Join columnist Ben Frederickson for a live chat at 11 a.m. Tuesday
Ben Frederickson answers all of your Cardinals, Blues, St. Louis City, Mizzou and SLU questions in Tuesday's 11 a.m. live chat.
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I saw a question about Bader and that’s why I’m saying this, and if you disagree or have a different opinion by all means say so. My problem with Bader is his swing. I love his defense I love his speed I love the edge he plays with, but his swing has shown no signs of adjustment, he swings as hard as he can at every pitch he looks to jump on the ball early and pull it to LF with a launch angle but it causes his front shoulder to fly open. That’s why pitches away, specially breaking balls away, he can’t hit. If he would be willing to adjust and take more of a base hit approach and not swing so hard, let his speed and natural strength play, I think he would be a great CF. But to this point he has shown no signs of being either willing or capable of adjusting. -
Some great points there. Yes, he still needs to prove he can adjust to or just ignore the slider off the plate. He's a fastball hunter who should rarely if ever pass on one thrown for a strike. I'm with you in that I think his game might be better of if he let the homers come instead of hunting them and used his speed by putting the ball in play. The question earlier was about his potential evolvement as a hitter, about knowing when you know about a young player. It's not an exact science, but I can understand why -- and you mentioned some of them -- the Cardinals are not yet ready to say they know what his offensive ceiling is. -
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The only way? No. The safest way? Sure. And sometimes guys bloom after that. If it was easy to know which players to offload and which ones to keep -- and which ones to draft -- then there wouldn't be so many great players who were late picks, or regrettable trades. The Cardinals have not made too many regrettable trades, all things considered. Now that they are getting bit by a couple -- Voit to some degree but more so Arozarena -- they are doubling down to make sure they reevaluate. It's not a bad move -- as long as they actually find out what they have and don't have. That's why I was encouraged by the Fowler trade. Nothing against Dex, but it indicated the Cards are serious about sorting this outfield out.
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There are 2 times I have seen Craig Berube legitimately mad at the officials as a coach:
1. Hand Pass Game
2. After yesterday’s 1-0 loss
His frustrations usually found traction with the officials in the playoffs. Will the league care in February?
The NHL isn’t lightweight division hockey and the Blues are in trouble if it becomes so. -
Wait, wait, wait.Chief let the hand pass no-call slide, more or less.Remember?But he did use all of that good will he built up to nuke the officiating when the Blues got to the Finals against Boston.It was a master play, and it seemed to work.This latest attempt might not have as much of an effect because the spotlight of the postseason is lacking, but it's clear he wants to get the word out he feels like his team is getting the short end of the stick.I think a lot of this comes down to reputation.Coaches who constantly gripe and whine about officiating tend to get ignored.But I don think those who only vent when they truly feel something is wrong can perhaps alter the nature of some officiating.Berube has done a really good job of knowing when to give the officials as pass (no pun intended) and knowing when to push back publicly.
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Thank you for your response about Flaherty and his social media showing after his arb meeting.
However, I still didn't get your answer on whether players who act this way are acting like they are bigger than the organzization. Should they get rid of players who act outwardly disrespectful to the team?
And as to your wrestling belt as a response, how many people actually knew about this? Was this done on Twitter or social media? The difference is you have a player openly being disrespectful to an organization that employs him. If I did that at my regular job. I'd BE FIRED and rightfully so!
Thanks again!! -
We disagree on the interpretation of his tweets.That can happen, considering we are talking about GIFs.Welcome to 2021 I guess.You see it as him being disrespectful of the Cardinals.I don't.I see it as him celebrating a win against the system he disagrees with.Next up. Should the Cardinals "get rid" of Flaherty? That would be pretty shortsighted move based on a couple of tweets. Especially if they did not get at least his value as a player back in return. There's that word again: value. Don't make the mistake of factoring it out of the conversation. You suggested you would be fired for sending those tweets. If you were and you resurfaced with a competitor and helped that competitor beat your old company, the person who made the decision to fire you might get fired, and he probably should. Good bosses don't fire any employee who is not a cookie-cutter employee. They get the best out of a variety of employees, especially their highest-performing ones.You asked about the belt. I don't know how many people know about it. I knew about it. It was reported by a prominent outlet and mentioned many times. Most people don't seem to care. Why? I don't know. Because anonymous front office members are easier to get mad at I guess? Because players are more famous? Not sure. My point was the bitterness between players and teams regarding arbitration is very real and only getting realer as the new CBA looms, and I don't understand how a conclusion about it is to get mad at just one side because it looks bad. It looks bad for both sides.
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This kinda go started in yesterdays chat...but didn't get finished.
How significant are the acquisitions of Johan Quezada and Matt Szczus? They say, rightfully so, that if you can crack the top 10 all time for the St Louis Cardinals in anything, that you have accomplished something. By virtue of each of their 26 Scrabble © points for the last names, they rank tied for 10th all-time according to my amateur research. Of course Marc Rzepczynski fills the top spot with 40 points with Chris Cannizzaro a distant second with 30, a couple Pagnozzi’s and Gonzalez’s, followed by Pierzynski, then Grudzielanek, Dazzy and Dizzy at 27. Johan and Matt are tied with Grodzicki (1940’s pitcher). So they have that going for them, which is nice. Of course they have to make the roster first. On a side note, in doing the research I noted that Cy Young and Minnie Minoso each spent a short time in a Cardinals uniform. Has the season started yet? -
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Re: Gardner
Don't insult yourself with only using age and 2020 stats! BTW, his total 2020 slugging would've been 4th on the team, his total 2020 OBP 2nd, and vs. RHP, (which is where they would use him in 21) his OPS jumps to .802. Use his 2019 numbers and it looks even better -
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Gorman is 21 and probably won't be a 3-4-5 batter until 2024 to 2025 and yeah I know anything is possible in the land of Candy Cane trees and rainbows. It seems like some of you PD writers are in a hurry for the Gorman story. Wouldn't it be likely Gorman will be a replacement for Goldschmidt? Who will be 37 in 2024 and that will also be the last year of his contract.
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