If they keep shooting it like they have, all things are possible. Physically, that does not look like an Ivy League team. Princeton can bang around with the power schools.
In any other division the Cardinals would have the same draft-and-develop approach that they have always had. Might they have spent more this year in a tougher division? Maybe, but that potential loss of Bally Sports Midwest money definitely impacted spending for this season and beyond.
Which reminds that a massive payroll guarantees nothing in the tournament setting, especially in a single-elimination deal.
Roy is one of the regulars. We can't help but have a little fun with him.
On more more irritable days I can be abrupt. But for some reason I'm mellow despite all this rain.
Yes, that is the risk. Some guys plateau and some guys fade way too young. But the alternative is spending giant money on guys in free agency for the back half of their playing days.
We'll see Matthew at various points this season, unless he gets hurt. Just as Woodford had a to-do list for the winter, so did Liberatore.
Nah, he needs help. But how about Sammy! This is the guy we thought we'd see more regularly when he first broke in.
I believe the Cardinals looked at backup catcher an area that needed improvement one way or another for this season. Knizner seems unlikely to deliver that improvement, so the situation seems fluid.
Contreras will change the way the Cardinals use the DH, since there may not be regular at bats there for the extra outfielder or Gorman. It's been interesting to see Gorman take the fill-in work at third base, which is the sign the team wants him to go into the season getting some ABs.
That meltdown against Minnesota might have triggered Berube decision to give Binnington a bit of reset. Hofer's early success sets the stage for an interesting goaltending scenario for next season.
Great backup catchers are in short supply. Toronto had a surplus at the position last year, but that's rare. As trading from the hitting surplus, I'm guessing those assets must be saved to get pitching help.
I don't know enough about Abrams to make that call. I do like everything you hear about Winn's attitude and drive-the-ball-to-all-fields approach at the plate is most welcome.
Yes, I see Hofer as a good part of the netminder tandem. The ideal trade piece for the Blues off the blue line is Krug. He has the same contract as Faulk (four years left at $6.5 million per) and he isn't as well-rounded. But Krug is an established power-play talent and at some point that could make him marketable to another team.
We discussed both Scandella's revival and the need to balance up the defense earlier. You have a good read on it.
It was weird to see the Blues in full sell-off mode. It would even stranger to see the Cardinals there while pulling a Cubs-like tank. We've been kind of spoiled. And who gets a MLS expansion team that breaks out to an undefeated start.
All three have a ways to go to accomplish either -- get a big trade return or help the team by sticking around. At the moment Hudson is back in the minors trying to regain command without losing pitch movement or velocity. And Yepez and Burleson have much to prove at the big league level after progressing nicely in the minors. But their value remains undefined.
I believe that is ultimately how this plays out.
Right now the forecast is not so heavenly, with rain, then cooler weather. But it's still early and it's still St. Louis.
Once he got the Hollywood Park parcel the gears were grinding. But he had the move in mind for a long time prior to that, IMO.
