of. In 2023, all teams will play all teams, but it won't be the same amount of games. The Cardinals will play division teams more than any other team, and they'll play league teams more than American League teams. In short:-- two series at each NL Central team's ballpark.-- one series at all other NL team's ballparks.-- series at eight of the 15 AL teams, host eight of the 15 AL teams.That's how the schedule is set up. Cardinals travel to Seattle and Boston, do not host the Mariners or Red Sox. Cardinals do host the Yankees, but don't play at Yankee Stadium. They host and they travel to face the Dodgers, Padres, Nets, etc...The schedule won't change the mindset. What should change the mindset is the playoffs. Period. Full stop. The top two teams in the NL get a buy, don't have to deal with the fluke bounce and uncertainty of a three-game series. They get to move ahead to the five-game format.The third-seed division champ might as well be a wild-card, so why get stuck there? Aim higher. Cardinals are now in the business of contending for the top two spots, or should be, and that means going toe to toe to toe to toe with some of the biggest spenders in the game.Good luck.
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Mo's best moves have come when he is proactive and in a position of strength (Arenado) with depth and assets. His worst moves come when he is panicked because a positional situation has completely decayed because they waited too long to address it i.e. Ozuna. Goldy is 35 and only has two years remaining, now is the time to start the succession planning, not two winters from now when he is a free agent and they decide to extend a 37-year-old because he is a name.
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