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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Maddux said himself he was looking to step back and shift gears, then the Rangers hired Bruch Bochy and the appeal of working with him at home caused a change of plans. Unless I watched the wrong MLB Network interview, he didn't say anything about Oli in that interview. Maybe there was another one I missed? Shoot me a link if you have it. It seems to stun some Cardinals fans and followers sometimes, and it's because working for the Cardinals is pretty dang good, but there are jobs and situations and locations some prefer over St. Louis. Shocking, I know.As for Mozeliak, it's no secret he has fingerprints on pretty much everything the Cardinals do. Everything. Those in the organization who don't like that, or clash with it, or push back against it, they're going to wind up against him and those who wind up against him too often don't last very long. He tends to present his side of the story as the Cardinals version of events, but that's always just one side of the story, as with anything. He has the role where he gets to tell it, though, as he sees fit. Doesn't mean anyone has to buy it hook, like and sinker. The Shildt stuff was an example. Some of what he said was just not true -- like Shildt being closed off to analytics. And those who knew better said that, loudly.If Mozeliak misled Arenado about the Cardinals' offseason plans, that's going to be something Arenado gets asked about. And Arenado isn't the type of guy who holds back. -
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I'm usually accused of being a front office apologist by my friends and family. However, I feel like the Cardinals went into the off season with needs at Catcher, big bat, and SP at least according to what I'd read. So far they've done what I would call the "bare minimum" and addressed the one position they absolutely had to--Catcher. Now the reporting I'm reading is making it sound like we shouldn't expect much more from the front office this offseason. Am I summarizing this correctly? Should we, as fans, be expecting any more moves from the Cardinals? -
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Ben, the Cards are no better on paper than the Oct team and likely slightly worse. Contreras offsets Molina/Pujols and the Quintana boot arguably the best pitcher down the stretch worsens an already underwhelming rotation. So the team’s fate again comes down to O’Neil staying healthy, Gorman and Carlson playing to their hype, Nootbaar elevating beyond a 4th outfielder, and the hotshot can’t miss Walker cracking the starting lineup. None of which addresses a questionable rotation led by the always injured Jack Flaherty and the aging Adam Wainwright. And let’s add one more point, the two superstars are in for an almost certain regression from last season. All the while more teams are spending wildly and a few tanking teams have opted to compete again - see the Chicago Cubs. Where am I wrong?
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Also, I am not so sure the Cardinals are not ahead of the Dodgers as of now. The Dodgers lost both Turners. Their pitching staff has more questions than the Cardinals. They lost Buehler for the season already, Gonsolin had a forearm strain at the end of last season, Justin May is on his TJ bounce back year which is hard and Noah Syndergaard, their big signing is a middle rotation guy now. They will be good, but, if Cards fans are complaining, the Dodger fans have to be really complaining...
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Dodgers have been cautious for two reasons. One is the money they could wind up owing problem pitcher Trevor Bauer. Another is they think they have a wave of internally produced answers ready to roll or on the cusp. They wanted to spend big first and then transition to the player-development route, and they're starting that now. We know they could spend big and pick good players to splurge on, though Bauer was certainly a bad call. Now we will see how their player development looks, and considering some of the early results, it's pretty good.
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It's a two-year deal, but that option didn't interest me much. Bassitt and Rodon were the last two free-agent starters who would have represented the kind of arm the Cardinals need. They have plenty of guys who can pitch 100-ish innings and have unpredictable results.
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He never said he was all about analytics. What the Cardinals tried to put out there was that he was not open to using them. That wasn't true, and it was a misrepresentation of reality, pedaled by those who ran with it. Here's an example. If you have studied for a week for a test, and one hour before it someone comes up with a study guide that is unfamiliar and perhaps rushed, what do you do? Probably stick with what you know, what you prepared. You could be open to the new information, but still think there needs to be a better way of handling how the information is presented and prepared before it is expected to be used.
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Not very. They have a shot, if they play up to their potential, but there has been no convincing sign they can do that game in and game out. The conference is wide open, begging to be taken. They should do it. But you can't bet on them at this point. Too inconsistent. Too many flat games for a team that should be much better.
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Some sparks have been flying. Underwood is calling his guys out, saying the team lacks leadership and questioning effort. Yowza. Baylor transfer Matthew Mayer has suggested teammates need to be more serious. These are not the kinds of things you hear coming from a team that has knocked off the No. 2 team in the country. Of course, that same team turned around and got rocked by Penn State at home. Illinois has a super high ceiling and I think Underwood knows it. He's trying the tough (OK, really tough) love approach because big, bad Big Ten play is here. But first, a good stress test with Braggin' Rights. We'll see if Underwood motivated his guys, or turned them off, with his challenges aired publicly.
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Fair point. Long is the list of young outfielders the Cardinals have hyped up entering a season, following just a blip of encouraging play. Nootbaar makes hard contact and takes walks. If he can stick with that mix he should be able to avoid some of he lows others have had, but there's no guarantee. I agree they're overselling him a little bit, and perhaps not learning from past examples of gassing up a young guy too soon.
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If he's healthy, sure. But you can't predict health, and his has been the big problem since 2019. He can't know. Neither can the team. Just has to go out and do. He's never lacked motivation. He's been good to elite when he's healthy and the mechanics are right. Syncing it all up is the challenge now.
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Depends on a couple of things. How's he pitching? How are other teammates pitching? How are the Cardinals playing? If he's pitching great and the team is toast, sure. Probably unlikely, though. If he's pitching great and the team is in the mix, then the Cardinals rarely if ever deal a performing piece of a team trending toward the postseason, especially if it doesn't net something instantly helpful for that season's push. If he's pitching well and the rotation is bustling with locked-in guys pitching well -- wouldn't that be nice? -- then maybe things get interesting. I'd bet he starts and finishes the season with the team.
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Perhaps for those who think Mozeliak doesn't answer to someone. But I think most know how this works by now. Mozeliak is as influential and powerful as a president of baseball operations as you will find in baseball. His duties can range from finalizing a trade for Nolan Areando, to leading the press conference introduction of Arenado, to picking up trash when he sees it in the stadium. That last one is no joke. But he has a boss. It's the chairman Bill DeWitt. If DeWitt wants to change the payroll, he does. If he wants a certain player, he can make it happen. He and Mozeliak are as close as a chairman/owner and baseball operations leader get, but it's not Mozeliak's team. It's DeWitt's. Some direct their angst about how the Cardinals feel about spending toward Mozeliak, but it's an owner stance supported by Mozeliak.
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Ben--I don't follow the NFL, and I'm better off for it. After the Rams left, I decided, "to hell with these people!" (Owners and league officials, not players.) I have never looked back. I don't want to follow the Chiefs, because the fans do that stupid tomahawk chop, which we're moving on from as a society. Without a team, I have no reason to reinvolve myself with this morally dubious enterprise.
That said, I'm starting to passively watch NFL games if they're on TV.
My question is: Should I start following the Jacksonville Jaguars? They've been so bad for so long. They've picked high in the draft for like two decades. Their owner is Shad Khan, who's based in Southern Illinois (or so it was presented in 2014-15) and tried to buy the Rams. He has a cool mustache. Trevor Lawrence is in those Gatorade commercials, has cool long hair, and played well on Sunday.
What do you think? It'd be a great place to pick up from 2015 Rams fandom, wherein the depth chart and draft were the main things to follow, with rebuilding supplying perpetual hope and interest.
This question probably has a shelf expiry of one week before the first Battlehawks game in 2023. -
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Thanks for chatting, Ben.
I know you love Willson Contreras, but I wish the Cards had used the "Contreras money" for Masataka Yoshida or Kodai Senga, and just gone with Herrera/Knizner at backstop. If it didn't work, then you make a trade in-season for a starting catcher (probably from Toronto). Milwaukee showed with the Adames deal a couple years ago, that you don't have to wait until late July to make trades. -
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Aside from the sendoffs of Yadi and Albert, has there been a better St. Louis sports story this year than the emergence of Jordan Goodwin as a role player on the Washington Wizards?
Here's his line from Dec. 10:
38 min, 17 pts, 4 teb, 6 ast, 6 stl, 1 blk
It's heartwarming that the next level values his game.