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If the length is set to 25, that must be only for topics on a page. The trades thread is over 100 posts and still is only on 1 page. I think that is what is in question. I have no problem with the length being in the 25-30 range. That makes it easier to navigate around the forums and topics.
BW52, you are one of posters who have commented that Pham should be traded and alluded to him playing over his head. I think a lot of people are overlooking that Pham is a very good hitter who may finally have his eyesight under control. Here are his career minor league splits for AA and AAA:
AA: .298/.384/.506/.890
AAA: .301/.376/.464/.840While it could be argued that he is hitting above those levels so he is “over his head”, I would argue that he is finally living up to his potential. That being said, I would be very happy to trade him if a team overpays.
One last thing to consider is didn’t Pujols sometimes speak his mind like Molina or reinforce a disagreement with the team stance like Pham?
They signed a leadoff hitter and did improve the defense, just not in CF. Fowler has not been getting on base like he was expected to but he has been hitting with more power than expected.
As far as Carpenter hitting 3rd or leadoff, there is a belief that he has been hitting much better as a leadoff hitter. However, in the first 13 games he hit leadoff this year, he hit .400/.542/.844/1.387. Since then, he has hit .262/.374/.385/.759 as a leadoff hitter. When he was hitting 3rd, he hit .226/.360/.440/.801. That is not much different than his last 148 PAs as leadoff other than BA.
While we have hit some HRs this year, the best offense is a mix of OBP and power. The fact that Fowler has a lower OBP this year is my main problem with him. Being at the top of the order, we need him to get on base. I am ready to move on from Grichuk. He strikes out too much and doesn’t get on base enough or put enough fear into opposing teams.
I have a feeling Piscotty may revert his swing back to what it used to be over the winter and that would be a good thing, IMO. He needs to get back to what made him successful and not try to be something he is not.
The whole question becomes who could we acquire to carry the offense and strike fear into opposing pitchers? I think our farm system is FINALLY strong enough to able to make a difference-making trade this winter.
If they could have done it with Piscotty and Weaver, we should have done it. If it would have been Flaherty instead of Weaver, I don’t think I would have done it. I think Flaherty will be very good and I don’t see Gray as being the savior for this year all by himself.
Then we get to listen to you complain when our new, “improved” bullpen loses more games for us. Who plays if one of Ozuna, Fowler or Bader get hurt? Remember, we are going to have to trade someone to acquire Alonso and at least 1 RP for this year. You are also assuming that Reyes is ready to pitch at the beginning of 2018.
I agree that we need to thin the system out a little. However, I don’t see how trading a bunch of players for what are essentially rentals makes us better for this year, next year or 2019 and beyond. If 2017 is lost, don’t trade for 2 players that will be gone at the end of the season.
If we are going to make trades of several players for one player, why not aim for something that helps short term and long term?
So you are taking off our roster:
SP – replaced with ???
OF – replaced with Ozuna
OF – replaced with Bruce (free agent at year’s end)
1B – replaced with Alonzo (free agent at year’s end)
3B – replaced with Donaldson (free agent at end of 2018)
Closer #1 – replaced with ???
Closer #2 – replaced with ???
RP – replaced with ???
That creates 4 holes to be filled.Then, we also get rid of:
DL OF
prospect SPWe create 2 more holes at year’s end and another at the end of 2018
If we pick up some RP dumps, what do we have to give up to acquire them? What do we have to give up acquire Alonso? This all makes us better now and in the future, how?
If they were trade that for Donaldson, Girsch and Mo both need to be fired on the spot. Way too much for Donaldson. I like all 3 (Flaherty, Hudson and O’Neill) of those players staying with the Cardinals unless it is for a Stanton, Trout or Arenado.
When you look at his OPS closer, you see he has an OBP that is 31 points below his career average and a SLG that is 28 points above his career average. He is on a pace that would have him hit far more HRs than he ever had before. We were looking for his average and OBP. The HR pace seems to be a little unsustainable although it would be nice.
His OPS dropped quite a bit from when he got back until now because of his SLG, mainly. From his high point on June 18, his average has dropped 13 points. His OBP has dropped 11 points and his SLG has dropped 48 points.
I would say that Fowler has been our biggest disappointment. We signed him to do a little more than he has, so far. Although, at the time of the signing, I can’t fault the Cardinals for signing him. I do disagree with the term of the signing and a no-trade clause.
On December 9th, when we signed Fowler, things looked very different. Pham was coming off a bad year. Grichuk showed some signs of promise but other signs of struggles. Holliday and Moss were free agents. We had not signed JA Garcia, yet. Bader struggled in his first taste of AAA. Mercado had struggled in the low minors. We hadn’t seen Arozarena play in the states, yet. Sierra hadn’t played above low A ball. 7 months later, I hope Fowler is willing to waive his no-trade clause either next year or in 2019. Or Matheny finally wakes up and realizes that Fowler is not our best CF or may not even be a top 3 OF for us and starts playing him accordingly.
I think front offices may use the lists as a starting point but if they are really interested in a someone, they will send their own resources to check them out.
So if you can’t name who we had available to trade, how can you be upset that we didn’t make a trade?
What prospects could we have traded this last offseason to acquire an OF? How much would it have cost?
DeJong would be the primary 2Bman. Carpenter would only be there as a UT type player. Although, I would rather use him as a piece in a trade for Stanton. The Marlins would be saving over $10 million a year in salary, know they wouldn’t HAVE to pay more than 3 years and still have a good hitter. Although, Carpenter would have to probably play 3B or they would have to move him on to somewhere else.
Even though we are below .500 and in 4th place, we are only 4.5 games out of first. The Cubs have shown how easily that can become first place in about 10 days when a team gets hot.
However, I don’t think we go all in as buyers. I think we go in as a buy-low buyer and sell-high seller.
Jager, I keep teetering between optimism and struggling to see how this team can pull it out. I think the Cubs are going to make it VERY difficult to win the division and considering we are 9 games out of the last wild card spot, I am failing to see how we make the playoffs without a lot of luck.
To make a realistic run at it, you are really close to our needs. I think if we could trade Oh or Siegrist to acquire something, we do it. I would alternately consider moving Rosenthal down to Memphis and stretch him out as a starter. Otherwise, I don’t think our relievers are too bad as it stands today. However, Matheny needs to do a closer by committee. Duke looks good, Brebbia looks pretty good, Cecil is pitching decent. If Oh and Rosenthal could get their mojo back, that would be helpful.
Bruce may be an alright acquisition at an extremely low cost. Otherwise, you aim for Stanton, even with his salary. I don’t want to spend much to buy a rental so Cozart would also need to be cheap. An overpay on Andrelton Simmons would be my preference. Maybe Wong and Diaz and throw in a lower level pitching prospect. We could use DeJong and Carpenter at 2B.
Actually, he hasn’t been woefully below Sutter’s numbers while with the Cardinals. This year’s number look bad because of very few save opportunities but over his career Rosenthal has been just as good as Sutter was with the Cardinals.
The only area that Rosenthal does not do as well as our great relievers is that he has a much higher walk %.
Come on jager. He is not attacking you. He IS questioning whether Clippard is an actual upgrade, although he didn’t include anything supporting why he thinks that way.
I have noticed recently that you are being more and more defensive whenever someone disagrees with you. You want a discussion but don’t allow someone to disagree. Since you post a lot of trade ideas, there will be a lot of disagreement. Don’t take it personal. Other posters are not questioning you, they are questioning the idea.
As an idea, you could have just asked NJ315 why he felt the way he did. That would bring the post back to a meaningful discussion.
I want you to continue to post your trade ideas. It gets us to think about some possibilities. Just don’t expect me to agree with you. I disagree with a lot of them due to one reason or another. But that doesn’t mean I won’t listen to you.
But looking at it from the Cardinals’ point of view, they don’t need to do anything, yet. This means J. Garcia, Bader and O’Neill in the OF at Memphis. Sierra, Arozarena and Mercado at Springfield. Any of the other OFs at those 2 teams are just fillers, IMO.
At the end of the year, they will have to do something, more than likely.
It does look better after looking at O’Neill’s page on the Mariners’ MLB top 30 prospect list. Now we just need to figure out our long term OF plans.
I really don’t understand that. I think Marco could have been a great reliever for us. Unless O’Neill is a great prospect or is part of another upcoming trade.
Using the same starters, I think I would rather see the lineup as:
Carpenter
Fowler
Pham
Gyorko
Wong
Molina
DeJong
Grichuk
MartinezRatsbuddy, besides the fact that I very much dislike that you feel it necessary to make fun of the names of players that don’t meet your standards, I also see you as someone who chooses to react without looking at the facts.
Rosenthal actually has a better save % than both Bruce Sutter and Dennis Eckersley with the Cardinals. Also, Rosenthal has averaged 63 games a year and only 4 losses a year. Sutter averaged 62 games a year and 8 losses. Eckersley averaged 57 games a year and 4 losses.
Rosenthal has actually been one of best closers in all the Cardinals history. Relying on your memory doesn’t always prove to be the best way to judge how a player has performed for a team.