Join columnist Jeff Gordon for his live STL sports chat at 1 p.m. Friday
Bring your Cards, Blues, Mizzou, SLU and MLS questions and comments, and talk to columnist Jeff Gordon in his weekly live chat.
3rd & 7 37yd
3rd & 7 37yd
B
S
O
close
close

-





-
-
-
I don’t think the average Cardinal fan will pan a move that fails at the deadline as much as they will another year of stagnation. Contending teams always add at the deadline. If they can do it year over year than why should we annually accept Mo’s explanation of “we thought we were close”? Maybe DeWitt needs to find a deadline specialist who can get it there
-
No, fans will whine incessantly if the Cardinals trade a good long-term asset for near-term help that doesn't really move the needle. As for this team, where is the stagnation? There has been a wholesale influx of productive talent on the fly. How many teams have made this many upgrades during the course of this season?
-
Jeff, there was a piece in The Athletic where it talked about agents and GM's warning their Russian players about returning to Russia in the off season. The thought was Putin could put the cabosh on letting them return. Any idea on where our Russian players are staying for the summer?
-
-
There's this Tortorella troll on your chat right? To me Colombus players gave up on him in his last year there. They refused to play for him in a way. So the Flyers think they need a hard guy? I think Cliff Fletcher is next to go because Tortorella should not have been hired again. Why the heck was he hired again? Stupid GM's.
-
-
Here’s an idea for DeWitt instead of making moves at the deadline: install one of those cash/blowing booths on the centerfield grass. At home games, there are 28 after trade deadline, let one fan go in there between innings with a shot at thousand dollars. Worst case scenario you lose $250k BUT you can entertain fans as you prepare them for another post-season five-and-dive.
-
Fortunately the Cardinals didn't wait until the trade deadline to make several moves to upgrade the team. Subbing out the Ghost of Paul DeJong with Brendan Donovan was a team changer. So was the promotion of Juan Yepez. That explains why the team didn't suffer the June swoon that angry chatters predicted.It's too early to assess whether the pitching staff additions (Zack Thompson, Junior Fernandez, John Oviedo, Matthew Liberatore) will offer more than some stopgap support. But either way, I'd expect the Cardinals to add some veteran pitching before the deadline, just as they last year to set up their epic late push.
-
-
Fans dismissed the value of these prospects before the season. They demanded that Cardinals block them by signing free-agents to long-term deals instead. Right now those fans look stupid. We'll know more about these guys in a few years, just as we learned that Tommy Edman and Dylan Carlson can really play.
-
-
I've always considered it wasteful for team to spend a draft pick to get negotiating rights to an impending free agent. Just tell the agent not to agree to anything before talking to you. It has to be an extraordinary case, IMO, like a superstar with a more challenging contract to resolve, to do that. Husso, to me, is not such an extraordinary case.
-
-
-
-
-
-
Who knows if he will be able pitch at a high level again? I imagine the Cardinals will just let him go after the season and Alex will have to try his comeback somewhere else. What a shame. Like I wrote about this week, you never know which course a pitching will take.
-
-
-
-
That's the sort of trade package that could make sense. Joshua Baez would be the one tough guy to trade there, since he is a high-ceiling player so early in his adjustment to the pro game. There's a chance, anyway, that he could be special. But what is the percentage on that? And how many years will pass before anybody can hazard a guess on that?
-
-
-
-
Tyler O'Neill did modify his training to be more baseball-friendly, but his injury history is what it is. Fans keep proposing various trade packages including him, but it's hard to trade a player who can't stay on the field. Right now he is a "sell low" case unless there is a team willing to completely overlook what happened this season.
-
Gordo, I have a request: Could you or someone else at the PD please write an in-depth piece on what makes John Mozeliak tick? He’s hard to understand or appreciate, even after all these years, due in part to his ambiguous statements and opaque operating style. I think Cardinal nation (and perhaps Mo’s image) could benefit from deep and honest insight into the team’s POBO. Thanks for considering. I appreciate your work.
-
Mozeliak style is his style. What's interesting is that Oliver Marmol has a much different style. He offers direct responses to all questions and he makes it very clear why he did something and how he assesses a player's performance. There is no hedging with him, no holding back.
-
-
-
-
-
Gordo - to the earlier point on Nootbaar, Oli has to stop yanking Yepez once they get a lead after the 5th inning for defensive reasons. Yes, Yepez can be an adventure in the OF but his defense is far better than Nootbaar's bat. It has come back to haunt them on more than one occasion this past week.
-
Since the Cardinals are currently well short of my target of six high-leverage relievers -- that standard any contender should meet in today's game -- I agree. The Brewers have a lockdown bullpen and they can make defensive subs. This bullpen is nowhere near lockdown. So, yeah, keep that bat in the lineup.
-
ok, so let's hypothetically say Putin refuses to let any Russian hockey players return to Canada or the US. Those players will be fined by their teams for not reporting, although some teams may waive that. Let's say the Blues lose Buch, Vladdy and Babs and have to find other players to replace them. How would that work with the salary cap? Would the league temporarily suspend their contracts?
-
-
Jeff it’s not my intention to pile on Jack Flaherty when he is down but I think I am getting Jack Flaherty fatigue. Not because of his social media posts; it’s still America after all, nor because of his injuries which are unfortunate but not his fault. But because I believe he will pitch in 5 or 6 games this year and then demand a huge pay raise. I believe he is biding his time to leave flyover country and head west. I hope I am wrong because I genuinely believed he could have been the best Cardinals pitcher since #45. How long do you think he will remain a Cardinal? Thanks and I look forward to your comment.
-
-
Here's my concern, Gordo, this past winter you could argue that the only real FA tasks Mo faced were deciding on pursuing a SS, signing a SP, and adding a couple bullpen pieces, and he had a war chest (by Cardinal standards) to do it. It wasn't a complicated, razor thin budget exercise and he whiffed across the board. Even Pujols is very little value add beyond fan appreciation. Aside from Mikolas' first deal and maybe KK, who was the last FA Mo signed that performed to their contract? You'll need to flip past 2016 to find the answer.
-
The Cardinals consider signing pricey free agent the absolute last resort. In reality, this team seldom shops for such a player. That is not the business model. You can judge him on that model, but Bill DeWitt Jr. judges his baseball operation on its player development success or failure. He made that points most clearly when he turned the page on Walt Jocketty, whose strength was trade-making, not player development.
-
-
-
Fans may have looked stupid "wanting" to block those players but tell us which fan signed the Dickerson contract? Was it a season ticket holder? Or was it the equally skeptical FO who didn't totally believe in Yepez or Donovan or was hedging on Gorman's timeline? We all didn't know... except it isn't fans paid job to know.