That sounds fair. A Mitch Haniger-type would be more the Cardinals' speed. The spending could get crazy this winter because more teams are willing to spend their post-pandemic riches and more teams seem ready to compete. Even the Atlanta Braves, who operate like the Cardinals, might be willing to spend to the luxury tax while they have a loaded team.
I haven't had a chance to ponder the makeup of the committee making this round of selections. There are some ballplayers from a different era who railed against steroid cheats but had no problem abusing painkillers, taking extra cortisone shots and jacking themselves up with amphetamines. And there are some former ballplayers who are less committed to judging character and more committed to recognizing true greatness. There is still a chunk of the BWAA voting pool who still defend the moral high ground against the steroid scofflaws, so this committee vote could be the opportunity to make the Baseball Half Fame a true Hall of Fame.
I'm not aware of any enforcement of rules regarding minimum MLB team payrolls.
At some point it has to happen. All movies get remade. Hollywood is almost out of ideas.
I supposed this is where I'm supposed to type a Kyrie Irving joke.
Zero. Come on, Ozzie is confident. I bet he believes he could still get some hits and make some plays, but starting?
DeWitt created the Cardinals' business plan, not Mozeliak. And the business plan does not include making free agency a primary means of adding players. It is a supplemental tool and has been used as such. Fans obsess over the team's record in free agency, but DeWitt does not. He is a draft-and-develop guy. When the Cardinals lagged on that front, he stepped in and made front office changes. DeWitt is risk adverse and he has kept the Cardinals from suffering a Robinson Cano-like disaster in free agency. He also missed out of Bryce Harper, but he can live with that.
And that is what they are doing. Fans talk about the need to add a "true No. 1 starting pitcher," but there has been little buzz about that in the marketplace.
As he noted in the interview, he will not start over from scratch because he has the speedy Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas to retool around. So the goal will be to retool and remain competitive at the same time, as the Dallas Stars have done, rather than blowing things up and starting over, like the Chicago Blackhawks are in the process of doing.
The A's post-movie history was not all that great. The sequel to "Moneyball" would have been depressing.
The Cardinals knew Schwarber could hit homers. Everybody knew that. And he's a great guy. But the Cardinals were never going to spend all of that money for all of those years on a DH when they had an army of inexpensive DHs-in-training.
Good luck convincing Bill DeWitt Jr. to change his business model. There will be staggering sums spend in free agency this winter and almost all of will be done by teams not named the Cardinals. And his team will be right back in the chase next season.
Unlike the Brewers, who are dumping guys who could make money in arbitration, the Cardinals are going to continue seeking of perennial contention. I doubt that Mozeliak said "We're going to get this guy or that guy," He just had to say the Cardinals were going to keep doing what they do."
No idea. These could go a number of ways.
Given the fact the Cardinals return an entire starting rotation and an almost entire bullpen, there has been little chatter about pitching. It's not a team priority, so I imagine the Cardinals will let the market play out and then seek some depth guys.
Well, the Braves did a pretty good job of developing a core group of players that delivered a title. The Astros have developed a ton of talent. Meanwhile the Phillies have spent like crazy and look that the decade they had leading into this years near-miss. So building a core through the draft and international signings is absolutely the way to succeed if you're not going to run $250 million to $300 million payrolls every year.
I would expect a talent sell-off if this trend continues. Change was coming anyway due to expiring contracts and salary cap concerns, so the retooling around Thomas and Kyrou could accelerate at the trade deadline.
The Cardinals would absolutely have to look at that, just as they looked at Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado -- two players that should never have been traded by their original teams.
Kyrou has 94 points in 97 games the last two years. Talent like that is hard to come by. There is no regret over that contract.
Smart minds know that Bill DeWitt Jr will not leave his comfort zone to sign a tier one free agent like a Trea Turner. But I do believe they will up the ante and sign a mid tier free agent - someone better than last year’s splash of Corey Dickerson. Given how this organization overvalues and hypes internal prospects, is my free agent assessment misplaced?
That sounds fair. A Mitch Haniger-type would be more the Cardinals' speed. The spending could get crazy this winter because more teams are willing to spend their post-pandemic riches and more teams seem ready to compete. Even the Atlanta Braves, who operate like the Cardinals, might be willing to spend to the luxury tax while they have a loaded team.