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So we get o open season
1. Yoshinobu Yamamoto
2. Walker Buehler
3. Tyler Glasnow
4. Bobby MillerSounds fun!
The Cardinals first five series are against the Dodgers, Padres, Marlins, Phillies, and Dbacks. Yikes!
Yadi might be the manager by May.
I am always looking for a silver lining, so I will point out that everybody else has to play those guys too.
It looks like we will have at least a pretty good team, and a prety good team can be dangerous. We have to avoid bad luck during ST because we are not going to be deep.
A problem area that we will have to overcome with the same decision makers as last year is roster managemant and game management. We can’t have virtually unplayable guys on the bench just because they theoretically have one good tool. And we can’t be constantly churning the defensive alignment and batting order looking to maximize matchups like its simulated baseball. The real world game is played by people, and intangibles matter.
I can live with the idea of consistently shuffling the batting order so long as key roles are clearly defined. But like you mentioned, the constant changing of the defensive alignment is kryptonite for a baseball team. When players are placed at different defensive positions on what sometimes seem like a daily basis, it’s just begging for catastrophic results all across the board. Shuffling these guys around on the defensive field of play can quickly take on the look of a Chinese fire drill.
Churn not only negatively effects the player moved, but it also affects the player(s) positioned next to the player moved. Playing next to the same guy everyday is beneficial.
Don’t the Dodgers and Padres play their opening series in Australia in late March? Or am I way out in leftfield again?
No, that series will be in Seoul, South Korea. So the series being discussed here will be the first series of the season for the Cardinals and the first home series for LA.
Oli says more regular position play this, part of the problem injuries last year at last they got rid of the worst of them. Of course offense wasnt the biggest problem and the youngins should be even beter
Don’t the Dodgers and Padres play their opening series in Australia in late March? Or am I way out in leftfield again?
You’re beyond the ivy on this one, Rat…….maybe even on the other side of Waveland Avenue. I’m going with a rather bold prediction in our opening series in L.A. I think we spank them but good, taking 3-4. We’ll win the Gray, Cease and Lynn starts and lose the Gibson start. And our boys are going to treat Mr. Yamamoto very rudely…..sending him to the showers in inning #4.
I doubt they could play the dodgers any worse than they did at the end of April of last season.
Padres will not be as good as last year, marlins still little offense and no Alcantra, Phillies are solid but not world beaters, Dbacks same as Phillies.
The lack of urgency in bullpen signings is puzzling, but the silver lining may be if they are terrible this year I would expect a major house cleaning from manager to GM to president of baseball ops
The lack of urgency in bullpen signings is puzzling,
It seems like the trade market hasn’t gotten going yet. Its only December.
Oli says more regular position play this, part of the problem injuries last year at last they got rid of the worst of them.
I remember Ollie making a few statements back around the end of the season, but only specifically remember him talking about getting rid of some ‘me first’ types in the clubhouse. I can’t remember what, if anything, he said about more regular position play, or injuries. So far as I know, whether the players he had in mind are all already off the roster in one way or another would just be speculation. Whether any of the guys with substantial IL history are/were also in the ‘me’ group mentioned by Ollie is unknown as far as I know. We can just hope the clubhouse vibe is better in 24 than it seems like it must have been last year, but as of now, the three starters and possibly the Rule 5 guy are the only significant additions to the active roster.
I’m with Bling on the problem of constant churning of the defensive alignment and batting order. Players need consistency and the daily experience of meeting the opposition in all its phases.
On the other hand, the ignominy of being deep cellar dwellers has no doubt lost its sting and offers these guys a certain negative comfort with the knowledge they can’t do worse.
On the other hand, the ignominy of being deep cellar dwellers has no doubt lost its sting and offers these guys a certain negative comfort with the knowledge they can’t do worse.
It seems like it will be tricky trying to get a ‘frash start’ mindset off the ground when the same manager and coaching staff is returning. With Goldy and NA, the clubhouse will have the same veteran bookends. I have a sense, or perhaps inkling is the right word, that Contreras and the new starters will need to take matters in hand as far a a new start vibe. I don’t know enough about what Contreras is made of to know if he can play that part, but what we know of how he handled catchergate is encouraging.
Phillies are solid but not world beaters, Dbacks same as Phillies.
Well they were both in the NLCS last year so yes they are definitely solid if not better than solid.
If the bullpen can step up and be better, this club can be good. But the one key place that I believe will hold us back is dugout leadership.
We remind me a little of the local NFL club out here in the hinterlands where I hang out. The Broncos made a big splash getting a future Hall of Fame quarterback a year ago, but had a guy who had not been the top dawg on the coaching staff as head coach. Denver was terrible last year and people were saying the Russell Wilson trade was one of the worst in the history of sports – an over-exaggeration, but people were saying that.
So they can the coach and bring in a veteran who had won, and it looked like same story, different year. But they have rallied and have a pretty good shot at the post season tourney.
I think for the Cardinals to truly re-tool rather than re-build, as they are doing, they needed to bring in a manager who had a good resume. Since they are staying with Ollie, they should have made it a complete rebuild and purged the older players and go with young players and the young manager.
But hey, just my opinion. We will see how it goes as the games progress next year.
By the end of the first five series (16 games) we should have a good idea of what ’24 will be like. Since our present rotation will likely not match up well, Mozeliak might get a sense of deja vu. To have all three of our back-end starters that he expects to over-perform would be asking a lot. Even for him.
Since they are staying with Ollie, they should have made it a complete rebuild and purged the older players and go with young players and the young manager.
When the off season started, I had noted that we were in a position where both of our bronze busts were replacable with young controllable players who would probably do just as well, or close, and would offer a future to build around. Gorman and Walker at the corners would be a real solid base for the future. That would have been bold, but that isn’t how it went. Its more win now and kick the future down the road. Personally, I think Mo could have gone the future route and still put together a better win now team.
That would have been a very bold set of moves indeed bling. In theory I could see it working but it would have been a lot of churn. As we all know the Cardinals are a very conservative low hanging fruit kind of club. Boldness is not their forte. I think Mo really believes that shoring up the innings deficit we faced last year will lead us back to contention. He might be right but I still think this team needs another big move or two before March.
Yeah, I think giving the young talented players a full season as starters in one position, and a more set batting order while building a future-oriented team would have been a much better approach.
Plus it would have been fun to watch, that is if these younger guys were aggressive and hungry to make their mark. Add in Scott next year and who knows what they could have gotten Goldy and Nado – would have been bold alright.
There is nothing stopping them from setting an everyday lineup with the players they have. And they should receive much of the same benefit as stated.
While that sounds good at the theoretical level, there would be a problem down in detail land. There isn’t agreement here as to which eight players should be the starters. The Cards have declared them for now but some don’t like that answer.
Like it or not, the eight starters seem to be Contreras, Goldy, Gorman, Arenado, Winn, Noot, Edman, Walker, with Herrera spelling Contreras. After that is where it gets troublesome. There is Donovan who will get playing time. The question is how much churn is that going to end up causing? Keeping in mind that we will likely have Mo’s joystick jockeys figuring it out.
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