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Join columnist Jeff Gordon for his live St. Louis 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.

3rd & 7 37yd

Out of all the things I would change about the Cardinals, a big payroll isn't one of them. First and foremost, they absolutely just improve DEVELOPING their products. The Cardinals have had plenty of very very talented prospects that Mo's regime has drafted and developed. And so far his minor league coaches and major league managers have FAILED to develop 1 as a legitimate superstar, not 1 star player who had made a handful of All Star appearances, etc. They need to take their money and invest it so Flores can build on the improvements he has made. They need to step up their hand where they can draft and develop players like Yadi and Pujols, while churning out competent starting players. That's where the money MUST go. There's no way they're going to be able to sign big stars and three prospect cost to acquire cornerstone players isn't going down. What's your thoughts?

by Brian 1/6/2023 8:11:24 PM
I wrote about the need to get even better at developing players. But the recent group of young players includes All-Star invites and Gold Glove winners. I figure the Cardinals will move forward with most of those guys plus Jordan Walker, who is widely regarded as a potential All-Star. Prospect deniers can keep pretending that the organization doesn't develop good players, but the production here and elsewhere (Florida, Tampa Bay, Arizona) with traded Cardinals prospects suggests otherwise.

by Jeff Gordon 1/6/2023 8:15:21 PM
Going to the game next Saturday. Do you know much about what is to go on that night with the HOF stuff?

by Thowardmax 1/6/2023 8:15:29 PM
I do not, That would be a good question for next week's hockey chat.

by Jeff Gordon 1/6/2023 8:15:53 PM
Are you bullish on O’Neill rebounding in 2023 any where near his solid 2021 performance levels?

by Nick N 1/6/2023 8:15:57 PM
I figure the real Tyler O'Neill is somewhere between his near-MVP-caliber peak and his disastrous injury-ruined 2022 season. That is a huge gap to fall into, but I see him somewhere in the Randal Grichuk-ish middle.

by Jeff Gordon 1/6/2023 8:17:41 PM
Gordo - the team and media need to drop the quantity over quality narrative with the Cards. Quantity may win you a game in Pittsburgh on a Tuesday in July but quality is what keeps kicking this team out of the Wild Card every year. Having lost of competition doesn't mean anything if it is also medium-ceiling, injury history players. You can have a thousand of them at every position, but when the chips are down in October, aside from Yepez's HR, we've seen nothing in 4+ post-seasons from these types of players.

by Quite Frankly 1/6/2023 8:19:02 PM
And we didn't see anything from the MVP-caliber Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado last fall. The Cardinals are keeping them anyway, just as they will keep most of their top young players while winning for another 90-plus victory season.

by Jeff Gordon 1/6/2023 8:20:15 PM
Gordo, I think the Cards should wait to see if Bieber from Cleveland might be available at the deadline. He is a true ace. Lopez is not.

by Stan the Fan 1/6/2023 8:20:18 PM
Yeah, he is a cut above Lopez. But then again, the price will be higher.

by Jeff Gordon 1/6/2023 8:20:44 PM
Why do you suppose that Mo is currently a lame duck contractually speaking versus his GM is not?

by Nick N 1/6/2023 8:20:54 PM
Mozeliak has been in the grind for a long, long time. How many current executives have been GM or president of baseball operations with their team for a longer period?

by Jeff Gordon 1/6/2023 8:22:46 PM
When a team has an option/buyout on a player and then chooses the buyout option, is that money given to the player in a lump sum at that moment, or is it paid through the year like their salary would be.

by Jhowhow 1/6/2023 8:23:00 PM
I imagine that's a lump sum, just as a bonus would be. But I'm not sure.

by Jeff Gordon 1/6/2023 8:23:24 PM
I am fascinated by the Hamlin story from a sociological perspective. It is scary to see an otherwise healthy young athlete nearly die before our eyes. I think it reveals the fragility of life and how death, as sudden at it can be, frightens us. How’s that for a comment?

by Stan the Fan 1/6/2023 8:23:38 PM
Don't bum us out going into the weekend.

by Jeff Gordon 1/6/2023 8:23:53 PM
HI Jeff, A lot of folks and some of the baseball writers are a bit frustrated with Tyler O'Neal and I get why with his nagging injuries. But I am optimistic because in the off season before 2021 he went home and really focused on his basics and came to spring training ready and other than an injury early in the season he had a very productive year. I think that the with his weight lifting background that he can really focus in on goals and he now seems to be focused on making his body more limber and resilient. I think that he will come in to this season ready to succeed.

by TimCoMo 1/6/2023 8:24:07 PM
We'll see. The difference between staying healthy and productive and pulling 19 muscles next season could mean tens of millions of dollars in career earnings.

by Jeff Gordon 1/6/2023 8:24:56 PM
Either the NHL players are getting much better at embellishing questionable calls or the officials have decided that the easier road is to just call a penalty even if it's obviously a con job. It's getting worse and worse. Can you see the league eventually using replay to verify bad penalty calls?

by 1968-69 Blues Season Ticket Holder 1/6/2023 8:25:09 PM
I don't see the league going that far. Nor do I expect the league to allow players police themselves like they did in the old days. When players did acting jobs back in the day to draw a penalty, opponents made sure the next penalty they drew was really. really, REALLY legitimate.

by Jeff Gordon 1/6/2023 8:26:29 PM
Jeff - Who would you take in a Clubber Lang-Apollo Creed matchup?

by Jock Ewing 1/6/2023 8:26:45 PM
No opinion there -- gotta admit, I lost interest in the "Rocky" franchise pretty early.

by Jeff Gordon 1/6/2023 8:27:27 PM
Thank you, CO Redbird! The off-season trades are roster altering cannon blasts, the in-season moves are always need-based short-term popgun transactions.

by Quite Frankly 1/6/2023 8:27:38 PM
And when teams have to trade for need because their farm system didn't provide enough help, they usually overpay for acquisitions.

by Jeff Gordon 1/6/2023 8:28:16 PM
Out of all the promising Cardinals prospects, is there anyone you feel exceptionally optimist has the talent ceiling to potentially evolve into a superstar?

by Nick N 1/6/2023 8:28:25 PM
Jordan Walker.

by Jeff Gordon 1/6/2023 8:28:32 PM
It feels like the Pujols swan song season has created false hope in terms of the Wainwright expectations in ’23. I’m not saying he’ll be Yadi, but the team and certain local media are content to completely dismiss last September’s free fall as a blip. If he was 33 years old a month like that would be a blip. But his swing and miss rate continued to decline and he had a 4.73 ERA on the road last year. I’m not saying that he shouldn’t get a chance to go out on his terms (although maybe not at $17.5m) but if they are counting on some top-of-the-rotation production from him then they'd better line him up for a lot of home starts.

by Tackleberry 1/6/2023 8:28:53 PM
Yeah, I have a hard time believing that Wainwright suddenly found the magic solution to his late-season woes. If he can give the team 150 decent innings, that would be a win. This team will need Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery to have been seasons as they eye their next contract.

by Jeff Gordon 1/6/2023 8:31:28 PM
Are college coaches really allowed to contact and recruit players on other teams prior to entering the transfer portal? That seems seedy even by NCAA standards.

by Tony 1/6/2023 8:31:33 PM
The level of tampering is staggering. The coaches reach out to the same people in each player's camp that they would get to know) during regular recruiting. High school coaches field a lot of calls, as do "family advisors" in the inner circle.

by Jeff Gordon 1/6/2023 8:33:07 PM
What about Jurickson Profar? He could be the Swiss Army knife if Donovan plays second every day.

by Stan the Fan 1/6/2023 8:33:20 PM
But who does he take at bats from?

by Jeff Gordon 1/6/2023 8:33:50 PM
It's been enjoyable to watch the way Mizzou plays as much as the outcomes of the games. Maybe I should tune into more Horizon League games.... who knew!

by Phil 1/6/2023 8:33:56 PM
Dennis Gates got full buy-in from this group. Well, except for Isiaih Mosley. College basketball is a year-to-year deal more than ever and team chemistry can be elusive, as SLU and Illinois are proving.

by Jeff Gordon 1/6/2023 8:35:08 PM
Happy Friday Commissioner Gordon. Let's talk some Blues hockey!

On the All-Star selection of Tarasenko did the Blues have any input into his selection? If Vladi can't play due to injury I aasume the Blues choose his replacement, correct?

Could anyone have predicted the Blues winning the last two games against quality teams? If the winning continues without Vladi and O'Reilly can the Blues trade these two for decent draft picks?

Finally, has O'Reilly been slowing down his line?

THANK YOU for the chat each week.

by Barry - Blues Fan in Orlando 1/6/2023 8:35:28 PM
Kyrou seems like the obvious replacement for Tarasenko, assuming there isn't a miraculous recovery. I'm not sure if the hockey operations department will make that pick as well. And this year the fans are filling out the rosters with their votes, unlike in years past. Maybe the fans will vote in another Blue and give the Blues their representative that way.
The last two victories on the road were a pleasant surprise, given the team's lackluster performance against Chicago at home.

by Jeff Gordon 1/6/2023 8:40:55 PM
"Jim" asked (essentially) why, if the small percentage are unhappy with the Cardinals, why do they make such a large part of the chat? Well, those who are happy usually don't chime in with their unhappiness and those who are non content will usually make their gripes known. If you go to a restaurant and you like the food, do you go out of your way to make positive comments? You may return again and again, but that is your comment. On the other hand, if you dislike the food, you will immediately and boldly complain (too raw, too over cooked, too overseasoned, etc.) Yes, those who are unhappy seem to want to make the world know of their unhappiness, while those who are content will simply enjoy life as it is. (By the way, I think you are pretty straight forward in your answers and appreciate them.)

by John 1/6/2023 8:41:32 PM
I am trying to tone down my sarcasm, but some weeks I lose self-control.

by Jeff Gordon 1/6/2023 8:42:20 PM
Yo Gordo, I am constantly confused by the face-offs won/lost stat, i.e., a significant percentage are not cleanly won or lost by the two players in the circle. So what happens when there is what John Kelly rightly calls a "scrambled face-off"? Does the win revert to the team that eventually controls the puck or is there another criteria?

by theMick 1/6/2023 8:42:42 PM
Great question. Sometimes a player wins a draw cleanly and it caroms off his own player, who never gets control, and eventually goes to the a rival player, who does get control. I believe their is subjectivity here for the stats crew, as there is for the hits category. Some crews believe every bump is a hit while others only record the hit when a guy gets trucked.

by Jeff Gordon 1/6/2023 8:45:07 PM