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I'll push back on this premise a little bit. I don't think very many Cardinals fans would have liked the team telling Wainwright, who wanted to pitch another season and was good for all of last season except for the final month, that it did not have a place for him. If Wainwright was suiting up for the Braves this spring, or Skip Schumaker's Marlins, would that feel good? Doubt it. The bigger problem, from this vantage point, is assuming that bringing back Wainwright was the reason the Cardinals could not or did not go sign Carlos Rodon, or cannot/will not swing a trade for an impact starter before games start counting. They could have. They still can. I agree they need rotation help of the quality kind. That is true with or without Wainwright, and let's not forget he was second on the team in innings and quality starts last season. Compared to what some of the starters made this offseason, his one-year deal is not stopping the Cardinals from adding -- unless the Cardinals want it to. If so, that's not on Wainwright.

No flip-flopping here, though the results since Ryan O'Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko went down are not exactly discouraging Doug Armstrong from shopping both, are they? Brayden Schenn future captain? I could see it. I don't think Army slams the brakes on a selling lean for a fringe playoff team.

It's a new location this season, at the Busch and Ballpark Village instead of the usual downtown hotel location. So, I'm really curious to see how Jim Hayes manages to sneak the writers a plate of snacks from the TV room. It's an annual tradition, The Cat sharing TV riches (and carbs) with the lowly print scribes. There could be new hurdles in his way this year, due to the venue change. He will come through.

Hey, that defense got TCU there. A lot of teams had trouble with that funky 3-3-5 look. Georgia coach Kirby Smart made a point to praise his scout team after the confetti fell for preparing the Bulldogs so well to dismantle it, and they did. Smart is a special coach. If you give him that much time to prepare for something, he's got the chops and the roster talent to pass the test. TCU deserved to be there. It beat Michigan, earning its shot. Georgia would have thumped Michigan, too, I imagine, and anyone else it came up against last night. Alabama had its chance. As the playoff expands, and thankfully it is expanding, there will be even fewer what-ifs to consider. The bracket only cares about who the best team is on that day.

Will the third time be a charm? Reports just now that Carlos Correa and the Twins have agreed on a six-year, $200 million deal. This feels important: It's pending a physical. What a mess this saga has become.

Sure hope not. Their rotation needs an exclamation point. Too many question marks there at the moment. Trade should be the way. Miami is going to have to deal good pitching. The Marlins' addition of Cueto suggests that. Kind of crazy to realize Skip Schumaker is now Cueto's manager. No one would have predicted that during the Reds-Cards brawl of 2010.

That will be a topic at this weekend's Winter Warm-Up, I'm sure. The answers, and how/if they change between the media room and the Q/A portion with fans, will be fascinating. The Cardinals did spend on Willson Contreras, their biggest offseason need. They have gone into stealth mode since. I'm not convinced it's a slumber, as some have assumed. It's worth remembering Mozeliak's recent home-run swings have come via trades (Goldschmidt, Arenado) not free-agent buys.

Too early to say on how it affects Cards/Blues, as they are just two of the teams that could be affected nationwide as the future of the regional sports networks are determined. In the long-term future, this probably plays out as individual leagues either owning their own streaming setup, or partnering with the big streamers (Disney, Apple, Amazon) for streaming deals. The cable-based system has gotten outdated, and it happened fast. How fast it gets there depends on all sorts of things. Contracts. Lawsuits. Lots of red tape will be sorted through.

Yep. That's if that is indeed the issue. There have been reports the hold-up has been due to differing opinions about the metal plate he had installed in his leg as a minor leaguer, something he referenced in September when a slide left him rattled. Considering the source on all of this stuff is always Scott Boras, it makes you wonder if maybe there's something else? I don't know, but I can see why the Twins would feel good about taking the discounted price for a reunion. They had him and know him and have to have the best information about his projected physical concerns, both real and overdramatized.

Dan Caesar has been covering the process for us at the P-D. He's reported Costas, Buck and Amsinger are not options. That's the latest I've heard.

That's one way. But it's not the only way. New offensive coordinator. Returning starting quarterback in Brady Cook, who will have a repaired shoulder by then. Horn is going to get a ton of reps with Cook's surgery. If he doesn't make it clear he's the best option by the time Cook is cleared for full go, it could be Cook again next fall. And Eli has to start the best option to win, period. Because he's in must-win phase now.