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Ok, now that you are as startled as I was when I read on mlb traderumors, Adam is out as precautionary as a family member had exposure to covid. Should start the monday in mets series. Miller out with foot blisters. Bader and Whitley up
As much as Bader struggles he is still better than Williams
His defense is obviously much better. Bader, Carlson and O’Neill should be a solid defensive outfield.
Offensively, it is mostly a wash I think. .200ish with 30%ish K rate. Bader less prone to tootblans.
Bader has been above average offensively in 2 of his 3 full seasons. He’s not a huge upgrade necessarily, as he’ll be hitting in the 7 or 8 hole. I still think he’s at least a 10% upgrade, maybe 20% with the bat over Williams (80 wRC+ to 90-95). But his defense will be a big upgrade as it will move Carlson to a position where he’ll be plus instead of below average.
The possible eventual platooning of Bader will be interesting, and informative. There will have to be enough of an offensive upgrade vs righties to offset any decline in overall outfield defense. This will involve some evaluation which we can pick up on.
Williams is the LH bat that presents itself, but he has sucked worse against righties so far this year. Not sure about his MiLB platoon split. Putting Williams in RF would require Carlson to shift to CF, likely a downgrade at both positions. How does that shake out in the estimation of the Cardinal headpieces? Is there enough offensive gain in this scenario?
Next might be Edman to RF and Carlson to CF, with Sosa or Carp to 2B. Another series of evaluations to be made and observed by us.
And there is Thomas, who may or may not have been permanently tossed into the chum bucket. All told, a very nice subplot to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
Another subplot is what happens with Andrew Miller. A situation not unlike the Carp situation. It is rather clear that neither will return to former glory.
Miller is owed $12M this year compared to Carp’s $18M. Miller’s injury riddled and sub-par 2018 fell between his years of dominance and the Cardinals signing him, so the contract was recognized as a risk at the time. Will the Card’s be more willing to eat it than in the case of Carp, who was coming off another in an unbroken string of good seasons when he was signed? Hopefully we will not go all year with two slots on the active roster filled by money guys who contribute little, and may do more harm than good. Miller not being a lifer also factors in. But it is not my $12M.
Getting Bader back is a big plus for this team. Our OF defense is now elite.
While Miller has had some good moments here the majority of his time in St. Louis has been a disappointment in my opinion. In 2016 he was the one of the most dominant relievers in the game but there has been a pretty steep decline since then. We acquired him a few years too late.
Injury updates on many players included.
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