Carpenter started losing at bats last season. That has continued this season. If he is hugging the Mendoza Line next season I could see Mozeliak giving him the old DFA boot before that became an issue.
The Cardinals have admitted many mistakes, although you will be hard-pressed to get Mozeliak to issue a weepy apology or beg for forgiveness to satisfy a noisy subset of the fan base.
If Pietrangelo leaves and Dunn signs for a modest raise, that leaves about $4 million in cap space. That means the team can keep everybody else and perhaps make one moderate upgrade -- likely a forward capable of playing in the Top 9 with Tarasenko out. To make a significant addition, the team would have to move more bodies/cap space.
I can't imagine he would opt out of that deal, given the changed landscape. And I doubt the Cardinals will spend crazy free agency money in that landscape. Also, he plays the same position as the two best Cardinals hitting prospects and by then either Gorman or Montero could be ready to play.
St. Louis already has a vibrant soccer scene at the amateur level, so I don't see how the MLS makes that even better. I believe it is a resource issue. Perhaps the pandemic crushing effect on Power 5 conference schools will wreak havoc on college soccer and put SLU on a more even competitive level.
Bryant has picked a bad time to quit hitting. Yes, the Cubs are weirdly unwilling to spend money despite huge revenue potential. And, yes, some of their big names will go to market after this season. But, again, I do not see the Cardinals make big-dollar additions until 2022.
The man has a career 3.44 ERA in 872 big league innings. He has won 16 games as a starter and saved 24 games as a reliever. He has battled some injuries, but so have most veteran pitchers at some point. People forget how good he is because he can be, um, eccentric.
Yeah, well, that's one game. He's been pretty hard to watch this year.
Once again that team has been crushed by injuries. If now for Our Town's Luke Voit -- the new and improved Luke Voit -- they might not be anywhere near the race.
I covered Georgetown a bit back in the day and I was there at courtside for the Villanova game. John Thompson was a fascinating character. He didn't give two whits about ticking people off. Most media types disliked him because he offered minimal cooperation. But if you were around him enough, you heard him make a lot of powerful statements. And believe it or not he had quite a sense of humor as well.
Folks aren't quite as down this week as last week, despite that ugly Game 2 ending Thursday. There are still flickers of hope with these Cardinals.
I did not pick, but I did like their team. Castellanos was a great fit, as we knew he would be. When healthy Moustakas is a great fit as well. For me, as good as their rotation is pitching was going to be problematic in that ballpark. Castillo and DeSclafani have had tough years. Then you throw in some of the injury and illness issues that every team faces on this short season and the Reds just haven't been able to gain traction. I believe they have not won a series in more than a month, which is crazy. They could still go on a tear and make the bracket, but they are running out of time.
He doesn't seem concerned with his public image. I know if I fell into that sort of money, I would be a happy billionaire like Jerry Jones. Margarita? Sure. Top shelf stuff. And buy the tavern a round.
Brilliant. I can't imagine wringing as much out of a team as he has under these circumstances. The team changes daily, but it fights on. Give him a world of credit for keeping these guys going.
I do not believe he has landed anywhere. And time is about up on this season.
Bill DeWitt has operating principles and I do not seem them changes. Business has been good for him, since fans appreciate a team that hasn't posted a losing record since 2007. He expects to be in the hunt every single year. Fans in just about every other market wish they had an owner with that sort of commitment.
Tarasenko's long-term injury cap relief will create operating room during the season, but it will not create space before it starts. I believe Armstrong can create the space needed for a fair contract, but he is adhering to his hard line against big dollars. Schenn came in under that hard line -- I thought he would have gained more in free agency had there no been a pandemic. Pietrangelo balked at coming in under that hard line . . . and now he is dealing with a flat cap that handcuffs most teams.
Marc-Andre was the face of that franchise. He is a class act and he's still a pretty good goaltender. But Lehner starred for the Islanders, starred for the Blackhawks and starred for the Golden Knights, so it seems he is legit.
