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I don’t thing they need to add anything at all….they need to SUBTRACT! I said from the beginning I thought this team was a 82 win team and not a contender. They got off to a “hot” start, but as the article shows they have been worse than the Reds over the last month and under .500.
To me they should 100% BLOW THIS THING UP! Re-load!Trade: Bowman, Brebbia, Norris, Kelly, Greg Garcia, Jose Martinez, Voit, Wong, Pham
Need to be traded but probably won’t find someone to take the contract: Cecil and Fowler
Cut ties: Holland
Shop but demand a lot: Carlos Martinez or Michael Wacha
I know Wacha is 27 years old (almost) and having a good season, but the good season will make his value the highest its been and hes a free agent after 2019. Martinez will be 27 before the season is done. While his trade value may not be as high as it has been, it still should be very high. He’s signed to a team friendly contract though 2021 and 2 “reasonable” options on the end.
I know Bowman, Greg Garcia, Voit won’t bring much, but add them in and clear out options for others who deserve a chance and clear out long jams. Norris has been good enough to flip for something. I keep thinking a Wong and Kelly to Oakland makes sense. They are set to lose LuCroy and Lowrie in FA, more likely to midseason trades. They could take a chance on Wong and including Kelly could get the Cardinals a solid return. The return for Martinez and Pham should be good, and they could really add top prospects for Wacha/Martinez.Finish out with:
Carpenter-1B, Bader-CF, Ozuna-LF, Gyorko-3B, DeJong-SS, Molina-C, O’Neill-RF, Schrock-2B
Pena-C, Munoz-UTIL, Wisdom-3B/1B, Mercado-OF, Fowler-OF
Mikolas, Wacha/Martinez, Flaherty, Weaver, Hudson
Poncedeleon/Helsley/??, Gomber(L), Gant, Cecil(L), Mayers, Tuivailala, Hicks (Gregerson and Lyons back at some point, and who knows with Leone)
For 2019 they should get Reyes back and Leone if he doesn’t return this season. Will also have Wainwright off the books.I don’t think it will happen, but I’d sure like to see them be better than average even if it mean this season is a wash and trading off some.
Like I said, Munoz has played his way to every day SS and have to consider it even when DeJong returns. Gyorko, Munoz, DeJong, Carpenter. Bye bye Wong and Jose.
“I’d seriously trade JMart to AL team needing a DH/1B.”
KC want him back? I agree though and send Voit with him. And Wong. And probably a few more.
In thought this team was an 82 win team from the get go. I haven’t changed my opinion. I’m tired of Jose Martinez in general, but especially playing 1B. There are lots of good players on this team, but nobody to put it over the top. The rotation is the only thing this team as, even without Reyes. I’m glad Mikolas has proven me, and everybody else, wrong to this point. I really like Flaherty. Wacha has stepped up his game. The pen is a mess, but Holland and injuries haven’t helped that situation.
I’m over the Jose Martinez experiment. They should have traded him in the off season. I keep hoping for the day I see Martinez and Wong gone. Carpenter needs to be at 1B every day. Munoz has played his way into keeping SS for awhile, maybe even after DeJong returns and he can shift to 2B or 3B. I think he’d be better, and very good at 3B, but if he needs to play 2B so Jedd plays 3B then make it work.
“Watching Carp make throws from 3B is like nails on the chalkboard to me. It is gut wrenching. Jedd way better than average at 3B, borderline gold glove material.”
We agree on many things and this is another. Jedd every day at 3B. Jedd is to good at 3B to put him elsewhere. And if you like algebra, Jedd 3B + Carpenter 2B > Jedd 2B + Carpenter 3B
My guess is Reyes will make 2 AAA starts and will debut in St. Louis on June 5 vs Miami on an extra days rest.
Speaking of Miami Gallen in pitching very well in AAA and could soon get the call up and Alcantara has found control and also pitching extremely well in AAA, especially his last few outings. Kinda would like to see them both in STL in June.
The 2nd error is on Martinez. I know they charged it to Gyorko. But that play has to be made by the 1B, wasn’t even in the dirt. Martinez just missed it. Martinez makes Carpenter look like JT Snow over at 1B, and we know Carpenter is average at best at 1B.
I can’t stand Martinez defense. I love Gyorko at 3B. I can handle Carp at 1B if hes hitting.I think I’m kinda surprised Martinez didn’t get the call. His bat has struggled, but what I saw of him defensively he is good. He has Tony Cruz career written all over him. Maybe they call upon Baron now, DFA him upon Kelly return, and still have Martinez not on the 40 man. I had high Hope’s for Kelly and wasn’t ready to say Knizner was the future mainly because defense of more important to me at catcher and Kelly is clearly better there, but Kelly is giving Knizner every opportunity to close the gap.
I’m working evenings this week and have enjoyed the late starts. I’ve been home in time to still catch the last 3 innings. Tonight will be all radio though.
Jayson Stark was on MLB Network yesterday or Thursday and was talking about shifting. He said teams don’t preach hitting to the opposite field. They preach hitting to your strength and most exit velocity, and most players that is going to be pulling the ball. He also said teams are countering shifts by telling players to hit it “over the shift”, leading to a fascination of “launch angle” which has lead to more pitchers throwing up in the zone to counter the new swings and leading to all the K’s and less action in the game. His suggestion was baseball needs to say defensively a team must have 2 players on the IF on the left and right side of second base and eliminate the over shift. His belief is this would get players back to hitting more line drives and putting more balls in play, less K’s, and more action.
Kelly’s bat has a lot of concern. He wasn’t hitting in AAA either. He is impressive behind the plate and the way he handles pitchers though, especially for the short amount of time he’s actually been catching.
Martinez last 14 games, 63 PA, .207/.254/.328
I think hes showing his true self now and the league has him. Should have traded him while they could.
Dumb. Let’s just add more of a cluster to 1B for Matheny to try to figure out. Or maybe it means Martinez is moving to RF.
1. Pham – CF
2. Martinez – RF
3. Ozuna – LF
4. DeJong – SS
5. Gyorko – 3B
6. Molina – C
7. Carpenter – 1B
8. Wong/Garcia – 2BWong needs to go, but play him until a taker can be found and then put Schrock in there. Bader or Fowler can be a defensive replacement for Martinez. I still think I’d trade Martinez while I can. The OF depth is there to let it happen. Carpenter needs to be at 1B, Gyorko has to play every day. If Carp gets going then he can go back to 1 or 2 and Pham at the other.
Plus Tuivailala is on rehab right now. If they need a reliever they could co that way, but it does probably means 8 man pen is going to be back soon and O’Neill will be going back for regular AB.
Teams are 1)protecting their investment and 2) using analytics.
They are spending a lot of money on SP and are always concerned about over use. But the main thing is the numbers show it is much more successful not to run a pitcher through a line up a 3rd time and the pen is much more successful, which is leading to more 8 men pens. The numbers don’t lie. Wacha is terrible a 3rd time through, but most pitchers are. It’s nothing to do with lowering standards, it’s giving the team the best odds at winning.I can’t stand Molina hitting above 7th, I know hes been really good this year. But I’d much prefer him being lower and driving people in because it’s hard to drive him in.
I love Carpenter back at lead off though.
I’m still not sold on Jose Martinez, but hes hitting so go with it.
Jedd deserves to play every day over Wong. I don’t know what to do with Wong anymore. Would anybody actually take his contract off their hands?A sweep of the Reds isn’t changing my mind that this team isn’t a true contender. Factor in the AAA team and I 100% think Pham, J. Martinez, Wong, Garcia, Voit, Wacha, Norris, Bowman, and Holland should all be traded by the deadline and totally revamp this team. Would probably even move Kelly at this point too, because hes not going to play before hes 30. Get low level better talent, which is also an organizational weakness.
Finish out the year with
Carpenter, Bader, Fowler, Ozuna, Gyorko, DeJong, Molina, Schrock/Munoz
Mejia?, Munoz/Schrock, Garcia/O’Neill, Pena
Martinez, Wainwright, Weaver, Mikolas, Flaherty
Tuivailala, Cecil, Mayers, Gregerson, Lyons, Leone, Reyes, Hicks
Assuming a few of these guys get back healthy.Then seriously make a run at Machado. The IF defense has to get better. Machado at SS, DeJong to 3B. The OF log jam has to clear up.
Carpenter, Fowler, Machado, Ozuna, Gyorko, DeJong, Molina, Bader
Schrock, Munoz, Garcia/O’Neill, Pena/?
Martinez, Weaver, Reyes, Mikolas, Flaherty
Gant/?, Cecil, Tuivailala, Mayers, Lyons, Gregerson, Leone, Hicks
Not 100% sold on this, especially the bench and pen, but I think it’s a step at making the defense better, clearing out some log jams, and clearing out some redundancy.I have PS Vue for a “cable provider” and watching on MLB Network, Big Ten Network, TBS the frame rate can get a little off sometimes, but usually is good. For events on ESPN I have downloaded the Watch ESPN app and the HD and frame rate are very good, compared to watching through the PS Vue app where ESPN is usually bad. I watch the Cardinals through the Fox Sports Go app and the HD and frame rate are very good, but sometimes have a little issue with Fox Sports reliability. I know its Fox itself because I’ve tested it though my computer and through a internet connection provided though work against mine at home and all have had problems at the same time.
I downloaded the Facebook app for the fire TV today and watched though there. The quality was pretty good, but my frame rate was not 60 FPS. Most of the time things were choppy looking. Not enough to make it unwatchable, but enough to notice. Presentation side I wasn’t a fan, although no commercials was nice. And 100% the absolute best thing about it was not having to listen to Tim McCarver.