Jonathon Broxton gone. Finally.
Jonathon Broxton gone. Finally.
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.
First and third base coaches should both be fired after tonight's game. Worse than little league.
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.
Mo gets a longer leash from me. He has shown that he can put a very good team together. I'm ready for Matheny to be gone. Sure he has won, but it always seems that the team wins in spite of him, not because of him.
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?
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?
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.