Following Matt Holliday's nine-year reign as the owner of the largest contract in St. Louis Cardinals history, new first baseman Paul Goldschmidt seized the crown yesterday by signing a five-year, $130 million extension with the Cardinals, one which will keep the long-time Arizona Diamondbacks slugger in St. Louis through the 2024 season, during which he…
What the WAR update tells us (and doesn’t tell us) about Yadier Molina
St. Louis Cardinals fans love Yadier Molina. Most fans of most teams love most of their players, so let me re-emphasize this: St. Louis Cardinals fans really love Yadier Molina. This love was different from, say, the love Cardinals fans felt towards Matt Holliday, a very good and very likable baseball player in his own right.…
The 42 Most Valuable Players from Game 6 of the 2011 World Series
Since I started watching baseball in 1996, sixty-four different men have won a Most Valuable Player or Cy Young award as the best player or pitcher in the American or National League. And forty-two different men played in the greatest baseball game I have ever seen. As far as I'm concerned, the latter is thus…
Jordan Hicks signed a four-year contract with the Cardinals yesterday and I am outraged
On Tuesday morning, it was announced that the Cardinals had signed Jordan Hicks to a four-year contract worth $36 million, and while I try to give hyper-intelligent modern front offices the benefit of the doubt, I am having a difficult time wrapping my mind around this one. Jordan Hicks, of course, emerged in 2018 as…
What is the appropriate role for Dexter Fowler in 2019?
In 2016, as the leadoff hitter for the Chicago Cubs, Dexter Fowler contributed a 129 wRC+ for the eventual World Series champions. This mark denotes that the center fielder was 29% better than a league-average hitter, which was a career-best for the soon-to-be free agent, who signed with the St. Louis Cardinals that December. Fowler’s…
Jedd Gyorko as the metaphorical center of the 2019 Cardinals
Jon Jay spent four-plus seasons as the primary center fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, with intermittent cameos by others in the starring role, and while he spent most of that time as a solid if not spectacular player, his cataclysmic 2015 was enough to convince the Cardinals to cut bait on the $6.2 million…
Ranking the Cardinals’ Worst Free Agent Signings of the Last 20 Years
As we documented earlier this week, the St. Louis Cardinals have made some very good free agent deals over the last two decades. But they've also made some very, very bad moves. Today, we are going to rank those moves from the most terrible to the not-nearly-as-terrible-but-still-quite-terrible. As a reminder, we will only be looking…
Ranking the Cardinals’ Best Free Agent Signings of the Last 20 Years
If you’ve been near a TV or internet browser in the past few days, you know that Bryce Harper has signed an enormous deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, thus ending any pipe dreams of Harper suiting up for the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals could still sign Dallas Keuchel (as this blog has previously advocated)…
Matt Wieters, Francisco Pena, and the confouding reasons they are locked in a battle for backup catcher
As the number-five overall pick in the 2007 Major League Baseball draft, Matt Wieters was burdened with extraordinary expectations from the moment he joined the Baltimore Orioles organization. According to Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (and later of the Houston Astros), Wieters was baseball's best prospect entering 2009, ahead of future MLB aces David Price and Madison…
The 2019 class for the Cardinals Devil Magic Hall of Fame
Last year we unveiled the inaugural class for the Cardinals Devil Magic Hall of Fame, a place where we honor those who made some sort of Robert Johnson-esque pact while playing in St. Louis. The five inaugural inductees were Will Clark, Tom Henke, Gregg Jefferies, Craig Paquette, and Tony Womack. The criteria for eligibility is…
The Cardinals go off-brand by extending Miles Mikolas
On Tuesday, the St. Louis Cardinals announced that they had signed Miles Mikolas, 2018's surprise starting rotation revelation, to a four-year contract extension which will keep him in St. Louis through 2023. His contract will remain the same for 2019, but starting in 2020, Mikolas is slated to make $17 million per season. It had…
The Cardinals are one Dallas Keuchel away from being NL Central favorites
The transactions which the St. Louis Cardinals have made during the 2018-19 off-season point to an organization desperate to make it back to the postseason after three consecutive Octobers spent at home. The most obvious example of this is trading four long-term assets in exchange for Paul Goldschmidt, who is scheduled to become a free…
Let’s recast “Homer at the Bat”, because at this point The Simpsons might just repeat the same episodes again
If the fact that I created a website devoted to baseball wasn't proof enough, let it be said that I am a very big baseball fan. Another thing I've been a fan of for basically as long is The Simpsons, a highly influential animated sitcom which satirizes American culture as poignantly and hilariously as anything I…
The St. Louis Cardinals Team of the 2010s
The 2010s have been, in the grand scheme of things, a glorious decade for the St. Louis Cardinals. The team won a World Series to start a franchise-record run of five consecutive postseason appearances. The team has had winning seasons in all nine of its concluded campaigns, and it is projected by most outlets to…
Should the Cardinals move Carlos Martinez to the bullpen to start the 2019 season?
Although Martinez has been the best Cardinals pitcher over the last several years, some believe he would be better suited as a relief pitcher.
The Cardinals stand to gain from baseball’s proposed rule changes
It is February 7, and despite teams not seeming to realize it with regards to free agency, baseball season is less than two months away (no, it isn't "baseball season" once the Super Bowl ends--watch basketball or hockey or soccer or NASCAR or something, guys). And what better time than now for Major League Baseball…
Don’t Overthink it: Bryce Harper and the Cardinals are an Obvious Fit
I’ve actually been sitting on the idea for this article since the St. Louis Cardinals acquired elite first baseman Paul Goldschmidt just before the Winter Meetings. My point was a pretty simple one: despite the addition of Goldschmidt, the Cardinals should still aggressively pursue Bryce Harper in free agency. He would perfectly fill an area…
Bracing for a post-fandom baseball landscape
On Sunday, the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots will square off in Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta. As has been recalled repeatedly in the last few days, locally and nationally, living argument for a 100% estate tax Stan Kroenke illegally bought the then-St. Louis Rams in 2010, lied vociferously about his intent…
The break-even age for modern baseball stars
Major League Baseball goes through different stages of what is considered a player's peak. Usually, it falls somewhere in a player's late twenties, though in the late 1990s through early 2000s, when older baseball players such as Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds were Simply Working Harder Than Everybody Else Out There (after all, they were…
Kris Bryant, Yadier Molina, and the joy of our big, stupid rivalry
In the modern Online culture, we tend to grade viral social media moments on a curve. If a comedian writes a funny tweet, that's swell, but that is expected. But if Ted Cruz, very much not a professional comedian, replies to Deadspin soliciting requests for pictures of him playing basketball (I don't remember the reason--it…
What if the Cardinals just signed all of the free agents?
A widely-stated, probably not entirely true but spiritually mostly valid tagline for the mostly dormant 2018-19 offseason is something along the lines of "Every team could sign Bryce Harper or Manny Machado if they wanted." Baseball teams, after all, are extremely lucrative businesses, and while team owners have been more than willing to publicize the…
Why aren’t we talking about Manny Machado?
The collective fan angst this winter has surrounded the Cardinals unwillingness to pursue Bryce Harper. But what about the other top tier free agent?
Chris Duncan and getting to know players
Chris Duncan made his St. Louis Cardinals debut on September 10, 2005, and he was almost immediately my least favorite Cardinals player. The reasons behind this were largely circumstantial. Duncan debuted not too terribly long after I began my first job, one which I hated, and one at which I was constantly tormented by the…
St. Louis is excited about Nelly recruiting Bryce Harper, but can we, um, not?
Bryce Harper was born on October 16, 1992, which means he was in first grade when Nelly’s breakthrough debut single “Country Grammar” was released. Speaking from my own experiences, I didn’t really know the popular songs released when I was in first grade at the time. I do remember “Macarena”-mania arriving the next summer and…
The Cardinals signed Andrew Miller, which is better than pocketing the money I guess
On Thursday night, the St. Louis Cardinals signed Andrew Miller to a still yet-to-be-announced contract (though KSDK's Frank Cusumano has reported that it is a two-year deal with a third-year vesting option). Like Brett Cecil, whom the Cardinals signed to a four-year, $30.5 million contract in the 2016-17 off-season, Andrew Miller is a lefty relief…
The Cardinals/Cubs rivalry is a myth, and that’s fine
On October 9, 2015, the St. Louis Cardinals hosted the Chicago Cubs in the postseason for the first time. It was the peak of a century-plus old series of matchups between what were, for decades, the National League's two westernmost franchises. Throughout most of their respective histories, one team (usually, though not always, the Cardinals)…
The case for keeping Dexter Fowler
There is a veteran outfielder available this off-season who, in 2018, had a .253 batting average, a .341 on-base percentage, and a .370 slugging percentage. His .712 OPS (a point higher than adding his OBP and SLG due to rounding errors) is just ahead of Kevin Pillar, who had an OPS+ of 93 at a…
The Paul Goldschmidt trade is a no-brainer. Unless it isn’t.
When news broke of a major blockbuster trade on Wednesday afternoon, one which sent six-time All-Star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for pitcher Luke Weaver, catcher Carson Kelly, minor league infielder Andy Young, and one of the competitive balance draft picks that the Cardinals are frequently mocked for receiving…
Let’s not overthink it – the Goldschmidt trade is a definite “win”
There will desire to immediately find the negatives in the Cardinals' trade for Paul Goldschmidt. We should ignore it.
Banning the shift seems like a bad idea
I want to share a screenshot from the beginning of a Youtube clip of Willie McGee making a great catch in Game 3 of the 1982 World Series. You probably know the play. As you can see, there are three infielders on our left side of second base, presumably from left to right, Ken Oberkfell,…
What should Kyler Murray do?
Later today, Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Kyler Murray is probably going to be announced as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy and will likely finish in the top two, along with Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. He is an exhilerating football player, and he is the kind of dual-threat quarterback that has been increasingly coveted in the…
The pros and cons of Paul Goldschmidt
In 2017, the Arizona Diamondbacks won 93 games and made it to the NLDS. In 2018, the Diamondbacks weren't quite as successful, but they did still finish over .500 and actually finished with a more positive run differential than the Colorado Rockies, who made it to the NLDS and finished the regular season proper with…
A millennial revisits “Heck of a Year” (after a few drinks)
I am twenty-nine years old, an age which is not generally considered "old", per se, but an age at which there is a major cultural difference between me and many of you who are younger than I am, particularly if you are several years younger than I am. I spent the first decade-plus of my…
Evaluating the 2019 Hall of Fame cases of the ex-Cardinals
Of the thirty-five men who made the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame, six played for the St. Louis Cardinals. And all did for at least a season, at that--there are no John Smoltz scenarios here where you have to squint to the find the Cardinals tenure on his Baseball Reference page. And while…
Cardinals Unveil New Alternate Jersey, Ozuna’s Sleeve In Jeopardy
Today at eleven, the Cardinals held a press conference at Ballpark Village, and as we all knew, no big free agent was unveiled, but the Cardinals organization made a bold move nonetheless by expanding their uniform repertoire. A hype video, and one Harrison Bader debuted the new jerseys, which will be worn as a road…
Let’s stop worrying what Michael Wilbon thinks about baseball
On Wednesday evening, to the surprise of nobody, New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom won the National League Cy Young Award. It was nearly unanimous, with just one voter not picking the Mets ace for the award for the league's top pitcher (and he voted for deGrom in second place). I agree wholeheartedly with…
My NL MVP ballot
Here is how I would have voted. For the final time (oh, man, I've done a lot of these, haven't I?), this ballot is not a prediction of how I think MVP voting will shape up but rather how I would vote if I had one. 1. Jacob deGrom--New York Mets: He isn't even a finalist,…
My AL MVP ballot
I wrote quite a few of these awards ballot posts, as you may have noticed. Some of them were more fun than others to write. But MVP discussions are what really matter. Everything was a precursor to this. Cy Young Awards and Rookie of the Year awards are fun discussions, but each is necessarily a…
My Cy Young Award picks
Tonight, the awards for the best pitchers in the American and National Leagues will be conferred upon (probably) deserving candidates and perhaps one or two new men will forever be known as "former Cy Young winner", a prefix to names such as R.A. Dickey and Rick Porcello. This sounds like a joke, but you don't need…
My Manager of the Year picks
There is something nearly impossible about evaluating the best managers in Major League Baseball, and because of that, Manager of the Year is arguably the most fun of the major awards to discuss. With Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and MVP awards, one could just rank the top relevant players by WAR and submit…
My Rookie of the Year picks
We saw a bunch of MLB breakthroughs this season, and today, we will learn which players will join such immortals as Todd Hollandsworth and Andrew Bailey as Rookies of the Year in their respective leagues. The ballots submitted by BBWAA voters goes three names deep, and that is how long my ballot goes as well.…
Josh Donaldson, Bryce Harper, and the cost of stardom
Since 2012, when third baseman Josh Donaldson exhausted his rookie eligibility with the Oakland Athletics, Mike Trout has been the best player in baseball. Trout won a pair of MVP awards, deserved at least two (probably three) more, and has invited comparisons to Mickey Mantle which, if anything, underestimate Trout. With 64 Wins Above Replacement…
My NL Silver Slugger picks
This morning, I detailed my picks for the Silver Slugger awards in the American League. And now I'm going through my picks in the National League. Cool? Cool. Pitcher--Michael Lorenzen, Cincinnati Reds: There are two arguments for NL pitcher Silver Slugger, and one's side depends entirely on whether or not to classify Michael Lorenzen as a…
My AL Silver Slugger picks
Following the crowning of MLB's Gold Glove awards two days ago, it is now time for the Silver Sluggers. A slightly less popular award, largely because frankly the best hitters win MVP awards more often than the best fielders, the Silver Slugger honors the best hitter at each position. From a sabermetric perspective, I'm far…
We aren’t talking about these free agents, but maybe we should?
With big names like Bryce Harper and Josh Donaldson on fans minds, no one is really thinking about these free agents... but maybe they should?
What approach should the Cardinals take in free agency?
As it currently stands (and as is almost always the case for every team), the St. Louis Cardinals have fewer payroll commitments for 2019 than they did at the beginning of 2018. Gone are the $14 million salary of Greg Holland and $3 million salary of Bud Norris (and Greg Garcia, and whatever you want…
My NL Gold Glove picks
Following my American League rundown earlier today, here are my picks for the Gold Glove awards in the National League. Pitcher--Zack Greinke, Arizona Diamondbacks: That Greinke is the four-time defending winner of this award is probably all the evidence that is necessary to presume he will win again in 2018, but his numbers from this season…
My AL Gold Glove picks
Today, the American League and National League winners of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award will be announced. Here are my picks for the American League awards. I ignored the finalists and made my picks for who I believe deserves to win regardless of what The Establishment has to say. National League picks will be coming…
Adam Wainwright and the price of sentimentality
For thirteen days, I assumed that Adam Wainwright's final appearance in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform would be a mediocre outing on a Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field, surrendering four earned runs, including a home run (though with perfectly fine true-outcome totals of one walk and seven strikeouts), in an 8-4 loss to the hated…
