Surely no one from Missouri will tweet something incredibly stupid this year: The 2016 St. Louis Cardinals

over/under on how long Molina's season lasts until his thumb explodes? i'm going with with just before the all-star break. i suspect we're going to become more familiar with brayan peña than we ever thought possible.

If they were smart, they would actually start Pena at least a couple times a week, especially early in the season. He's a pretty good player. Molina has a lot of miles on his body catching that many games. I'd think dropping him down to a 100-120 starts would help him out at this point. With 1b most likely being a committee position, if Molina could or would want to play there, it could be a place to get him spot starts without having to catch.

A few years ago the Reds used a tandum of Roberto Hernandez and Ryan Hanigan splitting the time and it seemed to really help both of them at the plate and kept them fresh.

Ramon Hernandez...mistyped

yeah, i'm with you earlnash, and pena's a big improvement over tony cruz. i definitely don't mind seeing him more often, but i worry about yadi going doing with an injury. every year is pretty much the same with matheny and lineup management: he claims that he's going to work the players to give them more time off, and then by mid-May he's basically just playing everyone every single day of the week. last year involved matt carpenter going down with exhaustion by early May, peralta and wong visibly wearing down after playing in nearly every game, three relievers in the top 30 of IP in the NL, holliday being rushed back from an injury only to be injured again, and molina being rushed back from an injury only to be injured again.

here's a post from early May last year which accurately predicts how terrible Matheny would be at this for the rest of the season: http://www.vivaelbirdos.com/st-louis-cardinals-sabermetrics-analysis/2015/5/12/8590527/matt-carpenters-break-should-be-a-wake-up-call

it's just a little too easy to imagine molina (whose thumb is still recovering) being rushed out again, then ending his season by may. the idea of him occasionally playing at 1B has been tossed around before, but it probably only works with 2011-2013 molina. his bat wouldn't play too well at 1B these days, and most of his value is coming from his defense and gamecalling, etc.

bernie miklasz sees the writing on the wall

http://www.101sports.com/2016/03/01/yadier-molina-will-play-yadier-molina-decides-play/

The #Cardinals say they have a major announcement coming at 11:45 a.m. ET.

https://twitter.com/markasaxon/status/705061484603248644

Shit.

Wong extension. Heart attack averted.

phew. i thought it was going to be news about them losing their first 10 draft picks or something

not sure how excited i am about the extension, tbh. i like wong, and i think he'll get better, but he's been kind of awful against lefthanded pitching. not a huge deal, esp if matheny can figure out how platoons work with gyorko. i guess it's better to wait until the financial terms are revealed before judging it too harshly

the Cardfan contingent here remains hilariously pessimistic in all circumstances!

maybe when i get home i'll photoshop a cardinals hat onto Schopenhauer

Update: Chris Cotiillo is reporting that the deal is for 5 years and $25.5 million guaranteed with a $12.5 option for the sixth year. That is a pretty good deal for the Cardinals, buying out potentially two free agent seasons while guaranteeing just under $26 million.

http://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2016/3/2/11146528/cardinals-sign-kolten-wong-to-contract-extension

it sure sounds heavy because he hasn't shown that much. otoh these deals usually make Mo look v smart years later.

'hasn't shown that much' is still 2 war for each of his first two full seasons. last year he was right behind neil walker, who just got $10.6m for his final year of arbitration (and is five years older)

maybe he doesn't get any better, but that's a pretty decent price to lock up even a league-average player for his peak years (and avoid paying for the post-peak years)

some of the impression is probably the angst over wanting a leadoff man not named Carpenter. and Wong got caught between Peralta tanking the 1/2 half and 1st base being a black hole. also i generally lose track of salary ranges and say dumb things -_-

1. Crap Treatment; 3B

2. Tony T. Chestpepsi; RF

3. Hot, Tidy Llama; LF

4. Planetary John; SS

5. Madam Tats; 1B

6. Rad, Racing Hulk; CF

7. Ready ... Aim ... Lion!; C

8. El Gown Knot; 2B

9. A Withdrawn Magi; SP

Planetary John out for 2-3 months, so someone will have to come up with one for garcia or gyorko (or diaz?)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cc38e8bWoAAiD6a.jpg

Oops, meant to post that in the Spring Training thread.

kidtxter: woah
kidtxter: something jus happend
kidtxter: everybody got scared or someting
kidtxter: god i hate my dad

A real hero for all of us who hate to stand up and walk around, and yet still want to make a difference

Dazedly Aims

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-cardinals-already-have-an-in-house-shortstop

i don't care that it's a pitcher talking about another member of his rotation:

https://twitter.com/vivaelbirdos/status/705783203689324545

:D

BP podcast Cards preview today featured Dayn Perry describing Matheny's dugout 'optics' as "What do I do now?"

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=28627

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/ruben-tejada-inevitable-cardinal/

sorry to dwell on this, but

why is yadi playing in games right now? he's been catching spring training games, and at least for the first few games, he was either lifted for a pinch hitter when it was his time to bat, or didn't swing the bat, which makes it obvious that his thumb isn't fully healed. since then, he's taken a few swings (he's 0 for 3 with three strikeouts and a sacrifice bunt). but why not just let him heal, roll with brayan pena for a couple months, and slowly bring yadi in sometime in June? it seems like they're actively trying to make his worst case scenario - a season ending aggravation of the thumb injury - come to pass

i'm guessing because he actively wanted to catch games

but, related: spring training is way too long and boring and getting worse all the time

Yadi is basically the manager, he does what he wants these days.

I don't think you understand veteran leadership. It would have been very disrespectful to stop Holliday and Yadi from re-injuring themselves last year.

St. Louis Cardinals ✔ ‎@Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals have signed INF Ruben Tejada to a one-year free agent contract. Will wear uniform No. 19.

https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ODkds5xv4_y-8MjmG1gIYaDsmwU=/0x150:2430x1770/709x473/filters:format(webp)/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/49152743/usa-today-9203181.0.jpg

i try not to pay attention to spring training but they've looked absolutely awful out there recently. only won 1 of last 12 games, and 5 errors today

looks like walden is out again. i was kind of hoping we'd get him for at least a month or two this year. on the plus side, it opens up a spot for matt bowman.

opening day lineup, 2016:

Carpenter 3B
Pham LF
Holliday 1B
Grichuk CF
Piscotty RF
Molina C
Wong 2B
Gyorko SS
Wainwright P

awesome challenge Mike

Does this game COUNT??? I had no idea...

Tommy Pham to the DL, but Aledmys Diaz gets a promotion.

man, so disappointing about Pham.

2 games in and every question mark is being answered with a negative. ;_;

i was only able to catch the first 2 innings but i read the recap and it sounds like they got matheny'd.

btw, why is wacha the #2 starter?

Matheny was terrible again. I mean there's a reason a team with one of the best records in the last 4 years has one of the worst in extra-innings. He still does this crap of removing the 3rd spot in the order for a relief pitcher. He brings in Adams to face a pitcher who kills lefties because........?

Wacha is an issue. Matheny's terrible line up construction is an issue. And aside from maybe Piscotty, none of the hitters look like a force or catalyst. They look very much like the team that was fading out in September.

One positive: Oh.

Jenifer Langosch ‏@LangoschMLB
Marco Gonzales began feeling elbow discomfort 2-3 weeks ago. He's already seen #STLCards doctor; second opinion to come from Dr. ElAttrache.

yikes, could be another lost season for him. :-/ that leaves cooney and/or lyons as a replacement SP when someone goes down. plus reyes as a potential late-season option if he continues making good progress. oh, and after he serves his suspension that's more severe than what aroldis fucking chapman received

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cfd4c-OUMAA-CEq.jpg

(source)

wow

that's just

i mean

jfc

for the second time in 5 games, matheny is benching grichuk. hazelbaker hit a HR so now he deserves starts instead of grichuk.

gotta go with the hot hand

TJ for marco gonzales

offlirtion

Hazelbaker?

yaaaaaaaaay

good night

Mark Saxon ESPN Staff Writer
How hot is Jedd Gyorko (Yes, you read that right)? Not only has he homered in six of his last nine games, his seven homers since July 18 are the most in the majors and they have come over just 32 at-bats. "I don't think people realize how good a player he is," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.

jaime going for a maddux, headed into 9th inning with zero runs, 11 strikeouts, one walk, 3 hits, 89 pitches

(and only 2 hits given up by the barve's de la cruz)

looks like oh's getting the call for the 9th, nm

reyes up

weaver too

Holliday broken thumb

lance lynn had TJ on november 10; he is making a rehab appearance in palm beach tonight

not sure i've ever heard of such a thing

whoa
that's the first i'm hearing of it, too. that's insane

then again, that's what you can expect when you follow the cardinal way

trying to follow the unwritten rule of blowing out your not completely healed arm

I expect that matheny will put him in the bullpen, let him sit 3 weeks without pitching, and then deploy him in extra innings during a must-win playoff game

just as The Lord told him to

obviously his agent isn't scott boras

he hits free agency after next season; this seems . . . imprudent

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cqd2ks6VYAEshW-.jpg

lmao

i didnt know the infield D was this bad

grichuk is a really streaky hitter

https://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CMJ5YrnskFLWeAkl_SD108f1SOw=/1600x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7038863/mms1.png

not a good fit for mathenaging: http://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2016/9/3/12780556/cardinals-small-sample-mike-matheny-randal-grichuk

The Cardinals’ best 40-game stretch this season was from early June to late July when they went 23-17.

whoops, forgot the other part:

Conversely, they haven’t had a completely forgettable stretch either. The Cardinals’ worst record over 40 games this season is 20-20 (mid April to late May), which is quite good. In the National League, the only other team to not have a losing record over their worst 40 games of baseball is the Nationals (also 20-20).

i think the odds on a Cards-Mets WC game are purty good right now

gross

then Mets knock out Cubs again, obv

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r274/bridgetosomewhere/Matheny%20Outcomes_zpskymmqrkd.gif

gulf coast league champions: cardinals
appalachian league champions: johnson city cardinals
ny-penn league champions: state college cardinals spikes

doesn't mean much in the long run, but it's cooler than not winning

wacha back from DL and straight to the bullpen. jaime might be joining him as well

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/09/cardinals-activate-michael-wacha-for-pen-duty-weighing-rotation-change.html

best case for Mets is they split their 4-gamer with Giants while Mets beat up Twins

^^^^^

fairy tales CAN come troo

i can't sleep. so here is tsunami riding a wave

http://i.imgur.com/fB3cNfI.gif

A+

https://vine.co/v/5vetJvZdaKv

oof.

this problem could have been avoided by playing kolten wong at a position he's actually good at (2B), moving carpenter to 3B, and benching a player who has been worth 0.9 fWAR this year (peralta)

Wong trying to fix his divots after that play was pretty funny.

Diaz returns from a day grieving with the Fernandez family, hits a grand slam

http://www.todaysknuckleball.com/nl/st-louis-cardinals/column-poor-game-tactics-make-mathenys-retention-mistake/

OK I haven't even read this yet but:

"This is part one of a three-part series delving into three different elements of Mike Matheny’s management — in-game tactics, player usage and rest, and prospect development — and why the Cardinals retaining him for 2017 is a mistake." [emphasis mine]

oooh votto just got clocked in the chin with a one-hopper from the left fielder as he was sliding into second, stretching a single into a double. has a nice laceration and not too happy about being forced to leave the game

another example of the cardinals not playing the game the right way imo

controversy

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/17673770

I think we can all agree that the next batter definitely would have driven in the winning run anyway, so no big deal.

surprised to see that joe west was not part of the umpire crew

No option year for Holliday. He was a great part of the team, but it was the right decision.

totally willing to give you this game fwiw

and possibly this one

what stands between the cardinals and dominion? ryan vogelsong

Chad Kuhl is listed as the Pittsburgh starter for tomorrow.

oh never mind that was today! sorry.

frustrating year for sure. the demise of Wacha being the worst part imo. Diaz/Reyes the best.

but still being in the race on the last day in what seemed like a bridge year going into is decent.

other things learned: giving a flexible lineup to a challenged manager is not a great plan. less platoons/throw 5 mediocre players at one position in 2017, please.

yadi and waino up for the gold glove again

http://i.imgur.com/ZwP02Nx.gif

yadi doesn't deserve it. :( his pitchframing still looks good and i'm sure his gamecalling is great, but his arm is gone. his caught stealing was 21% this year, i think? way down from previous years, and it seemed like as the year went on more and more teams starting realizing they could basically steal at will on him.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cvo3Er5VUAE7leL.jpg:small

sorry, had to

ok lol at that one, i admit