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Email a copy of 'Offseason In Review: St. Louis Cardinals' to a friend
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Brixton
They better hope the pitching bounces back or theyre gonna be in a tough spot
Djones246890
Dexter, please take that ugly hat off and ditch that team. Ughhh, it hurts to see you in that hat.
-A Cubs Fan
Baseball2399
Jon Jay/John Lackey/ Jason Hayward, please take that ugly hat off and ditch that team. Uh-huh, it hurts to see you in that hat.
-A Cardinals Fan
Rooster24
Eh. We don’t really feel that way.
– All Cardinal Fans
KCelts
As a fan, I’d say this offseason is a C. I’m not really sure why they broke the bank on Cecil when they have Siegrist and Lyons as lefties in the pen already. That seems like such an overpay for a pitcher who was not himself this past year. Luckily, signing Fowler was a fantastic get so they kind of cancel each other out.
I think your big questions are going to be depth and your infield. Carpenter is slated to start 1B, but I’m sure if he isn’t dealt before opening day, Adams will get more than his fair share of starts. Plus, arguably the best infielder they have (Gyorko) is seemingly buried behind guys like Wong and Peralta. I really don’t know how Matheny will juggle the infield (and I’d be surprised if he knew himself).
I think the Cards will be a fair team, but fair doesn’t win you championships… unless it’s 2006 or 2011 lol. Realistically though, I’m expecting 80-83 wins this year.
diddlez
There is no way I would start Wong over Gyorko at this point.
KCelts
Gyorko is versatile and can play any of the infield positions so he’ll get his playing time, but I’m 100% with you there.
CompanyAssassin
No way I’d start peralta over gyorko. Wongs defense and baserunning at least negates the nothing you get out of peralta.
Cardinals17
My thoughts exactly.
timtim007
I think the reason Mo is pushing so hard for Wong is because he was the one pushing so hard to sign him to the 5 year contract he has now. He (Mo) doesn’t want to look like an imbecile for being the one responsible for 5 years. MLBTR needs to do a feature on Wong “Make or Break Year “
mgus13
Would the Cards have made the same signings if they didn’t think they were likely to lose their 1st round pick b/c of the astros hacking situation? I think that’s a reasonable question.
CompanyAssassin
“Gant isn’t the pitcher Garcia is.” Compared to Garcia’s last season, and Gant’s current spring training showings, I’d say Gant’s better.
johnnya
This looks to be a painful year out pitching and defense and base running were abysmal last year and we did nothing to fix that. Fowler was a below avg CF before last year and Cecil was awful last year and so far in ST also. The infield defense is one of the worst I’ve ever seen in Stl. Wong stinks Carp at 1st base reduces his value Peralta is a fossil and Diaz can’t catch a cold. Grichuk can’t lay off the slider away and Waino is done. How long can Molina carry this team? I see Cards as sellers at trade deadline. Btw why is Broxton still around ?? Ugh
stl_cards16 2
The sky is falling the sky is falling!!!
CompanyAssassin
This is probably the most poorly written paragraph of fallacies I’ve ever seen.
Cardinals17
Unfortunately Johnny Arroyo, you make some good points.
CompanyAssassin
Maybe about Peralta and Broxton but let me update his paragraph to what it should say if it were true. We’ve increased defensive ability, and base-running by adding slightly above average defender Dexter Fowler. That knocks grichuk to left increasing outfield defense and overall speed. With Carpenter at 1st, we now have a sure glove in the corner, and having gyorko mostly platooning at 3rd gives that corner more surely defined defense. Wong’s defensive prowess and speed outweighs the lack of a big bat, and Diaz has much improved his defense, giving us also speed and hitting ability. Pitching is our weak spot, with now only 1 sure pitcher. Lynn is a wild card because he’s coming off injury but he’s had a good showing so far, along with leake and wacha. Wainwright has fared poorly in spring training so he may be the weak link. A rotation spot featuring wacha may be interchangeable with Gant as his early showings are impressive. We now have a stronger bullpen, with an everyday closer who is dominate (Oh), a set-up man who has had nothing but great stuff, except last season due to injury where he was average (Cecil). With Bowman showing strong and longer innings for rosenthal, there’s little room for failure.
I personally give them a B, an A if they had reyes in the rotation over wacha. There are minor infield issues mainly stemming from peralta and lack of production from wong, and uncertainty in the rotation. After that, the team looks strong, and very much a contender. Don’t count them out.
corey
I am a Fowler fan, but, I am curious to see how he plays since he is not playing for a contract (like last 2 seasons) and he doesn’t have Zobrist, Bryant, and Rizzoprotecting him.