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Only 6 teams in history have had a higher winning % in August than the Cardinals this year…
As an example, no one could ever have guessed that all three starting OFs last summer would be gone a year later (Pham, Grichuk and Piscotty – Fowler was hurt).
You may not like the point, but the facts I cited are true, not false. The Cardinals made many roster changes, including the examples I cited.
First, stating Grichuk was a starter over Fowler is false. Pham (who famously started the season in Memphis) replaced Grichuk in the lineup, and Grichuk spent most of the second half of the season going up and down between Memphis and STL. Did Grichuk start when Fowler was out? Sure, but Fowler was only out a month, and when he came back he finally started hitting.
Now, let’s look at those “mistakes” the Cardinals corrected by trading Fowler, Pham, and Piscotty, who collectively are earning $4.6 million in 2018.
Randal Grichuk posted 1.1 bWAR in 2017 and has posted 0.8 bWAR in 2018. He was traded for Dominic Leone and Connor Greene. Leone has pitched 13 innings of 4.15 ERA ball for St. Louis in 2018, and was picked up off waivers by the Blue Jays in 2016. He accumulated 0.0 WAR for STL. We somehow determined a previous waiver wire claim was better than anything we had in Memphis.
Stephen Piscotty was traded for Yairo Munoz and Max Schrock, trading outfield depth for middle infield need. At the time of the trade, the Cardinals and A’s were applauded for doing the right thing for Piscotty and allowing him to be closer to his mother as she was dying. They made a baseball move for non-baseball reasons, was the spin.
Piscotty accumulated 0.6 bWAR in 2017, and has accumulated 0.7 bWAR in 2018. Yairo Munoz has accumulated 0.1 bWAR in 2018, but has filled in at a position of need on the Cardinals roster.
Tommy Pham, chronically injured and always outspoken, caused a ruckus this spring by blasting Cardinals management for failing to pay him after posting 6.2 bWAR in 2017. This year, he has accumulated 0.8 bWAR.
So, yes, if you think the average outfielder should generate 2 bWAR per year, all of these guys are underperfoming this year, and the Cardinals appear justified in moving on. Though with Pham, he was allowed to accumulate his unimpressive numbers mainly in STL this year. Would the Cardinals have gotten more in trade value had they traded Pham in the offseason? Undoubtedly. Was Pham a poster child for the type of player you sell high on? Absolutely.
Now, let’s look at the one outfielder they did keep. The guy brought in to lead the club house, and improve the athleticism of our outfield. The guy making $16.5 million per year.
Dexter Fowler accumulated 1.6 bWAR in 2017. And NEGATIVE 1.4 bWAR in 2018. Both years, he appeared in reports regarding clubhouse dysfunction, including being the last one to show up on game day and first one out after the game. The Cardinals famously had to go out to Vegas to ask him if he’s okay playing a corner outfield position. He has been in the bottom ten in the league defensively out of all outfielders both years.
YET, the Cardinals insisted on running Fowler out there every day even after all the shake ups.
This is an example of how the Cardinals prioritize the size of a player’s contract over on-field performance in terms of determining playing time. This is an example of how they are reluctant to admit mistakes, and would rather miss the playoffs than put the best team on the field.
I fail to see how any of the other three players were bigger mistakes than Fowler.
Enlighten me, Brian.
I don’t even have the option to make a post if I’m not logged in, so I am not sure how that is the issue
Bringing up the young pitchers rather than searching the waiver wires for marginal pitchers when 3 of our starters went down with injuries. Appears that someone in the decision making chain was pretty sure the young guys would hold their own at the major league level and so far they have and more.
After Mo said last year how the Cardinals got boxed in by too many guys without options and not being able to use the Memphis shuttle, I was surprised they went out and acquired so many relievers this offseason. One worked out, the others were disasters. If you are going to go after middling relievers and hope for bounce backs, just don’t.
The only thing I don’t understand is why Jose Martinez was not traded. He is valuable to the team but would seem to be much more valuable to an American League team that could use his as a DH. Maybe they just didn’t agree with me as to how valuable Martinez would be to them.
The Cardinals clearly shopped JMart. The only playoff team that could have used an upgrade at DH was Houston. In the offseason, there will be an additional 2-3 teams seeking upgrades/replacements at DH. That’s it, that’s the entire market for him. He’s fine as a 5th outfielder, valuable pinch hitter and DH for 20 games per year. What he is not is a first baseman or starting OF. The only thing that makes his defense palatable in RF is that he is not really a downgrade from Fowler out there.
We can use Cecil to be the designated pitcher to plunk people on other teams, since he is taking over for Webb and all…
Ummm…maybe it isn’t really Shildt after all.
Cardinals are 8-1 since Dexter Fowler went on the DL. 9-8 under Shildt prior to Fowler hitting the DL.
Wow, that game had heartbreak written all over it for the Cardinals, given how they kept missing opportunities.
Instead, it’s the Nats with their second heartbreaker in a row…
I missed something in the brouhaha at the end. How did the hit batsman end up on second base?
Catcher’s indifference (stolen base without a throw because why bother)
Nope, Norris gets down to business and gets a K for the last out of the ballgame! Cards win 8-2 and complete the 3 game sweep!
I may be getting a bit too greedy but if we keep playing like this we do have a shot at the division.
One thing at a time, and the first thing is getting the second wild card.
And Milwaukee loses to Atlanta, allowing us to get another game closer to the wild card should we hold on to win this
Ozuna with a double to drive home Carpenter.
This strategy of hitting our batters doesn’t seem to be working too well for the Royals.
