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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.

3rd & 7 37yd

Yes.

by Derrick Goold 12/12/2022 9:36:26 PM
Derrick, great article on the pitching for 2024. How many slots are designated for our prospects?

by Long Tall Sally 12/12/2022 9:36:32 PM
The Cardinals would be fine if it's one, but not more than one, unless -- if you'll permit me an unless -- one of the prospects elbows his way into starts this season due to injury or an open spot and earns the role ahead of schedule. Thompson, Pallante, Liberatore -- they jump to mind.

by Derrick Goold 12/12/2022 9:37:25 PM
Arenado didn't go for greed and that was refreshing.

by Ed 12/12/2022 9:38:26 PM
I hope that even the most cynical Cardinals fans take note, especially the explanation that he gave reporters about how he wanted to respect the lengths the Cardinals went to make that trade possible. Have not heard that before from a player. Tells a lot about Arenado.

by Derrick Goold 12/12/2022 9:39:19 PM
Braves gave up 3 of their top 18 prospects and an MLB player

A’s get:
MIL No. 8 OF Esteury Ruiz
ATL No. 1 LHP Kyle Muller
ATL No. 6 RHP Freddy Tarnok
ATL No. 18 RHP Royber Salinas
ATL C Manny Piña

Braves get:
OAK C Sean Murphy

Brewers get:
ATL C William Contreras
OAK RHP Joel Payamps
ATL RHP Justin Yeager

by Derek 12/12/2022 9:39:27 PM
Sounds like confirmation of Post-Dispatch reporting, to me. But I'm biased.

by Derrick Goold 12/12/2022 9:39:44 PM
Hi, Derrick - thanks for these chats and for your great reporting all year. I'm struggling to see why Atlanta went with this trade for Murphy. He's a talented player, for sure, but they had a strong catching tandem to begin with. Also, in addition to pitching prospects, they parted with Contreras, who has good (some might say better than good) upside at a very low price, kept D'Arnaud, now as a backup C/DH at I think $15M year, and still haven't addressed SS. Can you help me understand their thinking? Thanks!

by GSW-TX 12/12/2022 9:40:01 PM
I cannot beyond this part of it: Sean Murphy is legit. Atlanta clearly shares that opinion. The view of him within the game is that he's a rising, breakout all-around catching talent, and if you're Atlanta and you've got a chance to add that to the core that is already under contract for years to come -- goodness. That is a strong addition for a team that wants to create a strong nucleus to grow and compete and win another title together. Catcher is a cornerstone, after all. Atlanta has to see this move as a way to improve that position for years to come, and we already know how much they've committed to their core group in extensions. Not a lot of flexibility now, so they better hope the players they've committed to perform.

by Derrick Goold 12/12/2022 9:45:28 PM
Looks like the Brewers really scored in that trade.

by JKB 12/12/2022 9:45:33 PM
It does. Nice to see a pulse.

by Derrick Goold 12/12/2022 9:45:39 PM
Atlanta gave up six players including 3 of their top 18 prospects??? Sure glad the cards didn't try to match that!!!

by AZ 12/12/2022 9:45:46 PM
Yep. Good for Oakland not to flinch on the asking price and stick with it.

by Derrick Goold 12/12/2022 9:45:59 PM
There is a scene in the movie Taken where Liam Neeson shows up to his daughter’s birthday with this little karaoke machine for her and he is so proud of his gift. And right when she unwraps it her step-dad parades out a big beautiful new horse for her. That scene pretty much sums up free agency for Cards fans as it relates to those teams we see as our NL competitors. They got new horses we got a karaoke machine.

by South City Steve 12/12/2022 9:46:20 PM
To continue your analogy, one makes a bigger mess if it goes wrong.

by Derrick Goold 12/12/2022 9:47:00 PM
Brewers got three starting players including an All-Star for playing the middle men. I’d say they won that trade.

by Ed 12/12/2022 9:47:10 PM
For 2023. It does have that feel.

by Derrick Goold 12/12/2022 9:47:15 PM
Offensively, Contreras offsets about 90% of Pujols’ 2022 production. So we are now back to the same offensive team we were in October… which wasn’t good enough to get out of the Wild Card for the 3rd year a row. So now what?

by South City Steve 12/12/2022 9:47:24 PM
Better hope the outfield provides what it did not. That's what major-league outfields do. Look at the Phillies and Houston and the other teams in the NLCS and ALCS. Their outfield offense was there because that's what MLB teams count on from the outfield -- thump.

by Derrick Goold 12/12/2022 9:48:01 PM
The price of trades is continuing to increase, but are the teams that are trading away the mlb talent for prospects really doing any better by accumulating more prospects in your opinion?

by Dave 12/12/2022 9:48:31 PM
Inflation, pal. The price of everything is going up. The cost of coaches. The cost of executives. The cost of players. The cost of facilities. The cost of travel. the cost of infrastructure. The cost of being a contending baseball team is going up. Full stop.

by Derrick Goold 12/12/2022 9:49:22 PM
None of the Braves prospects, including their number 1 who was just traded, are Top 100 prospects per MLB.com. Of course that not the be all end all, but its interesting. Did the Cardinals exiting the trade market make Oaklands selling position weaker?

by Carter 12/12/2022 9:49:44 PM
Evidently not.

by Derrick Goold 12/12/2022 9:49:48 PM
My vote would be for the Cardinals to sharpen their philosophy to being the Tampa Bay Rays with more resources at their disposal. By that I mean they put more money and effort on developing the talent they have and helping them succeed in St Louis once they are promoted. To me that's the path to keeping the payroll in line with the revenue of our market.

by ud 12/12/2022 9:54:23 PM
I'm not sure how they draft high enough to maximize that model year over year if they're also finishing in the higher echelons of the standings -- but not winning pennants. The Cardinals need to produce impact position players. A parade of them. That would help. But they haven't done that consistently, and their pitching production sagged in the minors the past year, and that leaves them lagging when it comes to producing pitching talent, too. They've regained ground there, for sure. They also have a bigger group of potential hitters than they've had in a long time. But can they all work out? Can they all contribute? If the Cardinals don't augment their roster with more spending, that is the bet they need to come through. That's the spot they're in. I'm not the Rays model fits the brand. This is a fascinating spot the Cardinals are now in thanks to the Phillies, Mets, Atlanta, and Padres.

by Derrick Goold 12/12/2022 9:57:18 PM
I still think the Cardinals signing Willson Contreras was the best move. Solved Cardinals catching problem. Helped with the offensive, did not solve the offensive. Cardinals still need one more bat. Very good arm. Good club house guy. Only cost money. Added bonus Cub fans do not like it.
Mo did a good job with this signing.
Who got the best deal for the catchers? Cardinals, Braves, Brewers or A's?

by Bryan 12/12/2022 9:57:36 PM
Atlanta got the best player, it seems. Brewers got better for 2023. A's got a haul of prospects and lower payroll. Everybody got something they wanted.

by Derrick Goold 12/12/2022 9:57:56 PM
The cost of everything in baseball is going up, do you sense the revenue the Cardinals will be getting will keep pace? And what does that inflation mean to small market teams? This inflation could get out of hand and do damage to the bottom half of league in revenue. NY and LA can spend Pittsburgh and Kansas City into oblivion.

by ud 12/12/2022 9:58:04 PM
Yes. MLB is going to get some new streams of revenue with how the TV deals sort out. The Cardinals' TV deal continues to grow with escalators built in. They need to continue to draw fans and sell tickets because that's the model they have, but they're lucky to have a fan base that responds and rewards them. In the future, they do have plans for some spillover from Ballpark Village, and that is on the horizon.

by Derrick Goold 12/12/2022 9:59:16 PM
Tampa Bay has been not much ahead of St Louis on draft day these past few years as they too, always contend.

by ud 12/12/2022 9:59:43 PM
Ah, OK. Let's not ignore the fact that Tampa Bay got to the spot their in by starting low and building to sustain. Who was a part of the beginning of the Rays? Evan Longoria, David Price ... Longoria was the third overall pick, Price the first overall pick and the first of back-to-back first overall picks the Rays had. You mention that they are drafting where the Cardinals are? Well, not quite. From 2015-2018, the Rays first pick was 13, 13, 4, and 16. In that same span, the Cardinals drafted 23, 23, not at all in the first round, and 19. What the Cardinals did do is trade for the Rays' 16th overall pick in the 2018 draft, lefty Matthew Liberatore.
I don't see the comparison here, sorry.

by Derrick Goold 12/12/2022 10:04:53 PM
Do the Cards have any interest in pursuing an extension with Tommy Edman soon? Any idea if he has a position preference (SS, 2nd) that would be a factor in his decision with the Cardinals?

by Jason K 12/12/2022 10:05:15 PM
That is a conversation coming their way as arbitration exchanges begin.

by Derrick Goold 12/12/2022 10:05:29 PM
Having a new pitching coach, bullpen coach and catcher dissuade perspective pitchers from being interested in signing in st. louis

by pdpuppy19 12/12/2022 10:06:20 PM
I don't get that sense, no. But they don't have Molina as a sales pitch, that's true.

by Derrick Goold 12/12/2022 10:06:32 PM
Since Pallante, Thompson, Naughton, and Hicks were much, much more effective in relief last year than starting (and none of them has ever even succeeded as a starter in Triple-A), is it safe to assume Ollie Marmol will leave them where they've had success and let them flourish out of the bullpen? Has the manager hinted at this at all?

by Bob Caruthers 12/12/2022 10:07:21 PM
Hicks will come to camp as a reliever. The Cardinals said that recently. Naughton and Pallante are going to stretch out so they can cover innings, and the Cardinals are open to either of them making a bid as a starter. They'd like to see how Pallante improves and if he gets on that track. They're open to him making the case.

by Derrick Goold 12/12/2022 10:08:10 PM
If Market revenue is the problem for the Cardinals spending beyond where they are, what can the Cardinals do to increase revenue. For Example, what is allowing the Braves, who were in a comparable spot before to take that additional plunge? Seems the Cardinals need to innovate in revenue generation.

by Brandon 12/12/2022 10:09:06 PM
Two things are benefiting Atlanta. They do have a new stadium and they won a World Series creating a surge in ticket sales. They also got their broadcast deal into a more competitive and more reflective place, and as you can imagine they are benefiting from a much larger market -- and thus a bigger rights deal -- than the Cardinals. Atlanta is around seventh as a media market and the Cardinals are in the 23rd range. That's a sizeable gap in the sheer access to population and cable subscribers, whether they watch baseball or not.
The Cardinals and Atlanta used to be close when it comes to their financials, but earlier this year I was told and I shared in this chat that the gap was going to widen this year, and that seeing the financials for Atlanta would give us a sense of revenues in baseball, but not be as close to the Cardinals as they have been in the past.

by Derrick Goold 12/12/2022 10:13:41 PM
Thanks for chatting, Derrick.
I'm afraid I still don't understand about the extra draft pick. Are you saying that if Jordan Walker is on the team all year, the Cards *automatically* get an extra pick? Or are they placed into a lottery for a pick? And how high would the pick be? I tried to research this question for several hours over the weekend, and all I could find was that teams get a free pick if they have the Rookie Of The Year. There was no mention at all of any other way to get an extra pick. Could you please provide a link, some sort of source I could look at?

Thanks a million!

by Bob Caruthers 12/12/2022 10:14:19 PM