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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Jeff, how good would Alcantara look in this Cards rotation? He would be staff ace and perhaps better than a healthy Jack Flaherty. The Alcanatara/Gallen trade for Ozuna will go down as one of the worst Cardinals trades in many years. And Gallen might be as good as Alcantara if he can stay healthy. This one is going to sting for a long time. Agree? -
I totally agree. Marcell Ozuna turned into a two-year rental. While he was helpful to an offense lacking clout, Had re-upped with the Cardinals, stayed healthy and stayed out of trouble, perhaps this trade would be less terrible. But Sandy Alcantara has developed into a special talent -- one the Marlins locked into a team-friendly deal. He was an elite prospect when the Cardinals traded him, so this is no surprise. Zac Gallen was less of a sure thing when he was part of that trade, but he was considered a typically good pitching prospect the Cardinals have had success with. So, yeah, that left a mark.
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Hi Jeff. Thanks for doing this.
Sure seems like the Blues are getting some breaks from the referees recently. There were a few really marginal calls against the Sharks last night, and the Blues have regularly had more power plays than the opposition. Some of that is due to their puck possession game and the pressure it causes, but referees are a fickle bunch and I worry the karma will turn against them in the playoffs. Your thoughts? -
Refereeing a game between a team with something to gain against a team that is playing out the string is difficult. Of course the Sharks are going to feel no love. That team is done for the season. Come playoff time, I don't think you will see the Blues or any other team getting cheap power plays on the sort of touch fouls you're referring to.
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Moises Gomez might be a poor man's Adolis Garcia. He has hit for power in the minors, but his lack of plate discipline held him back. He has passed through Rule 5 drafts untouched and he signed as a minor league free agent after failing to progress with the Tampa Bay Rays. He's 23, so there is still time for him to figure out.
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I have this 8 week old puppy keeping me up at all hours. So I might not be as dashing as I normally am. So isn't the Blurs defense like solving for X? Can really skate the puck even more now with Leddy and Rosen. But did you see the Taylor Hall tip in against Boston? Camped out practically in the crease no defenseman near him! It used to be like that guy was breaking into your house in the middle of the night and you would clobber him. Is clearing the crease with a big check a thing of the past? I really think cross checking being basically removed has increased offense and decreased clearing the net front? How say you Gordzonga.
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Yes, the end of cross-checking as an acceptable defensive tactic in front of the net has made life tough for goaltenders. Defensemen can try to box out forwards and tie up their sticks, but they can end up screening their own goaltender in the process. So that has increased the urgency of defensemen to become shot blockers to break up plays before they get to the net front.
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I understand that cable packages are so expensive, that younger generations can't afford it and major sports need to get their product on social media. I'm totally fine with the Cardinals having games on Facebook and Apple. I'll give the leagues that, if they agree to have their stretch games on tv. I don't want to be watching Blues games from March until the conclusion is the season on an app. Sorry, their has to be standards in this country. September and October Cardinal baseball is sacred and those games must be televised on TV. Really, their games should be showed live on social media or whatever platforms they want in addition to television. I'm sorry their tv contracts stink and possibly prohibit games being shown on apps and social media live. But the games that mean something need to be shown in it's best form.
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Bobo, don’t look now but Cards offense is falling faster than Netflix stock. Four starters hitting around .150, Molina in particular hasn’t been sharp at plate or behind the plate. Concerns or just a case where pitchers are catching up given they had almost no spring training?
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I expected Oliver Marmol to tailor his lineup day to day to create the best possible matchups. I thought that was the whole point of giving the analytics side of the operation more clout. And yet Albert Pujols, who is now 1-for-12 against righthanded pitching -- the continuation of a long-running trend -- keeps getting at bats against tough righties. Edmundo Sosa hit .294 as a starter last season, went 2-for-5 in his one start this season . . . and still he sits night after night.Since these early weeks of this season are like extended spring training, given the lockout-shortened exhibition season, you would think Marmol would be spreading at bats to get the whole roster tuned up.
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I really think getting Tkachuk is a pipe dream. Army won’t pay 10-12 mil. For 1 player when he can get 2 for that amount. He will cost to much and we just don’t have the cap space. Just look at the players we have to sign in 23-24. ROR, Thomas, Kyrou, Barby and others We trade Binner and maybe a prospect. Use his money to sign Ville and a backup. Trade Vladdy (I LOVE VLADDY) for a first and a prospect. That gives us a little over 18 million to spend. Then sign Forsberg say for 8 million. Nashville doesn’t look like they want to sign him and he’s younger than Vlady, and has close to the same production. We would still have money and assets to trade for Chyrcyun sp? Or resign another D-man.
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I agree that throwing big money at Matthew Tkachuk does not fit the Doug Armstrong mode of operation. He likes having a lot of good players instead of a few huge contracts. Keeping most of these guys together under the salary cap will be tricky. Given the fact that Vladimir Tarasenko has a reasonable salary and year left on his contract, I would not be surprised if the Blues kept him to maintain the dynamic chemistry in place for another year. Worst-case scenario he would be a valuable one-year rental. Given how he clicks with his linemates, there would be value in that.
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I read an awful article on ESPN that said the NHL's playoff system is hurting the sport because too few teams make the playoffs. Do these people ever do research or look at the standings before they write articles? If the expanded just 2 spots in each conference, you'd have two bad teams make it in the east this year, and would gobble up the last two respectable teams out west making it, leaving just the doormats. Please NHL, don't let tv ruin your league. Games are so much better when decent teams battle it out to make it. It's what makes the regular season so much fun. Don't ruin it for a quick buck.
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This is NOT the year to push for an expanded bracket. The top 8 teams in the East are miles ahead of the bottom 8. In the West, there are a couple of teams making the wild card race interesting -- but again the competitive depth is not great. Next we would see a better argument for a play-in round if promising teams like Buffalo and Anaheim take a big step and if the Islanders and Jets bounce back.Will we eventually see a play-in round and a bigger bracket? Yes, because the NHL needs to chase every last dollar.
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Your glasses are pretty rose colored this morning (MORE GOOD THAN BAD). My look says that they have won games despite limited offense from most players. Other than Arenado, Pujols and Edman, the rest of the lineup isn’t producing much. So if they come alive, I can see the optimism.
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The fact this team has the internal solutions I mentioned earlier -- Edmundo Sosa taking some starts at shortstop, Nolan Gorman adding clout as the DH versus righties -- makes me less concerned about some slow offensive starts. Andrew Knizner had a good start filling in for Yadier Molina, which was encouraging. He had been a weak link on the bench. History tells us Paul Goldschmidt is likely to overcome his slow start and hit. I'd bet on Dylan Carlson getting going as well.Now, if the Cardinals don't score runs this weekend in the Great American Band Box, then fans should start getting fretful.
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If the Blues don't make it past the 2nd round do you consider this a successful year for the team? If Husso's play remains outstanding, does Army resign him and look for a trade partner for Binnington, or do you attempt to sign Husso and then flip him for prospects?
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Given the fact that Colorado will likely await the Wild-Blues winner in the second round, getting past that round would be a considerable upset. So, yes, getting to the second round would make this transition season a success for the Blues.If he can sign Ville Husso and keep him out of free agency, look for Doug Armstrong to keep him and shop Jordan Binnington while looking to create more salary cap space.
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He had a couple of tough moments. The one time he pulled a Buchnevich by slowing down on the wing and looking for teammates when the obvious play was just to attack with speed. But he was not alone. There were plenty of bungled plays by other Blues forwards as they squandered lengthy offensive zone time and some impressive puck control. Clearly the team was not sharp. But, in this case, it did not have to be sharp to win.
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What did you think of the Beagle/Terry incident? Beagle beating up an unwilling non-combatant. Terry never took off his gloves. And it was Zegress who they were annoyed with Terry just gently stuck up for him. Should be a rule if a player is a non combatant doesn't take off his gloves then the aggressor gets a game misconduct and suspension. This has to stop really embarrassing for the NHL. That's not what you model for kids. Your take oh great Carb eater?
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To defend Jay Beagle on this play, he turns around and here comes Troy Terry to challenge him. There wasn't time to check his ID. If you race into a scrum to protect you teammate, you must know that getting punched in the nose is a possible outcome. So don't go in there unless you are able to fight or at least keep you face our of harm's way while hanging on for dear life.Now, at some point Beagle does have to notice that Terry has not dropped his gloves and is not capable of defending himself, So Beagle should have let up sooner.
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As I noted earlier, Oliver Marmol needs to put those analytics to work and create better matchups from game to game, inning to inning. That is how the game is being managed now and that's how I thought Marmol would run this team. He has options and he needs to use them. Letting Paul Goldschmidt hit his way back on track is one thing, but hitting Albert Pujols against righties and sending Paul DeJong out there to make outs after all the outs he made in 2021 is another.
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Gordo,
Why do you think to this point, Sosa only has 5 AB's? I get the DeJong "trying to get him going" strategy, but Sosa was a big part of the September push. And with Gormon, are we just simply going to have to wait until the arb date passes for him to even be considered, or did that get adjusted in the latest CBA?