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Wow. This is getting bad. We need Alec Baldwin from Glengary Glen Ross to do a motivational speech. I think we all agree that Marmol has been out of his element worse than Donnie in The Big Lebowski. Ok, enough fantastic 90’s movies references. If not Marmol, who? I don’t think we would do the Maddon thing (I hope) and we fired probably the best guy for this spot (Shildt). Walker needed to be sent down as horrible defense is the last thing we need in this slide. Start Carlson more than Burleson (for reasons just stated) and buckle down and hope for positive results from Mikolos, Flaherty, Monty, and wainwright making a positive influence upon return. Out of everyone here, I think I was the biggest proponent of signing Matz and even celebrated when it was for 4 years rather than 3. All I can say is sorry guys. The Toronto mojo from Rasmus trade that allowed us to make our magical run punched us with Cecil and may have KO’d us on Matz’s deal.
Oh, and I hated the Contreras deal from the outset. You knew a defensive team would suffer from him being at the keystone position. Sure he can throw some guys out but his pitch calling/blocking/framing are atrocious and it undermines his fiery demeanor. Obviously Murphy was best target and now Donovan doesn’t look so untouchable but we didn’t know Gorman would step up like he has so far.
Just win some games guys. We are like parents who hate being mad at the kids. We know you can do it, just do it please.
Well, that was another fine mess. I appreciate Jnevel’s efforts to whoop up some optimism. Cheering for a three legged dog is heartwarming, but it only has three legs, its not going to win.
We are seeing the FO (Mo) falling into absurdity now. Demoting Walker to clear up the outfield muddle? Teams have had a 4th and often 5th outfielder for 100 years, Mo. It doesn’t cause a muddle. Beaming up a AA player who cannot play at this level, and then requiring the manager to play him, that can cause a muddle. Swapping players around constantly, apparently based upon some analytics based matchups optimization algo, that can cause a muddle. Having a team full of guys who can’t get their legs under them because of being moved around the defense and lineup constantly, that can cause a muddle.
Somebody said its like watching fantasy ball players managing the team game to game. That is exactly what it is. The human elements, the intangibles which cannot be digitized effectively is not factored in. The type of expertise it takes to factor it in is not even present. Players get different looks depending on their lineup position. The look is not the same in LF as it is in RF, nor on one side of the infield vs the other. An actual human cannot get their legs under them and get in a rhythm when they are getting different looks all the time. It is a well known issue with trying to use platoon players as starters in the lineup. It creates lineup churn, as the two platooned players are seldom suited for the same lineup slot, so now a bunch of guys gets shifted around, getting different looks than they got yesterday. Baseball has always worked that way. It doesn’t work the same in real life baseball played by humans as it does on paper and in a simulation. Like I mentioned a while back, its like watching the NORAD supercomputer in ‘Wargames’ trying to destroy the world because it didn’t know the difference between reality and simulation.
This business with Motter was absurd. The net effect was DeJong moved on to the active roster and Walker was moved off it. The FO mad a real cluster out of that. The equivalent of the guy scoring from 1st the other day on that clown show play.
I’m ok with Motter being on the bench as long as he isn’t starting or PH. We have enough talent on hand that Motter should be last string/pinch runner/injury replacement
I understood Motter when we didn’t have DeJong as excellent IF defense but now you can let Donovan move around into defensive alignments as well. As long as DeJong has a pulse he has more of a history than Motter. And real defensive value. DeJong at 0.0-1WAR would be fantastic if it happens. I trust DeJong to get back to 0 WAR more than I trust Motter to get to it.
The infield situation is now the same as the outfield situation, which Mo now admits was not working. DeJong plays the role played by Walker. “Here he is Oli, play this guy”. So the decision as to whether DeJong is a regular or a bench guy is likely made for him, like the decision as to Walker’s role. Oli has to work with that. So DeJong is your starting shortstop. That means you decide if Edman or Donovan is your second baseman, and the other is your primary infield UT ahead of the end of the bench guy, who happens to also be an infield UT. If DeJong fails, then you decide what your new look middle infield will be. Does your primary UT and DeJong trade roles? Does your 2B slide over and your UT become the 2B? Decide and do it. That is the field manager’s job. It does not have to cause daily churn in the lineup and defense. It does not have to cause multiple guys to be getting different looks all the time. You don’t have to send somebody out to clean things up.
No one lineup and no one defensive alignment is going to pop out of the computer as the statistically optimum arrangement every day. That does not mean it is a good idea to shift things around every day. The computer only knows what is fed in, and not everything that matters is. The manager has to manage the players he is given, not the FO and the pasty looking wonks who are allergic to sunlight, and not the polo shirts who are fine with pine tar in a spray can. Obviously, the manager has to know what he is doing, which is another problem.
We’re losing to clubs that were playing below average ball before we played them, and getting shutout by a guy who hadn’t thrown a shutout in a decade! There is more to this than a bad call, or a bad bounce. It is a general malaise.
The entire organization from top to bottom is shoveling dirt on their baseball grave as fast as they can.
At this point Mo and Marmol have created a situation where pitching, batting, and fielding – all three phases of the game – are bad.
We have our own version of M & M but it’s not Maris & Mantle.
The players need a steady, experienced voice in the dugout that will settle on a line up and roles instead of playing fantasy baseball (as pointed out above).
Since that can’t happen give the team to Stubby for the rest of the season and then maybe this time don’t hire a rookie manager for 2024??
The hole is already really deep – 8 games out and in [cough cough] last place.
Worst start since 1973.
Well folks, I took the night off from watching the game as it is just too painful to take. I did watch the “lo-lites” this morning. Yet another example of everything going wrong – Goldy hits two homers, both solo shots, then with the sacks jammed grounds into a double play.
It seems every game brings a new low point. You keep thinking it has to end at some point and we go on a stretch of say 8 wins in 10 games, but it is the same thing. It’s like the weather – we want summer, but wake up and it is snowing yet again.
The only silver lining is that we are still in April. April is harsh month – you get days of 75 degrees and lots of sun, then a snowstorm (at least out here it is that way).
Maybe by mid-May things will start to look better.
Rather than all these changes, if I was Ollie think I would go this way for the next few weeks or more and let the club know that this will be the lineup and lets go get ‘em!
Nootbaar, rf
Carlson, cf
Goldschmidt,1b
Arenado, 3b
Gorman, DH
Contreras, c
Burleson, lf (O,Neill vs lefties)
Donovan, 2b
Edman, ssThis is a good defensive lineup, at least as good as you can get using our roster, and should be a decent offensive group. Just write it down every day and let ‘em play. But as a leader, the manager needs to tell the team this what we are doing, and encourage the guys that they can do this – there is a lot of talent here so let’s get after it!!
Mo just said Noot is the CF, so we have to start with that. I think we need to put DeJong at SS or we will have a mess trying to get him the playing time Mo surely expects. Noot is the lead off guy, we know that. Goldy and NA in the middle. O’Neill and Burly are both bad offensively, so go with the D. Pick a second baseman. Those are the parameters for constructing a lineup that you can use every day.
It seems Arenado just isn’t into it. He came to STL to be with a winner. Come on Cards put a smile back onto his face. You can start with a sweep in LA.
Who is the bench coach? Will they be the one to take over for Marmol or you think they let Stubby have a shot?
The bench coach is Joe McEwing. I am assuming he or Clapp would be named manager if Marmol is let go.
If not Marmol, who? I don’t think we would do the Maddon thing (I hope) and we fired probably the best guy for this spot (Shildt).
Considering that we only hire rookie managers I would be shocked if we hired someone like Maddon. A veteran manager isn’t going to go to sleep at night reading Mo’s spreadsheets like would be expected of him.
I’ve been shouting for a long time now to quit playing musical lineups, pick one and go with it. The one Bicycle Mike suggests looks as good as any so let’s do it. It can hardly have worse results.
Rah Cardinals! Please.A Maddon-Mo combo would have philosophical differences written all over it. Maddon made it clear after the Angels firing what he thinks of the approaches embraced by POBOs and GMs like Mo and his ilk. Their communication would probably devolve into some middle finger gymnastics.
It’s now taken on the atmosphere of a lunatic asylum. All alone in last place at 8 games in back of the Pirates in the NLC. With a dreadfully loud knocking sound originating deep in the crankcase an additive consisting of Paul DeJong as the starting SS and Taylor Motter placed onto the 26 man are poured into the mix in the hope of preventing a spun main bearing and a subsequent sieze-up and scatter. At this jucture I’m hoping that the current Redbird manager can somehow survive and retain his job because we might just end up with Rosie O’Donnell filling out the line-up card.
1td, it’s just the timing belt. That’s all. Speaking of time, the fury our boys are going to release on the rest of the league in September will be a sight to behold.
Yeah, September. All this will serve us exteremely well in September. I think I’ll hit myself over the head with a framing hammer so that I’ll feel better in September…
14NyquisT-
I’ve had a feeling for a while that Arenado isn’t as ambitious as he was when he came on board. He’s apparently content with 10 gold gloves and 300 HRs which he thinks puts him in the conversation of the greatest 3rd basemen of all time. That may be so, but I hope he remembers that he was signed to help this team reach and win the WS, not to gain any personal achievements. I haven’t soured on him yet, he’s still a great value to this team, but I’m watching him closely. He definitely needs to up his game. As Goldy and Arenado go, so go the Cardinals.
https://www.mlb.com/news/nolan-arenado-reflects-on-10-years-in-mlb
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