***Official 2024 STL Cardinals Thread ***

[oldandslow]

3-3 out west so far and this is without Gray having a start. Far better than I expected to be honest.

If Wynn, Walker, and Donavan continue to progress, this team will be all right.

[VAChief]

Originally Posted by oldandslow

3-3 out west so far and this is without Gray having a start. Far better than I expected to be honest.

If Wynn, Walker, and Donavan continue to progress, this team will be all right.

"All right" like 83-79 is probably an optimistic ceiling. No way that geriatric starting corps last the whole year.

Their previous top starting propects McGreevy and Graceffo are likely busts. Hence has yet to throw a 100 innings. The cupboard is pretty bare down on the farms. It could get real ugly in the next few years.

The best we can hope for is Goldy and Arenado show they still have something at the trade deadline and somehow Mo doesn't continue to undervalue his talent in trades.

All that said, Go Cards!

[raybec 4]

Originally Posted by VAChief

"All right" like 83-79 is probably an optimistic ceiling. No way that geriatric starting corps last the whole year.

Their previous top starting propects McGreevy and Graceffo are likely busts. Hence has yet to throw a 100 innings. The cupboard is pretty bare down on the farms. It could get real ugly in the next few years.

The best we can hope for is Goldy and Arenado show they still have something at the trade deadline and somehow Mo doesn't continue to undervalue his talent in trades.

All that said, Go Cards!

I'm not ready to call those guys busts yet but other than that you're prett close.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Originally Posted by oldandslow

3-3 out west so far and this is without Gray having a start. Far better than I expected to be honest.

If Wynn, Walker, and Donavan continue to progress, this team will be all right.

Stop...just...stop

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

The Dodgers are kicking the can down the road to avoid huge CBT bills. It's no different from how the Chiefs keep restructuring Mahomes, and actually smarter based on California tax law for them to offer it to Ohtani. Whether it makes him more or less money in the long run may be debatable, but it allows them to go out and supplement an elite core.

The Cardinals could do this if they wanted. They did it with Matt Holliday. They just don't care. Everyone in the org got fat and complacent after 2013, and bought into their own hype, and ownership no longer cared about doing anything more than the bare minimum. They didn't appreciate that Luhnow built the team that was the envy of the NL from 2011-2015. That's why the Cubs lapped them, the Dodgers, Phillies and Braves buried them, and why they won't win over 85 games for the foreseeable future.

From an organizational standpoint, they've been passed by the Reds and Pirates. Both teams are smarter and more creative.

The sole distinction between the franchises is the fanbase. Cardinals fans still show up so Mozeliak can spend more money (and typically does it very poorly).

THAT'S the bigger problem. It's that they're stale. I read an article a month or so back about revolutions in coaching and how more teams are using outside voices like Driveline to supplement their coaching - the Cardinals weren't mentioned. I've seen articles regarding foreign academies - the Cardinals shut down their Dominican academy during COVID and never re-started it.

They don't DO anything. There's nothing this organization does to set it apart from anyone else in baseball. They have no identity anymore because a suit runs the show. They don't have any creativity because Mozeliak will stomp it out. They won't even write checks like the Yankees, Dodgers and Phillies.

Look at this organization and ask yourself why SHOULD they win anything? They aren't good at anything. They aren't ahead of the curve anywhere.

And they don't seem to give a ****. They seem wholly content to tread water. It's just bizarre.