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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Hey gang, happy Tuesday. Blues on the road late tonight for Game 5. Cardinals back in town after a rare off day and another series split. The Orioles are not good but have some decent pitching. Mizzou whiffed on a couple of transfers the Tigers needed in football (Gerry Bohanon) and basketball (Jamarion Sharp). All that and more to break down. We will go wherever you like, as always. Fire away. -
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DeWitt is never going to go into "win at all costs" mode.It's just not how he operates and it's not what he thinks is best for the business, or for baseball.Sustained success is the game he plays, and there are a lot of fans who appreciate that fact.They just don't make it to The Chat very often, or get tired of being shouted down when they do.However . . .DeWitt was about as pointed as he gets this spring when he said Pujols was not brought back for feel-good story alone. He said he thinks this team should compete for the chance to win a championship. I think there's more pressure on the front office than there has been for a long time, because of recent moves -- like the surprise change at manager -- and lack of deeper runs as of late.The managers have changed. The coaches have changed. There's not much else to change except for a front-office shakeup if the Cardinals don't succeed now.Getting to the expanded playoffs only to get booted early should not cut it this season.
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Best guess is it's his left knee. It took a hit when he laid that check on Matt Boldy and he was favoring it as he came off the ice. He has dealt with knee injuries in the past, including this season. If it was a small thing, he would be out there, so it's something significant to keep a tough guy out. There's been no timeline given by the team, which is just calling it a lower body injury.
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You earlier mention DeWitt is never going into "win at all costs" mode. I think fans realize that and would accept that. But dang can you do better than this past offseason? I mean average fans had never heard of most of those guys. The team wasn't improved one iota it looks like. At least give a better effort than that. I just don't think DeWitt is in it to win it. He's in it to save money. He's in it to make an appearance in the postseason, which isn't hard to accomplish, by the way
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I'm not defending the offseason or the model. Just explaining the team's stance on it. I thought they stopped short this offseason. Max Scherzer wanted to come here. They pulled themselves out of the shortstop sweepstakes before they even started. They ignored a chance to swing big on a big-hitting DH. They made some good under-the-radar pickups that have helped, but their biggest addition was Steven Matz, who has been great sometimes and terrible other times, which was his track record with the Mets for years before he had a good season in Toronto.
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Will there be a "Jaden Schwartz-like moment" in tonight's Blues/Wild game? There are a lot of similarities to the 2019 round one series with the Jets when Schwartz redirected a pass from Tyler Bozak into the net and the famous call from John Kelly "I don't believe what I just saw!". I think Vladi Tarasenko will be the hero tonight, bringing the Blues back home for game 6 to clinch the series. Can lightning strike twice?
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This series feels different because the Blues are so beat up, and they are playing such a different style now. But they gave themselves new life and bought some time for guys to heal -- at least those that can in time -- with the Game 4 win. Jordan Binnington should not be written off. He proved that in Game 4, and that should build his confidence for Game 5. My X-factor in this one will continue to be Perron. He knows how to score on Marc-Andre Fleury. His shooting percentage is a crazy-high 26.3 percent in this series. He's gotta keep getting looks and taking them.
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The Cardinals have a process with the arbitration stuff, and they follow it.If they can't agree with a player on a pre-arbitration salary and/or work out a multi-year deal, they go to the hearing and solve it that way.The file-and-trial method is used my many teams.It's not unique to the Cards.So, it's not about the money as much as it is the process, and how the process saves money in negotiations with players over the long-term.Dickerson would be about the money in one way, but not another.It wouldn't cripple the Cardinals to eat his $5 million contract if they decide to promote Gorman and remove Dickerson.It would take the Cardinals admitting they made a mistake adding Dickerson.They don't like doing that, especially in May.But Dickerson is not doing much to help himself besides the occasional single or walk.He's here to hit right-handed pitching, and his batting line against it reads .191/.235/.213.While the Cardinals have baseball's best OPS against left-handed pitching (.832), they have the National League's second-lowest OPS against right-handed pitching (.644), and their designated-hitter OPS against right-handed pitching is second-lowest in the NL (.547).
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No, I think it's just the team buying time. Time for DeJong and/or Dickerson to get going, or not. Time for Gorman to get more reps. If they do decide they can't wait any longer and need to see what Gorman can do, I think the handwringing about not moving Edman will fade pretty fast. Gorman can also be a part of the DH equation. He will debut this season. That has been the expectation.
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Hi Ben, thanks for the chat. I'm one who definitely appreciates the lengthy run of sustained success under DeWitt's regime. That said, I think there is also room for criticism of some of the decisions that have been made. Specifically, when it comes to mid-season trade opportunities. I know I for one would appreciate a tad more aggressiveness in July/August.
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Sure. And if not, more aggressiveness before the season. Something has to change. No championship since 2011. No NLCS win since 2015. One first-place NL Central finish since 2016. First-world problems, sure. But the Cardinals have taught their fans to want parades, so fans can't be knocked for wanting parades. I get it. And if you read the columns and The Chats you will know I've been hollering for a heavier foot on the pedal for a while now.
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I like Perunovich a lot and think he has a really bright future, but hearing Lamoriello's comments on his (dumb) decision to fire Trotz about how he wanted to emphasize youth and offensive upside, I can't help but think Perunovich would be a fit for them. What would you think of a trade of SP for Adam Pelech (plus other pieces from both sides probably)? Pelech is a brilliant defensive defenseman who could slot well long-term with Parayko
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The Blues have been patient with Perunovich and might not want to see him flourish elsewhere if they feel he's finally close. On top of that, a team acquiring him could have questions about his health. He might not fetch the return the Blues think he could be worth. Scandella -- if there are takers -- seems like the defensemen to try to move this offseason. What happens during this playoff run can and will shape things, too. Always does. I agree with you that some some defensive length -- remember Pietrangelo?! -- seems to be missing from this bunch, and that shows in the playoffs.
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None of these arguments about sending DeJong down to AAA, bringing Gorman up and releasing Dickerson would happen if Jeff Albert were not the coach. I mean the team has poor hitting (below .220) by Carlson, O'Neil and Knizner, terrible hitting (below .184) by Dickerson, Sosa, Donavan, DeJong......A three year trend and no one seems to get a clue!
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If you had to win one game today and that's it, Miles Mikolas would probably be your best bet.But that's not how this stuff works, as you know.It's easy to fall for the guy on the outside of the rotation looking in, especially when starters struggle, but more puzzling to me is how the Cardinals don't seem to have a decent role for Woodford.They put so much thought, care and planning into how to best use Hicks, but they can't think they are getting the proper use out of Woodford, who has more to offer than being a cleanup guy.A pitcher seems to fall into this trap every year, though.
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So Mizzou is 400 to 1 odds to win the sec. Second worse to Vandy. My hope is with everything I read they are basing mizzou being a non factor is on our QB situation. I hope the rest of the team is improved and we can have a committee of running backs that can be efficient. It has been a couple of years since the outlook looks so bleak for a season. Most publications have mizzou at 5 and 7. 3 non conf wins 2 sec. Wins. I know hoping for 7 is a stretch but 6 and 6 gets a bowl probably a pretty good season if we get in a bowl.
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I tend to agree with the preseason publications. The Tigers spent the offseason courting transfer QBs but did not land one, suggesting this season could be about someone growing on the job, whether it's Brady Cook, Tyler Macon, Sam Horn or someone else. Tyler Badie is gone and will be hard to replace. Those are two massively important positions on offense that have question marks. The conference schedule is tough. Going to be tough sledding, I'm afraid. But Drinkwitz has provided reasons in recruiting to suggest brighter days are ahead. Especially if he can keep Horn from picking MLB over baseball and football at Mizzou.
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No thanks. Chief continues to press the right buttons for the Blues. The fact the Blues are tied 2-2 right now is directly because of the changes he made after an avalanche of injuries. Best of luck to Torts, but Blues have their man, and he just got a deserved extension this season.
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More than anything he's just getting some time to play, and play regularly.That can work wonders.He's also more comfortable defensively and with the pitch-calling now, so he can focus on his offense when he's at the plate.He said earlier this season that as late as last year, he was thinking about what pitches to call in the next half-inning while he was walking to the plate to hit.That showed in his lack of production.Now he pauses that part of his brain to focus on his at-bat, and that is showing in the numbers, too.
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Looks like the Cards are going to be forced to make a decision on DeJong, the way things are going. What is the most likely scenario if he does not turn it around?
A). He is traded at deadline and Gorman is called up, with Edman moving to SS
B). He becomes the utility guy and Sosa is the starter and Gorman DH
C). He is DFAed and the Cards eat the rest of his salary -
I've wondered if the Cardinals could find some sort of fresh-start-needed-for-both-guys trade for DeJong this season, and if they are reluctant to send him down to Memphis for a reset because they feel he has more value if they don't.His glove provides value -- believe it or not he's still a +0.4 WAR guy right now even during this offensive collapse -- so the Cardinals could make him a bench guy for shortstop defense late in games, if, say, they wanted to shift Tommy Edman from shortstop to second and pull out a less experienced second baseman, like Nolan Gorman.I guess my point is, it doesn't have to be A, B or C, because Edman could play short, Gorman could be called up and DeJong could still be on the team in a reduced role.Question would be, is that the best team? And, could DeJong keep up the great glovework if reduced to that kind of role? I don't have those answers. I have wondered if this situation is going to require a fresh start for him elsewhere, with a team that thinks it can solve what has gone wrong with his swing, something the Cardinals and DeJong cannot seem to figure out together.
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