2019 St. Louis Cardinals

#3      
Jaime Garcia to retire. I liked him but he never seemed to get over the top.

Jaime Garcia is calling it a career. The 32-year-old veteran left-hander, who pitched parts of 10 big league seasons, announced Wednesday that he plans to retire, according to MLB.com's Jon Paul Morosi.

Link
 
#4      

the national

the Front Range
Jaime Garcia to retire. I liked him but he never seemed to get over the top.

Link

He was serviceable but never really hit his potential. I wish he could have put it altogether. His playoff game against the Cubs will always be burned in my memory, sadly.
 
#5      
Ozuna agrees to $12.25 million deal for 2019
The Cardinals and their three arbitration-eligible players — left fielder Marcell Ozuna, starting pitcher Michael Wacha and reliever Dominic Leone — reached agreement Friday on contracts for the 2019 season, with Ozuna topping the list at $12.25 million, up from his $9 million salary of 2018.

Wacha $6.3 mil
Leone $1.26
 
#6      
So I love what the Cardinals have done so far. Goldy at first and Carp at third should help the defense and adds a better hitter day in and out.

Have the Cards done enough to get to 94 wins? I still don’t think we have enough middle of the order power especially if Carp and Goldy hit 1&2. I think Ozuna will be healthy and better. I still think that potentially leaves us 1 short. Potentially because DeJong will be asked to fill that role. In my mind, that’s a toss up. Short of that, you drop Goldy down to 3 and put someone else at 2. Yadi comes to mind but speed is an issue.

The elephant in the room is RF and Dexter Fowler. I just don’t see a comeback as likely. Even coming 1/2 way back doesn’t do much for me.

I also don’t see Waino helping us get to 94. I see him more boom or bust each start rather than reliable 6 innings every time out. A bust hurts you on his day and likely the next. I’ve loved Waino but think he’s on fumes. Hope I’m wrong.

In my mind, we are a sitting better than a year ago in the wild card race but not good enough to top the division. Wild card competition heating up with the Phillies and Mets trying to get better, the Nats holding their ground and the braves defending in the east.
 
#7      
I left out Miller. Great pickup for high leverage situations. I look forward to watching him pitch to Rizzo, Bryant and Yelich and others.
 
#8      

Illwinsagain

Cary, IL
So I love what the Cardinals have done so far. Goldy at first and Carp at third should help the defense and adds a better hitter day in and out.

Have the Cards done enough to get to 94 wins? I still don’t think we have enough middle of the order power especially if Carp and Goldy hit 1&2. I think Ozuna will be healthy and better. I still think that potentially leaves us 1 short. Potentially because DeJong will be asked to fill that role. In my mind, that’s a toss up. Short of that, you drop Goldy down to 3 and put someone else at 2. Yadi comes to mind but speed is an issue.

The elephant in the room is RF and Dexter Fowler. I just don’t see a comeback as likely. Even coming 1/2 way back doesn’t do much for me.

I also don’t see Waino helping us get to 94. I see him more boom or bust each start rather than reliable 6 innings every time out. A bust hurts you on his day and likely the next. I’ve loved Waino but think he’s on fumes. Hope I’m wrong.

In my mind, we are a sitting better than a year ago in the wild card race but not good enough to top the division. Wild card competition heating up with the Phillies and Mets trying to get better, the Nats holding their ground and the braves defending in the east.

I am hopeful that Fowler can get back to career norm .360 OBP, and put him in the 2 spot. Not worried about his power, just get on base. Goldy at 3, hopefully, Ozuna bounces back in the 4 spot. Batting ahead of Goldy and Ozuna should be a premier spot to help Fowler see good pitches. One downside, it would be lefties batting 1&2. I would like O'neil hitting lefties, if on the 25. If not, Martinez. Again, in the 2 hole. It would be fun, if Bader could improve his OBP and bat 2, moving RF to 6/7 in the order. Someone has to take advantage of batting 2, I really hope they do not put Goldy there. I really want him providing protection for a decent fastball hitter (I know there are stats showing that there is no such thing as protection in a line-up, I choose not to believe them).

Pitching staff should be a strength. Starters just need to be relatively healthy, I expect Reyes to take over for Waino in May or June. Bullpen always a crapshoot. Years that it should have been a strength, it blows up. Years that you are worried, an ex-catcher named Mott shows up. There are plenty of arms that can do the job, only question, which ones will be consistent.

Lastly, defense should be better. The right side of the infield is elite. The left side is workable. Outfield should be solid/good, and Yadi is Yadi.
 
#9      
You're best hitter should hit 2nd, that's what the numbers say. And Shildt actually looks at the numbers, so I assume he'll follow the book:

Best hitter hits 2nd, next best hitter hits 4th, highest OBP next hits 1st, next best 5th, then 3rd, then 6-9. And there's a Cardinal specific caveat of "Matt Carpenter has to lead off for some reason". So it should probably go:

1) Carpenter
2) Goldschmidt
3) Jose Martinez
4) Ozuna
5) Paul Dejong
6) Molina
7) Wong
8) Bader
9) Pitcher

If for some reason Fowler is still playing over Jose (he shouldn't, if they're both actually on the team), then swap Molina to 3rd and Fowler to 6th.

That's actually a very good lineup, with elite defense in CF & 2nd, plus defense everywhere but 3rd (carpenter is a tick below avg. there) and RF (Martinez is bad, but so is Fowler and Martinez can actually hit). That's a 90 win team, if the pitching can stay healthy.

It would look unbeatable with Harper in there though...
 
#10      
So I love what the Cardinals have done so far. Goldy at first and Carp at third should help the defense and adds a better hitter day in and out.

Have the Cards done enough to get to 94 wins? I still don’t think we have enough middle of the order power especially if Carp and Goldy hit 1&2. I think Ozuna will be healthy and better. I still think that potentially leaves us 1 short. Potentially because DeJong will be asked to fill that role. In my mind, that’s a toss up. Short of that, you drop Goldy down to 3 and put someone else at 2. Yadi comes to mind but speed is an issue.

The elephant in the room is RF and Dexter Fowler. I just don’t see a comeback as likely. Even coming 1/2 way back doesn’t do much for me.

I also don’t see Waino helping us get to 94. I see him more boom or bust each start rather than reliable 6 innings every time out. A bust hurts you on his day and likely the next. I’ve loved Waino but think he’s on fumes. Hope I’m wrong.

In my mind, we are a sitting better than a year ago in the wild card race but not good enough to top the division. Wild card competition heating up with the Phillies and Mets trying to get better, the Nats holding their ground and the braves defending in the east.

Very good summary hermie.

I have to wonder if Martinez will end up in the AL. It would be good for his career. If so it will most likely be for prospects. I don't see StL getting enough for him with players off a 25 man roster. Wong has to hit like it's 2017 not 2016 or 2018. The same for DeJong. No matter how good or poor Fowler plays the only way to move him would be a fire sale like it was October 8, 1871 when both Chicago and Peshtigo, WI burnt.

In order to really be competitive the wunderkind pitching staff (both starters and BP.) has to take a step forward. If they pitch like young inexperienced kids it doesn't matter how good the hitters are.
 
#11      

Ryllini

Lombard
Very good summary hermie.

I have to wonder if Martinez will end up in the AL. It would be good for his career. If so it will most likely be for prospects. I don't see StL getting enough for him with players off a 25 man roster. Wong has to hit like it's 2017 not 2016 or 2018. The same for DeJong. No matter how good or poor Fowler plays the only way to move him would be a fire sale like it was October 8, 1871 when both Chicago and Peshtigo, WI burnt.

In order to really be competitive the wunderkind pitching staff (both starters and BP.) has to take a step forward. If they pitch like young inexperienced kids it doesn't matter how good the hitters are.

Martinez is a tough move even to the AL. No team is going to give up many prospects for a young player who may be the worst defender at any position and only let him DH. He has a nice bat, but it isn’t that great. He isn’t a Big Papi.
 
#12      
Martinez is a tough move even to the AL. No team is going to give up many prospects for a young player who may be the worst defender at any position and only let him DH. He has a nice bat, but it isn’t that great. He isn’t a Big Papi.
agreed. Just saying they won't be able to trade him for a position player because they don't need yet another bench player and the AL team won't give up a starting position player for him so it would have to be a prospect of some kind. Thus he stays where he is.
 
#13      
Martinez is a tough move even to the AL. No team is going to give up many prospects for a young player who may be the worst defender at any position and only let him DH. He has a nice bat, but it isn’t that great. He isn’t a Big Papi.

He's not that young either. He turns 31 in July.
 
#17      
#18      
Jose Martinez

The Cardinals were not shy about shopping Martinez. That dates back to at least the last trade deadline, and it really revved up after the season, reaching a fever pitch at the winter meetings. Martinez, knowing he could be moved, signed up to serve as a designated hitter in a Venezuelan winter league to stay sharp. He read the front office’s quotes along with the signs.

“Other teams looked at it as a guy who was not a fit for us, and that maybe they could get him on the cheap,” general manager Michael Girsch explained. “When we didn’t find something that made sense for us, we are perfectly happy having Jose.”

Since the day of his first major league hit, he ranks first in average (.309) among Cardinals who have totaled more than 500 plate appearances. He also ranks third in on-base percentage (.327) and third in slugging percentage (.478).
During that time, he slots third among Cardinals in hits (254), fifth in doubles (44), sixth in home runs (31) and fourth in RBIs (130).
No Cardinal with more than 125 plate appearances since Martinez’s debut has a better OPS against lefthanded pitching than Martinez’s .968.

I have no complaints with what Jose has done in the batter's box but if they could swing a quality prospect for him they would have to consider making a move.
 
#19      
They can tell me otherwise all they want, but Dejong is out of position and every good team in the post season has a guy at SS
who has range. Dejong get the balls hit within two steps of him, that's it. You ask your pitchers to pitch to contact and you cant
pick it up and throw it to a base with him, Carpenter at third and at least two of the outfielders. We still have Gyorko, Martinez and
Munoz who cant play defense. Goldschmidt makes us a little better defensively, but other than that, this is the same team who
was the MLB last in errors and team defense last year.
 
#20      

the national

the Front Range
They can tell me otherwise all they want, but Dejong is out of position and every good team in the post season has a guy at SS
who has range. Dejong get the balls hit within two steps of him, that's it. You ask your pitchers to pitch to contact and you cant
pick it up and throw it to a base with him, Carpenter at third and at least two of the outfielders. We still have Gyorko, Martinez and
Munoz who cant play defense. Goldschmidt makes us a little better defensively, but other than that, this is the same team who
was the MLB last in errors and team defense last year.
I do think the defense was trending in the right direction by the end of the season. It will continue to be a concern for sure.
 
#21      

eMitch

Quincy, IL
They can tell me otherwise all they want, but Dejong is out of position and every good team in the post season has a guy at SS
who has range. Dejong get the balls hit within two steps of him, that's it. You ask your pitchers to pitch to contact and you cant
pick it up and throw it to a base with him, Carpenter at third and at least two of the outfielders. We still have Gyorko, Martinez and
Munoz who cant play defense. Goldschmidt makes us a little better defensively, but other than that, this is the same team who
was the MLB last in errors and team defense last year.

Disagree on DeJong. I tried looking up some stats and the defensive range ranking (RngR) had him ranked 4th in MLB. UZR/150 he was 4th and his overall defensive rating was 5th. I was quite impressed with his range on more than a few occasions. I did see a 2018 preview article that projected him to be -6 in defensive runs saved, but he ended up +14.

And to say Goldschmidt is a "little" better? I think he's a tremendous upgrade. Carpenter is terrible at first, so is Martinez. We had a big upgrade bringing Matt Adams back. We're going from probably the worst defense in the league at first to a Gold Glover. Carpenter actually rates above average at 3rd, so it's a 2 position upgrade. We're better at 3rd, we're way better at first.
 
#22      

Deleted member 3875

D
Guest
Ozuna not coming to Jupiter for rehab is a concern. Fowler is an obvious concern. These two situations nullify the addition of Goldy. We'll be scrambling for a wild card spot (again).
 
#23      
Ozuna not coming to Jupiter for rehab is a concern. Fowler is an obvious concern. These two situations nullify the addition of Goldy. We'll be scrambling for a wild card spot (again).

Tyler O'Neil projects, on a rate basis, to be just a tick below Ozuna given the same amount of playing time. Obviously much bigger risk because he's never proven it at the Major League level, but still he's a good option for the 1st month or so if Ozuna isn't ready.

Fowler shouldn't even be starting. Jose Martinez is a better RF full stop
 
#24      

the national

the Front Range
Tyler O'Neil projects, on a rate basis, to be just a tick below Ozuna given the same amount of playing time. Obviously much bigger risk because he's never proven it at the Major League level, but still he's a good option for the 1st month or so if Ozuna isn't ready.

Fowler shouldn't even be starting. Jose Martinez is a better RF full stop
I agree in regards to Fowler. Last year was a disaster for him. He needs to earn his starting spot back, which I expect he will. However, it might take some time. As for Ozuna, I didnt realize his rehab wasnt on-track to have him back for the season. Was his injury worse than expected or did I just misunderstand?
 
#25      
I agree in regards to Fowler. Last year was a disaster for him. He needs to earn his starting spot back, which I expect he will. However, it might take some time. As for Ozuna, I didnt realize his rehab wasnt on-track to have him back for the season. Was his injury worse than expected or did I just misunderstand?

He had surgery at the end of the year. Mozeliak had made comments last year about how they had a rehab plan for his shoulder and he didn't do it, which lead to him being hurt and bad for the 1st half of last season. Now this off season they wanted him to stay in Jupiter and rehab with team physicians, but he's been rehabbing in the Dominican Republic. Mo had some comments at winter warmups last week that he didn't know if Ozuna had even thrown a ball or picked up a bat yet, and we was going to take a trip to the DR and see "how the rehab was progressing", which doesn't sound very optimistic.

He might be just fine, or he could show up to Florida needing another 2 months of professional rehab. IDK, it seems like he should have a lot of motivation to get healthy since it's his walk year.