2018 STL Cardinals Thread
 

Opening day lineup

Fowler RF
Pham CF
Carpenter 3B
Ozuna LF
Martinez 1B
Molina C
Dejong SS
Wong 2B
Pitcher

Edit:
Matheny fired 07/14/2018

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/762236/carp.gif


Opening Day Roster
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Heard on MLB tonight that they heard the Cardinals offered Hosmer 6 years/$120 Million. SD offered 7/140. They were debating which one he should take. All went with the Cardinals.

Seems like a no-brainer to me... I'd sign with STL yesterday if those are my options

Mozeliak should kill himself for signing off on that contract.

Who reported it? Because if it's Nightengale it's bullshit. And if it's Heyman (a notorious Boras mouthepiece) it's almost certainly also bullshit.

It doesn't pass the sniff test, IMO. Probably Boras trying to rebuild a flagging market and get the Royals to price enforce while trying to up the Padres offer.

All the numbers are being quoted from Nightengale but I havent seen anyone saying the Cardinals have made an offer.

They were talking about it as if these rumors are true scenario. Not a one of them was saying it as fact that an offer was made.

John Morosi tweeted it out, but he mentions Boras several times in his report.

whats Morosi's track record? BS or true?

I nearly forgot Morosi still had baseball insiders any more with all his spanish mumblings and disappearing act from twitter during the winter meetings.

Eh - I wouldn't say he's universally inaccurate. He's pretty much a spitball artist, though. He just throws so much shit at the wall (and in such 'data dump' fashion) that you tend to gloss over most of what he says and only remember the stuff that's right.

I don't think he's particularly valuable, to be honest.

The guys to really pay attention to here aren't the national guys. If there's information on the Cardinals to be had, Goold and Bernie will have it.

that seems like a pile of money to pay "just another guy".

But, we have plenty of money now.

This would be dumb for multiple reasons, but would be a sign they are making a move to appease what a good portion of the fan base would see as an upgrade.

I keep hearing about the "flexibility" Carpenter gives you at multiple positions. Sure, and Jose Martinez could technically play center field. We need to limit meathead's options not add to them. He has proven he can't manage that way. For us to have any chance he needs a lineup that fills out itself.

A big fat no to Hosmer.

Hosmer or Donaldson would both add a good bat to the line up but if we can't fix the bullpen it won't be as effective.

Hosmer is maybe a slight offensive upgrade (that is debatable) to our lineup over just keeping Gyorko at 3B. It is a defensive downgrade to move Carpenter back there even with the "perceived" defensive attributes of Hosmer. The metrics on him defensively do not support the accolades he has received (and it isn't even close). All this and he is likely going to cost us 200 million? No thanks.

Donaldson would be an upgrade and I would be excited to have his bat and glove here (depending on the cost).

Royals already beat every other offer on Hosmer.

I think the problem would be the offensive production you'd gain wouldn't come from the right position. Gyorko is more than just serviceable and so is Carp. They need another corner outfielder and some pitching help.

I agree that we can use another bat, I just don't want them to panic and lock into someone that long term that is an iffy upgrade.

Hopefully he will just stay with the Royals.

Putting Hosmer in at 1b so you can bench Gyorko and slide Carpenter over to 3b makes the team $160 million or so more expensive and genuinely worse over the next 2-3 years.

You've savagely mauled your 3b defense in that transition for maybe (maybe) a slight offensive upgrade at 1b. The only major improvement you'd get is that you're replacing a RH in Gyorko with a LH in Hosmer in a lineup that could probably use another LH hitter.

If that's your plan, go get Moustakas on the shorter-term, lower AAV deal. He'd be a better fit, IMO.

They need a SS.

They're fine in the OF; Fowler's a genuinely good offensive player and if he's playing LF, he's fine on defense. Sadly we're likely putting his noodle arm in RF where he'll be less fine, but whatever - if he catches the ball and stops pulling up on everything like he did in CF, he'll play over there. Arm strength is the least valuable of the 5 tools and if he plays with good instincts and accuracy, he can make up for the arm deficiency.

They need a superstar and they need him to be a SS.

They need Manny !@#$ing Machado.

what team wouldn't be better with Machado at SS?

Houston? LA? Maybe Cleveland.

But what teams can claim that Machado makes them go from potentially wild-card round roadkill to genuine contenders?

Not so many. There aren't many teams that have the combination of need, prospect depth and financial wherewithal while also being in the right spot in the competition cycle to say 'this is a no-brainer'. Some teams can contend easily without him and once you're at that level, I think it's silly to take big risks because of the crapshoot nature of post-season baseball.

Other teams are simply going from varying degrees of irrelevant.

But I can't think of any other team that can move themselves up a 'competitive tier' while also having the ability to acquire and retain Machado (presuming he hasn't already made up his mind to go to NYY).

I don't think we can resign him for non-monetary reasons.

I like him ahelluva lot. Way more than Harper that's for sure.

Why give up everything of high value in our farm system for a 1 year run? We won 2 Championships in the last 11 years. We are not that desperate.

The feels like the slowest free agency I can recall.

<header class="article-header"> Report: Arrieta has offers from 6 teams including Cubs, Brewers

by Simon Sharkey-Gotlieb 17h ago

Jim Young / USA TODAY Sports

</header> Jake Arrieta's market is apparently heating up.
A source close to Arrieta told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times that the free-agent right-hander is sitting on offers from six different teams that are said to be "overpay(s)" in terms of annual values.


The Chicago Cubs - the team with which Arrieta became a star over the past four-plus seasons - along with two other NL Central clubs, the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers, have all reportedly offered deals to the 31-year-old former Cy Young winner, according to Wittenmyer.
Chicago reportedly offered Arrieta a four-year deal worth $110 million earlier this month. It's unknown what offers have been made by either Milwaukee or St. Louis, or the identities of the other three teams.

MLB free agents may not be full-on panicking yet, but there’s probably some slight concern among them given the large number of individuals still on the market.


“They’re getting nervous. Particularly the players,” USA Today’s Bob Nightengale recently told The Bernie Miklasz Show. “The only think keeping them sane right now is that they’re in the similar boat with 135 other guys…These guys have young families, wives, everything else. They want to know what’s going on. Are you packing for Florida? Are you packing for Arizona for spring?


“It’s starting to get late…I guarantee that if someone gets just a decent offer they’re going to grab it.”


One free agent Nightengale thinks could land in Jupiter is former Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas, who’s coming off a 38-homer year to go with an .835 OPS.

“I think the Cardinals are sitting back and hoping that Moustakas falls into their lap,” He said. “I think that’d be a great move. Then, of course, grab a starter.”

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/2...reach-23m-deal

Donaldson off the table

Why would that prevent him from being traded?

It doesn't, but don't they blue jays believe they can still contend? I just likely think they will work out an extension for him, unless they are awful this season.

I would imagine they have a good idea on whether or not they can extend him. Their options were go to arbitration, sign him to a 1 year deal, or let him become a FA early.

Ship them a certain outfielder that will definitely regress to them then.

Ozuna gets $9 million for this year to avoid arbitration.

Ok, so i know that BRC hates it when the Cardinals haters post in these threads, but seeing it compels me to do so. Since the season hasn't started yet, i'll take the opportunity to post once and not come back for the rest of the season.

**** the Cardinals and **** anything St. Louis.

That is all...carry on.

Apologies in advance to BRC.

:rockon:

dude you haters come in all the time. 17 years of this thread. Haters going to hate. We are fans of the team we grew up with. You can't change teams. Seems like you guys would have got over that juvenile stuff when you won the WS?

**** off for talking shit about my city.

No. I am a fan of my city.

Civic Pride>All.

I grew up in Springfield. The only thing in St. Louis l care about is the Cardinals. And a couple of friends that live there.

Rogersville right?

Yep, both sides of my family settled in that small town pre-civil war. They were Baptist preachers looking to spread the gospel to this new part of the USA that was just being settled. A lot of family still live there including my brother. I lived there for 5 years. Grandpa lost his cow farm and we moved to Springfield. Lived in Springfield till 18.

Went back to Rogersville every weekend to see all the family. My grandma had a great radio. I loved listening to Jack Buck and Harry Carey broadcasting the Cardinal games on that radio. One of the best childhood memories. From that moment, I was a lifer.

Interesting

I grew up in Thayer MO so I’m not too far from home.

What high school in Springfield?

l quit high school the day I turned 16 with a total of 1.5 credits. I attended Hillcrest and Glendale.

Our 2 biggest baseball rivalries! I was a Chief.

Addison Reed only got 2/16.75? Wtf... Cubs? I am disappoint.

Man I hope Oquendo can work some defensive magic this year.
------------------------------

Wong headed to Florida to work with DeJong, Oquendo

Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong will report to Jupiter, Fla., on Monday -- weeks ahead of spring training -- in order to get some early work with shortstop Paul DeJong and third-base coach Jose Oquendo. Wong and DeJong, who has already been working out at the team's spring training facility, have been in contact and coordinating their meet to work together with Oquendo on double plays and fielding. Wong usually reports early to spring training to get some individual work in with coaches, and he suggested that Oquendo's return to the major-league staff will help him "get to the next level."

-- Derrick Goold

First Cole, now Mccutchen

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SFGiants?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SFGiants</a> have agreed to acquire Andrew McCutchen from the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pirates?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Pirates</a>, pending a review of medical records, sources tell The Athletic.</p>&mdash; Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/952997921519259648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Yadi says he's hanging up his cleats after 2020. I bet our prized catching prospect starts getting more involved as soon as 2019. Is he ready now?

I went to Central

l didn't know MLB's sale of its streaming company to Disney is going to put an additional $50 million in cash into each teams pocket this year. MLB approaching $10 Billion in revenue.

After the strike in the mid 90's some were saying baseball is now going to die a slow death. How times have changed.:eek:

and Dewitt......

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Owner Bill DeWitt Jr. downplayed the likelihood of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/STLCards?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#STLCards</a> striking again this offseason: &quot;I don&#39;t really anticipate a major move between now and Spring Training.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/9Kjab8X15C">https://t.co/9Kjab8X15C</a></p>&mdash; Jenifer Langosch (@LangoschMLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/LangoschMLB/status/953278141266628608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Shaping up like there might be some values as free agency drags on so slowly or teams like Pitt giving up stuff in payroll dump for an assortment of meh. Would be nice if the cards actually consider getting in on something.

It would be pretty stupid for him to say he was anxious to make more deals. That is the kind of weakness that Boras and other agents would capitalize on. I would have liked to see them sign Reed. It seemed a reasonable risk for a guy who would probably be dependable, but he's not a huge upgrade if at all to what we already have so it's not a huge miss.

it would be best to sign anyone who can help now, give out long or longer term deals to players you want to keep right now. The price of every position and player is getting ready to skyrocket.

I'd like to see them bring Lynn back, they still need bullpen help too.

Sure, if you get a good deal. We don't have to make a deal just to "on paper" fill a hole. It needs to be an upgrade or you wait until you do. I'm fine with trading prospects or a big FA signing for an impact player. I don't want to pay for someone on the decline. SanFran is stocking up of players with wonderful careers, it will remain to be seen if they will rise to those past years of production or continue their decline. McCutchen made sense for them because he rebounded somewhat off what looked like the beginning of the decline.

I don't mind a rebound guy as long as what you give up or pay is based on the risk involved.

Steve Dunn was a great guy and a good player too.

The Blue Jays have agreed to acquire outfielder Randal Grichuk from the Cardinals, per a Toronto announcement. Righties Dominic Leone and Conner Greene will go to St. Louis in return.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/...l-grichuk.html

This Leone guy had nice stats last year.

Wow...interesting!!!

Yeah he does... and he's short...like an inch shorter than Roy Oswalt short (5'11)... I get a kick out of pitchers around this height pitching, and doing it well.

He has put up nice stats. I like this move.

Hopefully this Conner Greene steps up and does his job better for us as a pitcher than Tyler Greene did as an infielder!!!

bullpen help?

Glad to see we are resolving the outfielder log jam. Hopefully some of these guys turn into something.



Side note------Green Wikipedia:

Greene is an avid surfer, and has also worked as a model. He is friends with actor Charlie Sheen, and made several minor appearances on the television series Anger Management.

My guy Tui is never going to get a shot. SMFH.

he has never done anything close to this.......

Leone, also 26, was 3-0 with a 2.56 earned run average and 11 holds in 65 games, striking out 81 in 70 1.3 innings. Perhaps more importantly, he stranded 42 of 54 inherited runners (78 per cent), ranking fourth among American League relievers.

If they could get a solid closer they be in bidness

What you just said doesnt change what I said in the slightest bit.

I love it.

Except for the fact he gets torched every time he’s brought up.

even with the new bullpen adds it's still a thin bullpen. He will get another chance to succeed this season. But, so far your right, eventually MLB players knock him around hard.

Ozuna, Pham and Fowler is a pretty decent outfield, correct?

Anything I should know about Grichuk?

absolute raw natural power. Capable of hitting 500 ft. HR's without putting his best swing on the ball. Hit it out swinging one handed. Great speed in the outfield. Will make highlight reel catches. But doesn't take the best path to the ball.

His problem is that he can't lay off or recognize the cutter in the dirt or outside. At times it's better. But, he reverts back to swinging at that crap. So he will kill rallies and hit .240

He ever learns to lay off that pitch consistently he's an All-Star.

He's old enough now that he will never learn to do that. I assume the Jays think they can accentuate what he actually can do (his power) and possibly replace Pillar in center in the next year or two.

probably. That's why you got a player with such great natural power for a bullpen guy.

He has ZERO understanding of the strike zone. Grichuk thinks plate discipline is a way not to get fat.

He absolutely kills cripple pitches. As DJ said many times, he is a perfect No. 7 hitter in the NL (so a 7 or 8 in the AL). He will murder bad middle relievers who miss over the plate. When he does go through short stretches of not swinging at slop, his numbers become ungodly. Unfortunately, he did that for a total of like 2 weeks during his entire career with the Cards.

Yeah his 2.55 ERA and 1.08 whip last year proves what you just said to be absolutely false.

2 out of 3...

Pham, had a career year last year but I'm not convinced it's sustainable.