Join columnist Jeff Gordon for his live STL sports chat at 1 p.m. Friday
Bring your Cards, Blues, Mizzou, SLU and MLS questions and comments, and talk to columnist Jeff Gordon in his weekly live chat.
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By next weekend, none of what happened in Florida will matter much. Any optimism DeJong is generating now could disappear quickly. But given the efforts he has made to improve his swing, it's interesting to see him making better contact. That's all it is, interesting.As for pitchers in the spring, there isn't much to fret about unless a guy is sore, losing velocity or completely out of whack with mechanics. Pitchers are more focused on the process of preparing for the season than getting guys out. That sounds silly, but it's true. In exhibition play, if a guy has a crappy sinker, he might keep throwing it while searching for his feel. In a real game he would quit throwing it, then work on the sinker between starts. -
It seems clear that Husso is the Blues goaltender heading into the playoffs. While Chief needs every point he can get, were you surprised the team didn't give Binnington more of a chance to win back the starter's role considering the size of his contract? Do you think this is just a case of the team playing the hotter goaltender or does the move to Husso mean the Blues are likely to move Binnington in the offseason? -
When the Chief came right back to Husso after the Carolina shelling, that was telling. Clearly Ville is the top guy now. Every victory is precious right now and Berube believes Husso gives him a better chance to win. Will Binnington get more than a handful of starts this season? Could he land on the trade block this summer or at some point next season? Right now the answers look like no and yes.
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We've heard a bunch about the impact Pujols has had on the young guys on the team, but I'm curious how our veterans like Arenado and Goldschmidt see him? Are they still young enough to be looking up to him, seeking his wisdom, etc., or do they treat him more like an equal peer? He's too good a guy to incite any in-house rivalries, but is there any indication that these guys feel like it went from "their team" to "his team"?
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Team was Adam and Yadier's team when Goldschmidt, then Arenado arrived. And it still is. And Albert is obviously tight with Adam and Yadier. There is a LOT of mutual respect among these guys because they all go about it right way. Albert had to fit into the Dodgers with a LOT of big personalities, so I'm guessing he will make it work here.
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I'm still not sure how this team got better this off-season? Did they add depth? Yes. But depth is not what is keeping them from deep playoff runs. To have the available payroll and to add zero top-end talent, that's a big miss... assuming DeWitt cares. And that is growing more debatable with every passing season
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If DeWitt didn't care, he would have sold off talent the way the Cubs, Reds and Pirates did and enjoy the bigger profit margin. So he cares. And I presume he will bankroll more additions as needed to give this team a chance to make the Molina/Pujols sendoff more successful.This team will be better if Hudson and Hicks make strong returns from injury, Matz pitches like he did last season, DeJong hits, O'Neill and Bader play full seasons and Pujols hits lefties. Of course, Wainwright would have to pitch well again and Flaherty would have to get past his shoulder injury or those potential improvements won't matter much.
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Injuries wiped out their captain/cornerstone defenseman, the goaltender, the backup goaltender and another top four defenseman. Also, three key forwards moved on to other teams and fourth forward missed a big chunk of the season due to injury.So a team that got hot and went on a magical run crashed and burned just a year later -- reminding how little separates most teams in the NHL in the salary cap era.
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I was watching the NCAA hockey tournament last week, and they popped up a graphic of NCAA record holders and Tony Hrkac (remember him?) owns almost every scoring record in NCAA history and the commentators said many of his records will never come close to being broken. I had no idea Hrkac was this dynamic. How could he be this dominant in college and be so undistinguished in the NHL? It doesn’t add up.
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The Circus was Gretzky-like in college. His feel for the game was amazing and he carried that to the NHL. But the NHL is a different world. He wasn't big, fast or strong. He took a physical beating early on as a Blue and lost some confidence. He then had a hugely productive minor league career, excelling in the slower pace and piling up numbers. Then he had an excellent second NHL act as a heady two-way player who put that feel for the game to work.
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If he gets another chance here, he needs to skate hard, throw body checks and either get the puck deep or on goal every chance he gets. He needs to think the game like a fourth-liner, not a first- or second-liner. Keep it simple, play hard and scoring chances will come. Toropchenko follows that script well.
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In your Tipsheet the other day, ESPN's David Schoenfield reported that the Cardinals current payroll is a whopping $30 million under last year's payroll. If that is true, that is a major, major story. That should enrage Cardinal Nation. Especially since Bill DeWitt said this past offseason he expected payroll to rise. Why isn't this out there?
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The season isn't over. The payroll for the season is not set. I'd expect the team to make more additions. Let's see where the payroll is in August and if that is a factor in the team's performance or non-performance. If DeJong hits, for instance, than the team will look smart for not throwing gigantic dollars at shortstop when it had one.Once the decision was made to remain status quo at shortstop -- for the reasons described earlier in the chat -- then there were no positions to fill in the lineup.The team decided not to spend big at designated hitter with a multi-year deal because it did not want to block the top young hitters for years to come.Perhaps the team would have spent more on pitching if it knew that both Alex Reyes and Jack Flaherty were going to show up with a bad shoulder. The lockout kept them in the dark.Now that the front office knows there is a problem, it has to weigh the middling options in the market against the stopgap guys on hand. That process is ongoing.
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Tired of the Schildt melodrama. People get fired every day. He's getting several million dollars not to work this year. It's not a tragedy. In a world with many daily tragedies, I'd rather focus on the upcoming season. Pujols coming back is great for possible story book endings. It's just sports, for fun and enjoyment. Microfocusing on soap operas does not float my boat.
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Jeff-good day sir! I was listening to Sirius XM last week and caught the tailend of a discussion on some poll about which city had the best pizza. The announcer, and myself, were surprised at the #1 city (for that poll). Detroit! Have you ever been to Buddy's Pizza there? The DJ said it was the place to go in Motor City for pizza. have a great day, and keep up the good work you, and all others at the PD do!
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While pondering the extreme possibilities, the latest Shildt dust up reminds me of the "Adapt or Die" scene from Money Ball where Billy Beane fires Grady Fuson. Wondering if that's the way it went down because I doubt that Shildt pulled the Harry Carey move that ran him out of town.
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I'd shocked if he ever duplicated his season debut for the Cardinals. He had full health and pinpoint command that season. Everything went right. I believe the Cardinals would be thrilled with 30 starts and an ERA in the mid-3s. That was the guy they hoped to get in the first place.
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In the NBA, players rule the league, regularly king-making certain franchises when all-star players decide to band together into super teams.
In the NHL, players and owners finally came to an understanding about where the league sits in the professional sports hierarchy, and now salaries are matched to the league revenue and the two sides seem fairly harmonious.
In the NFL, players are basically serfs working the fields of their lords, and unless they play QB, they can't even get a guaranteed contract.
The NBA may have gone a little far with player empowerment and the NFL not anywhere near far enough, but, Jeff, do you ever see a scenario where MLB becomes more like the NHL? Where revenue sharing isn't just the Pirates bilking the league out of millions of dollars while failing to put on a professional product and fans don't have to live under the specter of a lockout every 4 to 5 years? -
I do not see baseball embracing the sort of partnership approach the NHL has used to stabilize. Too many big market teams want to spend big to squash smaller market teams. Too many smaller market owners put profit margin over competitiveness. Too many big agents what to chase the very top dollars for their very top clients and the MLBPA doesn't work nearly hard enough for younger guys and mid-level veterans. I don't see any of that changing.
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In Kyrou's last game was he the reason for the odd man break and also not hustling back leading to the goal that let the Canucks back in the game? Is it possible his sitting because of "illness" be Berube way of sending a message to him and the team without making it public? Isn't one of his strengths knowing how to handle different players?
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If Berube is going to sit a guy, he will sit a guy and let the world know he is sitting a guy. He isn't going to pretend somebody has an illness. As for his ability to get the most out of players from different backgrounds, I believe he has a strong track record there. It's no secret what guys have to do to stay in the lineup. Nobody is guessing why they do or don't play. Berube is direct, honest and fair. There is no confusion. Not every player can respond to the challenge.
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