It could play that way, as we noted earlier.
Fans expecting the support for the Cardinals to plummet this season will be sadly disappointed, again.
The Cardinals currently have a lot of starter-caliber guys with multi-positional flexibility -- Donovan (everywhere but catcher), Gorman (2B, 3B), Yepez (1B, 3B, corner OF) and probably Burleson (1B, corner OF) -- so Marmol has mix-and-match opportunity. The team has three outfielders who can play center field, which is rare. So the team can meet my standard this season . . . except at catcher, where Ivan Herrera remains in development. That is where the shortfall came.
I blame the team's decline for some of that. The Red Wings held another fire sale and that sent the whole group into a tailspin.
I'm not sure what to make of the Buchnevich-to-center experiment. The anticipation is that Schenn will be a third-liner going forward, but that might be selling him short for next year anyway, As for Thomas/Kyrou, I don't mind seeing a grinder slotted with them to improve the line's forechecking and puck retrieval.
The team has shown signs of coming around down the stretch of this season. But, yes, they will need to continue that and carry it into next season to reaffirm Berube's standing.
I believe I've seen the Cardinals batting order ranked sixth by one of the analysts I like. That seems about right. There is potential for better if everything hits (Walker breakout, O'Neill stays healthy, Carlson bounces back, etc.), but right now the Cardinals sit outside the top tier.
That could happen if Binnington is playing great. If he is just OK, then the Bleus won't be able to move that contract.
I got nothing for you there. I didn't watch a whole lot of the WBC. I did notice that Nootbaar guy.
The Brewers do well with guys like Voit. If sticks there, he might get 300 or 400 at bats and hit 20 homers. Craig Counsell is a master at squeezing offense out of a mish-mash group.
There is a lot of frustration all around after this season. This was an opportunity missed, But is SLU ready to spend big money to upgrade over a guy who has stacked up 20-plus victory seasons?
He has been a popular preseason choice for MVP. He certainly played at that level for much of last year.
Tres has hit .228 in his Triple-A career and .231 in his limited MLB exposure.
Poor Roy, you guys are sending him into the weekend with a frown.