Join columnist Jeff Gordon for his live St. Louis sports chat at 1 p.m. Friday
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"Martín Pérez, Noah Syndergaard, Tyler Mahle, Kyle Freeland, Tyler Mahle, Edward Cabrera, Madison Bumgarner, Merrill Kelly and Tarik Skubal are some of the better possibilities."
Do you really think they should go after Tyler Mahle since you mentioned him twice?
Thanks, Jeff. -
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At the trade deadline, a competitive team should concentrate on replacing their own *worst* player/pitcher, rather than fixate on adding the best possible player/pitcher on the market. Swapping out Dylan Carlson for Juan Soto for example is switching a 3-win guy for a 5-5.5 win guy. That's a real good upgrade, but maybe not as much as replacing the very worst of the Cardinal rotation with a solid 2-3 WAR starter. And the latter addition would cost a small fraction of the former, in terms of both prospects and future salary.
Go get a starter, Mo! -
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No, getting into the playoffs and getting bounced early isn't wonderful. But fans in places like Pittsburgh and Baltimore would be euphoric with that. Orioles fans have had to endure so many consecutive years of 100+ losses, intentionally orchestrated by the FO, they would love to change places. After years of being subjected to a field full of minor league talent, fans are finally seeing an almost .500 team and the FO is spraining elbows and shoulders patting itself on the back.
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Am I to understand that the reason Paul DeJong (murdering AAA for the last 4, 5 weeks) hasn't been called up is the club is afraid of losing bench guy Sosa on waivers? And similarly the reason they've called up journeyman nobody Connor Capel multiple times (and put him in the lineup) instead of actual top 100 prospect who's killing AAA Alec Burleson is because they're afraid of exposing Capel to waivers?
This is nuts, Gordo. Capel, just like Sosa, is maybe an MLB bench guy. Mayyybe. And DeJong/Burleson on the other hand might be able to add a win or even two to this year's team. And they really, really need one or two more wins! Have I mis-interpreted events, Jeff? -
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Liberatore + Yepez for German Marquez?
Marquez has 2 1/2 years of control left, and a fine pre-2022 track record, esp. away from Coors. Makes around $15M per year, which ain't bad. Would the Rockies require more, Gordo? Maybe add McGreevy as well? -
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Hi Jeff and Happy Friday...I for one want to say thanks for doing these chats. You have a great sense of humor and a lot more patience than I do. How you put up with some of these folks in the chat is beyond me. I am neither a Mo apologist nor a hater. I think under DeWitt the Cards have been exactly what he wanted them to be, a model of consistency. Of course, I would like to see them be more aggressive at times especially at the mid-season trading deadline, but they have built an impressive stable of prospects and the future of Cardinal baseball looks bright. No question here, just some observations. Have a great weekend!
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I appreciate the cardinals approach. I like having a opportunity to win every year. Instead of “going for it”. Nats got one WS out of Strasberg, Max, hryper and Soto. Cubs got one out of bytant, Rizzo, Baez. Cards could be setup for a early 00 run. Good prospects. No bad contracts.
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There is plenty of credible independent analysis out there, but most of the good stuff (by folks with scouting training) is behind a paywall. Those folks are higher on this group of Cardinals than on any group in recent memory, Under Randy Flores the team has drafted more high-ceiling guys.
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I think you're being unfair, Gordo.
You can't give any weight at all, none, to Woodford's AAA performance this year because he was apparently sent there NOT to get people out -- but instead to improve what Ollie Marmol claims was such a defective slider that Woodford couldn't be trusted at the MLB level (despite an ERA of 2.75 over his last 50 MLB innings).
If you are going to judge Woodford in AAA by his ERA, then you must also judge Woodford's MLB performance by his ERA. Which again, is just over 3.00 this year and a tremendous 2.75 over his last 50 innings. And this might shock you, but in 2022 the Cards have actually lost fewer WAR to injury than almost any team in MLB. (Check the Man Games Lost website for confirmation.) You are giving the Boy Manager far, far too much credit. He has bungled this roster and this season, Jeff. -
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I don't know why you think it's ideal for Bader to be the CF for this team. Having him and Carlson eat up 2/3 of the OF is a drain on the offense. Bader is 28--he is what he is: injury prone, low OBP. Carlson has shown real chops in CF and opens up RF for a better hitter. As CF, Carlson's bat becomes more valuable. As a RF, not so much. Of course, he still could take great strides. Bader has always been a fourth OF disguised as a starter. I thought he would develop, but he has never really taken that turn. He's good for some hot streaks, but he'll never be a consistent offensive player.
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Maybe Carlson holds up in center field as he gets older, but for a team based on pitching (in theory) and fielding, having a guy take away both alleys is appealing. Bader is a bottom-of-the-order guy, to your point, but he steals bases and he showed some pop last year. I'd like to see a four-outfielder rotation that spots Carlson against some righthanders uses Bader as more of a 450-plate appearance guy.
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Cards just aren't good enough right now, they need to hold on to all their major prospects, perhaps trade some minor ones for a couple of stop gap starters. Player development is on a roll and if they just keep Gorman, Libertore, Thompson, Donovan, Walker, Wynn, Graceffo, McGreevy they should be fine. Perhaps open the wallet to sign a a really good starting pitcher in the off season.
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Jeff -
It seems like what has made Doug Armstrong so good at what he does is making the deal that nobody else sees coming. The Oreilly deal comes to mind.
Is there any room here for Mozeilak to do something similar? If he's considering moving a nolan gorman or a jordan walker, the pool of pitchers that might be had grows well beyond Frankie Montas and the rest of the "available" pitchers on the market. Any chance we see a move like Jordan Walker for Sandy Alcantara or another ace? -
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Quick follow-up, Gordo.
There's been 5 times when a bad Redbird hitter was at the plate and a successful safety squeeze would have WON the game, and it was not even attempted. Asked about this in a chat, the Commish stated that small ball is "not in Marmol's playbook." This is what I'm criticizing, Jeff. The blind adherence to what Marmol perceives is the shrewder way of looking at the sport.
I don't think it's a coincidence that a lot of old commonsense managers are currently thriving. Snitker has an incredible record in his 5 seasons in Atlanta. Same with Dusty in Houston. The Mets immediately got much better when Showalter came on board, even though they've gotten very little from DeGrom/Scherzer this year. Same with Bob Melvin in San Diego despite no Tatis Jr. this year. There's nothing new under the sun in baseball. Ollie Marmol is overthinking things when he bothers to think at all. -
Hey, we have seen a few bunt attempts lately! But we're talking about Andrew Knizner, so never mind. The analytics crowds hates bunting, as you likely know, and Marmol is definitely a believer in analytics. Interestingly, he does a game post-mortem where he hears from both the numbers guys and the baseball guys.I'm tend to side with you on the use of the bunt. There is still a place for it. Not in the first inning of a 0-0 game, as Tony La Russa sometimes did, but in certain key spots where a hitter seems unlikely to do something good swinging away. I like a blend of new and old school.
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I think the thing that hasn't been discussed enough amid all the speculation about Cardinals' prospects is the future of Tyler O'Neil with this team. To me, he can't be someone who blocks the younger players. He's never healthy, and he's only had one season of consequence. It's hard to imagine his current value given his history, but I'd hate to see the club move prospects in order to wait for O'Neil to live up to what they hope he can be. The move is probably to let him try to get healthy again and then field offers in the off-season.
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It's not that Woodford is a world-beater, per se. But he's been treated like a red-headed stepchild without rational justification.
Again, the manager gave starts to 11 different guys before the end of June, and Woodford was not one of them. More specifically, the 13 starts *unnecessarily* given to relievers Naughton, Hicks, Oviedo, and Zack Thompson, resulted in just 43 innings pitched and an ERA of 6.85.
Replace those 13 terrible starts with a so-so Woodford, e.g., ERA around 4.20-4.40 and 5 to 5.5 innings per start, and the club has 2 or 3 more wins right now. And a less taxed bullpen, to boot. Does this not make sense, Gordo? -
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I’m of the opinion that the Cardinals have become masters of doing just enough to make you think they are doing more than they actually are. I think this is where some, I’ll admit definitely not all, of the disconnect from tickets sold and chat questions/tone come from. The people who come in to chats like this are the people who follow the team more closely. If you have responsibilities that keep you from watching more than a game or two a week it would be easy to buy into the ownership/front office narrative. My personal pet peeve is the the just make it into the playoffs and anything can happen. A team can not guarantee post season success, but they can absolutely increase their odds. The Cardinals have done a terrific job of selling Cardinals fans that it’s all random. Side note someone forgot to tell Arenado. 10 years ago the Cardinals might not have put together the best team, but they put together a team that truly had a chance. For the last 7 years or so the team has fallen off, but not because they have changed. Rather because they have not. It takes less than it ever has to make the playoffs due to tanking and expanded spots. The Cardinals still build a 90 win and hope team. That looks great compared to the Reds, but looses its shine compared to the Dodgers. When was the last time this team won a division series game? Not a series, just a game. It would be a different situation if I thought changes were coming, but I don’t see it. Let’s say Jordan Walker is legit. He’ll be coming into his own just as we loose Goldschmidt. The team doesn’t need a replacement for Goldy they need a greater supplement. The Cardinals have become the equivalent of a high floor low ceiling prospect. With everything good and bad that says about them.
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