I brought up Russell after you claimed that DeJong was having a "Diaz like decline" even though a better comparison of like decline would have been Russell.

If they don't replace any of their starters that would surprise me. Yu is really the only one you could hope for some kind of bounce back. Any of the others would just be homer talk, nothing about their stuff would argue otherwise. Quintana maybe improves, but he is not trending that way, even with coming to the NL.

I forgot about Cole Hamels being ahead of Quintana on the FA list.

He has an option, but I doubt the Cubs pick it up because it's $20M. He's really only filling in for Darvish though so I wasn't considering him as a long term rotational piece.

How would it be homer talk to expect 28 and 29 year old pitchers to "regress" back to their norms?

Quintana's problem this year has been his control. His stuff is still there so there's no reason to assume hes done. Hendricks is in the same boat. He's struggled to get the ball down at times and he's been giving up a few more hits and homers than normal. His walks and strikeouts are right in line with his norms.

Really the only one that would be homer talk would be Lester returning to his Cy Young form.

Cecil brought in to keep it close...Moosetacos

Ump has been awful today, but the Cards are tired. Carp and Yadi both could have used today off.

yeah, Schildt should step in and force a day off. Day game after night game and a good winning streak seemed to be s good time.

They are back in contention. Now they need to make sure their core players have the strength to finish this thing.

Yeah, dont understand not at least getting Yadi a blow and then sitting Carpenter against the next lefty they face. With no Wong I understand not also sitting Carpenter but Yadi needs the break.

Kinda silly to have both those guys out there during the day game on getaway day with the series won. TLR goes to his bench and they might even steal one in this spot.

Because Hendricks simply isnt good and never has been. 5th starter. Quintana will be better, yes

Darvish, OTOH, left his rehab start with a sore throwing arm after one inning. How you feel about eating the first TWO years of that deal? Tell me more about how great that deal was...

Pretty laughable calling a guy (Hendricks) with a career FIP of 3.57 "never good." It would be like saying a guy with an equal career FIP but never even close to having a single year as good as Hendricks' 2016 year has never been good (Carlos Martinez).

There is no way that you can look at Hendricks' career and say he hasnt at least been a #3 pitcher. And since the start of July, Hendricks has a FIP of 2.7, so there's already reason to believe that he is coming back to form.

I'm not concerned about Darvish missing next year. There's nothing to suggest that he is even in jeopardy of that happening. It's not the first time hes been pulled because of tightness in his elbow during his rehab this season. He's likely on the shelf for the remainder of this year, but thats why the Cubs traded for Hamels.

Carp and Jedd both barely miss tying the game.

Well at least the Bucs walked one off against the baby bears.

Wellll we are in the Brewers players head now.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jeremy Jeffress, after the Brewers inched back in front of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/STLCards?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#STLCards</a> with a win on Sunday: <br><br>&quot;Honestly, these guys feel like they own some part of the Brewers. And they don&#39;t.&quot;</p>&mdash; Jenifer Langosch (@LangoschMLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/LangoschMLB/status/1031298443585744896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">gtfoh <a href="https://t.co/Ktvk4wUWmj">pic.twitter.com/Ktvk4wUWmj</a></p>&mdash; cardinalsgifs (@cardinalsgifs) <a href="https://twitter.com/cardinalsgifs/status/1031256602525888513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Least shocking news of the day, Weaver to the bullpen. I think he’s going to be a great addition to the bullpen. Martinez knows he only needs to pitch one inning may help him focus his intensity and stuff.

Man.

I didn’t expect Weaver to be as good as he was in limited time last year but I didn’t expect him to be this bad.

Still think that was a missed sell high opportunity in the offseason.

As I'm sure you are aware, we do that a lot. Mo hangs on to young players until their value is "throw in" level way too many times.

Kelly is a good recent example. He hits near .300, getting all this good national press. Considered the best catching prospect in baseball. Going to be stuck behind Molina for 3 years. We have another catcher that also looks like he is a great candidate to replace Molina. Perfect storm to trade high.And Mo whiffs. Now, Kelly still has value but nothing close to 2 years ago.

Eh, I don't agree with Kelly.

He's rehabbed his value by hitting very well in Memphis - he's effectively at the same level he's ever been. I think many have overrated his trade value because he simply hasn't ever shown that he's likely to be an offensive force. A Tucker Barnhart type player who's never shown the ability to perform at the MLB level is going to have a hard ceiling as a trade piece.

What the Cardinals needed him to do was come to the majors and not suck. Sadly, he's sucked and has looked wildly overmatched every time he's been given a shot at the next level.

The Cards had a guy in AAA who'd shown he could be a good catch and throw guy. On a 1-10 scale he had a trade value of maybe 7. If you wanted a 9, you needed him to come to the show and perform. He didn't. And when he went back to Memphis he went back to hitting. He's still at maybe a 7.

Kelly's an asset that the Cardinals haven't necessarily mis-handled, he simply hasn't done his part to get his value to a point where he's worth trading.

Before Matheny was fired if we saw the Cardinals were starting Gomber/Poncedeleon/Flaherty in August on the road in LA, we would have said the Cardinals have given up on the season. My how this season has turned.....

WTF is in the water out in LA? Can a game be played in less that 4 hours?

I thought when they had bases loaded, no outs and didn't score they blew the game.

Then they burned all their best pitching just keeping the game close. I hated the pitch calling by Pena. He kept trying to get cute, trick the batter with a pitch. Crucial situation, game on the line, throw their best pitch for ctissakes.He caused everyone's pitch count to go way up.

Wong should win the Gold Glove this year.

If they don't hit a wall or burn out, this team will be a dangerous team to play in a WC. And if they get by that game, the playoffs.

They had already scored two runs in the inning they left the bases loaded, unless there was another time after I went to bed.

Baez for the Dodgers was taking over a minute between pitches. I thought baseball was trying to speed things up. I was wanting the ump to award the hitter a ball it was so bad.

I had it on in the background at points and wondered why it was taking so damn long. The strike zone also seemed horribly inconsistent in favor of LAD all night which also made the game a tough watch.

A pitcher should not be allowed to do that to everyone in the stands and millions watching on TV in LA. This isnt his game. Pace of play is a real issue that needs to be addressed by MLB. The new generation or any generation for that matter dont want to see a pitcher walked around on the mound, walk off the mound after every pitch.

They fixed the issue with catchers bringing the game to a halt with endless visits to consult with their pitcher. The game didn't suffer. They need to do something about allowing one person to grind the game down to a snails pace.

Well, I couldn't make it past the 6th. Woke up to see they pulled it off.

Nice.

Need another 6 or 7 game win streak

I wouldn't hold my breath.

The Cards schedule going forward is brutal; really no chances to relax and regroup in there. And this rotation just isn't a 'winning streak' rotation because they don't have many guys that can go 7. As a consequence, even on good days, you're going to go through 3-4 relievers and invariably one of those guys will have an off night and lose games for you.

Hicks did his level best last night - he was a damn mess out there. Norris was only marginally better. The box score says he walked the leadoff man then struck out the side but he went to 3 ball counts on 3 of the 4 hitters he faced, his cutter was garbage and he simply didn't use his breaking ball. He was playing with fire that whole outing.

It's remarkable how well they've done with their margin for error being as small as it is. This pitching staff truly is held together with duct tape and any stumble (especially from Mikolas) could be all it takes to really snowball into a 2-4, 3-7 kind of stretch that just wrecks the season.

And frankly, there wouldn't be anyone to blame for it. This just isn't a championship caliber starting pitching staff at the moment.

For sure.

But it's about what they'd have to do to catch the Cubs. I'm thinking the WC is about best case scenario, even then, the teams they're running with are probably better.

I have had precisely zero buy-in with the Brewers even when they were like 9 games ahead of us. You can't win with a pitching staff like they have and butchers just about everywhere on the field defensively.

They're trying to 'slow pitch softball' their way into the playoffs and I just don't see it working out for them. Yelich and Cain are dynamic, well rounded players and the rest of them are just braindead sluggers.

That's a team that will run hot and cold and I suspect they'll run more cold than hot down the stretch, especially as their bullpen starts to get a little tired.

I'd imagine they'll finish around 85 wins and out of the post-season. And I can't buy into the Phillies AND Braves making it to the post-season either. So much youth on those squads that I think one of them stumbles. Beyond that, if there's a team with a tougher schedule than ours, it's AZ. They're leading the division right now but it wouldn't surprise me to see the Rockies overtake them.

Amazing - AMAZING - stat. The Rockies just finished a stretch of 46 consecutive games against teams over .500. In that period they went 30-16. There have only been 2 instances in baseball history of a team playing that many consecutive games against winning records and those 2 teams won 15 and 22 games respectively.

The Rockies are playing exceptional baseball right now and I expect they win the West when all is said and done. The D-Backs may end up undone by their scheduling and the Brewers/NLE team just don't seem likely to hold on.

The Cards may pull this off. Winning the next 2 series would obviously be huge but I'd be satisfied with a single W against Colorado. Mikolas, Gant, Gomber is a terrifying trio to send out to that stadium and with the young relievers struggling to K guys (and Hicks struggling to simply put the damn ball over the plate), I can see the Rockies putting up a couple of 10-12 run games if we're not careful. I mean uuuuuuugly outings.

So if the Rockies are world beaters, why did we make them look like shit? What did we do right? Can it be duplicated?

Small sample size

Cardinals are playing good ball as well.

And we didn't 'make them look like shit'. We walked them off twice including a game where we were dominated for most of the day. That series is two swings of the bat away from being a 1-3 beating instead of a 3-1 win. Both squads had 2 games that were relatively straightforward; the Cards simply found 2 more knocks than the Rockies did.

You expect that to happen in Colorado? I don't. That series could be a pretty ugly one.

Daniel Murphy claimed off trade waivers but we don't know who yet.

I defy anyone to find me a better available fit for our bench and/or give me a reason why we shouldn't have claimed this guy...

Someone also claimed Harper. LOL.

Murphy would be nice here though. Could play some 2nd, 3rd, 1st.

The only issue I have with adding someone at this point from outside the organization, someone in the clubhouse doesn't already know and vouch for is upsetting the team chemistry.

These guys having each others back and being on the same page is why we are seeing baseball that matters instead of that "meh" crap Matheny was running out there every day.

No way. Was hoping to win 2 in LA and then steal one in Colorado. 3-3 on this road trip would be winning to me.

Yup.

Given my druthers I'd take the 2 against Colorado and 1 against LA because Colorado is the tougher mark going forward, but that seems damn unlikely.

Gimme wins with Flaherty against LAD and Mikolas against Colorado and I'll take it. Stealing one with Gomber was nice but trying to get through those guys with Gomber/Gant at Coors and PDL starting against a weird lefty is a hell of an ask.

Murphy is as much a gamer as anyone you'll see. That dude will fit right in here, IMO - he's Matt Carpenter in a ton ways.

Your boy Carpenter is having one hell of a season.

Does he have a shot at MVP?

My Pirate's pitchers hold two teams to only 1 run in 5 straight games yet lose 3 of the 5. That sums up this year for my Buccos! :facepalm:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Source indicates the Chicago Cubs claimed Daniel Murphy from the Nationals. Working out a deal.</p>&mdash; Craig Mish (@CraigMish) <a href="https://twitter.com/CraigMish/status/1031967158593626112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
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****ing pricks. 4321

Dafuq?

So we didn't even claim him?

That's just goddamn absurd. He's an absolutely ideal fit for this squad.

We apparently traded for Matt Adams though.

Lefty off the bench?

Sweet.

With Russell's struggles you can move Baez to SS and get a bat the team desperately needs to simply make contact with the ball on a regular basis.

Hopefully a deal gets done.

Lmao

He's actually played very well for both Atlanta and Washington.

Matt Adams joining the Cardinals.

Yea I'm just trying to figure out where he fits.

Just watched a piece on mlb network that the Cardinals claimed Harper and are in talks with Washington to complete the deal. They were not reporting it as fact, just that’s what they are hearing.

The schedule for the last 45 games was pretty daunting, but this is the week I looked at when we started playing better and thought..."if the wheels are going to come off, it would probably start there." That was a nice surprise getting the initial win last night. In a way it is almost like getting that first strike as a pitcher.

You get that first one, and obviously your opportunities for winning each series become much more likely.

I'd be surprised if a deal gets done with Harper.

At this point you cant expect to give up much to acquire him given that only 1 team is on the negotiating table and the Nationals would need to get more than what they would get from giving him a QO.

If anyone leaves in the waiver wire time period isnt that a 2nd rounder the recieving team has to give up for a month of the player?


Assuming a deal for less isn't worked out.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">sources: waivers have expired on Bryce harper. he is staying with nats.</p>&mdash; Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) <a href="https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/1031974071565787138?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Matt Adams will be in LA tomorrow. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/STLCards?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#STLCards</a></p>&mdash; Jim Hayes (@TheCatOnFox) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheCatOnFox/status/1031972441642262528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Cock block claims.

The Nats are gonna end up with nothing from Harper.

Murphy aint Harper. But, he's still a good player. Why wasn't he cock blocked?:hmmm:

Cardinals and Brewers arent smart? I dunno.

Is Matt Carpenter going back to 3rd base or something? I can't figure out the purpose of acquiring Adams for you guys. Gonna have a platoon bench at first when Carpenter needs a breather or is Adams simply going to be a LH bat off the bench? He's 2-31 in 35 PA's this month.

anywhere once he gets some salsa in him.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Matt Adams “Big City” wanted some salsa when the Nationals were in town last week..Cordially I had to deny him of that request due to conflicting interests.. Now my friend I shall bathe you in it! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ItsGottaBeTheSalsa?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ItsGottaBeTheSalsa</a>������</p>&mdash; Matt Carpenter (@MattCarp13) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattCarp13/status/1031977316375715840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 21, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Wisdom sent down to make room for Adams. Fowler to the 60 day DL to make room for Carlos. He’ll be ready to pitch tomorrow in LA. At least we don’t have to deal with the Fowler issue this year. Mo can dump him in the off season.

He'll beat us at least once.

I like the Adams deal, don't get me wrong. Adams is a nice bench bat and a guy that can take some ABs away from Jedd against tougher righties while not being a defensive liability at 1b.

But Murphy is simply a better player and a more natural fit. The Cardinals never should've let him get through to the Cubs and should have at least put a block on for him. Even if the Nats let him through for free (I doubt they would have), the Cards have the $ to absorb the salary. And if a deal can't get worked out, he goes back to Washington.

Letting Murphy get to Chicago is a mistake that will cost us a ballgame at some point, IMO.

Almost exclusively a bench bat and one we've desperately needed since we traded...Matt Adams.

We don't have a single credible lefty stick off the bench. Greg Garcia just goes up there hoping to foul off 4 pitches before getting hit by a pitch. Otherwise he's simply soft contact that can't even get a runner over.

With Munoz returning, the UTIL infielder spot is covered. They cut Garcia and install Adams as their primary lefty off the bench.

And yeah, he's struggling but he's a streak hitter and always has been. I suspect the hope is that he catches a hot streak for a few weeks and makes a difference. They'll find him a start or two a week against power righties that can get the ball above Jedd's hands (where they'll move Carpenter over to 3b), but for the most part, he's a bench bat.

I think the Cards could still use another one, to be honest. The bench is better with Adams instead of Garcia but it wouldn't hurt to get another 'pure' hitter from the left side in the Jose Martinez mold.

I dunno, someone like Daniel Murphy...

I hate that we didn't put a claim in on that guy. I do not believe waivers are a 'rolling order'. The Cards would've been ahead of the Cubs on anybody on the list. They could have - SHOULD have - claimed both guys.

Adams speaks to your chemistry concerns.

The guys on the team love that guy. People were genuinely upset when he got dealt last year and by all accounts he wasn't pleased to get traded either.

But then it was funny to hear the barbs from an 'unnamed former Cardinals' that surfaced almost immediately regarding Matheny. I think Adams will come back to STL re-charged by not having to deal with Matheny's idiot self and Mabry out there trying to get him to hit oppo.

Just go up there, look for your pitch and drive it, Big City. Do what you do big man. Budaska and Greer won't mind-**** him like the last batch did. I think he'll be a nice addition.

I don’t get this. Why would they not block the guy? It cost you nothing right?

I don’t think we are going to compete for the Central division title but why help your rival get better if you can stop it?

yeah over 3/4 th’s of the locker room know the guy. I’m sure the coaches worked with him in the minors. Should be a smooth fit.

Shildt was his first manager as a professional down in Johnson City.

It'll be a nice easy fit for him and I could see it leading to a decent little 2 yr/$8 million extension to be a part time player and bench bat after the season.

He's not gonna get a look as a starter; he's simply too streaky. That should keep his market reasonable and he's just such a perfect short-term fit for this squad. Gorman and Baker aren't gonna be here too terribly soon and even if they are, they probably aren't bench players. Williams doesn't inspire much confidence in me.

There's a hole at the top of the organization for lefthanded bench bats with power. He fits it perfectly while we wait for someone like Baker to get here or Gorman to make it less critical.

Credit to the dude on my Cardinals board but this is fitting:

https://bigapplebaseballmlb.files.wo...jor-league.jpg

Darvish shut down for the remainder of the season with a triceps strain and a stress reaction in his elbow.

Yeah, I'm sure that's nothing that will surface again next year.

Have fun with that 'below market' deal, JD. Keep telling yourself that the $8 million win share means jack shit. The Cubs paid exactly market for Darvish and as it turns out, they're probably gonna take a beating on the deal.

Or hey, maybe a 32 yr old pitcher who was abused in his teens/early 20s and then put forward a 1/2 decade history of arm troubles will bounce back and pitch 5 healthy seasons starting next year through his age 36 season. I mean, it happens all the time.

yeah JD, I’ve heard several times in this thread all about this Darvish deal working out in the long term. What up?

Shit happens. Players get injured.

Let me know when the Cardinals can even sign a high caliber FA to a long term deal.

Regardless if he manages to make an impact over the remainder over his contract its not going to prevent the Cubs from spending, so ask me if I care.

it wasn’t shit happens before. It was a done deal. It’s going to work out.

And.......

We got our money’s worth and more for the Holliday FA deal. One of the few $100 million+ MLB FA deals to ever work out for the club.

And an honorable mention of signing Pujols to a 10 years extension. The best 10 years a player has ever had in MLB.

That was a FA deal? The Cardinals traded for him then extended him, did they not? And what is this 2009 where TLR still exists?

I dont recall ever saying that Darvish was a done deal and going to work out. I said the Cubs paid below market value for a pitcher of his caliber and year 1 wont be the deciding factor on his contract as a whole.

He's got an injury that doesnt include ligaments, wont require any surgery, and comes with a 6 week recovery. Had the Cubs been able to spot it earlier he'd probably be pitching this year but while he kept saying something didn't feel right they missed it I think twice before.

No, he was a Boras FA testing the market. Wasn’t signed until the next calendar year.

Murphy has been hitting the ball a bit better of late and not that far removed from being a pretty productive player. Agree with everyone else that weird to not at least put in a claim to block CHI.

You have 5 years to get 126 million in value out of an aging pitcher with a myriad of arm troubles.

Good luck with that.

Sucks for the Cubs sure. But they don’t pay dick for any of their position players. I mean JHey and Zorbrist are the only dudes pulling in legit salaries as position players. The Cubs are fine. If they have to pay a little luxury tax so be it.

Yeah you seem to be overflowing with indifference. On the bright side you get another chance to sign Lance Lynn next year.

One of the benefits of being a fan of a team that isn't afraid to be the #1 bidder.

Sure, maybe you can turn your 2016 memorabilia over to a trust so that your great, great, great grandkids can wear them proudly the next time the Cubs win it all.