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With Calhoun and Dickerson off the board it appears the Cardinals are going to either bring Ozuna back or just go with internal candidates for LF. That is assuming that guys like Peralta or Pederson don’t get traded.
I think they have so many outfielders close to ready that they may just stay with what they have. Also, they don’t want to block Dylan Carlson who could be very close to St. Louis.
LF-Edman/O’Neill
CF-Bader/Thomas
RF-Fowler/Carlson/Martinez
Edman, Carlson & Fowler are all switch hitters so signing an LH bat may be unnecessary.
Also, Arozarena and Williams are available.Ozuna is not signing hear unless his markets is ridiculously low! Not happening!
I could see Puig but I see them just rolling out with the kids and being dead last in runs scored.
It’ll be fun watching this team middle to win 83 games.The Cardinal way!
We’re paying for the front office misappropriation of funds. That’s as simple as it gets!
Yeah and we got rolled by the Nationals because of our offense. It was pathetic for most of the season. You lose Ozuna and a mediocre offense gets worse and the plan is to roll out either unproven young talent or Jose Martinez as run producers. Good luck with that garbage.
I like some of the outfield talent but I don’t see a 90 rbi let alone 65-75 RBI next season unless you put the defensively challenged Martinez out there or the muscle hamster who swings at everything and doesn’t get on base 600 PA’s next year. You don’t rely on rookies more often or not to be run producers unless they’re once in a decade talent. You see anyone in this of that can produce 85-95 rbi next season? At least Dickerson can hit and get on base.
Don’t get me started on rebounds from Carpenter or Molina either. That is anything from a given. Wong is up and down and can be injury prone, Dejong is what he is. Goldschmidt is likely what he is before his decline begins.
With the Cubs talented but reeling, Milwaukee appearing to take a step back and the Reds sort of retooling but intriguing. This team can get back to the playoff but appears content to do nothing and try and luck it out with the pitching.
That about sum it up pal! I want to win and this ownership seems to be punishing the fans and team for its idoitic investment in 3-4 players.
what he is saying is 100% correct though, if you lose your best or one of your best hitters and do nothing the offense is not going to get better it is going to get worse…
858booyah
I could see Puig but I see them just rolling out with the kids and being dead last in runs scored.
It’ll be fun watching this team middle to win 83 games.The Cardinal way!
League-average (NL-specific) wRC+ was 94 last year (.754 OPS) The Cardinals posted a 95 wRC+ (.737 OPS)
That’s good for 7th out of 15 in the National League by wRC+. By OPS, though, they were 11th.
Generally, American League teams are always going to have better offenses than those in the National League, and teams from hitters’ parks (Rockies) are going to post higher OPS numbers (.782) than their true offensive output (86 wRC+). Meanwhile, the Reds were lower by both OPS (.736) and wRC+ (87) than the Cardinals in 2019.
We all wish (I think) the Cardinals would add more to the team but the reality is they know what they have is going to put them in position to be division contenders in September. I am not going to be disappointed if Ozuna doesn’t come back. I actually hope he doesn’t because I think the draft pick will be more valuable over time. Someone like Dickerson would have been nice but we have a plethora of internal candidates who can provide adequate production until Carlson is ready.
The NLC doesn’t figure to be that strong. The Cardinals and Cubs appear to have the same teams they had in 2019. Both teams seem to be handcuffed by payroll limitations, although that is laughable in my opinion but that is a discussion for a different day. The Brewers are dismantling their team and appear to be going backwards. The Pirates are probably going to be tanking. The only team that seems to be improving are the Reds but they finished 16 games behind the Cardinals last year. That is a big gap to close in one winter.
As has been said before we are just going to have to muddle through the next two seasons standing pat for the most part because of some bad contract decisions but even standing pat may be good enough to win this division.
Onyxgem
what he is saying is 100% correct though, if you lose your best or one of your best hitters and do nothing the offense is not going to get better it is going to get worse…
Ozuna posted a 107 wRC+ and a 110 wRC+ in his two years as a Cardinal. The Cards have Arozarena, O’Neill, Carlson, Thomas, and even Edman to play that position. I don’t think it’s far-fetched to believe that one of them could exceed such a low bar of offensive output.
I don’t see the doom and gloom that others see here. The pitching should be similar to how it was in 2019, especially if Cmart can slot back into the rotation. No way anyone is worse than Wacha was as the #5 guy this year and having less dependence on Waino might be a good thing as well.
As for the offense, Carpenter and Goldy alone were worth 60 less offensive runs in 2019 than 2018. Nope, that’s not a typo. Even if they can make up half that difference in 2020, that would far more than make up for losing Ozuna and his 8.8 offensive runs added. Of course some guys could regress a bit but I would think the combo of O’Neill and Arozarena to be able to match or exceed Ozuna’s value in LF.
Would rather go with the kids than get Ozuna back. He has a real problem on balls in front of him and over his head. Seems better laterally. While he put us some modest power numbers he seemed to me to run very hot and cold and I felt he really did not come through well in critical situations. That is just from an unknowledgable fan so I can be proven wrong.
Also Ozuna does not seem to fit the Shildt mold. He seems very oriented to pitching, defense and good baserunning. I’m sure he is not happy with the offense. It will be interesting how he structures the offense moving forward. Wish Mo and Giersch had helped him out there. Maybe in the spring.
It is also possible that Shildt told Mo and company I prefer our kids to anyone out there that the Cardinals are likely to sign.
Carpenter will make up for the lost offense. He has to because it’s going to cost him $18.5M if he doesn’t vest by getting 1100 PA in 2020-2021.
The Cardinals have to see what they have in O’Neill. I think you go with him in left field in 2020, let Carlson play in Memphis, then see how things look next year at this time. Forget Dickerson and Ozuna.
Dexter will be approaching his final contracted season, so if O’Neill is a hit Carlson likely slots into an outfield spot somewhere in ‘21.
Gotta keep your focus ahead, not get too caught up in the short run – a bit like life – ask yourself “what am I doing today that will most likely improve my situation in the following years?” What that is will be running O’Neill through the rigors of everyday play to see what he can do, and adjust accordingly.
O’Neill, if he can stay healthy, is pretty much a lock to at least match what Ozuna did offensively and would be a better defender. I really hope he takes the LF spot by the horns in the spring.
I agree with your general take, bikemike, but why just O’Neill? Are you assuming Bader is set? If not, then don’t you also have to see what you have in Thomas and Arozarena? Like O’Neill and Bader, Williams is going to be in his last option year. What about him?
There is a lot to sort out, which is why I have continued to predict Carlson is going to have to wait a bit. If I brought in a veteran OF, he would have to be prepared to become a reserve if several of the newer guys step up. I would give no starting role promises.
Of course, there is risk in this plan, as the offense was not very good even with Ozuna. If all the new guys crater, they would need to get help from outside.
I focus on O’Neill because I believe he has the most upside of any of the candidates. Thomas is intriguing as well. Bader has down-slid, but I do not give up on him yet. And Arozarena has some raw athleticism I like, so he gets a long look as well.
But O’Neill is the guy out of all of those I go with no matter what. He’s sort of my latter-day Tommy Pham – the guy I see with the potential to carry a team for periods of time, so I live through the strikeouts and struggles to make sure he has had plenty of chances to get going, gain the confidence, and let that talent mature.
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