He entered the season as the ace. By many measures, he was the team's best pitcher in 2020. Why is Jack Flaherty being relegated to Game 3?
Why isn’t Jack Flaherty starting Game 1 of the Wild Card Round?
Everyone is going to hate us so much–a Cardinals/Padres playoff preview
We are at least half a decade removed from the peak of people hating the St. Louis Cardinals. Also, the Cardinals were better from 2011 through 2015 than they were from 2016 through 2020. I wonder if the two are related. Probably not. They probably just managed to overcome the objectively bad and evil things…
The six tiers of Cardinals transaction revisionism
Some players would be virtually impossible for the St. Louis Cardinals to have on their team. Take Alex Bregman, for instance. The Houston Astros superstar third baseman was drafted in 2015 before the Cardinals ever had a draft pick, he was never considered a player realistically on the trading block, and he signed an extension…
The case for standing pat for the trade deadline
As a general rule, I tend to want my sports teams to focus more on the future than the present. I don’t think this is an inherently right or wrong point of view—it’s a reflection of my own arbitrary tastes and preferences. But this year, I think I’m right. And I invite all temporary bandwagoners…
Rob Manfred isn’t the problem, and that’s the problem
What a year that weekend was. There was already plenty of reason for pessimism in baseball, with the waves of positive tests that had already effectively shut down the Miami Marlins. And then on Friday, news broke that multiple St. Louis Cardinals had tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the cancellation of the team's Friday game…
Jack Flaherty ain’t going away
I think the Tommy Pham trade broke us. Tommy Pham was a rarity for the St. Louis Cardinals—an outspoken player. And then, at the trade deadline in 2018, he was traded. And we collectively assumed the two were related. That the St. Louis Cardinals, assumed to be a particularly small-c conservative organization even by the…
The best-case scenario of a 60-game St. Louis Cardinals season
The Los Angeles Dodgers will probably lose some games this season. The Baltimore Orioles will probably win some games this season. But an undefeated or winless season is more on the table than it ever has been before. The odds of either of these things happening are in the one in a trillion range, but…
So it’s come to this–a 2020 MLB season preview
Uh, I guess we’re doing this? The idea that baseball is going to happen is weird. I’ve been clear about the fact that I’m not convinced it should happen. Even aside from the ethical questions of devoting so many resources to a recreational activity that puts its participants at risk during a global pandemic in…
Just cancel the season already
This weekend, three St. Louis Cardinals players were revealed to have tested positive for COVID-19. I hesitate to limit this to three; hopefully I'll remember to update this post in the event that this number increases. It seems like there is a decent chance of that. Of the three players who have tested positive, two…
If Bill DeWitt Jr. isn’t lying to you, he should prove it
I do not personally know how wealthy Bill DeWitt Jr. is, because I do not know him, and because I have never seen his financial records. The first result of a Google search of his name indicates that he is worth $4 billion, as are most of the successive results, but again, I do not personally know…
St. Louis Bullpen 