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I don’t think we compare to the Astros situation. We have a fairly highly rated farm system especially loaded with pitchers and OF’s. Cardinals management has made it clear that we will not tank like the Astros and Cubs did. We are trying to rebuild and compete at the same time, which is difficult to do.
This team isn’t that far off though. We need to trim some of our surplus and acquire one big bat, one ore solid starter, and at least one high end bullpen piece. That is only three players. It isn’t like we need a massive overhaul to be a contender.
One thing to consider when discussing dealing Fowler or Carp is that they can bat LH. If we trade them for RH hitters our only regular LH bat would be Wong, assuming that Sierra doesn’t play much. Do we really want a RH dominated lineup? I think we need balance.
Most of the potential big bats we have discussed are RH: Stanton, Ozuna, JD Martinez, Donaldson, Frazier.
Some of the LH options would be Hosmer, Moustakas, and Yelich but I don’t know realistic they are.Anyway, something to consider.
I would do that deal in a heartbeat if Machado would agree to an extension. The problem is that it is very difficult to do deals with the Orioles. They have one of the flakiest owners out there. They are extremely unpredictable and unreliable. Ask the Astros. They got abused by the Orioles at the trade deadline with the potential Britton deal.
Brian, I agree about Bernie. I really like his takes and follow him on twitter regularly.
Conversely, Goold annoys me. He really isn’t an opinion writer but he must have ADHD. He can’t focus on baseball. It appears he would much rather focus on comedy or lifestyle pieces. The problem is that he isn’t funny.
Well blockbusters aren’t usually in our playbook but I would hope that even our front office is tired of getting sand kicked in their faces by the Cubs. I know the fans are. Three straight years is enough.
As for Longoria, he certainly has the splashy name but would he really be that much of an upgrade over Gyroko? Compare their numbers this year.
As for Donaldson, I would love to have him but he is only under team control for one more year so that would be a concern.
If we don’t sign a veteran innings eater or don’t sign Lynn then we should try to bundle our surplus talent and go after someone like Chris Archer. Or even do a blockbuster and try to get Archer AND Colome. If we could pull that off then we just need to acquire a big bat and and the offseason would be done.
If we don’t go after Archer then I bet the Cubs will. I could see a Schwarber for Archer deal happening.
Whether it is Lackey or not I think we need a veteran 4/5 type starter who can give us some innings on a one year/$10M deal.
Right now we have Martinez and Weaver looking solid, Wacha looks ok but you never know about his injuries, Waino looks done, we don’t know when Reyes will be ready, and Flaherty, Alcantara, and Hudson probably won’t be ready until 2019.
And I don’t see the need to give Lance Lynn a 5 yr/$100M contract when that money could go for a big bat.
I wouldn’t mind having him on a one year deal to bridge the gap to our younger pitchers. He has been pretty good the last few weeks. I think he has more left in the tank than Waino.
My latest offseason thoughts:
1. Trade Grichuk, Piscotty, Gyroko, Diaz, and Flaherty to Angels for Simmons and Bedrosian.
2. Sign JD Martinez
3. Sign Nicasio
4. Sign Lackey1B Carp
CF Pham
LF Fowler
RF JD Martinez
3B DeJong
C Molina
SS Simmons
2B Wong
PRotation: CMart, Reyes, Weaver, Wacha, Lackey or Waino
Pen: Nicasio, Bedrosian, Lyons, Brebbia, Alcantara, Cecil, Bowman or TuiI think it is unfortunate when sports get mixed up with politics but it happens from time to time. I, myself, will always stand for the anthem but I respect the rights of those who choose not to.
The Cardinals basically have to win all seven and hope the Rockies lose a few. We have no one to blame but ourselves for being in this position. Hopefully missing the playoffs two years in a row will be motivation for the front office to have an aggressive offseason.
DeWitt has been very clear that Matheny will be our manager for the foreseeable future so I don’t know why we continue to debate it. Let’s focus our attention on more important matters like how Mo and Girsch are going to revamp this team this winter so we can finally take down the stinking Cubs!
So the Cubs can clinch the division in St. Louis and knock us out of wild card contention at the same time? Wow, what a crappy week this will be.
On the other hand, if we sweep them and somehow win the wild card how sweet will it be.
Well there could be several players traded.
Grichuk, Piscotty, Pham, Sierra, Bader, Kelly, J. Martinez, Gyroko, Carp, and Diaz are all possible trade candidates. Then you have some bullpen pieces that might not be on the 40 man next year. I think they bring Nicasio back though.
You might be correct Rat but I wouldn’t give up on DeJong yet. Despite all of the comparisons to Diaz I really think Paul is going to stick around and thrive. A better comparison is Trevor Story. His average may drop but the power is still going to be there and his defense should only improve. If we could obtain an elite SS a move to 3B might be good for DeJong.
Another thing that will help him is to drop him down to 6th or 7th in the lineup. That should take some of the pressure off. That is why obtaining a big bat or two this offseason is so important. The guys we have hitting 3,4,5 right now really shouldn’t be. They should be in a more comfortable spot in the lineup.
I think the acension of the Cubs has made everyone in Cardinal Nation a little extra edgy ( I know it has me). If we were losing the division to the Reds, Pirates, or Brewers it would still suck but it wouldn’t suck as bad as losing to the hated Cubs.
As for Matheny I won’t throw out a bunch of stats. I’m just going to go with my opinion. I think he is neither a bad manager or a great manager. I think he is an above average manager who was fortunate to land with a top notch organization (most of the time). Unfortunately that top notch organization failed to provide him with enough pieces to put a championship team on the field this year. I have a feeling that will be corrected this offseason.
As a side note, I am of the strong belief that the front office has more to do with the success/failure of a team than the field manager. We all know the manager is important but I really think the FO sets the tone.
As a second side note, the Cardinals are a franchise that thrives on stability. We have had four full time managers since 1980. That is really incredible. Not many sports franchises can say that. We don’t change managers every time there is some angst and that is probably a good thing.
That is true but I would take my chances with the Cubs as a wild card team. I don’t see them beating all three of the Dbacks, Dodgers, and Nats.
Goold tweeted last night that Flaherty has been removed from the rotation and will be replaced by Gant.
I have seen some people state that we should be pulling for the Cubs to beat the Brewers because it would be in the Cards best interest. Sorry, but that isn’t happening with me. I understand that we need to leapfrog the Brewers but frankly I don’t care. I want nothing more than for the Cubs to crash and burn. Last year was an absolute nightmare and I don’t want any chance of that happening again. The Cardinals had a chance to knock the Cubs out last weekend and we blew it so now I hope the Brewers can.
I would much rather see the Brewers win the Central than the Cubs. If we somehow get the wild card spot fine but a bigger priority for me is for the Cubs not to get in the playoffs.
ABC = Anyone But Cubs
Most front office types are very reluctant to trade high end prospects within the division because you don’t want to see the guy you traded blossom into a star and have your fans reminded of that 18 times a year.
On the other hand the guy you traded for might turn into a star also. I see our front office as too risk averse to try something like that, although as a side note, I’m getting a good vibe about Girsch so far. He seems to be more open and candid than Mo and I find that refreshing.
The manager can certainly have an impact on a team, there is no doubt about that, however, the front office has a bigger impact in my opinion. Our front office did not give our manager enough weapons to utilize this year and they need to make amends this offseason, plain and simple.
I don’t know if Simmons is available or not but most players are available at the right price. The Angels still have a lot of holes to fill to be a championship contender. If we offered them enough a deal might be made.
As for JD Martinez, no he isn’t going to win a gold glove but his offensive firepower would more than make up for his deficiencies.
We basically need to acquire four players this off season.
1. Eric Hosmer
2. JD Martinez
3. Andrelton Simmons or Zach Cosart
4. Juan Nicasio or other good bullpen pieceDeJong can move to 3B.
Trade whoever we need to trade except young pitchers: This includes Gyroko, Carp, Piscotty, Diaz, Grichuk, and Fowler.Go with the youngster in the rotation: CMart, Wacha, Weaver, Flaherty, and Waino. If we need an innings eater on a one year deal go get Lackey or RA Dickey.