2018 STL Cardinals Thread

[BigRedChief]

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




Opening Day Roster

Spoiler!

St. Louis has opted to carry 12 position players and 13 pitchers to begin the new season, with a four-man bench and eight-man bullpen.

Outfielders:
Dexter Fowler
Tommy Pham
Marcell Ozuna

Infielders:
Matt Carpenter
Paul DeJong
Kolten Wong

Catchers:
Yadier Molina
Francisco Pena

Utility:
Jose Martinez
Greg Garcia
Yairo Munoz
Jedd Gyrko

Starters:
Carlos Martinez
Michael Wacha
Luke Weaver
Miles Mikolas
Jack Flaherty

Relievers:
Dominic Leone
Tyler Lyons
Bud Norris
Brett Cecil
Sam Tuivailala
Matt Bowman
Jordan Hicks
Mike Mayers

On the DL:
Adam Wainwright
Luke Gregerson

[O.city]

He’s gonna end up in New York right?


If the cards aren’t interested which I’m guessing they aren’t, I wish they’d check in with puig

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by O.city

He’s gonna end up in New York right?


If the cards aren’t interested which I’m guessing they aren’t, I wish they’d check in with puig

If anyone is going to the Yankees it's going to be Machado. If its Machado, Harper probably ends up in Philly. Other than Philly the only other player I see for Harper are the Dodgers with the Nationals, Cubs, and Cardinals seemingly taking themselves out.

Theres been rumblings of the White Sox being really interested but I cant imagine he would want to play there unless their offer was off the charts.

[O.city]

I’d guess it’s the Phillies but that’s kinda weird. I mean, I get they’re gonna pay the most but who knows

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by O.city

I’d guess it’s the Phillies but that’s kinda weird. I mean, I get they’re gonna pay the most but who knows

Why is it weird?

They now have a very good 1/2 hitter in Segura to pair with Hernandez, if they choose not to trade him. They moved Hoskins to first by dumping Santana in the deal which opens up a spot in the OF. Even with Harper they are probably still a player for someone like Pollock or Brantley. And if they don't sign a pitcher they have been linked to talks with the Giants for Bumgarner.

They already won 80 games with a pretty bad team overall so they could very quickly become legit.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by jd1020

That wouldn't happen simply because Schwarber doesn't move enough money.

The 3rd tier tax penalty that affects draft position is $246M. From that last I read the Cubs are projected to be around $220 as it stands now. Schwarber only clears roughly $3M, less than Treinen will get and maybe just a little bit more than Bradley will get. Adding Harper into that payroll wouldn't be in the cards.

They have a ton of money coming off the books next year so they could get creative with the first year and make it work but from all indications they dont seem too interested in making it work.

Luxury tax calculations are based on AAV. So they can't really 'get creative' unless it's a flat-out 1 year, low AAV deal with a handshake agreement to blow it up the following season. Good luck getting Boras to agree to that.

I guess I just don't understand why they were so eager to pick up Hamels' option here when there are some 'bad contract' pitchers they might have been able to make a move on. Why not send out Heyward for Greinke? There has to be a path towards getting that done, right? Not a simple 1-1 but surely something.

Eh, whatev. He's going to Philly. We'll !@#$ this up when all other appearances suggest we should absolutely be in the running on this thing.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Luxury tax calculations are based on AAV. So they can't really 'get creative' unless it's a flat-out 1 year, low AAV deal with a handshake agreement to blow it up the following season. Good luck getting Boras to agree to that.

I guess I just don't understand why they were so eager to pick up Hamels' option here when there are some 'bad contract' pitchers they might have been able to make a move on. Why not send out Heyward for Greinke? There has to be a path towards getting that done, right? Not a simple 1-1 but surely something.

Eh, whatev. He's going to Philly. We'll !@#$ this up when all other appearances suggest we should absolutely be in the running on this thing.

Chance mo is just slow playi........****

It would make sense to use all this powder they’ve kept dry but I’d imagine they kept it dry so the Dewitt’s could deposit it

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Luxury tax calculations are based on AAV. So they can't really 'get creative' unless it's a flat-out 1 year, low AAV deal with a handshake agreement to blow it up the following season. Good luck getting Boras to agree to that.

I guess I just don't understand why they were so eager to pick up Hamels' option here when there are some 'bad contract' pitchers they might have been able to make a move on. Why not send out Heyward for Greinke? There has to be a path towards getting that done, right? Not a simple 1-1 but surely something.

Eh, whatev. He's going to Philly. We'll !@#$ this up when all other appearances suggest we should absolutely be in the running on this thing.

I have no clue why they picked up Hamels' $20M. I figure they would have re-signed him had they declined and they already offset the extra salary by trading Smyly's $7M to the Rangers so I have to imagine Hamels option came up in those discussions. Pay $6M and get nothing or pay $7M and get something in return and there's still a PTBNL going in each direction that hasn't been settled yet.

[VAChief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Hey - he admits they're still looking for a left-handed bat off the bench.

I mean obviously they won't put Harper on the bench, but if they can get him to accept that $4-5 million/season for 2 seasons that they've allocated to the reserve role, they can put Fowler on the bench and they're golden.

They're still in it, guys!

Yep, they are eating Fowler’s money no matter what. If you have a shot at Harper you take it. It then REALLY makes the Goldy trade a steal because now you can negotiate an extension from a place of strength not desperation. It also undoubtedly makes you more attractive for him to stay.

[VAChief]

As long as we are dreaming...

Carp
Harper
Goldy
Ozuna
Molina
DeJong
Bader
Wong

Bench Bats

Fowler
ONeill
Gyorko
Back up catcher

[O.city]

Theoretically I’d put Ozuna in the 2 hole, Harper in the 3 and goldy at 4

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Mo is a sack of donkeycrap. Stop dreaming...

[VAChief]

Originally Posted by O.city

Theoretically I’d put Ozuna in the 2 hole, Harper in the 3 and goldy at 4

You would have lots of options for that first four for sure. I would definitely start with Harper at 2 or 3.

If Ozuna is healthy and bounces back at least offensively that would be a line up that could really do some damage.

[VAChief]

Originally Posted by O.city

Chance mo is just slow playi........****

It would make sense to use all this powder they’ve kept dry but I’d imagine they kept it dry so the Dewitt’s could deposit it

https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2018/12...ouis-cardinals

Nice article laying out all the reasons to go all in with Harper too.

Food for thought, we pay Goldy roughly the same for one year as we paid Greg Xxxing Holland!

In today’s dollars we paid McGwire 37m

We have plenty of flexibility to sign Harper. They are going to spend more money, the question is how wisely. Relief pitchers rarely pan out for big dollars, you are almost always paying for past history where often they were worked to death. You can dumpster dive for guys like Norris to fill in set up roles.

[bdj23]

Originally Posted by VAChief

https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2018/12...ouis-cardinals

Nice article laying out all the reasons to go all in with Harper too.

Too risky

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by BDj23

Fowler needs to be released. Period

your out the $50 million no matter what. See if you can get a AA prospect for him if you pay the $50 million for his salary. They got a one time payment of $50 million from MLB last season for the sale of software. Use it to remove this problem.