Management/Coaches

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  • #144059
    Brian Walton
    Keymaster

    Paid - Annual

    This new thread is for talk about the Cardinals front office and coaching staff.

    #144062
    Brian Walton
    Keymaster

    Paid - Annual

    I will start the discussion.

    Jeff Albert has finished his second year as hitting coach and per Mark Saxon, his contract is up. During Albert’s first season, old school assistant hitting coach Mark Budaska was fired. Last winter, the team brought in one of Albert’s associates, Russ Steinhorn, to be minor league hitting coordinator.

    Should the Cardinals make a change in their hitting instruction or stay the course?

    #144083
    gscottar
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    I think they should make a change. I know it would be difficult because they have tried to reorganize the entire minor league organization around his philosophy but the results (or lack thereof) speak for themselves.

    Do I think Albert is the only problem with the offense? No, roster construction is a big problem also but if they don’t make a change then what is the point of having a hitting coach in the first place?

    #144101
    mudville
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    During the last few games of the season, Jim Edmonds sounded like a hitting coach at times when he was talking about players. I don’t think there’s any doubt that Edmonds would love to be back in uniform.

    #144106
    gscottar
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    I think Edmonds would be great. The question is would he be willing to take on the season long grind and all of the travel. Sitting in a TV booth a couple nights a week isn’t as taxing as being the everyday hitting coach.

    #144107
    gscottar
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    I should also add that I hope Mike Maddux does return. I have been impressed with him. He may be the second best pitching coach we have had, behind Duncan of course.

    #144355
    Brian Walton
    Keymaster

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    The Cheap Seats blog dude from the Belleville paper is back with another out there post. He wants Jim Edmonds as hitting coach and Chris Carpenter to be a pitching coach. Shiny names, but I can’t see Edmonds intensely focusing on the job for eight months straight, and frankly, not only is Maddux doing a great job, we have no idea if Carpenter would be a good teacher, even if he wanted to do it.

    I like Edmonds on TV in short doses, but I give a big thumbs down to this idea. What do you think?

    https://www.bnd.com/sports/mlb/st-louis-cardinals/cheap-seats-blog/article246410025.html

    #144370
    gscottar
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    I would be open to Edmonds getting the hitting coach job, but like you mention, I don’t know if really wants the grind of an everyday job like that.

    As for pitching coach, Maddux doesn’t need to be replaced. Our pitching staff is the strength of the team. Besides I don’t know if Chris Carpenter has the temperament for it. He always seemed to have a short fuse.

    #144388
    Minuteman3
    Participant

    Free

    Jim Edmonds is my favorite color announcer but he has a bit too much going on outside the game to make me think he would be a success. However whatever his doing now seems to help by working with individuals.

    #144392
    Brian Walton
    Keymaster

    Paid - Annual

    Edmonds has a friendship with Bader. Not sure what other hitters he has worked with extensively.

    #144409
    1964cards
    Participant

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    I really believe the Front Office needs to go out and get an experienced hitting coach with a good track record of developing and maintaining performance – at the major or minor league level. As much as I like Edmonds as a commentator he does not fit what the Cards need.

    Once hired, the new coach then needs determine What he has been given to work with. Who is fine the way they are, who can be tweeked to be respectable or better and who needs to be jettisoned. My fear is that the club has over estimated the capabilities of the players they have and way too many fit into the jettisoned category.

    #144411
    Brian Walton
    Keymaster

    Paid - Annual

    Interesting perspective, 1964. I am not saying it is the case because I do not know in the case of Albert, but a young guy in his first gig might be focused on trying to please everyone, whereas a more experienced coach might be more inclined to tell it like it is (or needs to be).

    Then again, as far as I know, Albert may have been behind not signing Ozuna, for example. (Again, not saying this is the case – just admitting that I do not know much of anything about how Albert operates.)

    #144419
    1964cards
    Participant

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    Brian, understand your points about a younger coach. I cannot disagree that the pressure a younger coach would face May become overwhelming. I was being hopefully optimistic that there would be an experienced coach at the minor league level in another organization that could fit the need.

    On a side note, I gut feel is the Cardinals have struggled in this space since the departure of a Big Mac. So I am concerned with the organizations ability to get the right guy for this role.

    #144458
    gscottar
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    I always thought Budaska was the right fit. Most of these players were already used to him from the minors. At the time of his dismissal I stated that I thought that was a mistake.

    #144464
    Minuteman3
    Participant

    Free

    They must have dismissed Budaska for a reason rather than an overage of supply. He had a good reputation as far as I know. But,like in Hollywood,he LOOKED like a coach…..lol.

    #144476
    1964cards
    Participant

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    I thought I read that he and Albert did not see eye to eye and were unable to reconcile their differences. The club sided with Albert and Buda was let go.

    #144479
    14NyquisT
    Participant

    Albert was probably making more $$ than Budaska so he had to stay. Mozeliak brought him in and didn’t want another black eye. I would have gone with Bud, he was a players type of guy and more comfortable with that position.

    OK BW fire away.

    #144484
    Brian Walton
    Keymaster

    Paid - Annual

    Nah, you are entitled to your point of view, though as you expected, I don’t agree with it. What follows is just common logic.

    I highly doubt it had anything to do with pay. Step back and think about this in a general sense. The new guy is the leader and the other guy was his holdover assistant. If the two aren’t meshing and it could not be worked out over half a year or more, it is pretty obvious which one would have to go. It would have been the same if they worked at a Subway or a tire store.

    If you as the GM had preferred the old school style of hitting approach, you would never have hired Albert in the first place.

    #145009
    Brian Walton
    Keymaster

    Paid - Annual

    #145010
    Brian Walton
    Keymaster

    Paid - Annual

    #145179
    14NyquisT
    Participant

    The Cardinals have not won a trade since 2016

    VEB features this piece from Ben Godar today. You can say this isn’t so but there is a list of who we got and who we traded away that is heavily tilted towards we gave up a lot more than we received. And don’t forget all the failed signings and extensions. The reason that we finished very low in the offensive stats is because Mozeliak has given us a lineup that can bring most of our fans to tears.

    READ THIS.

    https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2020/10/21/21524717/the-cardinals-have-not-won-a-trade-since-2016

    #145196
    Brian Walton
    Keymaster

    Paid - Annual

    OK, “this isn’t so”.

    Why write an article title that is not factual? To generate clicks and stir the pot?

    For example:

    Goldschmidt as a Cardinal = 4.1 bWAR

    Weaver + Kelly + Young as D’backs = 2.4 bWAR

    #145710
    Brian Walton
    Keymaster

    Paid - Annual
    #145716
    1982 willie
    Participant

    Well seems about right. We can’t hit a lick for a few years running now but let’s just keep the same guy and hope we get a different result. True we don’t have a lot of great hitters to begin with but we wouldn’t need a hitting coach if we had a bunch of them. I have no problem with maddox, he did great this year. But albert, he needed to go.

    #145733
    Onyxgem
    Participant

    Free

    Of course the Front office is ok with crappy coaching because well they do a crappy job of putting teams together so it goes hand in hand….

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