2018 STL Cardinals Thread

[BigRedChief]

Opening day lineup

Fowler RF
Pham CF
Carpenter 3B
Ozuna LF
Martinez 1B
Molina C
Dejong SS
Wong 2B
Pitcher

Edit:
Matheny fired 07/14/2018




Opening Day Roster

Spoiler!

St. Louis has opted to carry 12 position players and 13 pitchers to begin the new season, with a four-man bench and eight-man bullpen.

Outfielders:
Dexter Fowler
Tommy Pham
Marcell Ozuna

Infielders:
Matt Carpenter
Paul DeJong
Kolten Wong

Catchers:
Yadier Molina
Francisco Pena

Utility:
Jose Martinez
Greg Garcia
Yairo Munoz
Jedd Gyrko

Starters:
Carlos Martinez
Michael Wacha
Luke Weaver
Miles Mikolas
Jack Flaherty

Relievers:
Dominic Leone
Tyler Lyons
Bud Norris
Brett Cecil
Sam Tuivailala
Matt Bowman
Jordan Hicks
Mike Mayers

On the DL:
Adam Wainwright
Luke Gregerson

[banecat]

Originally Posted by Carr4MVP

Just swept the Brewers in five games!!!

Damn it

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by BDj23

Little brother is so cute. Enjoy 30 more years of being irrelevant.

It's what we do. It's who we are.

2045 world title. I'll take u to te parade with my grandkids

[MarkDavis'Haircut]

Originally Posted by banecat

Damn it

I remember the days when you guys won 18 straight games against us.

[banecat]

Originally Posted by Carr4MVP

I remember the days when you guys won 18 straight games against us.

When was that? It seems like the Brew Crew has always had issues in the division, and played better against the East and the West and the AL

[Chief Roundup]

1-0 under a new Manager. That is a good way to start. Hopefully we will keep it going.

[BigRedChief]

Supposedly the Yankees are interested in Carlos Martinez. Ready to give up top prospects for him. What can we get?

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Supposedly the Yankees are interested in Carlos Martinez. Ready to give up top prospects for him. What can we get?

Not sure why you would trade him. He's not going to return as much as you hope. You have him locked up til 2023. More valuable to the team.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by jd1020

Not sure why you would trade him. He's not going to return as much as you hope. You have him locked up til 2023. More valuable to the team.

Some rumors say we would get 2/4 of these, some say we get 3/4 for Carlos. No idea if that’s a good deal or the upside of these guys.

Justus Sheffield, Clint Frazier, Estevan Florial and Miguel Andujar

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Some say we would get 2/4 of these, some say we get 3/4 for Carlos. No idea if that’s a good deal or the upside of these guys.

Justus Sheffield, Clint Frazier, Estevan Florial and Miguel Andujar

I dont think you would be offered Sheffield or Andujar.

Sheffield is 22 in AAA and dominating with 2 plus pitches.

Andujar is their starting 3B with no one to really replace him.

Florial probably ends up like a poor mans version of Billy Hamilton. Poor bat. Less speed. Less defense.

The ship has sailed on Clint Frazier being a thing. He hasn't shown anything in the majors.

So I could see Frazier + Florial. I just don't see how its valuable to the Cardinals.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by jd1020

I dont think you would be offered Sheffield or Andujar.

Sheffield is 22 in AAA and dominating with 2 plus pitches.

Andujar is their starting 3B with no one to really replace him.

Florial probably ends up like a poor mans version of Billy Hamilton. Poor bat. Less speed. Less defense.

The ship has sailed on Clint Frazier being a thing. He hasn't shown anything in the majors.

So I could see Frazier + Florial. I just don't see how its valuable to the Cardinals.

Frazier is 23 and has all of 180 at-bats. Saying he’s “past being a thing” is incredibly premature. All the tools are still present for him to be a high OBP, high power corner bat with good speed.

Your scouting report on Florial is also way off. He put up an .855 OPS in the Sally league at 19 while playing premium CF defense and also being a major threat on the basebaths. He’s fast and plays Cf, which is about all he has in common with Hamilton.

Those are both outstanding prospects, though they wouldn’t be great fits for the Cardinals with their glut of young OF.

Andujar would have to be the centerpiece, and if the Yankees plan to go after Machado in the offseason is expendable.

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Andujar would have to be the centerpiece, and if the Yankees plan to go after Machado in the offseason is expendable.

He isn't expendable because they aren't playing for 2nds this year. Andujar would only be expendable AFTER the Yankees signed Machado to a multi year deal.

And they aren't my scouting reports. Florial is currently in A+ with a .696 OPS striking out ~30% of the time. He has a 45 grade hit tool.

He started the year as baseball prospectus' #26 prospect. He didn't even make their midseason top 50.

I cant see what baseball america says anymore since everything they do is behind a paywall now.

[MarkDavis'Haircut]

Originally Posted by banecat

When was that? It seems like the Brew Crew has always had issues in the division, and played better against the East and the West and the AL

Late 2000s or early 2010s. It was a thing. We lost 18 straight games at your stadium and then 18 straight games overall.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by jd1020

He isn't expendable because they aren't playing for 2nds this year. Andujar would only be expendable AFTER the Yankees signed Machado to a multi year deal.

And they aren't my scouting reports. Florial is currently in A+ with a .696 OPS striking out ~30% of the time. He has a 45 grade hit tool.

He started the year as baseball prospectus' #26 prospect. He didn't even make their midseason top 50.

I cant see what baseball america says anymore since everything they do is behind a paywall now.

Florial broke his hamate bone and hasn’t played in several weeks. He’s just now on a rehab assignment. That’s why he isn’t on their midseason list.

Regardless of his hit tool grade (and most I’ve seen had a 50 on it before the season), comparing him to Billy Hamilton is still way off base. He’s a power-speed combo guy, not a rabbit whose only tool is speed.

And that’s an incredibly small sample size (~150 ABs) by which you’re judging a 20-year-old in A+ for the first time. Especially a raw, toolsy one just a year removed from a huge breakout (and who had a strong debut in a small sample size at that level).

The Yankees have enough offense to win with a slight downgrade at 3B like Brandon Drury, or flip a a top 10-15 guy in their system and a lotto ticket to KC for Mike Moustakas and break even. They might not have enough SP to make it through the AL side of the playoff bracket.

[BigRedChief]

Glad to see Fowler take the high road

Fowler's final word on Matheny: "I respect the hell out of him. He’s a winner. You don’t coach that long in the big leagues if you’re not. Obviously, we had our ups and downs, but at the end of the day, he’s a good man."

— Jenifer Langosch (@LangoschMLB) July 15, 2018

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Florial broke his hamate bone and hasn’t played in several weeks. He’s just now on a rehab assignment. That’s why he isn’t on their midseason list.

That doesnt even make sense. A prospect doesnt drop off a list because of an injury (Alex Reyes ring a bell?). He's played like shit. End of story.

There is nothing power about the kid. In 3 seasons at A+ he has a ****ing .376 SLG%. Now he may develop power given that he's only 20 years old, but there is absolutely nothing I have read to suggest that it is likely he'll be this 5 tool player everyone is hyping him up to be.