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No, I don’t think so. Gomber has a bright future but is unproven.
Happ is no better than what we have IMO.
Do you want unproven gomber in the rotation?
I’ve always felt it is easier to manage unproven as a pen arm.Gomber will either be in the rotation or in Memphis. Another thing to keep in mind is the game is changing. Bullpens are becoming more important than rotations. The Brewers, Rays, and A’s are proving that point.
Sean does little for me. Happ should not be a happening thing. And Gomber will leave NL hitters somber in ’19….whether in the rotation or in the pen. He will not be returning to Memphis.
Oh wow…..should have looked first before my feeble attempt at being the next Robert Frost….Doolittle has some nice stats going for him….let’s reel him in.
My thoughts on the position players.
MOLINA – Yadi is still solid and maybe better than ever offensively. More in terms of clutch performance than overall production. But clearly, he is not stopping balls that he used to stop resulting in more passed balls and wild pitches. Still probably a very good handler of pitchers. I don’t blame him for wanting to be in the lineup every day but something has to change. We must begin transitioning in his eventual replacement. Maybe play him at first base several games and give Kelly or Knizner, probably Kelly at this time, enough playing time to determine if they can become a number one player.
CARPENTER – The Cardinals usually don’t sell high on a player, particularly a veteran. If we can find a couple of teams that believe he will hit 36 homers again we should move him. The Cardinals have also stayed true to veteran heros. I don’t like his approach at the plate. Takes too many fat pitches and too many third strikes close enough to be called strikes. Maybe trying too hard to be a power guy and an on base guy at the same time.
WONG – Keeper and this is probably the first time I have said that. Good second half on offense and finally consistent excellent defense. If the Cardinal brass doesn’t feel that he will continue the trend this is probably the highest value he will reach and shold be moved. But I say a keeper.
GYORKO – If the Cardinals had plenty of offense otherwise Gyorko’s defense would be valuable. But he doesn’t have the offense that we need in the corner positions. At best he is off the bench on a championship team and that is probably the best value we can get from him. Needs to be replaced at 3b.
DeJONG. Also keeper. Good defensive ranking. Strikes out too much but I felt he made progress in the second half. Has great range to his left and coming in but less so going to his right. Ideal for 3b. Potentially a very good hitter, ball jumps off the bat. His injury really hurt us this year. Both in the time lost and the time getting back his timing at the plate and on defense.
OZUNE – Often high profile players have a down year the first year with a new team. His better second half indicated that may have been true with Ozuna. MLB network ranked him the best LF in all of baseball in their pre season rankings. Also it is not uncommon for such players to have a great final year of contract performance.
BADER – Keeper – Team improved greatly when he took over center field and I think he will also improve as a hitter. May become a better center fielder than Curt Flood.
MARTINEZ – Have to get him off the field. Can’t cover the ground in the outfield and can’t catch a ball at first base. With a new season coming on there will be more American League teams believing they can compete and may be looking for a DH. If we can’t get a decent return for him then he has to be relegated to the bench and spot starting.
ADAMS – Not a regular on a championship team. Don’t like 1b only backups and he strikes out a bit too much for me to want him coming off the bench. If Yadi becomes a 1B backup even less valuable.
MUNOZ – Keeper. Like him. A junkyard dog and has more speed and a better arm than many expected. Can play 7 positions and I think he will improve on defense quite a lot. Don’t know how much power he will develop.
GREG GARCIA – Not as good as Munoz. Pretty good off the bench but probably will fall victim to the numbers game. Good addition in trade deal.
O’NEILL – Got to put him in right field and give him as much time to develop as we did Grichuk. Huge upside we can’t afford to lose. Thought he made good strides with plate discipline but still a way to go.
PENA – Need more offense from the backup with Yadi winding down. Probably free agent.
WISDOM – Think all were pleasantly suprised. Maybe with Voit and Martini making playoff teams and playing well we should take the Memphis Mafia more seriously. Very intriguing. Continued improvement with the plate discipline could make him a breakout performer. Good defensive player. Keeper now unless we get a good offer for him.
ADOLIS GARCIA – Line drive hitter with power, great speed and can play all outfield positions. I have felt that he has significant upside. Had a pretty tough year in 18 but still hit 21 homers at Memphis. Don’t give up on him.
FOWLER – Terrible dilema. Awful lot of money to throw away but I’m not sure that he isn’t as damaging on the field. Should never have signed him. He was not a good defender for the Cubs in their chummy little park and has failed to hit. I would not want to make the decision but I don’t believe he has any value to the Cardinals. And probably no trade value. A guy that we gave a five year contract at the end of his career.
KELLY – I believe he will become a regular or solid backup and have a long MLB career. Have to give him a shot.
SOSA – Back to Memphis with probably a final chance to establish himself as a solid prospect. If he could put it together and fill the shortstop role DeJong could move to third.
FREE AGENTS – Don’t see much opportunity here. Don’t care for Harper and Machado will probably be resigned by the Dodgers. Also don’t feel that Machado is a real shortstop. Would be great if he was and we could sign him and his offense at short would salve over his defensive limitations. If the Dodgers don’t wrap him up we should go hard after him but I don’t believe we have a chance to outbid the Dodgers. He is a monster at the plate. Would Murphy be better than Wong. Probably not but he is a tough hitter. I might like him at 3b.
TRADES – We need a trade. One option is to get a superior shortstop and move DeJong to 3b. Not too wild about Moustakas. Feel he is on downtrend. Another option is to go for a big hitter for one of the corner outfield or infield positions. If we go outfielder then Ozuna should be included in the trade as I don’t want to further hold O’Neill back.
Bottom line I don’t think we can stand pat. We just don’t have the lineups that the Brewers, Cubs, Dodgers, Rockies and even the Braves can put out on the field. We must have an impact deal.
I don’t see why the Dodgers would want to spend all that money on Machado. They have Turner at 3B and Seager returning at SS. They could use the Machado money to bring back Kershaw and go after Harper, who would be a better fit for them.
I have not listened to this interview yet. I do not imagine BDW Jr. answered these directly, but I give McKernan an “A” for effort in asking the tough questions.
Topics in this interview with #STLCards Chairman Bill DeWitt include:
-His level of comfort with pursuing Harper/Machado
-The team's interest in bringing back Wainwright in '19
-His thoughts on a part of the fan base believing that he is not willing to spend on free agency https://t.co/DkWjePXALq— Tim McKernan (@tmckernan) October 7, 2018
State of the Cardinals, October 2018
Position: Shortstop
The Incumbent-Paul Dejong took a step forward with the glove this season, even if his bat didn’t come back quite so much after his hand injury early on. Still, he and Kolten Wong form one of the best up the middle infields in the league, and the Cards are committed to Paulie D for the foreseeable future.
The Sidekick-Greg Garcia seems like he’s been around forever, but he’s just finished his pre-arb years. You kinda know what you’re gonna get with Greg…a decent on base bat with little pop and average defense. It’s not horrible, but it’s not very exciting. Yairo Muñoz has also moonlighted here as the anti-Greg…solid bat, very bad defense.
In the Wings-Edmundo Sosa, I guess. Who may not make the Rule 5 cut. Tommy Edman is a possibility to come up next year.
What should be done?? If you can make a big upgrade here, it’s not a bad place to go. It probably won’t kill you to have either of the two backups as the backup this coming year, but a good defender without a noodle bat to back up Dejong would be nice.
State of the Cardinals, October 2018
Position: 3rd Base
The Incumbent-Jedd Gyorko is still here, he’s still a slightly above average player, and he probably doesn’t get enough love for it. His power wasn’t up to snuff this year, but he improved his average and on base skills. He also missed a good bit of time with injuries, although nothing was major.
The Sidekick-Same as shortstop. Yairo good bat, bad defense. Greg no bat, average defense.
In the Pipeline-My, how this position could be stacked in a few years. But right now, you’ve got an old prospect in Patrick Wisdom who may not have a place on the team, despite looking like he could be a suitable backup. Behind him, there’s Evan Mendoza, Elehuris Montero, Nolan Gorman, Malcom Nunez…an embarrassment of hot corner riches just waiting to be mined…in 2020-22, approximately.
What should be done?? There are all sorts of bigger fish potentially out there, in just about any direction. They could trade short term and try for Nolan Arenado. They could trade long term (probably with Carlos Martinez) for a Miguel Andujar. They could spend a ton of money on Manny Machado, even if he’d want shortstop (move Dejong to 3rd). There’s Eduardo Escobar doing his best Matt Carpenter impression (on the doubles and dingers front). Given the talented guys above, a short term deal with a player like Josh Donaldson would be fine. Or they could stand pat and probably be ok. But really…they need to upgrade.
State of the Cardinals, October 2018
Position: Left Field
The Incumbent-Marcell Ozuna seemed like a major disappointment, and the perception was reality for most of the season. His shoulder did not seem to allow him to get into a rhythm either at the plate or in the field, and his 2017 season seemed like an outlier. However, after a DL stint and shot, he was the Cards’ best hitter in September. So there’s that. But they desperately needed a 4-5 WAR Ozuna and they got the 2 WAR version for most of the year.
The Sidekick-Tyler O’Neill. The “dense pillar of meat” played a lot in right and some in center, but I think he ultimately ends up in left long term so I’m putting him here. The kid has light tower power (40+ HR potential) but whether he was pressing or the pitchers just figured him out quickly, he did not have a great time at the plate in St Louis. He’s very fast and has a good enough arm to start long term if the strikeouts drop a bit and he draws a few walks.
In the Pipeline-Well, there’s all sorts of stuff going on here. Randy Arozarena and Lane Thomas saw time in LF at Memphis. Both are toolsy guys with some power (Lane moreso, Randy only showed his at Springfield) and speed. Both probably are not going to be long term starters, but could be valuable backups.
What should be done?? Well, this one seems set. Marcell will start and play every day even with a bum shoulder and O’Neill will get sporadic at bats, strike out too much due to rust and people will overreact to that. Sound about right?
State of the Cardinals, October 2018
Position: Center Field
The Incumbent-HARRISON BADER. Listed in all caps because he’s a human vacuum cleaner, capable of gobbling up fly balls from line to line, it seems. Was there a night that he didn’t make a highlight reel catch? I’m not sure. Lost in all this is that he was above average at the plate as well, in his typical minor league way… murders lefties, mehs righties. He was vulnerable to breaking pitches so he will need to work on that going forward. The Cards may have found a gem, though. Thank you, Chris Correa (and I still hate you for ruining the farm).
The Sidekick-Is there one?? O’Neill, I guess. Once Pham left, there wasn’t much to do except send BADER out there every day.
In the Pipeline-Thomas, Arozarena. Same ol’ story.
What should be done?? Let it be. Unless you can find a lefty for a backup CFer. Then you go ahead with that.
DeJong will for sure be the starter again unless they decide to move him to 3B, which isn’t likely.
As for the backup, I know the Cardinals like Munoz because he can swing the bat and play all over the field but his defense gives me nightmares. I know I’m in the minority but I would prefer Garcia over Munoz if we have to choose between the two. Our atrocious defense has cost us countless games the last few years.
State of the Cardinals, October 2018
(sorry about all these in a row, I wrote them while out backpacking last week)
Position: Right Field
The Incumbent-Dexter Fowler. I’d like to say we’ll all laugh about this year at the end of 2019 as a weird anomaly where an above average player suddenly became one of the worst players in baseball for a time, only bounce back again and become the hero of the 2019 World Series. I’m afraid that’s not gonna happen here. Or if it does, it’ll be that Matt Carpenter slump in early 2018 they’re talking about.
The Sidekick-Jose Martinez. Cafecito did his best, but ultimately his bat couldn’t make up for that defense of his. I love the guy, but he’s a pure DH or pinch hitter.
In the Pipeline-You’ve got Adolis Garcia, best known for falling down. But should be known for his cannon arm and powerful bat. I’m not sure he’s anything but a 4th/5th OF but he’s ok if you’re in a pinch.
What should be done?? Well, there’s Bryce Harper. He’s young, he’s a potential 6 win player…and he’s going to be very expensive. He would look good with the Birds on the Bat, though. Perhaps a trade could be worked out, apart from that unlikely scenario. One of Fowler or Martinez is very likely not going to be here in the spring, and maybe both. Maybe you put O’Neill over here and enjoy the defense while hoping he figures out a way to strike out less than a third of the time while socking 30 dingers.
Fowler shouldn’t be the starter for obvious reasons.
O’Neill is a platoon player in my opinion. Maybe he will develop into more eventually but I’m skeptical.
JMart needs to be traded to the AL.Harper would be awesome but we for sure can’t count on that happening.
We need a LH bat to platoon with O’Neill. Options would be Pederson, Peralta, Eaton, Markakis, and Cargo.If Fowler is the starter in RF we had better hope for a major upgrade at 3B.
DeJong will for sure be the starter again unless they decide to move him to 3B, which isn’t likely.
I agree. I don’t see a reason to move him to 3B, either. He’s fine with the glove at SS, maybe more (as we saw this year). His 2017 bat with 2018 D is a 4-5 win player. I’m not sure he has any chance to be good enough with the bat or glove at third to be that much of an impact.
We need a LH bat to platoon with O’Neill.
Just an observation…but O’Neill has very large reverse platoon splits his entire minor league career. He is far better against RHP.
His 2018 MLB splits were different than his minor league numbers but of course it was a small sample. I just know that our lineup desperately needs another LH bat. It is either going to be at RF or 3B.
I’d still like Brett Gardner over those two. He’s gonna be cheaper, still a good defender and probably average-ish bat. Like a slightly more powerful Jon Jay.
I believe Johnny Moz has already penciled in his lineup and position wish list for 2019.
“In pencil, not pen”
C – Yadier Molina
1B – Matt Carpenter “but he doesn’t have to play 1st”
2B – Kolten Wong
3B –
SS – Paul DeJong
LF – Marcell Ozuna
CF – Harrison Bader
RF – Would like to see Fowler get back to formMo on free agent market:
“There’s a lot of opportunity and we are open and in the market, but I have a responsibility to manage the finances in a smart way.”
“We’ve consistently won without a face of the franchise player post-Pujols era.”
The definition of “winning” used to be winning the World Series.
I’m glad the definition of “winning” has decreased for this FO.
StlCard25,
I agree with just about everything you say. Fowler will probably be given every opportunity to win the RF job next year. If he fails early on I believe he will be moved. If nothing more than for a sack of potatos too.I agree I’d rather have Garcia as the backup than Munoz as Munoz defense is horrific.
I agree that goofball goomer that plays RF and 1B needs to go to the AL.
Gyorko is serviceable at 3rd but not as a #5 hitter. He needs to hit down in the lineup, around 7th.
I keep saying this and pondering this. I wonder if the front office is banking on a healthy Alex Reyes to get them over the top next year? If AR is healthy he would be a big help and probably push us up to 90-95 wins.
And I agree a big bat in the lineup would be great. Machado looks like he’s the real deal so why not for once spend some $$$ and get back to world series legitimacy?
r/Rat
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