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.
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You know Gordzonga fans don't care how much money the Dewitt's make. Mozeliak's philosophy of "make the playoffs and see if we can get lucky" falls short with a lot of die hards. This overall attitude permeates the culture now and it's not good. Did you tell your kids a "B-" is very acceptable? No need to go for an "A" . We want an "A" team not a "hope to get lucky C+ or B- team. Doesn't necessarily mean they have to spend like the Yankees and Padres. A "Go for it" attitude at the trade deadline would be celebrated. At least act like you want to win it all. I can see the fans feeling taken advantage of. -
I believe the Cardinals' $30 million-plus hitters want to win. When they saw the management team retool the starting rotation ahead of the trade deadline, they saw commitment to win. But when the $30 million-plus hitters don't hit in the playoffs, then odds are the team won't advance. -
Good afternoon. Hope lunch was fantastic. Your updated thoughts and insights on Andrew Knizner's status is in terms of being in STL on the roster Opening Day? Ditto Jordan Walker?
Chatters, repeat after Gordo. A team never has enough pitching. A team never has enough pitching. -
The Cardinals lack compelling options for the backup catcher role, and that's distressing. Knizner could get the job by default because he knows the culture. As for Walker, we'll see.. The outfield crowding combined with his late-spring decline at the plate could land him in Memphis for a bit.
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As a lifetime Cards fan I am sad for Waino missing the chance to start his last opener. As a 2023 Cards fan I think this injury is a blessing in disguise. The guy looks washed and I think the hardcore supporters are kidding themselves that some magical final season was coming down the pike. Pujols’ season was one in a million bounceback last year.
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Wainwright didn't look washed up in the WBC. Where the groin muscle injury could help is with his endurance. He developed a dead arm last season while trying to work deep into games. Pushing back his starts for a month or more could leave more in his tank for later.
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Derrick reports a 2 year, $40M extension for Mikolas. Given his age and the possibility of an injury to pitchers, the 2 years seems sensible from the Cardinals viewpoint. And Miles doesn't have the negotiations distraction carrying over to the regular season. Plus he gets $40M, so can put off getting a second job at Burger King for a short while.
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Having worked on and off at a BK for a few years of my youth, I can say that is a hard job worth avoiding. From my experience, most of the other employees were female, which was more than fine, and if you worked the closing shift on Friday or Saturday then there was always a party afterward. So that, too, was fine.But here was the bad news for guy employee: Job duties usually included working the broiler or fryer, which means lots and lots of grease. Then there were janitorial duties, which were no picnic on Friday and Saturday night after the drunks rolled in. (I'm old, so there was no drive-through back then). The bathrooms looked like the climatic scene in "Taxi Driver." Then there was the super-unpleasant task of smashing down trash in the compactor out back.So, yeah, nice extension.
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Thanks as always for your hockey insight and knowledge, Gordo. The more I watch the New Blues, the more I am satisfied with the current defensive corp. It appears that the still-recovering Scandella combined with Parayko playing the way all have expected since Petro left have made this group complete. We are certainly deep in 2nd and 3rd pairings with some obvious redundancies. But Army seems to be willing to let this play out for another season. Curious as to your view.
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A healthier Scandella gives the Blues another sorely needed defensive defenseman to kill penalties, work defensive zone starts and match up against scoring lines. That sure beating trying to cram an offensive defenseman in that role, as the Blues have done. Faulk did OK with that transition, but there is still an imbalance with Krug, Leddy and Perunovich all in the mix as puck-movers. Ideally the Blues would swap out out one of them with a stay-at-home defender who could carry a bigger load than Robert Bortuzzo has.
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Krugs and Binner's contracts are the worst for the Blues. Krug has played hard in his career and he's breaking down. We have to package a number 1 draft pick and he has to ok a trade. What a mess. Binner is trending the wrong direction every year since the Cup win. Maybe Army can pull something off with Binner especially if Edmonton , Toronto, Carolina don't win due to weak goaltending. He has to name 10 teams he would accept a trade to at the end of this year. Army doesn't give the impression he's going to do anything!
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The Blues will be fine with the combination of Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer going forward. As for Torey Krug, he is still a good player and an asset. I would not expect the Blues to pay another team to take him, since will remain the team's top power-play quarterback as long as he is here.
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The Cardinals have developed lots of young pitching. Jack Flaherty and Jake Woodford are in the rotation, Ryan Helsley, Andre Pallante, Jordan Hicks and Zack Thompson stepped into bullpen roles, Tink Hence is widely regarded as one of 50 or 60 prospects in all of baseball. Then there is Matthew Liberatore, Gordon Graceffo and Michael McGreevy -- who admittedly got beat up in the spring.MLB.com had this on more recent picks:The 2022 Draft class comes with plenty of its own potential. First-rounder Cooper Hjerpe shows a good three-pitch mix out of a funky, deceptive delivery that helped him dominate at Oregon State, while Brycen Mautz (second round) and Pete Hansen (third round) also deepen St. Louis’ stable of southpaws.Writing for ESPN.com, Kiley McDaniel had this take on Hjerpe:Hjerpe could Aaron Nola his way through the minors (by moving quickly as a crafty low-slot starter after dominating at a big school), but I think St. Louis' pitching depth will keep him from debuting this season.
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His business model is unlikely to change. His goal is to put his team in chase playoff berths every year. That's not enough for some fans, who spend the entire season worrying about the potential first-round exit. As we can tell from attendance and TV ratings, that is a tiny percentage of the fan base. So that's the reality of it. Nothing you or I type in this chat another any member of the P-D army writes will change that.
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I know he was never your favorite but Niko Mikkola is #1 D pair for the Rangers with Fox and excelling.Quote from article: "He can skate, has some grit to him and uses that long reach to his advantage. He wasn't expected to fill big minutes but has stepped up to the plate." Are you surprised or just another person who needed a change of scenery
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I liked Niko well enough -- and he is certainly better than what the Rangers had to balance up a pairing with Fox. But Niko had a long look here and he kept making the same mistakes with the puck. Of course, the whole team kept breaking down the same ways. Now Niko is on a much better team that is playing much better as a group. I imagine he has a LOT more confidence now than he had a month ago. When a team breaks down as often as the Blues did, the D-men get caught holding (or coughing up) the puck.
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Based on what we have seen so far, I would start Walker with the big team and give him the playing time instead of sending him down. If he struggles, there is nothing wrong with a reset, IMO. If the hype is right, he should get the necessary year long honors and get the team another draft pick. For a draft and develop team, you need to keep the hopper stocked with picks. Obviously, his development is more important than the pick, but I would be greedy and go for the pick as well. THoughts?
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This is the most important prospect they've had since Pujols. So they his development is way more important than maybe getting an extra pick. It's true that Albert had no trouble making the leap to the majors, but guys like him don't come around often. Jordan has been on a steady upward climb since signing and the team has to keep it that way.
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Cardinals will never spend like the Mets or Dodgers. Even the Padres will very soon come back to Earth with their spending as it will catch up to them very quickly. If the Cardinals hope to SERIOUSLY contend in the future, their development of players is going to have to improve. I think they recognize and draft very well. I think they develop their minor leaguers very well. I'm not so sure they are doing as well by the time their prospects reach the majors. They seem to be able to crank out replacement level players consistently, but they need to develop some impact stars. This will change if Walker and Winn pan out like everyone thinks they will. If you can't outspend the big boys, you're gonna have to outdraft and outdevelop them
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