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I don’t know the rules but I believe there is a minimum based on his current salary that they can tender and offer to Goldschmidt and it would be much more than he will get as a free agent. They have to tender him to get a draft choice if he doesn’t sign.
I agree that Burleson would be the replacement. As for platooning him, I think it is insane. He has become one of our best hitters and is still developing. How is he ever going to develop his hitting against lefties if he doesn’t play against them. Same with Gorman who would be the third base replacement if we can get someone to take on Aranado and get anything of quality for him.
But can Mo really get anyone of quality. I could be wrong but I believe that we have zero contribution for all the supposedly hot prospects we got at the 2023 deadline deals.
Playing platoon baseball again. Benched three lefty hitters (burleson, Gorman and Nootbar). Same result as usual when benching more than one regular
Poor bullpen decisions by Ollie again. He has a mania for platooning and pulled Fernandez brought in King to face one batter. Waste, One inning instead of two by solid relief pitchers.
Then in the 7th brings in Roycroft who had a lot of early success but had been roughed up some lately. Young pitchers usually get hit hard when they come up or do well until they get rougherd up in a game. Then often they lose a bit of confidence and the edge that gave them the early success. No need to waste Fernandez and King that way. Then trailing by only one run could have had us in the 8th trailing by only one run and time to use our best bullpen members.
Ollie seems very reluctant to use our top relievers when trailing in close games. Quite a few losses when his bullpen choices allowed a one run deficit turn into larger margins. much easier to come back from a one or even a two run deficit than the 4 run margin they faced tonight.
With a fresh bullopen our genious manager goes with a rookie and the game is tied and then in the bottom of the 10 goes with another rookie and we lose. he has been doing that all season and getting away with it but over time things even out.
Not downing the two young guys. They have performed well but how does it make sense to not use your proven bullpen guys with a late lead.
Also to me it is irritating that he removes so many pitchers in the middle of an inning. Gibson has a 2-0 lead and watches it vanish out of his control with a rookie pitcher replacing him. How do you think it makes him feel.
Iwonder if Ollie loves to go out on the field. Many managers make pitching changes at the beginning of an inning. But when you make a change with a runneror two on you are jeapardizing the removed pitchers era and record. They get salary increases and new contracts based on those records.
Just poor decisions.
Don’t understand what they are doing. Everyone picked after the first round was a reach with only 3 choices ranked in BA’s top 250. I understand the need to shift money but it appears the Cardinals have taken a flyer on every one but Westeholt.
Not good in this day and age when scouting is far more accurate.
Think it was the choice available to the Cardinals. Glad they didn’ take a flyer on a lower rated player.
Ollie seems obsessed with platooning. Should have left Kitteredge in. So he gets burned with a switch hitter and a lefty swinger.
I agree that he is pulling starters too soon and making poor use of Libratore.And why is Gallegos in a close game anytime. He has been good but not this year. Also I suspect a mid inning change is a little disruptive.
I think Ollie is improving but he is over his head and only had that good first season because of Albert, Molina and Wainwright. The Cardinals should be able to attract a more experienced and accomplished manager.
I agree that it was a gray area whether to use Helsley and Brian reported that he was not available. Don’t know if that was Helsley’s decision or Ollies or even Mo’s.
If the Cardinal sell at the deadline I would go with Goldy for some prospects. We have guys who would play first base better than the positions they are playing now. Gorman and Burleson for sure and maybe even Donovan who seems to have really come along as an outfielder.
Kurtz is the last player I want to see the Cardinals draft.
Ollie gets burned again using a rookie in late inning tight situations. He has been lucky but things even out.
Ollie has been gambling with rookies late in tight games all year. This time it burned him. Is Winn injured or is Mo determined to prove that he made genius moves signing Crawford and Carpoenter.
Brian – 2016 to date. Flores years with the draft. I just did a spot check on the Guardians and their total WAR for that period is in the 80’s, so that is an organization that has prospered from the draft.
With the draft coming up I thought it would be well to check out Randy’s performance vs other top teams. Checked him out against the Dodgers, Yankees, Braves, Phillies, Orioles and the Astros. Took a quick look at the Brewers and found that they would have been about the middle of the pack vs the above group.
Ranking – # 1 Picks Reaching Major Leagues. Number and Positive WAR according to Baseball Encyclopedia
Team No +WAR
Dodgers 6 – 26.7
Cardinals 5 – 14.5
Orioles 7 – 14.5
Phillies 4 – 10.7
Yankees 4 – 8.9
Braves 8 – 6.7
Astrol 4 – 0.0Ranking – Top 5 rounds
Orioles 18 – 40.7
Dodgers 16 – 38.6
Cardinals 13 – 35.6
Braves 18 – 22.5
Phillies 11 – 19.1
Yankees 14 – 15.0
Astros 16 – 14.8Ranking – 6th round or later
Cardinals 11 – 32.2
Dodgers 22 – 26.5
Yankees 20 – 21.8
Astros 21 – 18.8
Phillies 11 – 8.5
Braves 11 – 5.3
Orioles 8 – 3.1Total Positive WAR
Cardinals 24 – 67.8
Dodgers 38 – 65.1
Orioles 26 – 43.8
Yankees 34 – 36.8
Astros 37 – 33.6
Braves 29 – 27.8
Phillies 22 – 27.6Some observations, some pure speculation on my part.
1. Gorman is the only major positive contributor still with the team.
2. The high number of players reaching the major leagues by the Yankees and Dodgers could be a result of willingness to spend on more lower ranked players.
3. There probably teams with higher numbers. I did a study a couple of years ago and while the Cardinals were high I recall that the Blue Jays were higher at that point.
4. This is wild speculation. Hard to know what goes into draft decisions. Randy may have wanted a higher cieling player but the powers that be may not have been willing to meet the players over slot demand
5. The Orioles low number of players reaching the major leagues may be a result of them not willing to spend on the lower rounds because of the size of their pool for top choices. They got a lot of early picks.
6. Finally, it is aparent from the above numbers that many of the top teams are top teams not because of the draft but rather trades, free agents and international players. The Cardinals low performance on the field in recent times could well reflect a weakness in those catagories.So if we need to have Pages defensively then why not DH Herrera. Woeful bottom of the lineup with Carpenter, Pages, Siani
Why was Herrera not in the game. We had a day off after a day game. We have a weak enogh lineup without taking a regular out of the lineup for no good reason.
Actually I think he has been pretty lucky with some of his bad decisions. Some say I would rather be lucky than good. I think maybe Ollie is one of those guys.
Having mixed emotions. Want the Cardinals win but if they do we have to put up with this manager beyond this season. I have never criticized a Cardinal manager before but this guy makes decisions that a little league coach would avoid.
Why is Donovan batting 6th. Why has Winn been batting 8th most of the season. Why does Ollie sit Winn as much as he does. He is only leading the Cardinals in hitting and ops but is leading the major leagues in runs saved on defense.
Why are rookie pitchers making their major league debuts in late close games. He has been lucky so far but it makes no sense. It is like he is conceding the game if we trail in the late innings.
Why are key bullpen pitchers idle for 3 and 4 games while Ollie is exerimenting with the rookies.
What is the point in dropping Aranado to 5th instead of 4th. Why ever bat him 3rd with Goldy in the lineup.
Why does he sit multiple regulars in the same game. Why is he constantly changing the lineups. Roles play a key part in keeping player heads straight.
I begin to think he is gaining some sense then he makes a bonehead decision. He is obsessed with platooning. He brought a left handed pitcher in the game to face a great hitter who is 11th in the American League in average against left handed pitchers.
Win is having a good year and playing all-star shortstop and Gorman was just heating up. How could either be on the bench today with a chance to win against a bad team. But it is both of them including Herrera.
And why is Carpenter leading off? Ollie drives me crazy with his stupid lineups.
I am not sure about Madden but he is right about a lot of things.
1) The nerds have apparently taken over, the obsession with platooning, the knee jerk reactions. They have no clue how to build a ball team and how to keep player focused on playing the game. Many of them have to be constantly looking over their shoulder worrying about what Ollie is going to do next.
2) The going quantity rather than quality in the International program. They have spending limits in place which should allow them to compete with anyone for talent. They keep looking for the diamond in the rough and with the tools available to evaluate talent now those days are almost over that you will find a phenom that everybody has missed. The few good international prospects we have signed have largely been dealt off with little in return.
3) Field management- strictly amateurs. Inside the box thinking. Ollie is not qualified to be a major league manager and Mo not only brings him back but gives him a two year extension. Poor decision after poor decision.
– Good thing he was out of the game yesterday. He has the habit of using other than the best relief pitcher late in close games. Sometimes it works for him but often ends up being further behind late. Yesterday whoever was running the team used our best relief pitchers even though trailing in the late innins and viola a walk off win. Using a struggling Gallegos in the 8th inning of a close game is a perfect example of how clueless Ollie is about use of him bullpen.
– Resting multiple regulars to the extent we have regulars. Winn is leading all baseball in defensive WAR for defensive shortstops and has hit well but he has not started in a least 6 games. I think Ollie is trying to satisfy everyone and satisfying no one.
– Lineups- Putting high strikeout guys in the 2 and 3 holes is a recipe for low scoring. Batting the speedy Winn 7th and usually 8th in the lineup takes away his value. He should be second or ninth. Too much platooning.
– Impatience with young players. Doesn’t use them for days and when they fail it is off to the minors.We need a new General Manager and a Manager with a good track record who will bring in a new staff
We probably need to take a hard look at major league scouting. Too many bad pickups. Too many aging players who are coming off a down year and eternal hope that they will turn it around.
The international program needs to be totally revamped with a different approach and possiby a vast change in personel. We do not hava an international player in the system that we have more than a hope that they will be a solid major league player much less a star.
I think Flores is doing a pretty good job in the draft but the drastic switch from pitching to hitting has not paid off that well. At one time his draftees had one of the highest collective WAR in the game but I haven’t checked lately Picking late had to hurt with the emergence of better evaluation tools but that is unlikely to be a problem in the future.
I am 89 years old and am facing the bleak prospect that I will never see an outstanding Cardinal team again.
Where was Libratore. He had two days rest after pitching one inning three days ago. Ollie continues to insist on using the rookie in critical situations why not him in the 6th or 6th and 7th. Then you have Kitteredge, Romero, Helsley and Libratore to finish the game. Probably use Fernandea for an inning and go to Kitteredge in the 7th.
Why are our hitters having so much trouble. If anyone knows are we still pursuing the Albert pull everything and upercut approach at the plate.
Ollies bullpen use continues to confuse me.
Yesterday in game 2 he uses Gallegos, arguably our least effective bullpen guy in the 8th inning with us just down by one. Got burned. Gallegos has done well for us in the past but very inconsistent this year. So we go into the ninth inning down 5 instead of down one.
And what is he trying to do with Libratore? He is supposed to be our 6th starter and long reliever but Ollie is using him in the late innings and sometimes on consecutive days. The trio of Romero, Kitteredge and Helsley has done fine so far so why mess around with other things. And I know they can’t go everyday, but Gallegos?
And Winn who is leading the team in defensive WAR, offensive WAR and total WAR has sat for 3 games and didn’t start two other games. Young guy and unless there are injuries we don’t know about why take him out of the lineup. He must be wondering what he has to do to be out there every day.
