OT: OT: Lets Go Cardinals! (All Baseball Talk Here) Part 2

[TheDizee]

BACK TO BAACK TO BAAACK TO BAAAACK

and they will find a way to lose the game again

 

[Linkens Mastery]

and they will find a way to lose the game again

Nope.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Hahaha

Cardinals are only three games above .500 now.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Hahaha

Cardinals are only three games above .500 now.

That's baseball. There are so many hot streaks and cold streaks in baseball it's insane you can have a team that's 10 games over .500 drop to 5 games under, then back to 5 games over in a month's time. Especially when offense goes through a slump with multiple players out with injury.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Goldy hits career home run 300.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Mikolas going to the All-Star Game. Dude had been our ace all season.

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

We drafted a lefty from Oregon state, Cooper Hjerpe. Outside of having an interesting last name I know nothing about him.

 

[PJJJP]

We drafted a lefty from Oregon state, Cooper Hjerpe. Outside of having an interesting last name I know nothing about him.

The general scouts think he is a mid rotation or a good reliver. Some of the guys who are really analytical think he's the best college pitcher in the draft. He's a unicorn in the sense that he pitches in a way no other pitcher has pitched. He has the lowest release height by a decent amount. He generates a lot of whiffs (30% on the fastball, 50-56% on the changeup and slider) and he pounds the strike zone and gets a lot of ground balls. He also maintains his velocity throughout his start and averages around 90 plus pitches. The problem is no one has ever pitched like him so we don't know if it will work against more advanced hitting.

 

[bluesfan94]

Not sure the specifics of the draftees, but I like the idea of grabbing a couple college pitchers given the current makeup of our farm system/team.

In theory we have a decent long term outfield, SS, 2B, 3B, and C, and then at 1B you can shove in anyone who can hit.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Guess that Ex Cardinals Player

AB 79
AVG .354
HR 13
RBI 34
SB 0
OPS 1.380

 

[tfriede2]

Guess that Ex Cardinals Player

AB 79
AVG .354
HR 13
RBI 34
SB 0
OPS 1.380

Carp. Finally one that nobody can blame the front office for - I thought he was absolutely done. Good for him to have a rejuvenation.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Carp. Finally one that nobody can blame the front office for - I thought he was absolutely done. Good for him to have a rejuvenation.

Dude is mashing this year.

Cards are targeting all pitchers this draft. Kinda expected 1 or 2 more catchers tho

 

[tfriede2]

Dude is mashing this year.

Cards are targeting all pitchers this draft. Kinda expected 1 or 2 more catchers tho

I’m happy for him - no idea how he’s doing what he’s doing, but it’s awesome.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I’m happy for him - no idea how he’s doing what he’s doing, but it’s awesome.

I blame Jeff Albert oh and the Yankees right field

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

I blame Jeff Albert oh and the Yankees right field

Yeah 318 or whatever it is down the line helps too

 

[Spear]

Maybe it was the shaving of the beard that did it!

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

I used to be a total baseball nut. Hockey was always my first love, but I got obsessed with baseball for years and actually ended up taking a job writing for a subscription-based fantasy baseball website for five years. Working in the industry killed my love of baseball, along with what the product turned into, and I haven't really watched much the last several years.

What's the deal with so many Cardinals fans being eager to empty the farm system and give the richest contract in history for Juan Soto? I get that he was an elite star player last season, but this year he's on pace for a 4.6 WAR season.

This isn't Mike Trout we're talking about here. He's not a five-tool guy like Mookie Betts. Why are so many people so excited to empty the farm and make such a huge financial commitment to one player who obviously isn't a lock to post 5+ WAR every season? Am I missing something here?

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I used to be a total baseball nut. Hockey was always my first love, but I got obsessed with baseball for years and actually ended up taking a job writing for a subscription-based fantasy baseball website for five years. Working in the industry killed my love of baseball, along with what the product turned into, and I haven't really watched much the last several years.

What's the deal with so many Cardinals fans being eager to empty the farm system and give the richest contract in history for Juan Soto? I get that he was an elite star player last season, but this year he's on pace for a 4.6 WAR season.

This isn't Mike Trout we're talking about here. He's not a five-tool guy like Mookie Betts. Why are so many people so excited to empty the farm and make such a huge financial commitment to one player who obviously isn't a lock to post 6+ WAR every season? Am I missing something here?

They see numbers and fall in love. I don't want anything to do with Soto. We need to worry about our Starters, Bullpen, and Catchers not our outfield and infield

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

I used to be a total baseball nut. Hockey was always my first love, but I got obsessed with baseball for years and actually ended up taking a job writing for a subscription-based fantasy baseball website for five years. Working in the industry killed my love of baseball, along with what the product turned into, and I haven't really watched much the last several years.

What's the deal with so many Cardinals fans being eager to empty the farm system and give the richest contract in history for Juan Soto? I get that he was an elite star player last season, but this year he's on pace for a 4.6 WAR season.

This isn't Mike Trout we're talking about here. He's not a five-tool guy like Mookie Betts. Why are so many people so excited to empty the farm and make such a huge financial commitment to one player who obviously isn't a lock to post 5+ WAR every season? Am I missing something here?

He has terrible BA on BIP this year. He's obviously better than his statline.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

They see numbers and fall in love. I don't want anything to do with Soto. We need to worry about our Starters, Bullpen, and Catchers not our outfield and infield

Pretty much what I was thinking, but I've been out of the loop and admittedly don't know much about Soto. I was wondering if I was missing something in my questioning of whether he's elite superstar people are making him out to be.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Pretty much what I was thinking, but I've been out of the loop and admittedly don't know much about Soto. I was wondering if I was missing something in my questioning of whether he's elite superstar people are making him out to be.

He's just a very young very good LH power hitter who doesn't strike out much. Definitely a Star in the Making. But there's just a lot of things that didn't make sense for him and the cardinals.

1. Cards are fairly stacked in the Outfield. 2x GG O'Neill, 1x GG Bader, ROTY finalist Carlson.
2. Cards management doesn't like spending money

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

He's just a very young very good LH power hitter who doesn't strike out much. Definitely a Star in the Making. But there's just a lot of things that didn't make sense for him and the cardinals.

1. Cards are fairly stacked in the Outfield. 2x GG O'Neill, 1x GG Bader, ROTY finalist Carlson.
2. Cards management doesn't like spending money

I'm always in favor of a more balanced approach to roster building. The downside is too great to devote so much to one player.

If he was a free agent, whatever. No cap. Not my money to spend. But to have to give up multiple Top 100 prospects to do so doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Allens Five Hole]

We can agree or disagree on whether the Cards should go after Soto or not but he's not a "star in the making." He is absolutely an elite superstar who is arguably the best hitter in baseball. As a 19 year old, he put up an OPS of .912 and an OPS+ of 142, which means he was 42% better than the average major leaguer (league average is set at 100).

He has put up astronomical numbers since arriving and one "bad" half season where he is still putting up an OPS over .900 should not make folks question whether he is a superstar or not. He's unquestionably a superstar and, for my money, is the second best hitter in baseball behind Mike Trout.

Also, FWIW, after a slow start this year, he has posted at .351 AVG with a .510 OBP the last month. His advanced stats showed he has been EXTREMELY unlucky all year and this is just positive regression.

 

[BadgersandBlues]

I'd trade half our system for Soto today and then sign him to a 15 year deal no questions asked.

Juan Soto is a guy you build around for the next 10-15 years. He's AP 2.0, but left handed. Furthermore, he's known. Maybe Walker becomes a difference maker. But he's down at double A at the same age that Soto was putting up top 10 MVP season (No really, at age 20 Soto was voted 9th for the MVP award). Prospects are what they are - a crapshoot. We've had multiple top 10, top 5, even top 1 (Reyes) prospects bust. Soto is an MLB player NOW who's going to win multiple MVP awards so long as he doesn't get injured. He won a WS with Washington and even in a down year such as this one, he's still got an OPS+ better then anyone on our current roster not named Goldschmidt.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Soto with an extension is different from just getting Soto, and he just turned down $440M. I just don't see the Cards offering the same type of deal. While Soto is significantly better than Ozuna, we gave up 2 future high-end pitchers for Ozuna who eventually walked. Imagine if we had Alcantara and Gallen on this rotation.