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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Mad Max got three years from the Mets. Verlander, entering age-40 season, gets what, two? One with an option, like he did last time around with the Astros? Big money, sure. But short commitment. If he dominates for one year on a two-year deal, that's a win. And he held up pretty well coming off the TJ. I see him as a potential for the Cardinals to add what they need -- elite top of rotation arm -- on a deal that is not one they tend to fear -- really long. That's all. Rodon is great but he's going to be hunting big years and Boras will be trying to lead him toward record starts as he always does with the top free-agent client he has in an age range that can command big years. Verlander can't expect big years at this point. Just big money, short years.Nimmo and Haniger have the same pause point. Reliability. Both have played 140+ games in a single season just twice in their careers. I like Nimmo more for what Cards needs, but the injury risk is real, especially for a team that has gone through the frustrations of not being able to reliably rely on Tyler O'Neill.
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Good afternoon. Mr. Frederickson. Thanks for your time and the chat. I'm guessing that Mizzou's defensive coordinator has lost a little bit of luster off his star after that fiasco in Knoxville. I understand that teams have bad games, but that's not the reason Mizzou got steamrolled. It was like boys trying to play against men. And, it's not like Mizzou was playing short-handed because of a bunch of injuries. Mizzou got outreached and outplayed, simple as that. How could the Tigers be caught off guard by Tennessee's hurry-up offense? It's no secret the Vols like to run it. Coach Drink says his "job is to fix it", But it seems like there's a wide gulf in talent between the two teams. Guessing Mizzou fans wish the school had hired Heupel instead of Odom as head coach.
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Tennessee is making every defense not named Georgia's look bad this season, and Tigers had to make the trip to Knoxville at a very brutal time. Vols had just gotten pummeled on the road by Georgia, were back home and ready to put on a show to the College Football Playoff committee as they still have a chance of making the four-team bracket. They were determined to put on a show, and they did. The Tigers were not caught off guard. Knowing what's coming and being able to stop it are very different things. Tennessee is just a better team right now, by a lot.
There has been a lot of revisionist history about Heupel. No Mizzou fans were complaining when he left for the head coaching job at UCF. His offense, when it lacks great QB and great receivers, can put a lot of stress on a defense, and that showed at Mizzou. He's gotten better due to his head coaching experience at UCF, where he succeeded, and now he's got a QB and the kind of electric offense that can help recruit the next round of skill players. Guys want to play in his system. The AD at UCF brought him to Tennessee, believing in him, and it worked.It should not be overlooked that part of Tennessee's newfound success in all sports -- baseball, basketball, football -- has come with finally getting the right balance between athletics department leadership, university leadership and coaches. Mizzou has been in a churn mode for a long time, and it's hard to build much of anything when the faces are always changing. -
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Hey Ben,
You commented that the Cards can up their budget to accommodate re-signing Waino. Sure they can but we all know they won’t. So while I love Waino and appreciate all his past contributions I think that money could’ve been better spent on either getting a bat or getting a high strike out SP. -
I'm just suggesting a change in how you view it. Wainwright didn't give himself the contract, and if the Cardinals are going to factor in legacy signings into their payroll -- this isn't the first one, it won't be the last, and most fans were pleased with the move -- then they should add in more money for other moves the team needs as well, right? Pointing frustration about what you think the payroll will wind up being toward the player is looking the wrong way. Start with the group that sets said payroll, because it's the same group that can alter it as it feels is needed.
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I get it. You don't like DeJong. Coming through loud and clear. Dropping him today just to satisfy the people who have become enraged by his presence on the roster doesn't solve much. Better to see if you could get something for him, or including him a package that gets you something you want, or -- at worst -- let him be an albeit overpaid defense-first option if there are no takers this offseason. Unless he nets you something, simply paying him to go away doesn't make the team much better. If there's a plan to fill the spot with something clearly better, sure.
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Maybe you can help me understand something, Ben. Why do grownups use "social media" at all? It largely sounds like a cesspool of fanatics, profanity, and idiocy that must be waded through to get to anything worthwhile. I mean, you can go on Youtube to watch an old Ella Fitzgerald video (about as beautiful and benign as the world can get), and the comment section degenerates into heated arguments on race & culture, etc.
Anybody over the age of 40 must be able to remember when they did not need "social media" to live their lives. So why not just go back to living like they used to? I'm not kidding, I really don't get it. -
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I don't think it's a crazy idea to at least see what market could be for him. Montgomery was great for the Cardinals but he hasn't been that great over the course of his career. For the first time in a long time the Cardinals have some other lefties. I'd at least see what the market could look like, but letting him go and not adding some high-end rotation help would be a risk. The Yankees found out firsthand how you can get in a rotation bind by underestimating Montgomery.
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Gotta jet, folks. Before you go, please take a moment to sign up for my new newsletter. It's going to be a quick, short, sweet recap of this Tuesday chat that lets me expand on some of the topics. Sent direct to your email inbox on Wednesday mornings. Please do me a favor and sign up here: STLtoday.com/newsletters. Thank you, and have a great week.