I don't foresee another Heyward situation regarding Ozuna.

Ozuna wants to be the featured player for a team and hasn't shied away from it.

Heyward wanted nothing to do with that.

He hasn't been a feature, either.

I don't necessarily disagree but I do believe he can bring a positive value to the Cardinals with his performance regardless.

Also:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/STLCards?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#STLCards</a> players now are on notice. I get the feeling this front office will make sweeping changes if the direction isn’t VERY clear in the next few weeks. This front office has pined for years to be a seller and stock up for the future, as others have done.</p>&mdash; Mark Saxon (@markasaxon) <a href="https://twitter.com/markasaxon/status/1018360227819851776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

100% for throwing up the flag on this season to ensure long term success. Not Royals-esque level but more or less the Yankees of 2016.

Ozuna isn’t exactly the type of player you would get down on your knees for. His lack of game is partially responsible for this mediocrity.

If he isn’t brought back I wouldn’t miss any sleep over it.

Probably not, but what are your alternatives?

Hope Tyler O'neill doesnt strike out 50% of the time?

Dont get me wrong, I want to keep him but definitely not break the bank for him. A player like Machado you break the bank for. Guys like Ozuna not so much.

O’Neill is comparable to Grichuk. I would take Grichuk’s high K rate and power threat over what Ozuna is currently bringing. I do think Ozuna is a better hitter than what we are currently getting though.

I’ve said all year to play for 2019.

Sell high on your found money

Trade Martinez to the AL
Sell high and Trade Mikolas to a contender

Correct your mistake
Give Fowler to anyone and cough up the money needed to make the deal


We are not getting Manny no matter if we offer $350 million. Ain’t happening.

I agree with everything you said except about Mikolas.

Mikolas should be kept.

My issue with Martinez is while I think he can hit, he his skill set is not best suited for a team in the NL and his ability(or lack there of) hinders opportunities for Gyorko.

Machado isn't a realistic expectation of mine, but dammit, I'd love to see it happen. If it's not him, spend on someone else.

Why on earth would you keep Mikolas?

You got him from Japan. Starting pitching is where the Cardinals actually have depth now and in the future. He's soon to be 30 years old and he's on a 2 year deal and you aren't contending. He was your only player to be voted into the All-Star game.

There is no better player on the Cardinals to trade right now than him.

Waiting on players to crash is how you turn Starlin Castro into Adam Warren or Jorge Soler into 1 year of post prime Wade Davis.

Easy.

Wacha's shoulder is a ticking time bomb and until Reyes proves he can pitch in the big leagues you can't count on him for shit.

The Cardinals have a great chance at success in 2019. Mikolas being apart of the team only enhances that.

You can find my previous posts on saying how I didn't expect anything until 2019 with regards to playoffs from either this year or last.

I legitimately expect this team to contend next season and have even before this season started.

You are lying to yourself my dude. Their chance lands on the ability to sign Machado or Harper.

All the big hitting clubs in the MLB didn't reset their luxury tax penalties this off season for nothing. Chances the Cardinals land either is pretty slim.

Even if one of them doesn't wind up in one of the huge markets, the Cardinals cannot match anything the Phillies would offer and you better believe the Phillies are gonna be stepping up to the plate for one of them.

I think ownership will finally have pressure put on them for the first time, in a long time, to go out and actually do something.

Assuming the team doesn't make the playoffs this season, this will mark the third consecutive season they've missed the POs. That's the longest stretch of missing the POs in the DeWitt era.

Fans aren't going to be too happy if that's the case. I'm grateful for the DeWitt era and the overall success of it, but part of that success leads to higher expectations.

I don't think any fan reaction will be anything like SaveOurChiefs level stuff, but there will be pressure for ownership to spend or for management to make significant improvements to the roster.

There are building blocks with the rotation and some offensive players to have a team compete at that level.

Now it's up to ownership/management to do one of three things:
1. Give up on the season and look forward to opportunities on how to improve the roster in 2019 and beyond starting immediately or after the season.

2. Don't give up on the season, improve the roster for this season and the future.

3. Do nothing.

Strive for .500!

They can have all the pressure on them in the world but it has little to do with a FAs willingness to sign with the Cardinals.