Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - The Latest On Changes Coming To The Cardinals

Starting point is 00:00:00 The first step to fixing a problem is admitting that you have a problem in the first place. Just how broken are things in the Cardinals system? The Athletics Katie Wu drops a bomb of a story about an organization that is in disarray. We'll talk about it today on Locked on Cardinals. You are Locked on Cardinals. Your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Hey there, Cardinals fans. I'm J.D. Hafford and I'm a national radio.

Starting point is 00:00:35 sports anchor born and raised in the Lou and a lifetime Cardinals fan and I'm your host for Lockdown Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day. I want to thank those of you who make Locktown Cardinals, your first list in each and every day. We're free and available wherever you get your podcast. You can find us on YouTube. Obviously, you can host up on Twitter X as well at JD Sports Radio and at L.O underscore Cardinals. This is a show serving Cardle Nation and giving the best fans in baseball, all of the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by booking.com. Booking.com. Booking.com. Yeah, the right state can make you a fan of any city, even your baseball rivals.

Starting point is 00:01:10 Book today on booking.com, the official accommodation partner of Major League Baseball, get the booking.com app today. So the St. Louis Cardinals used to be the crim de la crem, if you will, of the league. All right? They used to be the model that other teams kind of marveled at and strive to become like. You know, it was always consistency. They're always doing things the right way, putting together winning seasons, bringing up great prospects, trading for the right guys. It was, it was nice.

Starting point is 00:01:47 It was nice. And it happened for a very, very long time. That has not been the case for a few seasons now. The winning has declined. The playoff wins have stopped all together. The playoff appearances have absolutely vanished. And now the fans are disappearing from Bush Stadium. The Cardinals have become a shell of their former selves.

Starting point is 00:02:12 And change has to happen. Fans have been asking for change since last year. They decided this year, well, you know, we're going to make a couple of additions, but we're going to kind of run it back and see if we can get back to where we need to be with the same core group. That didn't work either. they can no longer do things the way that they've done it in the past and still win. Change has to happen. The cardinal way is no longer a winning way,

Starting point is 00:02:48 at least not the cardinal way that is being portrayed right now. It doesn't mean that the cardinal way, as we like to call it, is dead by any means. You know, there are still some parts of it that work. but it's time for a makeover. And it appears that the organization is finally willing to admit it and that they need to do something about it, which is good. Because for many years now,

Starting point is 00:03:14 we've talked about how, you know, the people in charge, you know, we're fine. We'll get it figured out. We're not worried about it. Now they're starting to worry about it. And perhaps that has something to do with the family. not showing up this year. Finally kind of saying, look, we've had enough, man, you guys are going

Starting point is 00:03:37 in the wrong direction or just running in place altogether. Something's got to be done, man. This is messed up. And Katie Wu, who covers the Cardinals for the athletic, who is supposed to come on this show here very, very soon when the season wraps up, already reached out to her before this article even dropped and invited her on. She was like, yeah, absolutely. Let me, you know, when the season over. Come on. So she should be with us sometime very, very soon. But she wrote an article that I've linked in the description. And it was definitely an eye opener. And there's parts of this article that are good. There are parts of this article. They're going to upset some people as well. She got multiple quotes from people within the organization. Apparently, there were plenty of

Starting point is 00:04:28 invites to like John Moseilock and Michael Gersh and guys to comment on the story. Apparently they said, no, we're not, we're not going to. But she was able to get multiple quotes from people within the organization anonymously who have admitted that things are pretty darn bad in the Cardinals organization right now. Now, I don't know how long these particular people and these employees have been with Cardinals, whether they've been here a while and have kind of witnessed the deterioration of things, or are they somebody who's just come on board in the last year or so, and they got here and took a look around or like, yikes, this is, this is bad.

Starting point is 00:05:14 This isn't so good here. A couple of the quotes I'll throw out there for you. I don't know how this was effed up so bad over the last few years. we are no longer developing winning players. It's broken. Our system is broken in a way. How it got there, I don't know. The next quote kind of gives me Patrick Swayze Roadhouse vibes,

Starting point is 00:05:38 not the new updated version that was on Amazon. The OG, the double deuce, the Patrick Swayze version, where it says, we're in trouble. This is not easily fixable within the next year or a year after. this is going to take some time. And you remember in that movie with Swayze, you know, he says it's going to get worse before it gets better. That's kind of what I think of when I see that quote

Starting point is 00:06:03 and when I think about what's going on with the organization altogether. We talk about things that they can do for next year's squad. It's to improve on what is not going to be a losing season this year, but obviously still a very disappointing season where you're not going to the playoffs. and none of the things that I've brought up on this show or that have been talked about by other media members, none of it makes you go, all right, they do this and this,

Starting point is 00:06:33 and boom, World Series champions, right? Like, that's not where it would be next year. They're not going to all of a sudden be contenders along with some of the bigger teams, like, you know, Phillies and the Yankees and the Dodgers. and, you know, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the are the tonper echelon teams. You know, guys that aren't up here with everything, but still play the game in a right way, have the right pieces to be successful. That's where we're looking at, you know,

Starting point is 00:07:13 it's just steps in the right direction, which is what we want. You know, you don't want to keep doing the same thing over and over and over again because that doesn't get us anywhere. But it's not something that will just magically turn things around for next year. You hope to improve on what you did this year. But is it going to put you into a playoff spot? Probably not. Probably not. So if that's your expectation, the things are just going to, you know, flip and it's going to be like a switch.

Starting point is 00:07:44 And all of a sudden, the Cardo is going to be pushing for 100 wins next year. You might want to tame those expectations just a little bit. But there are some changes coming. And Katie points them out. So what are they? Well, we'll get into that. And what will Hein Bloom's role be with all of this for the Cardinals? We'll go through that and what Katie has to say about those things next on Box on Cardinals.

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Starting point is 00:10:04 Anytime you want that feedback, always welcome and encouraged. Once again, we're talking about this article that a friend of the show, Katie Wu wrote on The Athletic, The Athletic.com, which is linked in the description. So you can go check it out for yourself. I encourage you to do that. Now, most of us can see the writing on the wall when the Cardinals brought in Heinblin, to be an advisor for the team and for John Moseylock, your president of baseball operations. For those unfamiliar,

Starting point is 00:10:35 Heinbloom is the former senior vice president of baseball operations for the raise. And then he became the chief baseball officer for the Red Sox before coming on board with the Cardinals this year. Now, with the raise, this is where things are very important because with the raise, he was the assistant director. Let me make sure I get this said properly. the assistant director of minor league operations in 2008,

Starting point is 00:10:59 with responsibility for all aspects of the team's minor league system, including player evaluation and assignments, expansion of video, strength and conditioning, and mental skills initiatives, creating the raise way player development manual and executing individual development plans for organizations' top prospects. So,

Starting point is 00:11:22 or just prospects, general, not even top prospects. Now, the key to what he did with the raise is, well, it's very important. It's very important to what he's going to be doing here in the future for the Cardinals, because according to Katie, Heim Bloom will be charged with making changes in the Cardinals farm system based on his findings after this season with the team. So it appears that they are finally going to do something about the issues that they've had with developing players. Katie says Bloom's first job will be to hire a new director of player development. Now, she does give them credit for how good the Cardinals used to be at developing players.

Starting point is 00:12:04 And this is something that, you know, other well-known journalists in St. Louis, one of my favorites is Bernie McClis. He's talked about repeatedly, repeatedly, that the Cardinals used to be way ahead of the curve, way ahead of the curve back in the day, in many, many ways, which is why this organization has prospered so well over the last couple of decades. But eventually, whether it be just being smug, whether it be arrogance, whether it's just being cheap, or just not paying attention, whatever it may be laziness, I don't know, whatever it's been, they have fallen behind the times in their ability to develop players properly.

Starting point is 00:12:51 and you know how like how other teams like in the NFL for sure you know they see an offense or they see a defense and it clicks and it gets them to the playoffs or they win they win the championship or whatever and you always hear the phrase of copycat league right where the other teams will be like oh what are they doing and then they just take whatever that team did steal it for their own and then just kind of modify things the way they want to do it well that's kind of what happened with the cardinals uh other teams began to do what the Cardinals were doing. And then as time went on, they started to do it better, investing more into it, which is a big part of this. And she lists that as one of the main reasons that the Cardinals model has failed in recent years is because they decided to not spend as much on player development as these other teams have. She also points out how the Cardinals haven't kept up with other teams when it comes to the amount of coaching. and attention that different areas of the game deserve.

Starting point is 00:13:55 She points out that the Phillies, the Mets, the Brewers, all teams who at this moment are going to the playoffs, have 14 or more full-time field staffers that focus on just catchers or just base stealing or just infielders or just outfielders. She says by contrast, the Cardinals do not have an infield outfield or a catching court. nor do they employ any full-time roving instructors or any full-time coordinator position in Latin America. Why? Why? Why do they feel like that they can skate by and not have these things while other teams are getting better by having such things? But why do they think that wasn't something that they should be doing?

Starting point is 00:14:43 That's a good question, right? According to the story, this is one of the reasons. reasons why players get to the big league club and then flame out. She points out that the, you know, the issues that Jordan Walker has had, Nolan Gorman, Dylan Carlson, Zach Thompson, Matthew Libertory, Dakota Hudson, Yvonne Herrera. You know the names. You know the names. We've seen guys like Lane Thomas and Randy Orozerena and Adoli-Scarcia and many others. they move on to other organizations and find success.

Starting point is 00:15:19 And we always ask, why does this keep happening to the Cardinals? What are we doing wrong here where these guys aren't fulfilling what we think they're going to be in a Cardinals uniform? And yet, as soon as they escape town, they start to flourish in other places. Why can't the Cardinals give these guys the proper instruction and the expert tutelage to make them capable big league players for the Cardinals. Like, what's the problem here? One of the reasons that was brought up in this article is just basic fundamentals. According to the article, one staffer said, where we're seeing guys really take a hit,

Starting point is 00:16:03 I mean, these guys do not know the fundamentals of the game, which is something that the Cardinal way, the way, hey, the way I grew up with that cardinal way, that was what it was all about, was doing the little things right. And it's stuff that I've noticed from watching teams, you know, like the Brewers and like the guardians who aren't spending $200 million on rosters, but yet they continue to win ball games. Teams that don't really have a massive edge in actual talent than the Cardinals do outside of, you know, guys like Jose Ramirez, obviously a. special talent. Willie Adomas has been a monster for the Brewers this year. But the thing that I

Starting point is 00:16:51 notice about those teams is that they do those little things right. You know, they take these competitive events where they're just fouling stuff off all the time. They always seem to be in the right position defensively. You know, they make the basic plays on defense. They take advantage of the other team's weaknesses by doing all the little things right, which is something that the Cardinals used to be very, very good at and do it better than everybody else, and they don't do that anymore. Things have drastically fallen off. She also brings up a payroll and how according to people she talked to, ownership basically gives John Moseilac a set amount of money to split between the Cardinals' entire baseball operations department.

Starting point is 00:17:43 And the front office has repeatedly chosen to invest in the big league team. Those decisions resulted in repeated cuts to player development, both stateside and in Latin America. And then, of course, she points out that the money that they do decide to spend on the big league club, they spend it poorly. They make bad decisions. They've made bad trades in recent years. you know, a few years back, that wasn't really the case.

Starting point is 00:18:11 You know, the Cardinals were winning a lot of trades. And she kind of points out outside of Paul Goldsmith, Nolan Aronado trades, that a lot of them have been bad and that the returns have been horrible. And we know this. You've been watching this stuff go on over and over again. I mean, look what the Cardinals got back for Tyler O'Neill. Horrible. Horrible.

Starting point is 00:18:33 And that's one of the reasons, too, you know, Dylan Carlson, horrible. And these were two of like the pillars of your outfield that you were going to build around. You hang on to them too long. And then you trade them away when their values at their lowest. You don't get anything in return. Tyler O'Neill had a monster year for Boston this year. Dylan Carlson hasn't done much since he had a little hot streak in Tampa Bay, but he hasn't done much there. But still, you know, we were talking about Dylan Carlson as part of a package for one,

Starting point is 00:19:04 Soto at one time. And now you traded him for a relief pitcher that you designated for assignment this year. Like, just brutal stuff. So all of these things that, you know, we pointed out before, but at least it's finally getting acknowledgement, right? It's getting acknowledgement now from people inside the organization. They're speaking out. They're willing to talk about this. And hopefully it does bring on the necessary changes to get this organization back to where

Starting point is 00:19:35 we all want it to be, which is on top. You know, you want to get on top of the NL Central, then you want to get on top of the national wing, and then on top of Major League Baseball altogether. Now, who is going to lead this as far as on the field, right? Who's in charge here? So she does touch on the returns of Ali Marmal and other members of the coaching staff,

Starting point is 00:19:56 and what she says, it's probably going to piss some people off. We'll tell you what it is next on Locktown Cardinals. This episode of Locked on Cardinals is brought to you by booking.com. Booking.com, booking. Yeah. Explore those U.S. cities you always secretly wanted to learn more about. I've got some favorites around the country that I've been lucky enough to go to, New York, Boston, Vegas, Miami, San Diego, L.A., Nashville, Kansas City, hotels, bed and breakfast, vacation, rentals, resorts, and so much more, all available in those cities and everywhere else in the U.S.

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Starting point is 00:21:49 It's part of a lockdown podcast network. You're a team every day. So John Mosea has a contract through 2025. You should be familiar with this by now. We've talked about it a lot. After that, he has said that he is planning on stepping down from his current job as president of baseball operations. And most believe that he won't just like retire and just vanish or anything like that, that he'll take on a different role within the organization.

Starting point is 00:22:12 But he wouldn't be in charge of what's going to happen as far as, you know, everyday baseball-related stuff. The coaching staff on the field is his group right now. Ali Marmal and company, those are his guys. Ali's his guy. We've heard that, you know, if they were going to fire Ali that if they wanted him out, then Mo was going with him. That was the kind of, that's,

Starting point is 00:22:39 the kind of, kind of a connection those guys have right now. They're in it together, right? You get the extension for Ali this offseason. Whether we all liked it or not, that was Moe saying, he's the guy and I'm putting everything I got behind it. The expectation, according to Katie Wu, is that Ali Marmal is going to be returning for 2025. Sign that two years.

Starting point is 00:23:09 extension before the season would take him through 2026. Benge coach Daniel DeScalso also signed through 2025, as is their pitching coach Dusty Blake. Their base coach Pop Warner signed an extension through 2026 in spring training shortly after Marmal. She also says five coaches are up for negotiation after the season, including hitting coaches Turner Ward and Brandon Allen. Stubby Clap, Pachie Elkins, who's their game planning coach, their assistant

Starting point is 00:23:40 pitching coach, Julio Ron Hell, also up for negotiations. And she says, though the Cardinals were one of the National League's worst offensive teams this season, there is mutual interest in retaining all of this year's coaching staff, including the hitting coaches. Now, personally, whether you like it or not, I don't think Ali has done that bad of a job. I have been not as hard on Ali as most people have. but that's me. You don't have to agree with me, and that's fine. We can disagree on that, no big deal.

Starting point is 00:24:18 Most fans are done with them, and it's basically because the team's been losing, too. If they had been winning, would they think Ollie's that bad of a manager? I doubt it. Was he that bad his first year when they went to the playoffs? Well, I don't remember here a lot of people complaining about him. I also feel, personally, the Dusty Blake has done a rather fine job, much better here in year two than he was last year. I think the bullpen's been very, very good.

Starting point is 00:24:44 The rotation, in my opinion, is held up their end of the bargain. Outside of Miles Michaelis. The offense, obviously, has been an issue. Far too many guys underachieving and back-to-back gears. And for whatever reason, the Major League coaching staff cannot seem to fix these guys. And that's where I have a problem. They end up sending these guys back down instead of fixing them at the Major League level, well, we're going to send you down. We can't, we don't have time for you up here. You go down there

Starting point is 00:25:14 and figure things out. That's a problem for me. Like, you, you should be able to fix that. You're supposed to be the top guys. You're supposed to be able to fix them. You shouldn't have to send them down to get them fixed. So I'd be disappointed if something wasn't done with the hitting coaches. But perhaps, you know, after reading this article, maybe it isn't firing these guys that is actually the answer. Maybe it's hiring other guys to go along with them that needs to happen to help them fulfill their jobs better. Instead of addition by subtraction, maybe it's more addition to help them that will do this roster some good. I don't know what Turner Ward teaches behind closed doors, but you've heard people stick up for the coaching staff saying, no, no, no, it's not

Starting point is 00:26:09 preparation. It's not that they're not doing their job. and say it's really on us. Maybe they just, maybe they're spread a little too thin. Maybe that's the thing. Either way, it's a great piece by Katie. Again, I'll get her on the show as soon as we can as soon as the season wraps up. And, you know, I've only touched on some of what she goes into in this article. I gave you kind of the meat and potatoes of it all here.

Starting point is 00:26:33 But there's plenty more that you should go into and read, uh, and check it out for yourself and develop your own opinions on, uh, what you think is going on with the Cardinals and, uh, what you think should happen. I would love to hear from you, though, drop your comments down below on the video. Obviously, you can hit me up on Twitter X anytime you want, and we can do a discussion there as well. When the season wraps up this weekend in San Francisco, there will apparently be more clarity given on how things will all shake out. I know last year they ran and hid following their horrible season, and they didn't do a postseason press conference to talk about things, which was very cowardly on their part. It was really weird.

Starting point is 00:27:15 But apparently they're not going to do that this time. Okay. So hopefully we'll get some answers and we'll know what the direction of the team is coming up here real, real soon. For now, what I can tell you is we've got three games remaining on the schedule. Cardinals are 81 and 78. They will not have a losing record this season. They are guaranteed to at least finish 500. Tough loss yesterday.

Starting point is 00:27:39 If you saw my crossover with Paul had locked on Rockies, you know, It was tough to watch because, you know, you got two outs in the eighth inning, three run lead, and the Rocky score five. And I get it in situations where you want to see what some of these young guys have to offer. Can they get themselves out of trouble? You know, Fernandez and Leahy, you know, it's part of the learning process. You know, these games technically don't really mean a whole lot between those two clubs. But it was tough to watch them just go down in flames like that three run lead in the eighth inning. and then you blow that and end up losing.

Starting point is 00:28:14 So that was tough. I was hoping for the sweep. It was something that hadn't been done. Apparently in Colorado with 20 years, Cardinals haven't swept Rockies who had not been a very good team in recent years. But it doesn't matter now. We're moving on to San Francisco. You got Miles Michaelis pitching tonight.

Starting point is 00:28:31 Is it going to be his last time in a Cardinals uniform? I don't know. I don't know. But then you got Andre Palante going on Saturday and then Michael McGreevy on Sunday. and then changes begin. The new era begins. Should be an interesting offseason, that's for sure.

Starting point is 00:28:48 And I'll be right here with you the entire time to help guide you through it all. So thank you for making Lockdown Cardinals. Your first listen every day. If you haven't already, give us a follow on Twitter X at L0 underscore Cardinals and at JD Sports Radio. Like, subscribe on YouTube, help our channel and our love for the Cardinals grow. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. We will see you next time on Lockedown Cardinals.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - The Latest On Changes Coming To The Cardinals

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