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I suppose this happens to a lot if other teams – I mainly just keep up with the Cardinals – but good grief it feels like we have THE most fragile pitching staff in the majors…..
I typically wait until the end of June before passing judgement on a team.
It doesn’t always work but that number of games usually (not always) gives a pretty good idea of how the team is going to go.
Also gives a good read on how the other teams in the division are going to perform.
I’m hopeful that the Cardinals can win 90+ games this year because 2022 seems to be the target year for really flexing on the league.
Id rather not even have Carpenter on the team as 2021 is the last see what we got year before making decisions for 2022. I’d rather every single one of his ABs go to someone else.
Would love to see
Molina really begin to be phased out as well. Not kicked to the curb but damn give the back ups 250 ABs so we know what we have (or don’t have).Carpenter leading off? He did always seem to hit better from the 1 spot.
I’m glad he’s getting plenty of chances now rather than waiting.
If he’s really done then better to find out now and deal with it.
Do the Cardinals have to either keep him on the ML roster or cut him and keep writing checks?
Unless he agreed to it; no way to send him to Memphis is there?
Maybe let him ‘retire’ and pay him to be an extra bench coach?
Mikolas had one good year, got paid, then underperformed, then got injured and shelved.
I suppose if the Cardinals had not been willing to pay him after the 18 win season another club would have and, at the time, letting him get away would have been roundly criticized.
Its funny how, in general, people will support measures that do not impact them and be critical of those who don’t ‘go along’; then, when it’s their turn in the barrel (i.e. THEY will lose money) it becomes a totally different story.
I guess the moral of the story is that it’s always easier to sacrifice someone else’s money.
The entertainment and service industries have been crushed by the pandemic. Regarding baseball its the minor league players and maybe the young minimum salary major leaguers who have suffered. In the age of ‘using platforms to speak out’ did the players as a group support the service / entertainment industry during the enforced shutdown or are they primarily looking out for #1 when they demand a 162 game schedule?
I would think that most of the baseball owners will be fine financially even with taking a haircut for a couple of years BUT I would absolutely expect them to ‘keep a weather eye’ on the revenue \ cost equation and make certain decisions based on the economics.
Depending on the success of Covid-19 vaccines and the extension of limited attendance at games it will be interesting to watch how each side spins the news to justify supporting their position.
I think the Cards are going to use 2021 to sort out what they need to do (or not do) to make 2022 really special.
At this point Molina should pretty much sign whatever the Cardinals stick in front of him.
He has to be set, set, set financially, he’s an icon in StL, Wainwright is back in the fold, and the team is finally in a position to contend again – from his standpoint; what’s not to like?
I’d like to see Molina back and finish up his career in a Cardinal uniform but the harsh reality of pandemic baseball does not seem to have permeated his brain; either that or he just doesn’t care.
The uncertainty has created the strangest off-season I have ever seen.
I think 2021 will be better on the field if both Molina and Wainwright come back BUT I am almost certain 2022 will be better if they don’t play for the Cardinals in 2021 because the short term pain will allow the Cardinals to see what they have for depth and make better off season decisions after the 2021 season.
Who are the most likely 4 & 5 hitters next year.
I think Goldschmidt is fine; he just needs some protection so he doesn’t get pitched around so much.
Maybe this will be the year Bader, O’Neil, and Thomas figure it out at the plate and they are the ones who explode.
Would be nice to see it happen for StL instead of for other teams once the player has left StL.
Question for Brian about a non-Cardinal player.
Tyler Gentry’s family lived in my neighborhood for years. (His little brother is my son’s best friend).
He’s an outfielder that played in the SEC at Alabama. The Royals drafted him in the 3rd round earlier this year.
COVID really fouled up the minor leagues but based on his profile – he ‘projects’ to 20-25 hrs with average major league defense.
Have you ever heard of him before now?
Thank you.
Interesting. I think some contraction at the major league level would do wonders for the quality of the product on the field.
Don’t see it happening but each league contracting by 2 teams might open a few eyes around the league.
They fight over millions for playing a game while most people live paycheck to paycheck or gov’t check to gov’t check.
ESPN is laying off or not filling a total of 500 jobs.
More and more people are ‘cutting the cord’ of cable / satellite tv and their bloated packages.
The financial challenges we are seeing may not be as temporary as some would hope.
As an off-sport example, my 2 sons and I went to see the USMNT (soccer) play 3 years ago.
3 tickets = $300
Parking $30
Lunch at Stadium $60
2 t-shirts $50(The cheapest tickets were around $50 each after fees and taxes)
Yeah, unless we are all in for a big surprise, 2021 is going to be a take your lumps year for the Cardinals probably covered over as much as possible by the Wainwright / Molina / Carpenter farewell tour.
To be fair, the Cardinals have essentially been a .500 baseball team since about the 2015 all-star break with two exceptions – the run right after Schildt took over and the last 5-6 weeks of 2019.
I really can’t say that the immediate future looks bright. The 2022 team will look nothing like the 2021 team but filling that many holes in the lineup and hitting on all of them is highly unlikely which means that the Cardinals will probably continue to be a deeply flawed team for at least three seasons while completely wasting the good years Goldscmidt has left.
If I were him I’d demand a trade because he will continue to get nothing to hit for the foreseeable future.
It does indeed feel like we are about to revisit the 70s.
It’s been a weird, weird, year all the way around. I don’t read too much into a small viewership decline.
Now, the product on the field hasn’t been really good since the first half of 2015 – so we’re pushing 5 years of not much better than .500 baseball.
Yes, a late Cards push / Cubs collapse last season led to a division crown but for all but about the last 6 weeks of 2019 it was a .500 baseball team.
This year, yes they ‘made the playoffs’ at 30-28 but, that’s about a .500 baseball team.
I think years of .500 baseball. the bad contracts, etc are just starting to show a litle.
I had forgotten Mikolas had such a big contract. Wow – He had one good year got paid – followed that with an average year – then out injured and maybe never to return to even average form.
The Cards FO has really painted themselves into a corner with bad contracts.
Carpenter, Mikolas, Fowler – good grief….
Lotta work needed to overhaul this line up.
Can we get rid of Fowler and Carpenter or are they back next season? Those 2 are death to the offense.
The outfield can’t hit a lick either.
Molina can’t have much left in the tank.
Pitching should be ok but as fragile as the arms are I don’t feel comfortable trading any of it away. 1/2 the staff ends up hurt at one point or another.
I think there is probably just enough pitching to put together a good staff. With how injury prone pitchers seem to be you need 15-16 arms to get through a full season.
The line up however is just a disaster. I’d keep Goldschmidt, Dejong, Wong, and Carlson and then Molina for now although at his age how many games can he play and will he continue to produce?
Carpenter, Fowler, Bader – gotta go.
Goldschmidt is too easy to pitch around with no reliable protection behind him.
The line up really is a mess.
The division was clearly sub-par this year as evidenced by the 1-8 performance in the playoffs. All 4 teams make wild card round exits. That’s bad.
This team needs a new GM.
If not for the expanded playoffs they would be missing the playoffs 4 of 5 years.
That’s on the GM.
Mostly horrible trades for several years.
Gonna be tight right down to the wire. I think the Cards have to play the 2 games in Detroit ‘after the season’ for sure.
Having 3-4 guys in the line up hitting about .200 or below is a huge handicap – even a couple more average hitters in the lineup probably wins the division…..
If they can get into the post season tournament – anything can happen.
Without looking, with a couple of exceptions it feels like the Cardinals have been playing .500 baseball since the 2015 All-Star game.
The exceptions being Shildt’s first month after replacing Matheney and the final month of the season last year.
It just feels like they are mired in mediocrity.