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I could never get excited about Ozuna one way or another. He was not an exceptional player in St. Louis. Yet I don’t see how his departure makes us any better. We have not improved through trade or FA. Barring a brilliant move between now and opening day, all we have is hope, hope that one of the kids will suddenly transform into a serious offensive weapon. Let’s hear it for hope! Hope doesn’t cost anything.
Ozuna and Bader have posted the same fWAR over the past two years at 5.4 combined. Needless to say, Ozuna was not the hitter the Cardinals thought they were trading for.
<We also gave away Jon Jay who is a star since leaving the Lou.>
Hmmm, I didn’t know that. The way he is changing teams I would have thought the opposite might be true. But I did like JJ. Good lefty bat who didn’t mind getting hit. Wong took his place with that.
I’m anxious to see what our pitching staff can do without Ozuna and Jose Martinez pretending to be outfielders.
Jon Jay has accumulated less than 1 WAR in 4 seasons since leaving…
Nothing against Jon Jay but those aren’t start numbers
I’m anxious to see what the offense does without Ozuna and Martinez since they contributed at times in contrast to some of the slugs were left with.
I think this team will be just fine without Marcell Ozuna. The Cards will finally be able to follow through on the attempted development of a home grown (for the most part) outfielder. I suspect Tyler O’Neil will get the most time with the big league club this year based on his numbers when he has played day in and day out. It’s time to follow through with the development of internal talent, and not pay some one on the wrong side of 30 10s of millions of dollars again.
I think the Cards will be one of the very worst offensive teams out there next year….and prob lead the league in striking out…
I joined an old friend on the radio in Atlanta yesterday to talk Ozuna. Clubhouse, yes. Offense, yes. Defense, no.
Great insight on new Braves outfielder Marcell Ozuna from @B_Walton of https://t.co/9q32l2YWlo.https://t.co/XpHMRrg7hX
— BillShanks (@BillShanks) January 23, 2020
They ranked 19th last season in runs scored. With a little better performance from guys like Goldy,
DeJong, Bader, etc. and some production from other young outfielders I could see them in the middle of the pack in runs scored in 2020 – maybe 13th – 15th. They were 5th last year in staff ERA. That should pretty much hold in 2020.The Cards will finally be able to follow through on the attempted development of a home grown (for the most part) outfielder. I suspect Tyler O’Neil will get the most time with the big league club this year based on his numbers when he has played day in and day out. It’s time to follow through with the development of internal talent, and not pay some one on the wrong side of 30 10s of millions of dollars again.
Yeah, I’d really like to see them get good looks at O’Neill and Thomas before Carlson makes his way up. I am also in the camp that believes that they need to park Bader in CF and leave him alone. He doesn’t need to hit much to be a very productive player for us. I’d really like to see O’Neill and Thomas play the OF corners a majority of the time. I’m not rooting for an injury to Fowler, or a lost season, but getting an extended look at those two would be nice. Another “problem” with that is that Tommy Edman has earned playing time, and his most likely spot, when he’s not subbing for an infielder, is corner OF.
You have to think that Mo is working some quiet back channels to see how he can unload Fowler and Carpenter, though. I know we were just in the NLCS, but this team surely doesn’t have the look of a contender this year. Getting younger (and cheaper) wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Onyx said:
I think the Cards will be one of the very worst offensive teams out there next year….and prob lead the league in striking out…
After all, the Cards finished with the sixth fewest K’s in the NL last season and were below the league average, so dropping to 15th this year with most of the same players back is really logical. Great analysis there. Thanks for sharing.
<Brian wrote: After all, the Cards finished with the sixth fewest K’s in the NL last season, so dropping to 15th this year is really logical. Great analysis there. Thanks for sharing.>
Hmmmmm. Brian do I detect a slight bit of sarcasm there? If so, kudos.
There isn’t much we can do about our position player group except hope that the the young OF’s blossom and the veteran underachievers play up to expectations. What we need to focus on is doubling down on run prevention. Pitching and defense will be the key the next two seasons until we can offload some of the dead money.
What we need to focus on is doubling down on run prevention. Pitching and defense will be the key the next two seasons until we can offload some of the dead money.
I think this is pretty spot-on, though I think it is somewhat important all the time, and not just with our current group. Great defense can cover a lot of deficiencies.
I see sleepy Mo has got some of our posters drinking the “we will be just fine with what we have” cool aid.
Again, astounding.
For the baseball purest, a pitcher’s duel can be exciting. But for the average fan, I hope low scoring games by both teams won’t detract too much from the aura of excitement.
I see sleepy Mo has got some of our posters drinking the “we will be just fine with what we have” cool aid.
Again, astounding.
I don’t think we are fine, but I didn’t think last year’s team was even going to be a .500 team. Nothing we can do, so worrying that the sky is falling isn’t helpful.
And just because some want to be pessimists doesn’t make either side of the argument the correct one.
I was wrong last year. I hope I’m wrong again this year. I just don’t see that good of a team, but I do see real potential at several positions. I wouldn’t be shocked to see this team be very good. But I also wouldn’t be shocked if they ended up under .500. They have a pretty wide range of outcomes.
doesn’t bother me that marcel isn’t coming back. he could get real hot at times so our offense might take some of a hit since we haven’t really replaced him. we will see. looking at the team, offensively it might be a struggle, goldy could use some protection. but the cubs and brewers haven’t done a lot this offseason so maybe we can get a little lucky again.
If Bader is not hitting, I hear Lane Thomas can hold his own in center field. I think I will switch to the “outfield dilemma” thread once I catch up on it. Just a thought though. Split time for 2 positions between Thomas, O’Neil and Bader. I think that would be productive.
Triple, understand your point of view. I am concerned as well, as the Cards may be hoping a couple of players that may be past their prime rebound to their historic levels of performance. However, the Front Office laid out their plan last fall. They said:
– There was a little room to spend, but not a lot. They have held to that.
– The strength of the 2019 Team was pitching and defense and they wanted to stick to those strengths … they have.
– They believe that a number of position players had down seasons and they expect them to bounce back … they have stuck to this position so far, so we need to hope for the best.
– The team has young outfielders that need playing time at the major league level … that is what we got.Now, we need to see how spring training goes, how the free agent market treats available players and what clubs may be willing to move players. The Front Office is watching the market, but will only move for a reasonable price.
We got what they told us we would get. However, I believe the Cardinals are open for business for the right price. We will see.
Yeah, I’m actually okay with a stand pay year where they can reset to youth. I’d love to see Fowler and Carpenter come roaring out of the gates. If they do and we are winning, then great – we’re winning! If they do that, and we are still not winning, then maybe we can trade those guys (or just Fowler), and get our young outfielders a lot of work. I expect big things from Bader (his defense has to be factored in for that, but I think he can be league average at the plate, and that would make him very valuable), and I think one of, if not both of, Thomas and O’Neill will become solid starters. But I want to see these guys playing as close to everyday so that we can see what we have.
I believe that Edman will regress at the plate, but I still think we’d be okay with him as a starting 3B as long as he doesn’t fall too far. The above three in the OF and Edman, DeJong, Wong, and Goldy on the infield makes for a fantastic defensive team.
We have a lot of young pieces that I am excited to see in action this year.
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