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.
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Had there not been a lockout, the Cardinals would have likely known that both Jack Flaherty and Alex Reyes were coming to spring training with bad shoulders. As it was, they could not work with their players until the lockout ended. So that was a factor for the first half of free agency anyway.My complaints with the organization this winter were:1) Due to earlier trades, there wasn't much of a safety net at starting pitcher. There was Zack Thompson and Matthew Liberatore and both struggled at Triple-A last season and Johan Oviedo got abused in the majors last year. All three have been OK so far this season and the void behind them is being filled by Gordon Graceffo and Michael McGreevy. But there is still work to do to rebuild the organizational depth, which Randy Flores and Co. will address in the next draft.2) The Cardinals cut corners on the bullpen. There was no reason to go cheap on relievers and they did. As I noted all winter, six high-leverage relievers should be the goal every year. That is how the game is played now. The Cardinals came into the season with three.
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I believe the Cardinals were willing to temporarily add Capel to the 40-man roster instead of Burleson because the intention is to take right back off the 40-man roster, as they did with Kramer Robertson earlier this season while leaving Nolan Gorman off the roster. They lost Robertson to waivers when they did that, but they shrugged. Such is the life of an organizational soldier.The Cardinals are trying not to use a 40-man roster spot on Burleson for the time being.
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The Bruins want to hold off on the rebuild for a year. Bring back Patrice Bergeron, entice David Krejci back from Europe and hope that David Pasternak re-signs. They want Montgomery to reverse the team's terrible track record of developing young players. If they don't reverse that trend, they could fall off the cliff.
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Tarasenko and Kyrou (salary exchange) for Matthew Tkachuk. Throw in a draft pick if needed. Kyrou, while an "all-star" showed in the playoffs he's a cream-puff. Tarasenko regained value this last year, but is aging. Would have loved to have MT during the playoffs this year.
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Jeff maybe teams need to take a new approach to how pitching should work. I guess that would involve : 2 guys go 3 innings each a guy finishes the last 2 . It could mean they pitch 3 to 4 days a week like that. I wonder if that was the intent of what the front office called their pitching lab ? I do believe a new way of thinking about pitching would reduce injuries.
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I would need to see that to believe it. The game has moved in that direction to a degree with a few teams using an "opener" instead of a starter and more teams willing to create "bullpen games" instead of leaning on a starter. This is why I say the Cardinals have been remiss in not building more high-end bullpen depth.
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Well, that could happen. Jordan Walker is a great athlete and left field seems to be his future home. Also, if Alec Burleson survives the trade deadline he will be due major league at bats. The combination of Tyler O'Neill getting into his bigger earning years, his injury history and the team's outfield depth paint a clear picture of what could happen.
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On the subject of Jack Flaherty, I believe the Cards are in a no win situation with him. Meaning when he does become a free agent, unless the Cards meet his demands, I agree he will pitch for the Dodgers. What I am getting at, if in 2023 he is pitching good enough to be traded, why would a team take him know that he is going to try and pitch in LA and then why would LA even trade with the Cards knowing they can get him in free agency?
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If Flaherty is pitching good enough to be traded in 2023, the Cardinals should keep him and pitch. Fans always beg the Cardinals to trade for rental help. In this case, Flaherty could be viewed as a rental for the Cardinals. If he re-signed, great, if not, he helped through the end of the season.
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Mr. Gordon:
There is a lengthy list of relievers in the past decade who the Cardinals burnt out with overuse. Oliver Marmol has taken an extra-cautious approach with certain arms this year - Helsley, Gallegos, and Cabrera In particular. Is this an organizational decision? Something from the top? Or simply Oli choosing to be careful to make sure these arms have some life left in them in September?
Also, despite Wednesday's late inning loss, Helsley sure looks like he belongs on the All-Star team, no? -
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I’m curious about your thought process. You are comfortable calling fans stupid for wanting to sign free agents that would block the young players. It’s a fair point and I wouldn’t even argue against you. I would say the same about the whining comments, but you don’t apply the same standards to the Cardinals front office/ownership. Look at the teams free agent signings. When was the last time they made a good free agent signing? Where is your comment calling them stupid for their bullpen signings? I have no problem with you calling out the fans, but I’m confused as to why you are so clearly afraid of the team?
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There is nothing confusing here.. The Cardinals do not consider signing pricey free agents to be central to their business plan. They have their operating model and it has worked quite well over the years. You can hate it all you want, but their model is the model. I don't rip the model because it has made this team the most consistently successful franchise outside the giant markets. The Cardinals want to build assets through player development and either use those assets on the field or trade those assets for proven help. Free agency is the third piece, typically used to fill a gap (ala Steven Matz) rather than make a splashy team-altering move,
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BoBo I remember a PD writer going Gaga over Gorman and Gorman was why Mo shouldn't sign Schwarber. He even was dismissive of the idea that Donovan deserved a shot before Gorman. Who looks stupid now?
PS your chats are the only ones I read at this point because the others drag on. -
Nolan Gorman has way more upside than Brendan Donovan. Nolan could be major offensive force. Donovan has been a revelation as a super-utility player -- love the on-base skills -- but there is no power there. It will be interesting to see where his performance level settles in the big leagues. At the very least he is a high-energy, super-useful guy who actually hits to all field. Can he sustain the offensive side to 500 to 600 plate appearances a year?
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Contending teams don't like giving up proven talent to get proven talent during the season. They want to add proven talent by moving assets not currently on the team. As the Dodgers proved, you can win with sheer numbers of quality players. Teams will occasionally trade a proven player from a surplus for proven player to fill a need, especially in the offseason in conjunction with free agency as they can reset their roster.
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Here's what I hear you saying, JG, "Mo screwed up free agency but look at the prospects that saved him." And that's fine, except that one doesn't excuse another. Mo has landed two cornerstone players via trade, maybe lost two potential cornerstone players too, but you can't win them all. The player development is clearly ticking up quickly. But he has been abysmal in free agency for over a half decade. Maybe he is spread too thin? Maybe someone else needs to focus on signing players because that part of the Cardinal/DeWitt model is broken.
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Again, that free agency part of the business model is secondary at best. It was especially so this year when there was a full team returning and a stack of prospects ready to step in. But clearly the team needed to spend more on relievers and target the right guys for moderate deals.