***Official 2020 STL Cardinals Thread***
 

2020 Opening Day Lineup



For the new Cardinal fans that joined the Planet since last year.....
2019 Thread
https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=320239
2018 Thread
https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=312812
2012 Thread
https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=254619
etc.
All the way back to 2006 WS
https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=312812

One non-Cardinals issue that I don't get it why are the players not being punished for cheating?

Knowing whether a fastball or off speed stuff is coming is a HUGE advantage to a hitter. To get that information through electronic means is a line that was crossed.

Pete Rose never cheated to win a game. He bet on his own team to win. Wrong, yeah but lifetime ban. These players that cheated are getting off without any punishment. Why?

The players were told before the investigation started they wouldn't be punished because they wanted them to cooperate, they felt that if they handed down punishments no one would say anything.

Also they are very close to having to negotiate a new CBA and this would cause a massive issues with the players union.

To add to your other point, anything involving gambling is going to be punished much much harder than stealing signs to win a game.

'Cause there are too many of them.

**** the Astros.

So they turned "state witness's" against their coaches to get off of punishment? is this public info or what you think happened?
In general, I agree but doesn't mean that cheating at this level, that influences that game so much goes unpunished, its going to happen again. I could set something up right now using simple bluetooth tech for the players that no one would ever find on them with a physical search.

No it did happen, I read on ESPN that the players were all told they would be given no punishment, it was their way of getting them to speak on the issue. If anyone involved would get punished why would any of them have ever said anything?

I didnt mean to question your info, just asked to make sure its public info now.

Also I can get film from your catchers and coaches signals for years. Thrown those data points into big data and use A.I. analytics to tell you what is used for the key to change the signs, what is usually the sign for this or that.

MLB cant stick their heads in the sand. This tech is easily available now for any john doe off the street. Some team is going to use it.

It should be nothing but fastballs to the wrist for Bregman and Altuve for the next three years.

The thing that is ****ed about this is Houston could legit go back to the WS this year.

So, Bonds should be a hall of Famer then if this shit goes unpunished

They could, but there are 145 other starting pitchers. They can't suspend all of them and Houston can't play star-for-star. I'm serious: break their wrists and this will never happen again. It's time for them to run the gauntlet.

Reds are winning the NL Central this year, STL, MIL, and CHI are all pretenders.

I guess now we know why Jeff Albert didn't get the same results as hitting coach for the Cards last year.

thats the trendy pick. Kind of like the baseball equivalent of the annual Chargers are going to the Super Bowl pick.

**** you Hoover, you bandwagon jumping slug.
Weren’t you a ****in cubs fan last year?
sec

It’s also tough to suspend players when they are many on other teams.

I saw that MLB has a new rule that every pitcher must pitch to at least 3 players in every appearance. This true?

If so, I guess we are set up better than some. At least our lefty’s can at least somewhat pitch to righty’s too.

Yes, Miller gets shelled equally by both.

Geezzz Carlson is already hitting .455 this spring. Do you keep him in the minors till April 10th and get another year of control? That’s a free 6 months of control this year. And then the 6 years of control starts next year. Cubs did it with Bryant.
——————————————————————————
Part of Bernie’s article on the Athletic:

Because of his maturity and talent and refined knowledge of the strike zone, the Cardinals have aggressively pushed Carlson through their minor league system. Never worried about Carlson’s early-age starting point (17), the Cards never hesitated to move him up to the next level.

Here’s what I’m referring to:

2016: Carlson played for the Cards’ affiliate in the Gulf Coast League. He was 17. The average age of position players in the league was 19.6 years. Carlson was one of only four regular position players younger than 18 to compete in the GCL.

2017: Carlson climbed to Peoria in the Class A Midwest League at age 18. The average age for position players in the circuit was 21.3. There were only three other 18-year-old hitters in the Midwest League that season.

2018: after starting out in Peoria, Carlson soon moved up to a more challenging level of Class A ball at age 19, playing for Palm Beach of the Florida State League. The league’s average age for position players: 22.4.

2019: On to Springfield, then Memphis, at age 20. In the Double-A Texas League, the average age of position players was 23.8. In the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, the average age for hitters was 26.3.

Carlson has always been among the very youngest players in the league at every stop of his climb, yet he validated management’s bold strategy. He did an impressive job, handled the increased difficulty at every level.

After displaying complete confidence in Carlson’s advanced baseball intelligence, his refined plate discipline, his surging power …

Mozeliak is now expressing a need for caution and the desire to see Carlson head back to Memphis for a few more “important” at-bats.

After comparing Carlson to Pujols and Taveras two months ago, Mozeliak now wants us to believe that Carlson’s place, at least for now, is at a spot in line behind O’Neill and Thomas — and heck, maybe even wait to take his turn after Justin Williams.

After enthusiastically putting young Carlson on a fast track to the majors and watching him ramp up without a hitch, the Cardinals now have the mind to tap the brakes and slow Carlson down.

Or could it simply be that they want to slow the service-time express that would take Carlson to a few stops at arbitration en route to the final destination of free agency a year ahead of management’s preferred schedule?

I wonder if this perceived reticence is somehow related to the oil-well contracts that went to Mike Trout ($426.5 million), Gerrit Cole ($324 million), Bryce Harper ($330 million), Manny Machado ($300 million), Nolan Arenado ($260 million), Anthony Rendon ($245 million) or Stephen Strasburg ($245 million).

Not that I’m skeptical or anything.

But the Cardinals have never handed out a contract larger than $130 million. That went to their new first baseman, Paul Goldschmidt, a year ago.

If we look into the future, we can envision monster deals for pitcher Jack Flaherty and maybe Carlson. Obviously that depends on how the players perform until it’s their time to enter the free-agent sweepstakes.

If you can delay the massive payday for a year with Carlson, well, those few extra at-bats at Memphis really would be important and extremely valuable to Cardinals’ management.

Or if you are a team that’s desperate for offense, you could just put your best players in the lineup as much as possible — from Opening Day on.

It can be argued that Carlson should be in the St. Louis lineup for Game 1 of the regular season if he thrashes pitchers and excels defensively during his spring-training audition.

Both Carlson and Gorman are having an impressive Spring Training so far.

The Cardinals have never played with players service time to get another year out of them besides Lynn. They have always started their "sure thing" players service time on Opening day. Pujols, Waino, Taveras, Mokina, Wacha, Hicks.


So should we try to get a free year of service out of Carlson and Gorman?

Uhh... Taveras, Molina, and Wacha were all midseason call ups. Wainwright was a September call up in 2005 before making the roster in 2006.

Gorman definitely won’t make the opening day roster, it would probably be a stretch to see him in September, even without the new roster limitations this year. Carlson could play himself into a spot, but I see the more likely scenario as sending him to Memphis for at least two weeks until one of the other guys struggle.

Ozuna wishes he would've taken the QO from St. Louis:

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/b...lifying-offer/

If Gorman sees action this year it means we are probably toast and also stupid.

Man, how am I not supposed to get some serious wood over his spring training so far? He looks like the real ****ing deal. No over hype at all.PBJ

—————————————————-

JUPITER, Fla.—There still are three more weeks of exhibition games to be played, which is a significant period of time. But if Dylan Carlson continues anything close to his current pace, the 21-year-old non-roster outfielder will be hard to keep off the Cardinals' club.

Carlton walked, singled and scored and doubled and scored in his first three plate appearances on Saturday. That extended Carlson's run to eight consecutive plate appearances in which he had reached base before he struck out in the eighth.

His double to right in the seventh keyed a three-run rally that broke a tie with the Washington Nationals and pushed the Cardinals to a 6-3 exhibition win. Carlson is seven for 14 (.500) with four walks in the first week's worth of Grapefruit League games.


Manager Mike Shildt summarized Carlson this way:

"I think you're seeing a good player. We use the word consistent a lot. Consistent with your approach. Consistent with your technique. You're seeing a guy that's able to do both and the rewards. . . eight for eight. . . that's a very impressive thing.

"But you're seeing a good player with a plan with the ability to execute. That's what you're seeing."

I've seen every one of his AB's that was broadcast on MLB TV. Watched him play defense. I know its spring training but he seems to do everything right.

Corbin was eating hitters up. He was in mid season form. Carlson was pitched outside and down the whole AB. He was able to turn on a fastball inside and get good wood on it for a hit. Saw several players drop fly balls in the sun, he played it perfectly. Got back to the wall immediately, then started battling the sun and whether it was going out. Got the ball and threw a strike to 2B to avoid the runner advancing.


Estimates are he will miss 10-12 games this year if the Cardinals want to get another year of service time. So we would get 6 years and 145 or so games this year.

<samp class="EmbedCode-container"><code class="EmbedCode-code"><twitter-widget class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" id="twitter-widget-0" style="position: static; visibility: visible; display: block; transform: rotate(0deg); max-width: 100%; width: 500px; min-width: 220px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;" data-tweet-id="1235901634363916298"></twitter-widget> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </code></samp><samp class="EmbedCode-container"><code class="EmbedCode-code"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Dylan Carlson now leads all of MLB spring training with an 1.158 OPS. He’s making it difficult on any front office voices who might want to start him in the minors.</p>&mdash; Mark Saxon (@markasaxon) <a href="https://twitter.com/markasaxon/status/1235901634363916298?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </code></samp>
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Does Carlson have like legit superstar upside?

Andrew Miller is experiencing numbness and discomfort in his pitching arm. Mo gonna Mo with relievers. At least if he misses a good chunk of the year his contract won't vest for '21 and we can be done with him.

Depends on how one defines a "superstar." I'm a little stingy with that designation. I think his upside could be a star player. One that makes the occasional All-Star team and is a solid hitter, good defender, good all round tools.

I'm not sure he projects as a +950-1050 OPS guy year in and year out that I would expect out of a superstar. That isn't a knock, obviously that is rarefied air. Something that Pujols spoiled us with for 11 years.

Especially with the new three batter rule, losing Miller for the year is the best thing that could happen to the bullpen.

WTF did Munoz do to the Cardinals or someone employed by the Cardinals? Find coke in his locker?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Yairo Munoz receives his unconditional release, no explanation Given. Stay tuned. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cardinals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#cardinals</a> <a href="https://t.co/fPpTNwWn1Z">https://t.co/fPpTNwWn1Z</a></p>&mdash; Derrick S. Goold (@dgoold) <a href="https://twitter.com/dgoold/status/1236302443056697344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

He left the team and flew back to the DR with no notice.

Jesus ****ing Christ are spring training tickets overpriced! I was thinking of taking in a Diamondbacks game as it's right down the street and they run from like $30 to $80 for a damn exhibition game.

I must have missed when they went from $10-20 a game.

So much for that idea!

that'll get you released.

I miss Opening day and baseball. Also this era.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/miklasz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@miklasz</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/BernieShow?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BernieShow</a> had an amazing opening day segment that had me feeling some kind of nostalgia. Here’s the Albert/Stan photo he was talking about. Tender is the perfect word especially the subtle hand on Albert’s leg. Is it dusty in here for anyone else? <a href="https://t.co/f07TJDswPa">pic.twitter.com/f07TJDswPa</a></p>&mdash; Adir Yolkut (@AdirYolkut) <a href="https://twitter.com/AdirYolkut/status/1243273002202083330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Stan looks like he is trying to cop a feel.

Stan the man thinking....... I use to have thighs like that. :)

I saw that Jim Edmonds is currently getting tested for COVID-19.

I'm guessing it's a probability at this point that my tickets to the London series will be refunded and the game will be cancelled at this point.

yep, London is locked down way worse than us. When they get off the mat, an American baseball game ain’t going to be top priority. Premiere league will be.

Coping DJ's post here out of the covid-19 thread


Why would Dylan Carlson get a free year of service time when he was already sent down before the virus and shutdown hit?


And the others, since the service time clock never started, why should they get their service time credit? Everyone's life is on hold, why doesn't baseball players get their life, service time, on hold too?

Eh, at least we don't have to hear drunk Dan ruin another game for awhile

If there is no season then why should anybody anywhere within MLB get anything. This will fall into an act of god category.
What is the shortest season that is doable? Is there anyway to get 80 games in? Would a lot of double headers be unfair? Every person has to suck it up a little during a time like this.

What about coke Dan?

hasnt he been clean for years?

No idea. I’m not up to speed on Dans sobriety status.

I feel ya bro.

Of course, Gibson going to kick cancers ass.


For painfully obvious reasons, the Cardinals didn’t open their home schedule Thursday against the Baltimore Orioles. The good news is that Bob Gibson would have been there if there had been no coronavirus pandemic-fueled shutdown of sports.

Diagnosed last summer with pancreatic cancer, Gibson, 84, had no guarantee he would see many, if any, more Cardinals openers. But now his chemotherapy treatments have been moved from once a week to every three weeks and he said he feels no pain.

Gibson is due for a couple of days of tests this week but for now, as he told someone recently, “The reaper came the other day — and I wouldn’t answer the door.”

When a veteran reporter called him the other day, Gibson asked, “Are you still kicking? Me, too.”

With Gibson having been slated to ride in the caravan around the track on Thursday, his scheduled chemo for this week was moved back a week.

“The problem with waiting that long is that when you start with your treatment it’s like starting all over,” the baseball Hall of Famer said. “You have a little ‘sicky feeling.’”

Yet, he allows that, overall, he feels “pretty good.

“I don’t know where I’m going with this disease but they’ll take some tests and they’ll see where it is,” he said. “But I’m not in any pain. I haven’t been in any for two months, maybe three. I’ve been doing this (rehab) for eight months now.

“I had a lot of pain in July, August and September and then in the fall it stopped hurting. But I had back aches and stomach aches. Right now, I don’t have anything aching at all. The only way I know I’m sick is that the doctor keeps telling me. I tell him, ‘Bull(feathers).’”

Gibson said he had had a feeding tube attached for several months.

“It was my idea to get rid of it,” he said. “I had it in for a month-and-a-half without using it.”

With the feeding tube in, Gibson lost 35 pounds, down to 170. But, his appetite restored, he now is closing in on 185 pounds.

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/base...0d04b831f.html

Not sure how this covid-19 situation has made him more open to free agency. I don’t see the Cardinals FO being able to let him walk. Will overpay in length and money.


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Two thoughts:<br>1. Will St Louis be able (read: willing) to afford a deal he’ll accept?<br>2. Can they afford the public outcry if they don’t? <a href="https://t.co/YgRAgcMv6q">https://t.co/YgRAgcMv6q</a></p>&mdash; Tara Wellman (@tarawellman) <a href="https://twitter.com/tarawellman/status/1255556257320185857?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Does a post covid-19 Baseball world go back to the elite haves and the rest scrambling in the have nots?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">So, the Molina rumors are 100% tied to the virus. Rumors of a possible extension were happening during ST, but financial landscape for baseball has changed dramatically. Cards are anticipating a need to cut payroll in &#39;20. Wrote about this here: <a href="https://t.co/YIBVy6YY6Q">https://t.co/YIBVy6YY6Q</a></p>&mdash; Jason Hill (@JPHill_Cards) <a href="https://twitter.com/JPHill_Cards/status/1255572984548536321?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I’m sorry, I just can’t buy the “poor midwestern team” the Cardinals seemingly always want to spin when they cheap out.

Not that I necessarily believe extending Molina is the right thing to do, either. I know he’s a legend in St. Louis, but he will be no matter what. Extending a 38 year old catcher isn’t smart no matter how big of a legend he is.

Go Cards

its going to be tough but as you said, extending a 38 year old catcher makes no sense.

I agree on the cheap ass Dewitt’s. They paid $75 million in cash for the Cardinals. Worth $2 Billion now. Telling us you can’t afford something is being disingenuous.

Bernie out

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I don’t know the ins and outs of the radio business and times are tough, but <a href="https://twitter.com/miklasz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@miklasz</a> is one of the smartest, best sports columnists I’ve ever known, the elite of the elite. I can’t believe he was let go by <a href="https://twitter.com/101espn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@101espn</a> .. just stunned. Let’s hope he’s back analyzing sports soon.</p>&mdash; Mark Saxon (@markasaxon) <a href="https://twitter.com/markasaxon/status/1256308513992630273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

So what is this stuff about only having 5 rounds in the MLB draft? What is going to happen to these players that would have been drafted in the other 35 rounds? This is some crazy stuff.

How you guys feel about going DH from now on?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pending MLB agreement reportedly includes DH in NL for both 2020 and 2021. Then comes new CBA which almost certainly will include it. So, NL is a DH league now.</p>&mdash; Tom (@Haudricourt) <a href="https://twitter.com/Haudricourt/status/1273392935007064065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pr...Jagoe0SoERh8R0

Yeah that is bullshit.

Also it seems one of the worst outcomes of no 2020 season is it would push back a year of contract service for some of the slapstick’s this team has on terrible deals.

My understanding is the contracts age a year regardless of whether games are played or not.

Excellent. Didn’t realize that.

WTF are they doing?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">One thing that “the purists” are gonna hate: <br><br>The owners have proposed being able to sell commercial advertisements on uniforms for 2020 and 2021. <br><br>Again, it’s in the proposal, which as many have reported is not a done deal.</p>&mdash; Trevor Plouffe (@trevorplouffe) <a href="https://twitter.com/trevorplouffe/status/1273417834979188736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I hate the DH, it is tantamount to having a designated free throw shooter for Shaq, but since there is no way it will be taken away from the AL, it just makes sense to make it uniform.

Pretty stoked to see a game that has become all about HRs and strikeouts add a fat guy who's not even coordinated enough to man 1b. Thank GOD we could find a home for Matt Carpenter.

This game has gotten so bad, so fast over the last 5 years that I just can't bring myself to give a shit. But/for a couple of dynasty teams I've had for 10 and 20 years respectively, I'd probably walk away from the game altogether.

Its objectively boring at this point. There's little true action. Athleticism is not rewarded on a large enough scale to be sought after anymore, nor is craft.

It's all about throwing hard and swinging harder. This style of game is undeniably efficient but it's aesthetically trash. And when you take away one more element that requires thought and execution and replace it with just another dude that swings hard....ugh.

Watched part of game 7 of the 1971 WS the other day between the Orioles and Pirates, it was startling to see the difference in what the game was and has become. The pitchers took better at bats in that game that what sometimes you see now.

Now some of what we know now is better as our statistical analysis has improved, but in general the game was quicker paced, balls were in play and amazingly there were still runs being scored.

Side note: Steve Blass pitched that game, looked like he had stuff that could still deal today...that was about a year and half removed from when he got the yips (ala Ankiel).

Can you imagine how much fun someone like Harrison Bader would be in the late 80s? Dude would've been Van Slyke but faster.

Instead he does nothing but lift, swings uphill, strikes out a ton, get pissed at people who question his breaking ball recognition and never learned how to run the bases nearly as well as his speed dictates he should.

So instead of Van Slyke he's on his way to being Laynce Nix. Fun.

Absolutely, but those late 80's teams were an example of the team approach greater than the individual parts. Speed as a weapon is diminished if those batting behind you aren't putting balls in play either. It wasn't just about stealing bases on those teams it was the runs they put together by taking at bats to advance runners. Just constantly putting pressure on teams to make plays. OPS and power numbers were nothing special on those teams with usually the singular exception of a Jack Clark, yet they scored runs.

Just make the goddamn fields bigger. It's clear as day.

Make the fields bigger and you'll take away those cheap moonshots that are mis-hit and sneak out anyway. Push CF out to about 435 and LF/RF to about 360.

You've encouraged two things: 1) Hitters who aren't power hitters will stop overswinging because suddenly 205 lb guys won't be accidentally hitting opposite field bombs anymore. They'll have to take sound approaches and actually put bat on ball. 2) Hitters will have a TON of grass to hit at. There will be doubles and triples all over the place out there because outfielders will have a ton more ground to cover.

As a result, you know what happens? ATHLETES MATTER AGAIN!!! You'll suddenly care about having fast guys in your OF who can cover those massive gaps and get themselves far enough back to not have to play at the wall and cede singles in front of them. And then once you reward athleticism again, you'll have rosters full of fast, agile guys. And the majority of fast, agile guys aren't Mookie Betts or Mike Trout. They're 15 HR threats who's body styles should have them hitting liners and looking for extra bases or steals.

The game will be so much more exciting. You can still have guys throwing 100 mph, you'll still have genuine power hitters who can still take aim at the extended fences. But you won't have every damn utility infielder in the league with a shot at 10 bombs in a season of part-time ABs while looking like they'd struggle to hit a ball hard in slow pitch softball.

You'll have fewer homers so suddenly walks are not as critical because its still gonna take effort to get that guy on 1st home. You'll have fewer guys with short stops through the hitting zone because now a flat path through the zone rewards you with a really good chance at a single, double or even triple.

The game will just be better.

Teams move fences all the time. Only the Bosox can physically not do so because of Landsdown and even that I'm not 100% positive of. They can't get to 360 in all likelihood but if you yank the damn monster seats out of there, you can probably push it back to 340 or so.

Deadening the ball is another possibility but doesn't encourage the addition of speedsters to fill in gaps in the OF.

Obviously this will never happen because ownership thinks kids and chicks dig the long ball. But the dirty little secret is that kids and chicks largely don't give a shit about baseball unless and until they're introduced to it by their dad/boyfriend. Y'know, the crusty old 'traditionalists' like me.

You lose people like me and you can forget about the kids and women you're trying to pull in around the peripherals. And for baseballs owners, it's high time they realize that loss is closer than they think.

I am with you all. I am not a fan of the DH. It is what it is though. MLB much like the NFL realizes that most fans want to see scoring not defense and strategy. They are never going to move the fences out making for less home runs.

yeah, DJ makes a good case for it but He is on drugs if he thinks MLB will ever make it harder to hit home runs.

What strategy? I see NL fans talk about this all the time, but it just doesn't exist anymore. I always found the "strategy" argument to be overrated, and modern evolution of baseball has made it even more so.

My points:

1) The decisions on whether to let the pitcher hit should ALWAYS have been straightforward and an easy call 90 percent of the time. It isn't that difficult unless you're a stone-cold moron like Mike Matheny. Same thing with the double switch. If you have a working understanding of baseball, the calls weren't hard.

2) Teams realizing you shouldn't let 90 percent of SP face a lineup the 3rd time through has made the decision even easier/more automatic.

3) Pitchers have become so bad at hitting, watching them hit is like watching an athlete from another sport try to hit. It used to be that pitchers, on average, could approximate around 60 percent of the value of a regular everyday player. Not that bad. It's down to 35-40 percent.

4) Associated with teams not letting SP go into the 3rd time through the lineup, SP just don't go as deep as they used to go. If they're getting pulled after the 5th or 6th anyway, the "strategy" of the decision is taken away.

5) For all the "strategy" that comes around letting the pitcher hit in the 5th or 6th inning, you have the 2nd, 3rd, 4th... when pitchers kill lots of rallies and also take the bat out of the 8th place hitter's hand, as well.

6) The specialization of the bullpen and extreme focus on power arms and power stuff has made pinch hitting even more challenging. PH used to be able to come in and give a quality at-bat and maybe take advantage of a tiring SP. Now, they're coming in to face a flamethrower (and possibly a flamethrower who comes in specifically to have a hand-on-hand matchup advantage, though some ability to do this will be restricted by the 3-batter minimum).

Individual teams in small markets should try this, the Royals among them.

Move the fences back out. Build your team around speed, pitching, and defense. Have a significant home park advantage, while providing an entertaining product that's fun to watch and reliant on a less sought-after type of player.

You'll take lumps on the road, of course, if you have a team really keyed and geared this way. But athletic players who hit line drives can adapt a lot better to playing in smaller parks than unathletic teams who rely on HR can adapt to playing in a cavernous field.

I think the extreme overshifting is also an issue. It further decreases the value of the speedy contact hitter because teams can position their entire IF to minimize the value of that hitter unless they have superb bat control. I don't like the idea of taking away the shift, but placing some sort of limit on it would make the game more exciting and strategic, too.

If I have a limited number of shifts to call, I'm probably not going to use one of them to cover the 5-hole on a RH contact hitter, or cover the 3.5 hold on every LH hitter.

The MLB doesn't grasp in today's world their game is the dinosaur, young people don't care about it.

The problem is that I'm a guy who models this team after the 85-87, which were the apex of this approach.

Excellent defense, fast runners....and Jack Clark.

You needed Jack Clark for that team to work (and that's why it didn't anymore after they foolishly let him walk).

You've got Ozzie, Pendleton, Coleman and Herr getting on base at around a .370 combined clip around him and you have him in the middle providing a credible power threat to put up the occasional crooked number you need.

Now in a 'lopsided' environment where teams aren't working with similar fields, you're going to struggle a LOT to get that big bat to play with you. So you can keep trying to draft them, but power hitters are probably the biggest boom/bust propositions that exist in the draft apart from HS pitchers.

It's gonna be pretty tough to maintain a viable pipeline of legitimate 4 hitters in the system.

Tommy Herr driving in 110 runs w/ single digit homers just doesn't happen often so you need someone that will occasionally make that 3 run swing happen with one swing and without that, you're gonna lose a lot of game 4-2.

But it's definitely what won the Royals a 'ship. I'm really not sure why more teams aren't trying to zag a bit. Wouldn't speed/defense be the new market inefficiency? Doesn't seem Beane is working those margins much so maybe I'm overstating it's potential.

But again, for me it's not about trying to locate the most efficient path to wins. I recognize that it probably isn't. For me it's more about MLB mandating that teams will try to find the most efficient ways to win within the context of a now entertaining game. That's why I've pushed the 'league mandate'. Keep everyone on the same playing field.

Exactly what I was getting at there hasn't been strategy in the game in a long time.

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Yeah - my answer saying is "well the game sucks now anyway so why not add the DH" is "hey, let's not play the slice here and instead try making the game NOT suck..."

Make the game something more than strikeouts, walks and HRs, and then one of two things happen - the difference is more stark when you have the pitchers hitting OR it isn't but the game is now entertaining enough that I wouldn't mind the addition of the DH to the NL.

But the game is so ****ing awful right now that taking away yet another small little element that makes it less stale just makes it worse. No, a pitcher shouldn't end up facing a lineup 3 times unless he's damn good. But sometimes he's gonna be up 1st in the order next time so you can either try to get him through that inning to PH for him the next inning and start with a clean pitcher to preserve your bullpen or 2, double-switch.

The 2 'no shit' strategic moves Duncan dismisses are STILL considerations and decisions that have to be made. And it doesn't happen every game, no, but it does happen quite often - enough to make a notable difference.

You have more bunts and attempts to snag an extra base here and there when you know your pitcher is coming up. Is it efficient? No - but it's still an added element. It's something more than "just add another guy to the lineup that hunts for walks and homers while accepting strikeouts..."

It's something ELSE and I just don't understand why AL fans think it's so damn important that people who prefer NL style of baseball accept that crap. You have your thing - you don't watch our thing anyway. Why must our vision dovetail with yours? Especially when AL fans are no more likely to like this plodding shit version of the game this has developed into.

It's a bizarre sort of tribalism. Unless you're an AL fan that likes the way the game is played now vs. the way it was played a quarter century ago, I don't see how you can make a good faith argument in favor of a DH. It's just another crank of the knob towards that style of play.

In todays game the "Jack Clark" type in the middle of the speedsters would just be pitched around. Negating a key piece of the strategy. As DJ noted, it fell apart without a "Jack Clark" to put up crooked numbers.

Why did he wait till almost July?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">1. Sorry to hear about Cardinals RH reliever John Brebbia, who underwent TJ surgery (via Mozeliak.) Brebbia was an important bullpen piece in ‘19. Ranked 8th among NL relievers in IP; was 7th with 1.3 fWAR. Strikeout punch vs. RHB and LHB. Cut down on HR allowed.</p>&mdash; Bernie Miklasz (@miklasz) <a href="https://twitter.com/miklasz/status/1275924738955784192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It's a season of who gives a **** anyway. Sports are ruined this year

He apparently had the TJ surgery early June and it’s just now being reported.

He gave up fewer homers with fewer ground balls, more walks, and without lowering his hard contact percentage. Last year was most likely an aberration.