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Join columnist Jeff Gordon for his live STL sports chat at 1 p.m. Friday

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3rd & 7 37yd

So if you are putting Schenn with Thomas and Kyrou, where's Vladi going?

by Liz 1/14/2022 8:42:01 PM
I love him with the Russians. Those guys were spectacular together.

by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 8:42:22 PM
Afternoon and thanks for taking questions. Chances are slim as he announced his retirement, but why not have the Birds offer Kyle Seager a contract to play SS? He’d offer some veteran pop from the desperately needed Left side of the plate and could help give Arrenado days off (or interchange at DH)…just a thought as I see no improvements over last years club until left handed offense is addressed.

by NotABravefromGA 1/14/2022 8:43:03 PM
Kyle Seager is A) toast and B) a third baseman. He was awful last season and I'm confidence Nolan Gorman could put up better numbers if given the chance.

by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 8:43:59 PM
Nearly every team in the Central not in danger of getting evicted for failing to pay their rent has enjoyed a hot streak this season where they look like cup contenders for a two-week stretch. The Preds are on a 12-3 run. Is Nashville for real or is this the Minnesota Wild 2.0?

by Bobo's Pet Monkey 1/14/2022 8:44:08 PM
The Preds have goaltending, a potential Norris Trophy winner and Matt Duchene coming back from the dead, among other positives. I like their chances of making the bracket.

by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 8:45:36 PM
Hi ho, Bobo!
I understand the appeal of Scharber, as he is coming off a career year. But isn't that the same trap the Cards fell into with Fowler?! When an well-established veteran mediocrity has a sudden "breakout" year, it turns out to be a fluke about 90-95% of the time, I'd guess.

I'd rather see the Cards fill the (presumptive) DH slot internally and/or cheaply, with some combo of Juan Yepez, the 23-yr-old who murdered AAA last year, and a lefty bat like Brad Miller if he wants to return. Or Nolan Gorman if he's ready. Then take the "Schwarber money" and apply it where it's much more needed: pitching. That bullpen needs help, Gordo.

by Bob Caruthers 1/14/2022 8:45:53 PM
I like Schwarber. He's just not a fit here, in this ballpark, with a team that stresses fielding, with a team that should assemble hitters with fielding versatility to give Marmol the most opportunity to seek matchups.

by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 8:47:06 PM
MLB should give the union most of what they want and then ask for a opt-out. See how they like that!

by Ed 1/14/2022 8:47:14 PM
Look, the owners lose big in work stoppages. The dynamic is never going to change. The players are the product. The players can't overplay their hand, true, but the owners really don't want to cause long-term damage to their business with a needless work stoppage after all the COVID setbacks. The owners are smart. At some point they will tell Manfred to make a deal and their baseball ops people to make the new CBA work.

by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 8:52:11 PM
Not sure why fans always want to see Defensemen blasting the the other team. That's a good way to take yourself out of the play, even for a couple seconds, giving the other team a odd man advantage in your defensive zone. Defense hasn't been coached like that in at least 30 years. The goal is to gain possession and be able to initiate the breakout pass.

by Jesper 1/14/2022 8:52:32 PM
True, but crushing the occasional onrushing skater on the blue line ala Scott Stevens can take some steam out of the opposing transition game. Bortuzzo was big on that when he first came here but, to your point, he has learned to really pick his spots and focus more on shot blocking, puck retrieval and outlet passing.

by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 8:54:08 PM
Good afternoon Jeff,
What type of expectations do you think or feel Mizzou's new AD has for MBB? I thought CM's hiring was spot on and have been pulling for him through it all, but I haven't seen him build on the momentum of the Porter signings. You can make the argument they got Tilmon, Dru Smith, and a couple others, but where were the recruits above 3 stars? This is year five and none of last years transfers in or freshmen move the needle. Beyond possibly Brazile they're nothing but role players who can't through the ball into ocean standing on the beach. Paired with Kobe Brown (if he stays) how much can the two incoming signees be expected to do. There's still no big man. I'm tired of hearing how they don't follow traditional roles and having a true center isn't important. How about another beat down by Illinois?

CM bombed with the transfers and simply hasn't done much by way of signing players out of high school.

Someone commented on how CM has suddenly become the Matt Carpenter of the chats. Perhaps he needs to check the schedule results for how many times they've been run out of the building and in no way was competitive. I don't see them keeping within 20 of Texas A&M this Saturday and its at home.

For everything a CM coached team is suppose to represent I'm not seeing that in this team. If all anyone has to hang their hat on is the Alabama win, what about the other 30 games?

by Freddie 1/14/2022 8:55:11 PM
The glow of that Alabama win did not last. Martin has landed some good players not named Porter, but he also taken in a lot of guys who held the program back. An example: Would the Tigers have avoided their late-season fade last season had Martin landed a transfer point guard better than Drew Buggs? Just one more good player -- especially at that spot, especially with Xavier Pinson melting down -- could have really made a difference.

by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 8:58:31 PM
Gordo, what are Mo and staff doing these days if no baseball business can be done? Cleaning their offices? Taking extended vacations? There are only so many minor league contracts that can be signed.

by Jake the Flake 1/14/2022 8:58:52 PM
Yeah, this has to be a weird time. Maybe they can go back and review those advanced analytics that kept telling them that Matt Carpenter was hitting well. Maybe they will discover they were reading the chart upside down.

by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 9:00:18 PM
Happy New Year’s Jeff, I for one have never been against steroids I love seeing all the home runs hit in the McGuire Sosa HomeRun Chase! It seems to me that it’s not the fan so much against steroids as the media. Any thoughts?

by Boomer54 1/14/2022 9:00:27 PM
Many baseball fans are romantics and purists, so there was real resistance to juicing among them. Steroid abuse was a long big thing in football but there are not nearly has many purists among fans of that sport.

by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 9:01:56 PM
What about this proposal: no minimum pay no maximum pay. Players are free agents all. No luxury tax. A total free market. Wow ! The Dodgers couldn't by every single player could they ?

by Ken 1/14/2022 9:02:06 PM
They could -- and the Rays could run a payroll on par with the neighborhood Del Taco.

by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 9:02:39 PM
Gordo,
I was reading some stuff from Bernie Miklaz concerning MBB. Yes I stray into other waters for Missouri sports news. He brought up the term apathy in his thoughts and feelings towards this team. I have to agree.
The only two people I recognize on the team is Pickett and Kobe Brown. No one else really stands out and it's so painful to watch the blow outs. I haven't watched an entire game the whole year either because of Kansas or Arkansas results or they haven't even been good enough for the SEC network.
At this point and I'm Mizzou AD DRF I have to ask what it's going to take to get people through the turnstiles. For me to go to a home game it's a 6-7 hour commitment minimum with driving, parking, etc, plus the cost of it all. Forget a weekday game.

by Freddie 1/14/2022 9:03:05 PM
This is the dilemma facing the school. The athletic department needs basketball revenue to pay the bills. It certainly can't lose money on the sport. Fans are not showing up in droves.

by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 9:04:00 PM
The 2021 Cards lost in a 1-game playoff in the Wild Card, that required a 17-game win streak to get to. They scored a single run on offense vs the Dodgers. How is that team better today? And if they don't add a bat somewhere how can they expect different results in '22?

by Tackleberry 1/14/2022 9:04:08 PM
The team at the end of the year was different than the one at the beginning. Sosa and Nootbaar added life, O'Neill broke out and Bader got healthy. The Cardinals upgraded the bench on the fly last year. They finally subtracted the useless Matt Carpenter from that team and they will plug in either their emerging prospects or stopgap veterans who are likely to produce more than Carpenter did.

by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 9:07:56 PM
Will Marmol finally be the manager that moves Molina down to the bottom 1/3rd of the order where his bat has belonged for 3 seasons?

by Tackleberry 1/14/2022 9:08:03 PM
I'm guessing we will see some interesting batting order driven more by numbers than by seniority protections.

by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 9:08:40 PM
“The program is heading in the right direction for sure the MLS synergy can't hurt.”

Better to just admit you have no clue than to throw random vague answers up. No surprise though, given that you can’t tell time.

by Jon Rainvold 1/14/2022 9:09:21 PM
SLU getting four players drafted in the MLS Super Draft would be an example of synergy. More media coverage of soccer in this market, thanks to the MLS, should help as well. Now, will this translate in the school getting additional financial support for the program? The MLS didn't bring the school the $210 million O’Loughlin Family Champions Center, but the soccer offices will be in there and the players will train there. I imagine that will help the program in recruiting, adding to its general upward trend.
And the fact that the MLS team will be just a good jog down the road might have some appeal to an out-of-town player. Obviously the MLS team is focused on its own developmental program and not the neighboring Division I program, but imagine the sort of cross-promotion we could see -- not only with ticket sales, but clinics, tournaments and such -- over the coming years.

by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 9:18:16 PM
On the surface, it is very strange that Army hasn’t locked up Berube. But when you consider that a much better coach is just wasting away in a tv studio, it starts to make sense. Torts to the Lou aka Gordo’s worst nightmare is in motion.

by ROn 1/14/2022 9:18:31 PM
I must say, in the 40 years I've been in the business, the Tortorella Troll is the single more random annoyance.

by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 9:19:19 PM
I loved Vladi with the Russians too. They were great to watch. Even Bozak said that.

by Liz 1/14/2022 9:19:27 PM
We could see more of them.

by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 9:19:33 PM
The systematic abuse of illegal steroids in baseball during the Bonds/Clemens era was certainly NOT an industry-wide "accepted practice." You're rationalizing the cheating of a segment of the MLB population, Gordo. Just like with bike racing and Lance Armstrong, some cheated and some did not. The ones who eventually got caught have had to face some sort of consequences -- too bad for them, but that's how the world works.

Think of it like tax cheating. Many people lie on their tax returns. That doesn't make it legal, or acceptable. Cheating on taxes is not "accepted practice" just because enforcement is very difficult and a substantial percentage of the population does so.

by Bob Caruthers 1/14/2022 9:19:41 PM
If you are a team where the trainer is giving out amphetamines and the manager is winking are steroid abuse, then this is an accepted practice.

by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 9:20:31 PM
Jeff, as a former beat reporter who's spent time in a lot of locker rooms, what do you think about Chris Long's comments about how inappropriate it is to allow reporters into the locker room before players have had a chance to shower and get dressed following a game? Trying to get a quote when a guy is air drying everything can't be very comfortable for the reporter either. Once locker rooms eventually reopen to non team personnel, is it time to reconsider what constitutes respectable boundaries?

by Bobo's Pet Monkey 1/14/2022 9:20:47 PM
As reporters, we want to be in there while the guys are still pissed off. That's where the good quotes come.
But, sadly for us, the pandemic may have changed the working rules forever. I can see a day where the only access reporters get to players is packaged, team-controlled settings.

by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 9:22:26 PM
I’m not asking for Correa but can they not pin their hopes to 22 year olds and DeJong for more offense? Think bigger on a 1-year deal where they overpay a little to keep the contract short.

by Denise L 1/14/2022 9:22:37 PM
The more unlikely it is we'll won't see spring training, the more likely it is we'll see the Cardinals invest in a veteran hitter or two to buy Gorman and Yepez more time.

by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 9:23:39 PM
by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 9:24:01 PM
Happy Friday. JG!
Remember when Cuonzo and Underwood took over their respective programs, and all those Illini guys defected to Mizzou? And Cuonzo brought in one of the country's best recruiting classes, after hiring the father of two of those recruits? Seems like a million years ago now. (Is Porter, Sr. still at Mizzou?)

My actual question: How many more relievers will the Cards add from outside? I'd say they need two, if not three. I'm worried that Reyes & Hicks will provide nothing going forward, in any role. And starters Flaherty & Hudson & Mikolas haven't been pillars of health, either. This team needs innings, and lots of them.

by Bob Caruthers 1/14/2022 9:25:18 PM
I can definitely see more relief depth coming for the reason you mention. And, again, with no spring training, what would the Cardinals know about Hicks? Wouldn't that force the team to jam another reliever or two on the 40-man roster.

by Jeff Gordon 1/14/2022 9:25:18 PM