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
3rd & 7 37yd
B
S
O
close
close

-





-
So who has he given up on? He stuck with Nolan Gorman for quite some time, despite his slump, before sending him back to give another young guy a look. I see Donovan, Carlson, Nootbaar, Burleson, Pallante, Thompson and Woodford with the group currently. Gorman and Cabrera got every opportunity this season and they played their way back to Memphis -- although Marmol still likes both players.
-
-
The Antlers name came from a Saturday Night Live skit back from the golden days. This referenced the SNL's Antler dance, something our group performed as part of its taunting routine -- which was borrowed from the French castle scene from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."
-
-
-
Is it fair to say that in the next 2-3 years the Blues either figure out how to retool on the fly around Thomas and Kyrou or they hit the reset button and trade them away? In a few years, the Thomas and Kyrou contracts could look like great team friendly deals, but the Blues may not be in position to take advantage of them.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Heya, Gordo.
Someone appeared to just suggest the Cards get Trea Turner for shortstop "while they wait for Winn to be ready." That doesn't work, not even remotely. In free agency Trea Turner will get a 6 or 7-year deal at the least, and based on his excellent hitting progress in 2022 Masyn Winn will be ready for MLB by mid-2024. At the *latest*.
Assuming nobody is traded away for a meaningful pitching upgrade (cough, Alcantara, cough) it's better I think to keep Edman at shortstop and either Gorman or Donovan at the keystone, while moving Masyn to center field where his bazooka arm and excellent footspeed could make him a real defensive asset. Tommy is a great infielder but lacks the rifle arm of the best flycatchers. -
-
-
-
In recent years the Cards have brought up a lot of position players especially OFs that that hit well in AAA but then struggle to perform consistently against major league pitching. Any initial success fades once pitchers adjust. The batters seem to be left on their own to then adjust to the pitching. This seems like an area of player development that’s lacking in the Cards organization. If the team truly wants to contend in the postseason this weakness needs to be addressed and corrected.
-
-
The young hitters are not left on their own to make adjustments. They put in long hours reviewing video and working in the batting cages with the hitting coaches. But here's the thing for the Cardinals and every other team: Hitting big league pitching is harder than hitting Triple-A pitching. Major league hurlers are way more capable of attacking weaknesses.
-
Like everyone else I love Waino but Oli can't start him in the post season just because he's Waino. I know you said Oli has been pragmatic and avoided a ton of veteran loyalty moves this year, and it would be a hard conversation, but Waino looks old out there like he is relying too much on his curve and trying to just trick hitters, plus he has allowed a lot of base runners over his last 5 starts. Not a recipe for success.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Based on how Hader has pitched since he was traded, and how poorly he pitched in the weeks before he was traded, I've been inclined to think the Brewers very shrewdly sold as high as they could because they saw Hader crashing and burning. I've been a little puzzled by all the purported psychological damage to the Brewers clubhouse and how many analysts seem to find trauma in trading away a player who was performing so catastrophically badly for some time before he was traded. I hear he has picked it up slightly over the last four appearances. How do you see the Hader trade working out for both sides so far?
-
Hader has been very good in his last seven appearances, so the Padres are feeling good about the trade. Why were the Brewers upset by the move? Because team management admitted the swap wasn't about trying to win this year, it was about aligning future payrolls. That sent a bad, bad message to the players. Also, the guys Milwaukee added in that trade and others were not been especially helpful to the bullpen in the first weeks after the swap.
-
-
-
Following up on an earlier chatter, Gordo.
I'm not sure Marmol has "given up" on guys more than StL managers of the past. But it does seem like legitimate MLB hitters and pitchers have been demoted to AAA much more than usual this year, because of slumps they might solve at the MLB level if given the chance and proper instruction/encouragement/opportunity. I'm thinking of Hudson, Woodford, Naughton, Gorman, Yepez, Liberatore, etc.. (Woodford of course was never even in a slump. Just couldn't convince his manager to use him.)
My question, though, is about Illini football. If not for the last 2 minutes of the Indiana game, they'd be 4-0, looking very good (esp. on defense) and a near lock for a bowl game this year. Do you think Bielema has truly turned the *culture* around a la Pinkel at Mizzou, Gary Barnett at Northwestern, and Mike White in Champaign all those years ago? Or am I being insanely premature? -
The Illini are in a much better place. And that is not to be taken lightly when you look at how difficult life has been for, say, Nebraska. It appears that a coach with a clear identity is creating a program with an identity. It's early, but there is reason for hope.
-
-
To be determined. The last week reminded us that things can change quickly in baseball, often for the worse. Of course we've all expected Adam Wainwright to get the call because of what he has done for the group this year, stepping up in the down times and keeping things together. But who expected the sort of struggle we've seen lately.
-
-
Did someone really say Dakota's sinkerball doesn't play in this era? talk about a tough crowd, he's on his first season back from tommy john when most pitchers struggle with command. He's coming off of an 8 inning 0ER start, and while we expect more from him his 4.16 era is far from terrible in fact he's had a similar season to Noah Syndergaard who a lot of fans were wanting at the trade deadline.
-
-
Just for clarification, my question did say sign Trea turner for ss or get a stopgap until wynn is ready. I think Iglesius from Colorado has been mentioned as a short term FA available in the offseason. I would not think the Cardinals would win a bidding war for Turner then turn ss over to wynn in a year or two.
-
-
-
Yeah, this team is moving in position to do something special IF it takes advantage of this influx of talent. Maybe the moves come more via trades than free agency, but, yes, the time to add will be right. Catcher appears to be the most obvious need, but pitching is always a great place to add. Can never, ever have enough!