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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We are close to the same age, overlapped some in college as students chasing jobs in journalism, and as a result is one of the sportswriters I met a few times and admired from afar. His coverage of soccer was so vital to the growth of the coverage of the sport -- because it showed outlets the value of covering that sport, the size of the audience, and the response quality beat-writing and feature writing and narrative writing could get. He was a great writer, a confident reporter, and how he told stories within soccer showed there was an audience for soccer coverage, for newspapers to have beat writers who cover soccer. There were already soccer writers out there and I have great friends and colleagues who covered World Cups, but in an age when we can track readers, pageviews, impressions, interactions and soccer became a daily not every-four-years subject for sports, Grant was part of the group of writers who showed how soccer could compete for readers' eyes.A major loss for the craft.A heartbreaking loss for so many.If you haven't, seek out his writing. Hope you enjoy it. -
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If he's available at the price lower than the one the Cardinals thought he would be available at, sure. They don't expect that, though. They knew spending on the catcher was going to move them away from the shortstop bidding. Could they re-engage, sure, but they would do so with the market having shifted even away from their initial interest.
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Never much talk about the bullpen, but it looks like most of the 8 spots are spoken for with Helsley, Gallegos, Hicks, Stratton and barring injuries to starters Pallante, Thompson, Hudson and Woodford, with Cabrera, Naughton, Verhagen, Walsh and Rodriguez as wild cards. I don't see it as that much easier to project some other name into the bullpen until there have been multiple injuries which of course could happen. This looks like the most settled the bullpen has ever looked this early in the offseason.
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Fair point. It's one of the areas where the Cardinals can use performance to determine roles, and have a real meritocracy of sorts during spring training. There are options so players can move around up and down from the bullpen the minors and they will during the course of the season. There are compelling and different looks out there, and the Cardinals have the elastic roster to really put together a strong bullpen because it could be a deep bullpen.
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Outfield and DH. He was once a highly regarded prospect in Tampa Bay's organization and then he signed with the Cardinals as a minor-league free agent. He adjusted his swing, improved his conditioning, did not lose any of the strength, and went on a power binge this season. He has a lot of swing and miss in his game, but the compensation is that he hits a lot of homers. Did I mention the home runs?Post-Dispatch baseball writer Daniel Guerrero wrote a story with far more details and insight than I can offer here, and I hope you take the time to read it:
Not many saw Cardinals prospect Moises Gomez's breakout season, including Gomez himself
STLtoday.comMoises Gomez ditched his leg kick and trusted his hands more during breakout season. -
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Nolan Gorman turns a strong double play. Like others we've seen move to second base, he uses his arm as an asset and that helps him most when it comes to turning the double play. He has good feel for doing that around the base, and he was an asset to the Cardinals in those moments. Let's just get that defensive review out of the way.Donovan has more experience and more range and more flair at second base, and he does have a Gold Glove, though that was largely hinged on his versatility, his play at third base in specific, and the success he had in the outfield. That was how that award recognized him.I don't know who starts in Class AAA. Have to see spring and the roster first. A lot can change between now and the end of March.
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The details that you reported about which players the A's were asking from the Cardinals for Murphy made me feel a lot better about them signing Conteras. Your explanation of the magnitude of the package the Nationals wanted makes me feel better about them passing on a Soto trade. Which leads me to this question - why don't they leak details like that a little more often? I feel like if fans found out what asks they turn down in some of the trades they explore, there'd be a little bit more support for this front office.
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It's up to reporters to find that information. That's what I did. I'm unsure how to take your question, to be honest, because you mention "if fans found out what asks they turn down" -- and you start by giving examples of how the reporting gave fans that information. It's my job to get what they don't leak and provide information to readers I can prove, attribute, and stand beside. You gave two examples where reporting was able to do that. There are many others from reporters all over baseball that we could also discuss, and I hope in 20+ years of being here I've contribute my fair share to inside information that gives readers/subscribers a view of what's happening.If the team leaked that, I guess they could do so to fans on Twitter and maybe that makes my role less significant.Maybe we shouldn't give them any ideas.
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There was, yes. Could be a spring-like move for the Cardinals if they feel the production they'd expect from Martinez they cannot get from one of the young players they really want to see. Sign Martinez and you're closing off the avenues for Yepez and Walker to make the major-league team out of spring training -- or making them narrower.
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You made an offhand comparison of Walker to Pujols, do the minor league results back up that comparison? I seem to recall Albert being more dominant in the minors than Walker has been, but that's not to say Walker hasn't been really good, but so were Carlson, Arozarena and Gorman.
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That wasn't the comparison I was making, and it's fair for you to ask me to be more clear.Albert Pujols came to spring training in 2001 and hit so well and so often that the Cardinals could not ignore him, and when they threw new challenges and new positions at him in spring training he kept giving them reasons to keep him until he made the opening day starter.Jordan Walker will come to spring training in 2023 with the same opportunity to hit so well and so often that he cannot be ignored, and to succeed at everything the Cardinals throw at him all the way until he's there on the final day of camp. He has that talent and that opportunity.There is no comparison for Albert Pujols.There is a comparison for the opportunity he created for himself almost 22 years ago.
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It was a whole thing. The manager and management was not pleased with the story:
Cardinals enduring spring of discontent
STLtoday.comSeveral meetings, individually and in groups, follow stretch of ragged play. -
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Some excellent ones:-- K, Tyler Kepner's book on baseball history told through 10 pitches.-- Lords of the Realm, Helyar's inside look at the business of the game and still relevant today.-- The Baseball 100, Posnanski's magnum opus, casually conversationally written with some deep dives into challenging topics, that is certain to inspire debate.-- George Vecsey's bio on Stan Musial is superb.Or, you could always get the book I wrote. It's a quality bathroom read, I'm told.
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1) Forgive me if you've discussed this heavily before, but can you please explain how a team can earn an additional draft pick by not manipulating a rookie's service time?
2) Where did this topic fall on the player's list of priorities during the last labor discussion? -
1) That player must be with the team on opening day and through the course of the season for the team to qualify, and that player must be a highly rated prospect. That is how the draft pick is procured. The Cardinals would be eligible with Walker.2) Pretty high. They wanted to create a way for the best players to be in the majors without service time manipulation. Again and again the Kris Bryant example came up because the best players were not on the field for the Cubs to start that season and there was only one reason why -- assuring that extra year of control. That's it. Players wanted that to change.
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I don't have a good answer for this. They had such interest in him a few years ago, but he's a different player than that point. He would have been a starter for them, no question, and now ... I just don't have a good feel for their view of him. Chalk that up to my inability to shake loose the information to get a better answer. So, I'll keep trying.
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