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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Hi Ben. You were RIGHT about Harper . What a difference he could have made this year . My question is why can’t Mo seem to get the right free agent ? He just doesn’t have the right insights to make the right decision on it. He’s made some good trades Goldy, Nado and Monty but his free agents are usually a bust. Maybe someone else should be making those decisions -
Thanks. I've been confused by the people telling me that the Cardinals getting Harper would have meant they could not have both Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Areando, and how some of those same folks are now hollering for Trea Turner to be added to a team that includes Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. Huh? I think the Cardinals thought Tyler O'Neill was going to make them look really, really smart. And maybe he still can. But he's not Harper. No one is.Free agency is a different beast. Especially when it comes to the best of the best. One, the Cardinals are fundamentally opposed to the kind of contracts some of these guys get. The decade-plus ones. So that's a big part of it, and while the cost of doing business is always going up, the Cardinals are not a team that rushes to entrench itself on the record-setting side of contracts given to free agents. And the best free agents break records with contracts. -
If Sam Horn was anywhere near ready, wouldn't we already have seen him in live action? We all love the heart and story of Cook, and we want him to succeed so bad...but 2/13 on 3rd down is a losing path every single time. So, who is actually the backup QB, and when might we see just one series with this person on the field in a real game?
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Does the position of the upgraded bat really just depend on which position group Oli/Mo have more faith in? It's either SS or OF. So it's essentially Edman, Donovan, and Gorman vs O'Neill, Carlson, and Nootbaar. Walker is eventually getting one of the three OF spots and Winn has to land somewhere too.
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Again, the argument is not to add Contreras as THE big bat.It's to add a catcher who can hit, in addition to other additions.The Cardinals have been dragging in offense produced by the catcher position.Bump that up to league average or better and it's less the other lineup spots have to do.
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It is reported over and over again the Blues players are a tight knit group. Army has made it clear the players will decide whether the team gets blown up or not. During the 2018-2019 season, two distinct changes were made that changed the tide...Berube becoming HC, and a little later Binnington arriving on the scene. Two questions...do you believe the team will start winning again without making similar, distinct changes? And, as fragile as this team seems to be mentally right now, do you think, for example, trading a cornerstone veteran such as 90 or 91 would result in too many other players losing heart for the rest of the season? My point is....is there any realistic way back for this team?
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I think anyone who makes the mistake of fully reading a team in early November probably has a good chance of being wrong. I do agree with Armstrong that it's not on Berube. It's more on Armstrong than Berube, and Army knows that, so he will admit his mistake and start the spin-forward process if he thinks that's the only route to take. I would have traded Tarasenko a long time ago, but you all knew that.
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In hindsight, maybe they should have pursued Harper, but at the time he was looking for $300m plus and he had a reputation as a me first player, plus I and many other DC sports fans saw him choke in critical situations too many times. It was not merely a coincidence that the Nats won the WS the year after he left. He certainly seems to have matured and is showing more leadership, plus his approach at the plate has matured, but that was not the case at the time. The Phils took somewhat of a gamble on him and it may be starting to pay off. Maybe next time he will get that big HR in a close Game 5 to put the Phils over the top.
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Unpopular opinion: Bryce Harper is really good, but he's more All-Star than All-World and I'm glad the Cards didn't enter the $300m bidding war for him.
It seems so obvious that if Mo/Girsch had managed to sign Harper before 2019 (14.7 bWAR in 4 years since), they either wouldn't have traded for Goldschmidt (18.6 bWAR) or Arenado (20.8 bWAR, 12.0 in his two seasons with StL), both of whom will cost the Cardinals far less than Harper would have and for equal-or-better production. Not that the Cards *couldn't* have afforded all three, but that this FO has a long track record to tell us they likely *wouldn't* have. I'd have loved to have gotten him or Machado for $200m-$250m, but once both insisted on being paid like the best players in baseball (narrator: they are not), it was never a question that he wouldn't end up playing in the shadow of the Arch. Especially given that coming into 2019, Harper was on a defensive decline to go with his "rougher even-numbered years" trend that seems to have finally gone away.
Turner is 4 years older than Bryce was, he's generally been more durable and versatile, and without the MVP and ROY on his resume, I'm expecting more like $240m-$260m for his final contract, so I don't think it's particularly inconsistent to think he's a more realistic add for the Cards than was Harper. -
The New York Post took a stab at projecting the upcoming free-agent contracts.Its projection has Turner at nine years and $275 million. That's $30.5 mil per year.Harper was 13 years, $330 million. That's $25.3 mil per year.Harper started his contract at 26 years old.Turner will be starting his at 30.I figured what Harper did this postseason would get everyone on the same page about his talent. Guess not. I do think the Phillies are pretty pleased with the contract so far.
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Tons of speculation these days obviously, but what I'm watching is whatever spin or narrative come out of these meetings regarding the Cards OF'ers. They've put a lot into O'Neill and Carlson. Waited on rehabs and gave them their spot back. Not included in trades or didn't sign multiple obvious players who fit etc... Really curious how the OF shakes out and how its presented.
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Well said. I think Carlson was affected by the wrist injury more than he let on last season. He started to hit better toward the end of the season, which was a good sign. He just turned 24, and that should not be forgotten -- even though I know reminding The Chat of it gets annoying. O'Neill turns 28 in June and continues to provide mixed-bag results through five seasons of major league opportunities. I think it's easier to argue for patience in Carlson, but O'Neill has flashed a glimpse of an upside (2021) that would be hard to swallow watching play out elsewhere if the Cardinals trade him away now.
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It's a hard baton to pass perfectly. In an ideal world, Knizner would have grabbed it this season. He didn't. Herrera isn't ready, and that's one of the reasons there have been some calls for the organization to hire a catching instructor -- a role other teams have. Molina kind of did that by default at spring training, but he's gone now and someone who could make trips around the minors during the season would be good. My two cents: Jose Molina would be a good addition.
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In theory, perhaps. The no-trade clause in his contract doesn't kick in until years three through seven. But to deal off the guy you just committed eight years and $65 million to would be pretty odd, no? It would raise questions about why the front office gave the deal in the first place, and why they were so quick to pivot after such a big commitment, and, also, it should raise questions from any potential takers about why they would want to take that deal on after the Blues decided to dump it so quickly. The Blues made a very big commitment to Kyrou. Perhaps prematurely.
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Something else I'd like to see at some point, is when you or Goold are interviewing Mo or Girsch on tape, is when they say " we like what he's projecting, or he's trending the right direction " let them finish and then politely say can you share that info? Because the info we have says different. It says he's hitting .180 or whatever and he's 2 for his last 44 or whatever. Why is this not possible?
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I save my most intense fandom for baseball and college football, so I'm admittedly not fully up to speed on everything Blues-related, but I'm curious if you can say much about Jordan Binnington's reputation in the clubhouse and around the league? I get the impression he's pretty popular with his teammates, but I also know his tendency to get in opposing players' faces and seeming to want to pick fights between periods has not exactly endeared him to other teams or their fans. Is Binner seen more as a lovably scrappy guy, or is there a feeling of him getting distracted and needing to focus more, perhaps sometimes thinking too much about retaliation or sending the wrong kind of message?
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Binnington's been solid this season, one of the few good signs going for the Blues. If opponents don't like his willingness to be abrasive, that's no problem with him or his teammates. At times he has been able to spark his team with a scuffle or shoving match. This team needs more than that, though. He's not the problem.
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Harper's contract, I believe, was 11 years for 315 million. He was offered 10 years for 300, but wanted to have the biggest contract that year so they added the final year at half price--15 million, and he took that. It averages out to 28.63 million if you want to average it. Still way too much. If you don't believe it now, wait for those final years.
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There's a real need for a strikeout-gathering top-of-the-rotation arm who can make the bullpen better by trickle-down effect of who gets pushed out. That's the most obvious need and would be the money best spent in terms of pitching. The Cardinals don't need more mid-rotation pitching depth. They need an outlier who pulls the group forward, preferably with swing-and-miss stuff this rotation lacks compared to more dangerous teams.
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I'd imagine there is much second-guessing going on at the moment.What could have gone differently in the Tkachuk trade sweepstakes.Extending Kyrou and Thomas before the Blues had to do it.Letting Perron walk for cheap.Holding onto Tarasenko after another go-round.It's hard not to dig back through all of it when the team is playing so poorly.
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Lousy special teams was the culprit last night. Beyond that they just don't look like much of a team. Not a lot of confidence. Flip-flopping back and forth between looking like they're pressing, or flat. Fast approaching a harsher reality, that they just may not be very good. They're going to get some time to prove that's not the case, but if it continues to be prove the evidence will be impossible to ignore and this season will give way toward making sure a better plan is in place moving forward. Another regulation loss would set a franchise high. Not the kind of history you want to make.
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