I've been my usual lazy self and not paid much attention to the goings on around the league this offseason. At least MLB has obliged by keeping things pretty quiet.
Next we'll take a look at the Cardinals, who somehow still employ Mike Matheny.
2017 Record: 83-79
2018 Projected Record: 87-75
Top projected hitter (ZiPS): Marcell Ozuna, 3.1
Top projected pitcher: Carlos Martinez, 4.2
Transactions of Note
- Acquired Marcell Ozuna from Miami
- Signed Bud Norris
- Signed Luke Gregerson
- Traded Randal Grichuk to Toronto
- Traded Aledmys Diaz to Toronto
- Traded Stephen Piscotty to Oakland
- Zach Duke, Lance Lynn, Seung-Hwan Oh, Juan Nicasio all left as FAs
Projected regulars
- C Yadier Molina
- 1B Matt Carpenter
- 2B Kolten Wong
- SS Paul DeJong
- 3B Jedd Gyorko
- LF Marcell Ozuna
- CF Tommy Pham
- RF Dexter Fowler
- SP Carlos Martinez
- SP Adam Wainwright
- SP Michael Wacha
- SP Luke Weaver
- SP Miles Mikolas
- CL Luke Gregerson
Offseason storylines
The Cardinals made a lot of moves to deal with a suddenly crowded outfield after Ozuna fell into their laps early in the offseason. Grichuk felt like he was on his way out anyway, and given Tommy Pham's breakout last year Piscotty didn't have a lot of room either. The Cards have Ozuna under team control for two years, but I would be shocked if he didn't sign an extension with them like half a hundred other quality OFs that they've traded for in the past (Walker, Holliday, etc.).
Of course, they missed out on an even bigger name in their OF this season after Giancarlo Stanton said "Nah" after the Cards lined up a trade with the Marlins.
The big question mark could probably end up being their rotation after Carlos Martinez. Wainwright looks like a shell of a shell of his former self, and while they will get former top prospect Alex Reyes back in midseason it's hard to tell how much they can expect for this year – the current noise around him is some kind of nebulous long man/spot starter role, limited to 80-100 innings.
Yadier Molina is also another year older and beginning the first year of a 3/60 extension that he signed last spring. The projection systems still like him for this year but that's mostly on the back of his defensive numbers – no one seems to think that the bat will bounce back. He's said that he plans to retire after the 2020 season when his extension ends. Meanwhile the Cardinals are sitting on a great catching prospect in Carson Kelly who posted a .370 wOBA in AAA last year who won't even be able to start for another three seasons.
Tommy Pham is a little salty at getting renewed for near league minimum after posting a 6 WAR season. I don't blame him – he's somehow already 30 years old thanks to injuries early in his minor league career.
The Cardinals locked up SS Paul DeJong with a 6/26 extension following his breakout rookie season. I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of these as players get spooked by last year's FA market, ala Eugenio Suarez.
Comments
Justin Turner ————> broken wrist
Berselius is too lazy to log in on his phoneQuote Reply
That sucks for the Dodgers, man. Wrist issues last a really long time, if not forever.
MylesQuote Reply
Signing Miles Mikolas is probably a transaction of note.
MylesQuote Reply
Myles,
I’m sure he can just use his other hand.
TyroneQuote Reply
I wouldn’t be surprised if Kelly takes over behind the plate by the end of the season. I don’t think the Cardinals expect Yadi to start for three more years. I think they signed him to that contract to be a mentor and help Kelly out. If you’re going to spend a lot of money on someone to be a mentor, I probably wouldn’t pick anyone other than Yadi. He’s the best defensive catcher I’ve ever seen and will probably be a manager at some point if he wants to get back into baseball.
dmick89Quote Reply
Rise and grind
MylesQuote Reply
That sucks for him,. Wrist injuries are pretty awful, especially for a player on the wrong side of 30.
I suppose the Cubs’ chances of capturing the top seed in the NL just rose a bit.
PerkinsQuote Reply
I just didn’t recognize the name when I went through the transaction list since he spent a couple of seasons in Japan. I saw some writeups on him when googling around for other Cardinals stories but was too lazy to update the list at the top of the article. Had to stay on #brand.
For the extremely little it’s worth, he’s having an awful spring.
berseliusQuote Reply
Hendricks——>strep throat
Apparently he’s not expected to miss any time in the regular season though, so that’s good.
PerkinsQuote Reply
I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I often find myself bummed that SF doesn’t have their second round pick and I have to remind myself they used that to get their potential franchise QB. Seems like a smart team might start using this to their advantage and trade draft picks for impact players.
TyroneQuote Reply
If he falls to 6, move up and draft him, SF.
TyroneQuote Reply
Here’s my hot draft take for the day: I think FSU’s Josh Sweat might be my No. 2 EDGE in this class. He’s not as refined or “scheme diverse” as Chubb, but his ceiling is higher, imo. Get him in the right situation and he could end up being the best EDGE from this class.
And I’m not so sure I wouldn’t mind SF taking him at No. 9…
TyroneQuote Reply
MylesQuote Reply
Derwin thoughts coming soon…
TyroneQuote Reply
I finished Lost last night. Definitely a top 5 favorite for me. I have no idea why people got so upset at Lindelof and Cuse. All I can say is that HBO better take Watchmen to series. It’s the best graphic novel ever and one of the best tv writers ever.
dmick89Quote Reply
Derek Lee hit 46 HRs in 2005. Broke his wrist in April 2006 (his age 30 season) and missed two months. He came back in June and hit 5 HRs over 31 starts.
Played full seasons in 2007 and 2008. He hit 22 and 20 HRs, respectively, in those seasons.
JKVQuote Reply
Since it’s a Cardinals post, obligatory:
JKVQuote Reply
JKV,
Obviously all injuries are different and Turner’s doesn’t sound all that bad. He’ll only be in a brace for a few days. My guess is he’s back by the 3rd week of the season.
dmick89Quote Reply
It’s also worth pointing out that 45 is an outlier. He averaged about 30 per season over the previous few seasons and then into his 30s it dropped into the low 20s. Nothing about that is surprising. The 45 is what was surprising. That said, you never know how wrist injuries are going affect someone. Even a nagging, non-DL injury can have a major impact. I’m just not sure Derrek Lee is the best example.
dmick89Quote Reply
Rumor du jour is that Alex Cobb is going to be an Oriole.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
I was still holding out a little hope that the Cubs would sign him.
dmick89Quote Reply
Looks like 4/$60. He waited four months to get the same deal the Cubs reportedly offered him in November.
PerkinsQuote Reply
dmick89,
It’s the Orioles, so you can keep hoping until the physical is complete.
GWQuote Reply
Just had to edit my fake team name to 001 Years from 000 Years and Counting.
SKQuote Reply
FYI – OVCON ’18 is on June 5th.
SKQuote Reply
http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2018/03/21/the-marlins-are-using-jose-fernandezs-death-to-head-off-criticism-of-their-teardown/
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
Classy.
dmick89Quote Reply
berselius,
I’m kind of amazed that Jeter could go from being so good with the media as a player to so bad as an owner.
PerkinsQuote Reply
“Here comes an opportunity to be a competent owner. The pitch…up the middle…Pasta Diving Jeter.”
MylesQuote Reply
Including Lamar Jackson, this is such an interesting draft group of QBs.
You want the classic first overall pick material (Darnold)?
Maybe an intellectual in Matt Ryan’s body (Rosen)?
A more fiery Russell Wilson (Mayfield)?
The second coming of Michael Vick (Lamar)?
Or maybe the guy who looks like bad Brett Favre 90 percent of the time, but flashes peak Brett Favre (Allen)?
TyroneQuote Reply
TyroneQuote Reply
Tyrone,
Man, I swear I didn’t word post No. 30 that way intentionally…
TyroneQuote Reply
https://twitter.com/alriveron/status/976522017796182016
The narrative surrounding the Dez Bryant non-catch is insane (especially in Texas) with people acting like DAL would’ve won that game if the NFL ruled it a catch. Best case scenario is DAL goes up by 3. But then everybody forgets GB’s ensuing drive:
1st and 10 at GB 33 (4:06) E.Lacy right end to GB 35 for 2 yards (B.Church).
2nd and 8 at GB 35 (3:19) E.Lacy left end to GB 40 for 5 yards (N.Hayden).
3rd and 3 at GB 40 (2:36) A.Rodgers pass short left to D.Adams to DAL 34 for 26 yards (J.Heath).
1st and 10 at DAL 34 (2:24) PENALTY on GB-A.Quarless, False Start, 5 yards, enforced at DAL 34 – No Play.
1st and 15 at DAL 39 (2:24) (E.Lacy left end to DAL 38 for 1 yard (B.Carter).
2nd and 14 at DAL 38 (2:17) E.Lacy right end to DAL 35 for 3 yards (A.Hitchens).
3rd and 11 at DAL 35 (2:00) A.Rodgers pass short right to R.Cobb to DAL 23 for 12 yards (O.Scandrick).
Three kneeldowns.
I mean, Rodgers got GB into easy FG range in two minutes while trying to milk the clock.
Sorry, DAL. You weren’t going to win that game even if they called it a catch. And you might not even be playing in that game if the refs don’t give you a gift against DET the week before (https://youtu.be/tW4Ikqg0bW8?t=5m10s).
TyroneQuote Reply
woweyes
TyroneQuote Reply
Tyrone,
Ryno, I’ve heard Chubb is most likely a 4-3 DE in the NFL? Think he can play standing up? Can he bend? Bears meeting with him, not really sure why because he won’t be there at 8, so just curious if they are just doing their homework or if they plan on making a move to get him.
MuckerQuote Reply
Mucker,
First of all, as you know, I try not to think of someone as a 3-4 or 4-3 player. Nickel is the new base, so it’s more about what type of player you want.
Chubb kinda reminds me of Shaq Lawson as a prospect in that he’s more of a technician than an athlete. He strikes me as a guy that’ll give you 8-10 sacks for the next decade. Not really exciting, but
If you want a bender, you want Harold Landry or Josh Sweat. Seems like Landry might be destined for the top 20, but I’m not sure about Sweat. I think he’s better than Landry, but I don’t hear him being mentioned on the first day.
TyroneQuote Reply
TyroneQuote Reply
Tyrone,
Who would you rather have….Cousins or Garrapolo?
MuckerQuote Reply
Mucker,
Based on early returns? JimmyGQ. Easy. I’m a little concerned about what he’ll look like when defenses take away what he likes, but he’s in about the best situation possible for a young QB.
We know what Cousins is and you have a pretty good idea what you get from him as your QB.
The interesting thing for me was wondering (before he signed the extension) whether I’d trade JimmyGQ to CLE for their two first round picks. Cousins and the first and fourth overall picks in the draft or JimmyGQ?
TyroneQuote Reply
Tyrone,
Wow…you think CLE would trade that for Jimmy G? That’s a really tough question. Conventional wisdom says you take the picks and Cousins but I think I like Jimmy’s upside more than Cousins. Really tough though. If you’re the 49ers, I think it’s a win win either way.
MuckerQuote Reply
Mucker,
The going rate for a QB in his prime has typically been two first-round picks+. I’d totally give up 1 and 4 to have stability at QB for a decade.
You’re right about conventional wisdom, but I’m still not sure I’d want that trade. It’s good if you’re a bottom tier team, but you need to maximize talent at every position to be a contender.
TyroneQuote Reply
Wade Miley ——-> groin strain
I could have sworn he pitched for the Brewers last year, but apparently I just think that he and Tommy Milone are the same person.
berseliusQuote Reply
Every time I see that last name, I think of Gary Oldman in True Romance.
TyroneQuote Reply
TyroneQuote Reply
Standing during national anthem > helping sick kids
TyroneQuote Reply
Giants season may have ended. Both Samardzija and Bumgarner are broken.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Tommy La Stella got owned
https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/977293852561338368?s=19
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
For context
https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/977339347593842688?s=19
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Hurry up, regular season.
berseliusQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
Should have signed Lincecum.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Fixed.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Scott Feldman is apparently still available
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Per Muskat, Caratini will be the backup catcher.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Cubs lose the vaunted Cactus League title to the Brewers.
#fireTheo
ceruleanQuote Reply
The answer for how to stop school shootings is exactly the same as the answer to defeat Goliath: River Stone.
ceruleanQuote Reply
http://obstructedview.net/nl-central-offseason-whip-around-cincinnati-reds/
berseliusQuote Reply