Jonathon Broxton gone. Finally.
2017 St. Louis Cardinals
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And they called up Jon Gant from Memphis. Gant was part of Jaime Garcia trade that sent Garcia to Atlanta.
Also, the reason for Piscotty's recent absence has been revealed. His mother has been diagnosed with ALS.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
Showing some life, going from 0-2 to a split with the Dodgers. Can we stop playing the NL West yet? I know, up to Wrigley tomorrow.
dgcrow
- Kelso, WA
No more games against the NL West until 3 at Arizona June 27-29. To win at Wrigley, the Birds are more than likely going to have to score more than two runs.
10 games against the Cubs (surprisingly fit on this list right now), Reds and Phillies will cure whatever ails the bats right now.
I'm all in on Paul DeJong, he's the out of nowhere excitement injection like Sierra, but he's actually good, unlike Sierra.
I'm all in on Paul DeJong, he's the out of nowhere excitement injection like Sierra, but he's actually good, unlike Sierra.
Well that series was....um.....yeah
Deleted member 3875
D
Guest
Ok Moz, time for a shake up.
the national
- the Front Range
That was a very telling series. We have some of the parts but have alot of holes. Mo needs to get out there and find us some help. The pitchers made mistakes but were carrying alot of baggage due to fielding errors. The defense has to get better.
Deleted member 3875
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Guest
First and third base coaches should both be fired after tonight's game. Worse than little league.
dgcrow
- Kelso, WA
Agreed. Runner thrown out at home, runner thrown out at third in the game already -- and it's only the 6th inning. And that kind of stuff has happened time and time again. Nobody seems to learn from their mistakes.
the national
- the Front Range
DGCrow - It is hard to take. I really really wanna like this team. I like most of the parts but the polish has worn off and its not pretty. Matheny and Mo are on the hot seat as far as I am concerned. The next few weeks will really set the tone for the rest of the season. Mo needs to bring in some help and Matheny better get out of his own way (stop shooting the team in the foot with his boneheaded decisions).
Mo is one of the top 3 GMs in the league, which is why I'm convinced it's Bill DeWitt and the ownership team that won't let him can Matheny.
I wake up every morning hoping to see "Matheny relieved of duties, Oquendo named interim manager" pop up on my phone. I don't think manager's make much of an impact, but the Cardinals just aren't good enough to withstand Matheny's 2-3 losses a year from poor bullpen management.
dgcrow
- Kelso, WA
I've never been a Matheny man. Not only poor bullpen management, but lousy game tactics in other areas as well. And it's just inexcusable how dumb the team often plays, and that has to be the responsibility of the manager. LaRussa would have never tolerated the kind of nonsense that goes on during the games.
Exactly, I'd be hard pressed to think of move (or non move) Mo has done that hasn't worked out or was too low stakes to matter.
The managers impact on a baseball season is way lower than what people think. They can provide maybe 1 max 2 wins over a teams true talent level on the good side and probably 2 to 3 wins under the teams true talent level on the bad side. With that said, Matheny lives 3 wins under a teams true talent level and the Cardinals as currently constructed can't give those 3 wins away and still make the playoffs, like they could in 2013-2015.
The Cardinals have won because Mo constructed a roster of interchangeable 2-3 win players with a couple potential 4-5 win players coupled with a strong and deep rotation. They're loosing this year because there is no 4-5 win player (unless Carpenter turns it around) and the bullpen is not producing (partly due to an incompetent manager, partly due to under performance).
For the Mo defenders, where is the power at in this roster? His last big move in that regard was Holliday years ago. Tried to piece rosters together on the cheap since.
Explain Broxton.
Explain Matheny. Sometimes the obvious choice, Francona, is the right choice.
Last on Mo, do you really believe he didn't know he wasn't taking Luhnow tips in the hacking scandal?
Explain Broxton.
Explain Matheny. Sometimes the obvious choice, Francona, is the right choice.
Last on Mo, do you really believe he didn't know he wasn't taking Luhnow tips in the hacking scandal?
Broxton and the lack of a power bat are fair criticisms. I never said he was perfect, nor that I will defend him indefinitely. I merely stated that he gets a longer leash from me than Matheny since he has done well in the past.
As for the Matheny point you made, as far as I have heard, it's been pretty well known that Matheny was a Dewitt hire, and not so much Mo. Furthermore, you can see from some of the comments and moves Mo has made, he might not be the biggest Matheny fan.
Finally, while it's possible he did know, since the FBI investigated and came to the same conclusion that Luhnow was acting alone and there was no evidence of anyone else being aware of what he was doing, I'm inclined to believe that he truly didn't know. Now whether he should have known is a different question.
Abbreviated list of Mozeliak good moves:
- Rasmus et al trade that arguably won 2011 world series
- limiting the Pujols bid to where they did
- Corpse of Edmonds for Freeze
- Signing Lance Berkman when few wanted, moving on before he sucked
- Signing Carlos Beltran when few wanted, moving on before he sucked
- Corpse of Allen Craig, Kelly, somebody else I can't remember for year and half of league minimum John Lackey, then moving on on before he sucked (my personal favorite)
- Freese for Bourjos and Grichuk
- Jhonny Peralta signing (he's bad now, but they're way ahead in that contract)
- Aleydms Diaz contract out of Cuba
- Shelby Miller for the last good year of Jason Heyward
- Corpse of Jon Jay for Gyorko
- Mike Leake signing (jurys still out, but looks good)
- Myriad of insanely cheap extensions for good young players timed perfectly (Lynn, Carpenter, Martinez, Wong, Piscotty)
List of Mozeliak missteps (and even these have good explanations):
- Ty Wigginton (cheap, cut bait at right time)
- Wainwright extension (not really a team killer)
- Broxton (cheap, cut bait maybe a little too late, made worse by manager)
- Matheny in the first place and his subsequent extension, but I honestly believe this is an Owner thing that's out of his control
- That really might be it, I can't think of anything else off the top of my head.
There's a reason the Cardinals have been so competitive since 2008 when Mo was installed as GM, and without any dead weight expensive contracts or any seasons below 86 wins (!) and 2 100 win seasons and a WS championship. He's arguably the best GM in the game.
Edit: Oh and yes, I do believe Mozeliak had no knowledge of Luhnow's activities, because it was proven in court and only one of them is behind bars for 4 years.
I guess I see the glass half empty. Berkman and Beltran were the short time fixes I was thinking of. The empty part is all in on Wong. Same for Grichuck and Piscotty when you need a proven commodity in the middle of the order. I just feel like LaRussa had such a big part in the way things have gone. Enough so that it lingered after he left. Steady decline though.
He did, but with the help of Mo. I think sometimes Cardinals fans need to step back and look at how much worse things could be (including myself). We are spoiled fans because there are very few organizations in all of sports who win this much consistently over a long period of time.
And I think Mo understands the fundamental reason for that sustained success is
1) Good scouting and development
2) Not overspending too often (especially for a small market team).
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