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I mentioned a week or two ago that Hudson was an underappreciated asset and could really shine this season another year removed from TJ surgery. It would not surprise me at all to see him bounce back bigly.
Katie Woo scores the Cardinals offseason a C+. Seems about right.
https://theathletic.com/4132417/2023/01/31/mlb-offseason-grades/
Sometimes it’s the subtle additions that they don’t take into account. Like Fermin, Rodriguez, Zuniga, and Mercado. Below the radar moves.
You never know, Pads. Why are Fermin, Rodriguez, and
Zuniga on the 40 man roster? Rodriguez has hit 100 on the gun. And Mercado’s speed and defensive prowess may play as the 4th outfielder. Late inning defensive replacement if one of our starting OFs goes down and Yepez or Burleson is out there. Plus a good pinch runner.I’d like to see Mercado produce sufficiently to go North with the team… but at whose expense.
As it looks now, the Springfield OF has more promise than the Memphis OF.I think someone may get cut or traded in Spring training. We have Hurst, Mercado, Toerner, Antico, and Pinder who really all play the same position (CF). Walker and Gomez need to play every day in the corners. My guess is that Toerner gets cut and Antico has to start the year at AA. Toerner may also just get moved to AA to make room. And then there’s still Koperniak who could also be in AAA.
For my money, the best of that lot is Antico. Especially for what the Cards need if O’Neill goes down again and Carlson underproduces.
If Katie Woo scores the Redbird offseason with a C+ how can that not be right? I mean, who the heck am I to question Katie Woo?
No need to be snarky about a person doing her job. You don’t agree that’s fine. It is her opinion, what is yours?
I’d probably give them a C+ too. They have a really good team and didn’t do anything to make it worse. But, they didn’t do a whole lot to make it better either. Contreras is a nice addition for now but may not look like that in 3 years. And the minor league signings and rule 5 draft look like depth or lottery tickets. I mean I like some of the lottery tickets we bought, but the odds of them paying off are pretty low.
This is not a really good team or even a “very” good team. It is a good team on the second tier and not with the tier one teams but the best in the Central Division. They did nothing to make the team worse but didn’t do enough to make the team better. Contreras replaces Pujols. Negative one plus one is zero. Now, they could have done nothing and given Knizner the catching job and been in the hole. But they made the move to stay even. This is the same offense as last year. Junior and Mo are hoping that O’neill, Carlson, Nootbar, Walker, etc., have career years or close to that and then they would be worth watching. It’s all hope as a strategy, which I think is foolhardy but I’m prepared to see what happens because they will never raise the payroll enough to bring in enopugh superstars and that is the most frustrating thing for me.
I’m sorry you feel that way Nathan. I personally feel that focusing on bringing in overpriced free agent superstars is typically an ever failing pursuit. You never have enough or it just never quite works out. The teams that win are the teams that build a good team from within with the help of some good trades and a few key signings and then a little luck in the playoffs. The team that “wins” the offseason has never won the World Series. At least not that I can remember. It didn’t do the Tigers and Rangers much good last year. It was the Phillies the year before that. Typically, it’s the Yankees. This year, it’s the Mets. We will get to see if history shines on them after shunning so manny. Great teams are more than a sum of their parts. There are so many immeasurable nuances that can’t be found on a stat sheet. Talent is extremely important. But it’s also about heart. It’s about character. It’s about confidence. It’s about positive emotional connection at just the right moment. And so many other possible synergies that define us as humans. Which is why we play the games. It’s why March Madness is so fun. I look forward to a fun season.
It could be argued that Woo is penalizing the organization for having upper level prospects and young MLBers who are too promising to block, and it should not be mandatory to trade some of them away to satisfy the talking heads.
Whether I agree with C+ depends on how that ranks with what the other 29 teams were graded. Is ‘C’ the average with an equal distribution of grades above and below? If C+ is among the handful of worst grades, I do not agree with that.
There was one need that stood above all others and the organization did not scrimp when it came to filling that hole. They were the team that went to 5 years because that is what it took. That should be enough to avoid a grade below the average. The pass on adding at least a pretty good innings eater to the rotation, when it was possible to do so without betting the farm on an Ace, would preclude being among the better graded teams. So I would give them whatever the true average grade is.
The article ranks all 30 teams. 18 teams scored better than the Cardinals and four others were also C+. In other words, only seven teams scored worse.
Woo has the right to be wrong. She may have looked at our rotation and compared it to other teams… hence the C+. Us guys here tend to overrate the Cards when there is a comparison with other teams. That also includes prospects rankings which vary so widely. Just play the games… by October the grades might be upside down.
Bcc asked this earlier. I think he’s dying to compare his answer to some others.
Who do you have penciled in for the Memphis and Springfield outfields?
I’m going to take a stab off the top of my head just to add to Hot Stove chatter.
Memphis:
*Hurst
Pinder
*Gomez
*Toerner
Mercado
Walker
Antico
The AAA level of OFers is too crowded. Two/three will need to go elsewhere especially with Koperniak in the wings. *My guess is that Hurst, Gomez, Toerner are Plan B candidates. Without needing to say this, injuries will change their status.Springfield:
Romeri
Koperniak
Jo Baez
WinnI know this will turn out to be wrong. These “pencil-ins” always are.
Quick reactions to Ny’s post…
This must assume Yepez and Burleson are with St. Louis.
Where would Gomez go? He was recently put on the 40-man roster. Can’t see why he would be on the bubble.
Baez isn’t ready for Double-A and Romeri isn’t, either. Winn is not being moved to the outfield.
Thanks for sharing and soliciting thoughts.
14 – I don’t have an answer. I do know that right now the only OFers in the system (outside of the starting 3 and Burleson and Yepez) who excite me are Walker, Gomez, Baez, and Cho. But that can always change.
I am not for trading prospects just to be trading prospects. I am willing to trade prospects to fill obvious needs, and we have an obvious need of a top of the rotation starter. (Wishful thinking, a 1 and a strong 3, as only Matz is signed for next year).
My Pencil Marks:
St. Louis:
Carlson
Nootbaar
O’Neill
Burleson
YepezMemphis:
Walker
Gomez
Mercado
Hurst
PinderSpringfield:
Antico
Koperniak
Toerner
Reichenborn
Jones/Lott & 1st/DHPeoria:
Baez
Romeri
Rotondo
Scott
CabellPalm Beach:
Cho
Church
Iadisernia
Holgate
Fletcher ???flood21, thanks for putting it in order. I agree as to AAA and AA, and just have to take your word for it below that. It does point up the potential competition between Walker and Gomez to be next man up.
Walker has the potential draft pick in his favor, but apart from that it may come down to who is hot when the need arises. Walker is yet to be tested at AAA. Gomez did well in his half season, even after a sizeable drop off from his sky high numbers in AA. But can he repeat?
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