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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Mozeliak said himself on that recent MLB Network Cardinals feature that the goal is to get into the playoffs and take a shot.It was pretty clear difference from what has been coming out of the manager's office and the clubhouse since spring training, and there was a difference noted in spring training, too.Some of it is semantics. Mozeliak is not going to set himself up for a non-championship season to be labeled a failure. It's interesting to me that Marmol is driving home that exact point so hard. Fans hear the difference.Where the Cardinals front office sets its bar of expectations publicly has drifted quite a bit in recent years. Win a championship. Win the division. Just get in. If nothing else, raise a toast to another winning season.Cardinals fans, it seems to me, are appreciative of always being in the mix but are also tired of spending less time in the postseason than Giovanny Gallegos spends on the mound before he delivers a pitch.Yes, the Cardinals look around the division when building their team. Every team does. And every team insists it doesn't. It's been pretty clear the past half-decade that underestimating the Brewers after the rise and fall of the Cubs is a bad idea. -
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It would be as all-in a move as the Cardinals have made in a very, very long time.And in some ways, it would be a Cardinals-themed all-in, because it would include 3 postseason shots with him.It would also perhaps include saying goodbye to nearly three decades of contract control for former fist-round picks and guys who could have quite successful long-term careers for this team, perhaps even superstar status of their own.That would be the gamble.Heady stuff.
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I have a great marketing suggestion for the Cardinals: Replace the giant World Series Trophy with giant "Over .500!" and "Get In, Get Lucky" Signs. Consistency of messaging is something you learn as a first year business student, and I'm happy to pass that lesson along for free!
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Reminds me of one of my pandemic columns:
BenFred: Trying to find something nice to say about the Cardinals' new statue
STLtoday.comThe statue is a little bit — but not much — less horrific than the Chicago Cubs opening a jewelry store at Wrigley after they won it all in 2016. -
BenFred - How great must David Stearns feel when he awakes each morning? He's in a division with three teams that have front offices that are actively trying to lose, while the fourth routinely whistles past the graveyard, failing to address pitching needs year after year after year. It's like groundhog day.
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At what point does he check his postseason record to regain some balance?Stearns is really good. I point that out as much as anyone, because I think Cardinals fans are still not taking the Brewers seriously enough. There's a reason other clubs keep trying to poach him. But he's still got a Brewer ceiling to bash through before he can start feeling like he's king of the NL Central castle. The crown is very much up for grabs.
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BenFred I am much like a previous chatter and honestly prefer my sports not mix with political and social issues of the time. As you mentioned it’s almost impossible to accomplish that in the times we currently live in. Having said that I agree completely with the stance you and BenHoch took in your recent articles about Goldschmidt and Arenado. We all recognize this is America and we are privileged with many freedoms of choice. That’s a good thing. I have worked in management my entire adult life and one thing I learned early on is that leaders are supposed to lead from the FRONT! These two Cardinals failed that test miserably. I happily received my vaccinations (all I could get) to protect not only myself and loved ones but also my coworkers and their families and down to the family I might walk past in the grocery store. Over a million deaths in this country alone make it important to me. Thanks for taking on the tough/uncomfortable subjects but I will be happy to get back to discussing Goldy’s MVP chances. Thanks for the chance to comment.
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Some of it is reporting and sourcing, same as anything.Some of its craziness generated from fake accounts and trolls.Some of it is speculative.Some of it is industry inside baseball.Teams are constantly talking about what they think other teams are going to do -- or fits for other teams they see. Those thoughts get floated. (Rival executives see the Cardinals as having the kind of farm system that could land Soto.)Agents are always working to make cases for their players to have robust markets -- and sometimes be viewed as a fit for a team. (Scott Boras tells National Writer X these teams could be in mix.) Those get pedaled.Sometimes media types and players share agencies and that can lead to stuff as well.
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BenFred, thanks for the chats and for the columns. I get the uneasy sense that something is just "off" about this year's Cards team. Yes, they're over .500, and yes, they're in contention, but most of this month they just look flat and tired and frankly, uninterested in taking charge in the division. With the abundance of talent on this squad, their lack of fight, of fire, and of anything approaching a keen will to win is both disappointing and dispiriting. Am I seeing what you're seeing, and if so, is it the manager, the clubhouse vibe, ownership, or just an unfortunate combination of all of it? Thanks!
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I don't think they have the pitching needed to find the traction to wrestle away the division and run with it, more than anything. There are too many holes between the rotation and the bullpen, too much trying to stay afloat. They've never won more than four consecutive games. Never lost more than four consecutive games. They're afloat, and that's really it, as currently constructed and with the injuries they have encountered.
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Little change of subject, but I was surprised DeJong didn't get added for this series with the versatility of Edman, Donovan and Sosa. He's had a good month and I thought the Cards would want to see him in MLB action with an easy excuse to send him back if he struggled. Any insight into why he didn't get the call this time?
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A check of the calendar suggests it could be trade-deadline related.Once Mozeliak referenced a "Wally Pipp" situation I knew the Cardinals were not rushing for ways to race DeJong back.He's been playing well lately and was just named International League player of the week.
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I have no reason to believe he changes his mind about being done.The sendoffs. The way he talks about where he is. Seems very much like a legitimate retirement tour. Same for Molina, clearly.Part of the plus of bringing Pujols back around was having him around after he's done, in whatever capacity that looks like.He'll be around.
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Ben how important is the battery mate record to Yadi? If something (injuries) happens and he and Waino wind up a game or two short will he attempt to reverse course again and come back next season providing Adam does of course? More importantly will he be welcomed back? I just hope the man can walk unassisted at age 60 the way he has abused his body doing his job for so many years. Thanks and I look forward to your comment.
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How did Molina's basketball team do last week? Just curious. Hope he can fit it into his schedule to return to STL and continue his duties with his employer located downtown. Does your instinct tell you he indeed may not return and simply call it a career? His activity (or lack thereof) over the past off-season and up to now have, I feel, left a real negative mark on his stellar career.
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He's starting a rehab assignment with Memphis on Thursday. He wouldn't be doing that if he wasn't planning on playing again. If he comes back, this stuff goes down as a forgotten blip. If he didn't, it would have been a sour ending to a Hall of Famer career. But, he's back and ready to get going. We'll see how it goes.
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Easy to see why. Cardinals farm system is restocked with really impressive talent. Randy Flores and his team have done a great job. If you are the Nationals, you are hoping the Cardinals are desperate to get Soto and willing to pay a high prospect price to do so. Look at Lane Thomas. He's been a solid player for the Nationals after they swapped Jon Lester for him. They have good and recent reasons to cover the Cardinals' prospect talent. They would be getting a lot more upside than Thomas in a deal of this magnitude.
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Hello Mr. Frederickson,
Maybe there is some pertinent information being left out of the discussion about covid vaccinations and the travel policy in Canada. The covid vaccine serves to reduce the severity of infection and to substantially reduce the possibility of death caused by the virus. The vaccine does not prevent one from contracting covid, nor does it prevent one from transmitting the disease to others.
So perhaps the Canadian travel policy is based on false assumptions. A person who has been vaccinated can just as easily carry the covid virus into Canada from the U.S., and just as easily transmit it to others as someone who has not been vaccinated. -
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Hi Ben, I was glad we got a football team until I found out they won’t even be located here, so we really don’t even have a football team we just borrow one from Texas a few times a year for home games. But they won’t be around here they’ll all be in Texas so that’s gonna be hard to root for. Personally I think that’s a joke and the fact that there an NFL training team, no thanks! PS my subscription is almost ran out and I’m not renewing because Po dispatch took sports on the air off the menu as I am older and relied on it for programming. I don’t want to do that but that’s the only way they’ll put it back on if people put up a stand. As always thank you
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I'm sorry to hear about your subscription. I understand the frustration about some of the recent changes to the print product. A lot of it is out of our control and related to deadlines getting tighter and manpower getting spread too thin. I hope we can give you reasons to reconsider. If you're able to access and use this chat you have the ability to tap into our expansive online coverage and all it offers there, things that go far beyond what we can do in print. We'll be happy and thankful to have you back if reconsider or return. It's our job to make you want to subscribe. Hope we can win you back.On the BattleHawks -- if they are called that and I hope they will be -- it seems like it will be important for their to be some smart planning for ways the team can build some sense of community beyond game days while being primarily housed in Texas. Some day-before fan rallies would be wise. Some meet-and-greet stuff after the games end. You've gotta do more than just show up and play to tap into what the STL sports fan scene has to offer, I think.
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Is an expired passport a relatively common occurence for professional sports teams? Does the Cards organization not actively manage players passports (or any other required paperwork) that players need to be eligible to play - and do you know if that is the same across other MLB teams? In a tight division race, with a team that is hungry for innings, the Oveido passport situation appears like an avoidable mishap.
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It's become a more challenging task since the pandemic, as has pretty much everything.Sounds like they got Oviedo worked out. He was not included in the pre-game moves announced, which suggests he got what was required to make it to Toronto.It should have been sorted out before then, yes.
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Billikens - Flyers look to be the cream of the A-10 crop in a season where A-10 could be strong up top. Any early season predictions or thoughts you have as CBB schedules are starting to release?
Side note as a Flyer fan - TBT is a ton of fun and even playing poor basketball it’s a blast seeing some all time favorites from UD compete is just cool. -