Editor's note: A few weeks ago, an anonymous reader e-mailed me to submit this post for consideration for publication on St. Louis Bullpen. This isn't normally how our writing process works, but this was too interesting to simply ignore. Some of the information is out of date, because of when it was written. The writer…
The Marcell Ozuna trade is still good even if Christian Yelich is better
Marcell Ozuna's first few months as a St. Louis Cardinal were disappointing. He didn't hit well and he made a few ugly, high-profile defensive lapses which tarnished the reputation that comes with being a defending Gold Glove winner. But particularly in the second half of the season, Ozuna has come around. He has been an…
A look back at the trades the Cardinals made (and didn’t make) at the deadline
There are, if you want to be literal and frankly very obnoxious about it, thousands of trades that the St. Louis Cardinals did not make at this season's non-waiver trade deadline. They did not trade Luke Weaver for Mike Trout. They did not trade Greg Garcia for Mike Trout. They did not trade a player…
Does Adam Wainwright deserve another start?
Adam Wainwright was given another start after mixed results against the Pirates. We looked closer at his game to see what we could find.
Why does (did?) Francisco Pena keep starting at catcher?
When Yadier Molina became the full-time starting catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2005, the organization initially lined him up with somewhat typical backup catchers. They weren't stars, by any means, but backup catchers rarely are. So the likes of Einar Diaz, Gary Bennett, and Jason LaRue were brought around to back up Molina,…
WAINO BACK
Adam Wainwright is a central part of our shared experience as St. Louis Cardinals fans. He and Yadier Molina are the two most tenured members of the team by nearly six years. There is something comforting about Adam Wainwright on the mound, even when he's bad. But I like it better when he's good. Tonight,…
Giving and accepting blame for MLB’s service time problem
Entering the 2018 season, third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays system was among the top prospects in baseball. He was considered a future superstar, having torn the cover off the ball in 2017 while splitting time between A and high-A ball. But MLB Opening Day 2018 was less than two weeks…
Examining the Risks of the Mike Shildt Hire
I’ll be honest: when the St. Louis Cardinals named Mike Shildt interim manager following Mike Matheny’s firing in July, I didn’t really give much thought to the long-term implications of the move. I figured that Shildt would get the team to the end of the season with no playoffs, Bill DeWitt would thank him for…
Adam Wainwright deserves a chance to start
The idea that a baseball player is entitled to anything beyond the salary which he has been promised from a baseball team has never been a notion that made much sense to me. And I say this as somebody who is generally fiercely pro-labor: when Adam Wainwright signed his current five-year, $97.5 million contract which…
Matt Carpenter and the coexistence of the old school and new school
Aesthetically, Matt Carpenter has checked every possible box for the label of "fan favorite" for the St. Louis Cardinals. He is a classic overachiever--he was drafted in the 13th round at age 23 out of Texas Christian University, signing for a famously low bonus of $1,000 (this has much more to do with his lack…
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