The drawbacks of Tyson Ross, whom the St. Louis Cardinals claimed yesterday off waivers from the San Diego Padres, are apparent from a quick glance at his Baseball Reference page. In twenty-two starts this season, Ross has mediocre overall numbers--in 123 1/3 innings, he has a mediocre 4.45 ERA and a mediocre 4.55 FIP. In…
Say you know a big St. Louis Cardinals fan who spent the last week completely out of the loop of Cardinals news. He or she knows the sport fairly well but hasn't been around the latest trade deadline news. Obviously, the explaining about Tommy Pham being traded is going to be a big headline, but…
Let’s start with one of my favorite hypotheticals: your team (any sport) can field two rosters for the coming season: Roster A: all the guys you know and love/love to hate. They’re familiar. You know them. They’ll put together a competent year. They won’t win a championship. Roster B: a bunch of strangers. Didn’t come…
If I woke up tomorrow and were suddenly a Major League Baseball player, I think I'd play a lot like Tommy Pham. Now, the reason for this is pretty simple--I'm a terrible baseball player, even by the standards of a beer league player, and I would have no choice but to play like Tommy Pham,…
My stance on the St. Louis Cardinals, as those who read my post earlier today could probably tell, is that they should not be buyers at this trade deadline. Their chances of making the postseason are slim--not only are they several games behind a playoff spot, but there are several other teams chasing the playoff…
This is probably going to be a boring trade deadline for the St. Louis Cardinals (unless this sentence is already out of date by the time this article actually publishes, which is entirely possible). The Cardinals aren't good enough to buy and they don't have enough obvious short-term assets to acquire splashy, high-end prospects without…
Although I gave glowing reviews to Mike Shildt's first foray into Major League managing, the weekend series against the Chicago Cubs exposed the new St. Louis Cardinals manager as susceptible to the managerial shortcomings which are common, even in the hyper-intellectual environment of 2018 Major League Baseball. Which isn't to say that I think Mike…
On Saturday night, Milwaukee Brewers reliever Josh Hader received a rousing ovation from the home crowd at Miller Park. Although Hader has been one of the best relief pitchers in baseball in 2018, the overwhelmingly positive nature of his entrance was a reflection of the events surrounding Hader four nights earlier. Had Tuesday night never…
The St. Louis Cardinals aren't too far away from being fully devoted sellers. They are a bad weekend from having such a marginal chance at making the playoffs that retaining certain players just wouldn't have much tangible value for the Cardinals, beyond the entertainment of them being around for a fruitless season. The obvious cases…
This is Part 4 of a series about an alternate timeline in which the St. Louis Cardinals decide to function solely to succeed in 2018, abandoning all interest in long-term player development and instead hoping to win this one title. You can read Part 1, about the first day of trades, which included the acquisitions…
St. Louis Bullpen 