Join columnist Ben Frederickson for a live STL sports chat at 11 a.m. Tuesday
Ben Frederickson answers your Cardinals, Blues, St. Louis City, Mizzou and SLU questions in Tuesday's 11 a.m. live chat.
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He's known as a strong recruiter but he has not yet proven that he can do it at his own program as the head coach. Recruiting for Rick Barnes is one thing. Doing it as the head man at your own program is something else. That said Kim is an engaging, smart, modern-thinking coach who is going to bond well with recruits and their families. It would be almost impossible to not be impressed with him as a recruiter. But if you're looking for stacks of evidence he's a cant'-miss recruiter, there's just not enough right now. Could be. But can't know for sure until he does it or does not. If Kim was not a former Tiger he would not be moving the hypothetical needle like he is now. I get it, but it's that connection more than his recruiting that is driving that fan-driven discussion. I'm a big fan of Kim. Have been for a long time, since we were in college together. I've joked with him many times that he will be coaching the Tigers one day. Is he next up? I'm not sure about that at this moment. He just started his first head job.
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Thanks for the Card’s chats – always informative and nice to break up the winter. I guess I need to go check Jack Flaherty’s stats but my impression is that he had the one really fantastic year (esp. the last half of 2019) but has otherwise “just” been a good solid pitcher otherwise. I sure don’t remember any stretches of dominance since 2019. He honestly hasn’t shown to be a $25M per year pitcher to me. Is that unfair? Is there some x-factor or something I’m missing?
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He's never made $25 million in a season.He made $3.9 million in 2021.Now, if the Cardinals want to sign him to an extension that pushes back his free agency, they have to come up with a number that pays him what he agrees to accept to do that.Projecting a players' value moving forward is the key to both free agency and extensions.There has to be a compromise between a team to guarantee a number, and from a player to accept that number, knowing the security now could be less than what could be leveraged as a free agent later.Could Flaherty be a $25 million per season pitcher in the future? Yes, I think he good get there if he stays healthy and continues to improve. He had a historically good second half in 2019 before COVID arrived in 2020, scrambling the season. Then injuries messed with 2021.He's 26. I'll continue to bet on the future of Flaherty.
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Did they cancel the Mizzou game due to lack of tickets sold?
Seriously, concerning the attendance, there are always excuses from people about the low attendance (bad weather, bad opponent, holiday break, bad record, COVID.....etc...) but I bet even if the SEC home opener was played tomorrow the arena would be half full. Other teams battle the same issues and have their arenas full. Even when M.Anderson and Haith were winning they always had pleas to get the fans to show up. Is arena access an issue ? Parking? Does the new AD see this? Does she have any plan to fix these issues? -
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BenFred, thanks for doing these!!! I didn't realize how unique these are in the industry---thanks for what is surely a hassle some days.
On a brighter note---is Tom Stillman and group one of the very best ownership groups in all of pro sports, adjusting for financial means? The Stillman/Armstrong/Berube combination has been great---can we get Berube a 3 year extension? Please? I would hate to see another great coach cut lose in St. Louis (see Bowman/Arbour/Berenson/Demers)....especially after losing Shildt, who was above average...other than defending "his" guys a little too much -
It's pretty wild to me that Berube is coaching out this season as a lame duck.I have to think the Blues will make that right soon.I don't want to see him coaching anywhere else and can't imagine the Stillman/Armstrong plan has a different coach in mind for a long while.
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There is a theory in auction bidding that a very quick process favors the seller as the bidders will bid up the price based on emotion rather than reason. In the baseball labor situation, it appears both sides may be positioning themselves as the sellers with this thought process. Who is better equipped to handle a fast negotiation and why?
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The owners are always going to have the upper hand in these negotiations. Their group is smaller, much more financially secure than the range of players and almost all share the same priorities. Players are a larger group, some set for life financially and some just trying to get there. All types of ages and interests. So, owners have upper hand and they know it, but the players have hired better negotiators and have taken a more owner-like, dogged approach this time around. They're motivated by the CBA they felt like the got the short end of last time around and don't want it to happen again.
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Greinke's second half was a little concerning. Neck issues. Pitched out of pen in the playoffs. 5.34 second half ERA. If he was healthy and you could prove it, I'd pick him. But because of those concerns, I'd probably bet on Trevor Story. Nothing against Jansen, just think the Cardinals are better equipped to find internal answers and cheaper production in bullpen.
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That's still my hope, but don't be surprised if the expanded postseason leads to a somewhat shorter season. So, a regular season not scarred by the work stoppage is what I'm really hoping for, and I think there's still a chance despite the slow start to negotiations in 2022. Fingers crossed.
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BenFred, Danny Duffy is available but won’t be ready until June. He would fit nicely as a sixth starter and depth pitcher/swing man. As you recall, June was when the Cards needed pitching reinforcements last year. You think the Cards would sign him if the price was right?
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I'm sure they have their targets they want, and others they want to watch to see how things play out with the market. That's usually how it works. They got their must-have guy in their eyes (a starter like Matz) before the shutdown. They're going to do some bullpen work, for sure, and are in wait-and-see mode elsewhere. Some surprises could come. We shall see.
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BenFred -
Wondering what you see out of Jake Walman that is resulting in him riding the pine most nights. I know his offensive output has been paltry, but his speed on defense has saved our behinds on a number of occasions. I haven't seen him make dumb defensive zone turnovers the way Krug or some others have. With our Defense consistently seen as a problem area, why not give him some run over Scandella or Bortuzzo? -
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BenFred -
Wondering how you expect the Blues to handle Barbashev. Loved the article the Post Dispatch published on him, but to think that Berube would cut his minutes and put him on the 4th line is sickening. Don't get me wrong, the depth of talent on this team is a great problem to have, but surely Barby deserves second line consideration until he stops making a massive impact on the game right? -
That was Hochman's column on Barbashev, and I enjoyed it, too. The stuff about the radio broadcast trying to drive up sweater sales was great. I'm gonna give Chief the benefit of the doubt on line changes until we see differently. He's used more than 50 different lineups this season -- often because he has to due to COVID and injuries -- and welcomed in a nearly double-digit amount of guys from the minors. Now the team is getting healthier and its time to find out what works and doesn't, so expect some experimenting. And I know it's rare around here, but maybe give the coach some patience as he sorts through it. The Blues are in first place in their division despite COVID and injuries doing its best to derail everything. I'm drinking the blue Kool-Aid, I know, I know.
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BenFred -
Shocked I haven't seen any questions come up about this yet - How should Blues fans and all national hockey league fans feel about Jordan Kyrou after his coming out party at the Winter Classic? Sure, 4 points is great, especially when two of those points are goals, but his skating was elite, he dominated the offensive game every time he touched the ice and that second goal showcased best-in-class stick handling and a nasty wrist shot.
Blues fans have been psyched about him since his NHL debut, but now the world has seen his potential too. Are we talking the next McKinnon/Kaprizov/Matthews? Or do we need to cool the jets? The tools seem to be there. -
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I've been trying how best to express this, but my comment/question concerns Cardinal ownership. It is my understanding that the franchise has much more financial muscle than it has been using. In the 2000s, the Cardinals built stud lineups. Now, it appears that DeWitt is more inclined to try and do more with less. I seem to remember Theo Epstein once saying, just a few years ago, that if the Cardinals wanted to mash down on the pedal (financially) they could blow away the rest of the NL Central. So, Ben, would you say this assertion is fairly on target? And if so, I and many other fans are frustrated that they are so close to HAVING a studly team...why don't they go for it?
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The Epstein quote was to Derrick Goold in 2014.Here it is.
“In reality, they’re a powerhouse. The Cardinals are the standard in a lot of ways. They’ve built an incredibly healthy baseball organization and a thriving, robust business operation and they combine those things really well. I don’t think they’ve reached their potential yet. I think there isn’t a player in baseball that they couldn’t go get if they wanted to. If they sensed a threat and they wanted to put their foot on the gas I think it’s almost unlimited what they could do.”I've said in this chat and columns, multiple times, that the Cardinals can and should tweak their sustained-success model to have more win-now lean as they have drifted from championship contention. My feelings on that have not changed. -
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