Official 2017 STL Cardinals Thread
 

My as well get it started. Here's my "Matheny" lineup.....

Fowler CF
Diaz SS
Carpenter 1B
Piscotty RF
Grichuk LF
Molina C
Peralta 3B
Wong 2B
Pitcher

My "Matheny" Starting rotation

Martinez
Reyes
Wainwright
Lynn
Leake

In

Let's sink this ship and start over without the bozo GM and manager fellas

Not happening without Matheny losing the locker room, a losing season and attendance dropping.

I hate Matheny in game management, use of relief pitchers and not giving our young players the same chance as the new to the team vets. He needs to go.

I'm still on board the Mo train. He has done some bone headed moves but overalll, he has done a good job.

Well let's hope for 60 wins then

When's the last time we had a losing season?

86 wins

Ceiling for KC? Ouch

I'm not excited to watch peralta at 3rd all year

wbf
sec

yeah, me either. The trade and FA market was either overpriced or no better than we already have. Everyone wanted Martinez or Reyes just as a starting point on trades. When we can compete in the playoffs again, we must have those two on our team to compete.

I'm assuming that they are hoping that Peralta or Gryko can play 3B all season long. Or maybe Matt Adams steps it up this year and they slide Carp over to 3B.

Oh God, you insufferable Cradinal fans are back already

Ya'll are the worst, you're like the patriots or steelers fans of MLB

:bolt:

I'm not expecting a great season from our Pirates this year. Maybe .500 ?

Screw the Cardinals. :P

Shitbag Royal fans are the worst fans in the league. They just wish they had an organization half as good as the Cardinals.

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They didn't even watch games for 2 and a half decades.

Good thing I'm not a Royals' fan either. :) **** the Royals more than the Cardinals!

I see Moss is close to joining the Royals. I would have liked to re-sign him as a flexible back up option to 1B/OF.

yeah, ESPN is reporting it as a done deal pending physical. 2 years $12 million guaranteed.

Good riddance

MLB strips Cardinals of draft picks, fines them $2 million for Astros hack

Major League Baseball dropped an unprecedented penalty on the St. Louis Cardinals for their former scouting director’s hacking of the Houston Astros’ computer system, ordering the Cardinals to send their top two draft picks to the Astros and pay them $2 million in damages, while placing perpetrator Chris Correa on the permanently ineligible list.

Commissioner Rob Manfred wrote in his ruling that no Cardinals employee other than Correa participated in the hacking and there will be no further discipline.

“Although Mr. Correa’s conduct was not authorized by the Cardinals, as a matter of MLB policy I am holding the Cardinals responsible for his conduct,” Manfred wrote.

Monday’s actions seemingly put an end to a saga that began when Correa, a former colleague of Astros GM Jeff Luhnow, hacked into their computer systems in 2013 and 2014 after Luhnow and other Cardinals executives joined the Astros. Correa’s role came to light in 2015, when the Cardinals terminated him while he was under federal investigation. In July 2016, Correa was sentenced to 46 months in prison and ordered to pay the Astros $279,000 in restitution.

"This unprecedented award by the Commissioner's office sends a clear message of the severity of these actions,” the Astros said in a statement.


http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...hack/97250008/

Some additional info from sentencing

http://deadspin.com/feds-cardinals-h...s-r-1791778599

{shrug}

Could've been worse. You gotta figure that the pick would've been our first rounder but/for losing it with the Fowler signing.

So that takes some of the sting out of giving up a pick for Fowler; I'd much rather give up a couple of comp-round picks than a first. 56 and 75 isn't quite Hail Mary territory but outside of the top 35-40 picks, you're really just sifting through the same pile of lotto tickets as everyone else and hoping to get lucky.

The worst part is that the Cardinals draft $$ allotment is essentially nil now. It's still amazing to me that their big money 'international splurge' this last off-season yielded about the 10th most money spent on international signings.

They keep their powder dry during the Yoan Moncada bidding and then burn it all up on a bunch of middle-tier prospects that are about as likely to hit as mid-round draft picks.

That's a fair punishment, and goddamn if it doesn't hurt.

This punishment never would have happened if the Cardinals were owned by Jesuits.

stupid ass in house rivalry cost us two picks. :cuss:

They had better not allow that to happen again.

Good will help with the tanking

we have too much talent to tank.

I'm sure MLB realized it wasn't a hack to get an unfair advantage in the draft or on the field but a stupid ass inter-team and personal riviraly gone down a rabbit hole. But, they couldn't let it slide as a precedent.

The press conference concluded with the star pitcher requesting that his family members in the back of the room join him at the front, up on the stage. Carlos Martinez, wearing a scarlet bow tie, grinned as the cameras flashed. General manager John Mozeliak happily observed the celebration from the side.

A congratulatory phone call was on its way.

This was a day of celebration.

"I thought it was an opportunity I couldn't let go of," Martinez said through a team translator during the announcement of a record deal for a first-time arbitration eligible pitcher.

His extension is for five years and $51 million. But it's more than that. Two team options could increase the contract to seven years and $86 million. But it's more than that, too.

The 25-year-old righthander agreed to perhaps pass up more riches down the road to immediately secure a future for himself, his family and his philanthropic efforts here and in the Dominican Republic.

Meanwhile the Cardinals are betting that Martinez's current trajectory will not plateau, but instead establish him as the cornerstone of the rotation for years to come.

"When we think about him, we already talk about him in that elite status of potential No. 1, and as a dominating-type starter," Mozeliak said. "When you think about his performance over the last few years, there's no reason not to think that's where it's headed."

"It's really about trying to make an investment in our future," Mozeliak added. "Understanding that we see him as an emerging star, someone who is going to be an elite performer for a long time."

Looks like a quite a nice extension with the two team option years.

in today's market, that's stealing money. He could have got a boatload of money in 3 years. Now the Cardinals can control him through 2023. And just pay a $1 million bonus at any time in the deal if he's traded. Seems to be a very friendly team deal.

Martinez, the son of a drug addicted prostitute, just got guaranteed generational changing money for his family in the DR. I'm sure that's why he signed the deal.


He's now our Ace.

“I respect (Wainwright). But I want (to start the first game),” Martinez said.

“Great answer,” said general manager John Mozeliak. “He’s a talented guy. We’re not sitting here today doing this kind of contract if he’s not.”

Slightly team friendly. I'm a little surprised that he and his agent decided to opt for the same salary in his first 2 free agent years that he'll make in his arb years. That seems like a failure on their part.

If he has two years like his last two, the Cardinals will earn back their $$. It's extremely team-friendly.

If Baseball Prospectus is correct, you can expect lots of Cardinals tears this year.

BP released its annual PECOTA projections on Tuesday, predicting the 2017 Cardinals will finish with their worst record since 2007 and win fewer than 77 games this season.

Based on BP’s Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm, the Cardinals are expected to finish tied for third in the National League Central with a 76-86 record. If that projection is correct, they'll finish tied for the fourth worst record in the NL.

PECOTA projects that the Cardinals will score 708 runs and give up 756 with a .253 batting average, .317 on-base percentage and .411 slugging percentage.

Pecota's wrong.

It says that Carlos Martinez will take a large step backwards based on...well nothing really. It also says that Matt Carpenter will be a roughly 2.5 win player and that Diaz will be worth 2.

Mostly it seems to have thrown darts at the wall. The Cards aren't a good team, but they aren't a genuinely bad one either. Probably an 83-87 win squad.

It seems it's going to take alot of big jumps from young guys for this team to actually be good.

Piscotty, Grichuk, Wong, etc.

Yuck.

I have no faith in Wong at all, he still thinks of himself as a 30 HR guy. If he can't start hitting line drives he won't ever be more productive.

Grichuk still doesn't understand the strike zone. I doubt he ever will.

Piscotty has a real shot to be a very solid career player but he doesn't scare anybody. Diaz is the only Cardinal with a genuine shot to be a force in the middle of the lineup.

They'll play around .500 all year and probably win about 85 games

What's the overall age of the current Cards starting lineup?

I still hate Mike Leake

Freese is back....in Imo commercials. Seriously ROFL ROFL

thanks for the draft picks.

1/2 are young. 1/2 are old.

Astros still suck.

Eh, depends on starting pitching. Batting lineup looks great.

I FINALLY got around to watching Money Ball last night. I wonder when the Cards starting making that approach...

Vegas has us tabbed at 87.5 wins and tying for the second wild card with San Francisco.

Stake your claim. Over or under.

I'm going 89 wins.

Under.

85.

Cards are in trouble ...

as a hater of everything successful sports related - I want to see how the 'best fans in baseball' handle a 5-10 year stretch (which is coming) of futility (by Cards standards) that is inevitably coming ...

will you still fill the stands? Will attendance still be right around the tops in the bigs?

...or, if the Cards actually suck for 4-5 years in a row ... will the following dwindle?

Basically, in my adult life, the Cardinals have always been good and have always competed. I want to see them be terrible for a few years and I want to see what happens. Would love to see that fan base eat some crow after all of these years.

...really, really easy to cheer for a winner. Let's see how you guys handle a loser.

...if you support a loser, I'll change my mind about you guys and give you the respect you deserve.

...but if attendance falls off the cliffs as the Cubs own that division for the time being ... I will bask in the fact you were all frauds and I knew it as such the whole time

Hootie, it definitely is a front running fan base..in a year they struggled, Fans left games early in droves in one run games ALL the time if Big Mac had his last at bat of the night. They still draw, but the fan base is as fickle as anyone else. Won't be Royal suck level bad however.

...well, you'd have to give me 25+ years of straight sucktitude for me to be able to compare that

ALL of my friends are Cardinals (and Packers !!!!) fans ...

I need to see the Cardinals suck for 3 straight years to see what kind of fans the BFIP really are ...

My thoughts? The same as any other baseball fan. If your team sucks, you aren't gonna waste time showing up. My mom's boss has 2 sets of seasons tickets to Cards games and the last 5 games last year you couldn't even give those things away and they are really good tickets.

Easy to be great fans when you always win. Want to see what happens when the Cubs own the division for 5 years.

...well, you'd have to give me 25+ years of straight sucktitude for me to be able to compare that

ALL of my friends are Cardinals (and Packers !!!!) fans ...

I need to see the Cardinals suck for 3 straight years to see what kind of fans the BFIP really are ...

My thoughts? The same as any other baseball fan. If your team sucks, you aren't gonna waste time showing up. My mom's boss has 2 sets of seasons tickets to Cards games and the last 5 games last year you couldn't even give those things away and they are really good tickets.

Easy to be great fans when you always win. Want to see what happens when the Cubs own the division for 5 years.

THAT said ... new Busch is the best stadium in baseball - will give you that

We aren't the BFIB, those are the Cubs. I can admit that.

ok - that's a joke

again - all of my friends are Cards/Pack fans and all they've ever seen is winning .... Cards (obvi) and from Favre to Rodgers

will be nice to see the Cards get roughed up a bit and can't wait to see how these smug assholes I have on my FB feed react to 5 years of 2nd fiddle

I'm ready for it too actually. Most of the fan base are insufferable pricks that need knocked down a peg.

God damn it. Hootie is back?

Thread is ruined.

I say that as a homer who magically thinks Waino and Leake won't be as bad this year as they were last year.

IIRC the Cardinals have had one season in my lifetime that they have drawn under the NL average in attendance.

1995

Who is this ****ing clown?

If only there were like dozens of years of crowd histories to prove how St. Louis fans supported the team when it was bad in the 70s and 90s.

Always fun to be lectured by a guy that was a Cubs fan until they tanked then discovered the Royals right around the time they became good to lecture us about fairweather, though.

It's Hootie.

Prepare for every other post in this thread to be an autistic rambling about how he hates the Cardinals.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/te...L/attend.shtml

In the last 50 years, they've been below average in NL Attendance 5 times. I don't see them suddenly dropping to the bottom of the league.

This...very few bright spots in the 70's...sat through an absolute double-header raping by the Big Red Machine with my family in like 95 degree weather and never even considered leaving before the last out.

Crowds back then would not be great by today's standards, but nothing like other perennial 3rd through 5th place clubs.

Awesome.:rolleyes:

Another banning is only a matter of time.

Hootie has returned.



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I was at BPV for New Years Eve (and Day) ... love that place

Reyes took his physical this morning....and isn't cleared to throw this afternoon. Skipping his session.

So that's good news.

Gonna be a fun season, gents. Looking forward to hitting 15 singles and scoring three runs. But hey, nobody backs up 3b better than Mike Leake. Go get 'em, Tiger!

Cards won in arbitration with Wacha.

Classic Cardinals

I said 85 earlier in the thread, I'm sticking to that. And, despite what some idiot's ramble about I'll go to every game I can. My brother and I still bought our 16 game package and we'll stay for every out.

The fact that they went to arbitration with him shows how little they think of him. The Cards avoided arbitration with Jon Jay, FFS. They buy out everyone's arb years. Wouldnt' surprise me if he's a non-tender candidate in '18.

Eh, I read the Reyes thing isn't supposed to be serious. "not even a yellow flag raised" was the term used, fwiw.

I had forgotten that they actually led the NL in HR's last year. How the hell did I forget that?

https://twitter.com/CraigMish/status/831560750476955648

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I am told : Potentially season ending injury for Alex Reyes. Tough tough blown for Cardinals.</p>&mdash; Craig Mish (@CraigMish) <a href="https://twitter.com/CraigMish/status/831560750476955648">February 14, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Well, **** me was I wrong.

And it begins :deevee::cuss:

Right elbow discomfort, heading for MRI.

How does that happen at this juncture?

The human body is not designed to throw objects overhead repeatedly. Pitcher health is just blind ****ing luck. Well, that and not throwing sliders.