Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - What Jim Bowden Grades The Cardinals Offseason And Where He Thinks They'll Finish In The Division!

Starting point is 00:00:00 How did former MLBGM Jim Bowden rank the Cardinals offseason compared to the rest of the NL Central? And where does he predict they're going to finish this year? Cards fans might be a little surprised. I know I was. This is Locked on Cardinals. You are Locked on Cardinals. Your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast. Part of the Locked on podcast network.

Starting point is 00:00:21 Your team every day. Hey there, Cardles fans. I'm J.D. Haffern and I'm a national radio sports anchor. Born and raised in the Lou and a lifetime Cardinals fan. and I'm your host for Locktown Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, covering your team every day. You can follow me on TwitterX

Starting point is 00:00:46 at Jitney Sports Radio and the podcast at L.O underscore Cardinals. I want to thank those of you who make Locked on Cardinals, your first list in every day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcast. You can also find us on YouTube. Make sure you like, subscribe, and comment.

Starting point is 00:01:00 If you're stopping by, interact with us, don't be shy, be a part of the show. Hit that notification button so you know when the new episodes are posted because this is a show, serving Cardle Nation, and giving the best fans in baseball all of the info about the birds on the bat. This episode being brought to you by Price Picks,

Starting point is 00:01:16 the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. Go to Pricepix.com slash locked on MLB. Use the code all lowercase, locked on MLB for a first deposit match up to $100. Now, the Cardinals send a lot of their younger players to face Tyler O'Neill and the Boston Red Sox today. That's right. Tyler O'Neill met up with. the guys beforehand. There was a lot of hugging and shaking hands and stuff.

Starting point is 00:01:43 Everybody seemed to get along just fine in case you were worried about that. And lo and behold, the youngsters got the W. Libertur got the start, Victor Scott once again put on a show. So we're going to talk about that game a little bit later. But first, I want to get into these off-season grades that just got released from Jim Bowden. We get them every year. Some of them are good. Some of them are bad.

Starting point is 00:02:05 But they're fun to go through, especially when it's someone who's outside. of the St. Louis area because most of us in St. Louis or who have been fans of the Cardinals for a long time might be a little bit softer on the Cardinals and think a little more highly of them. A lot of the media in our fair city of St. Louis has been accused of, you know, going a little easy on John Moseilock and company.

Starting point is 00:02:29 So it's nice to get somebody outside of the St. Louis area to get their point of view and see what they think of what the Cardinals did this offseason because I consider to make arguments about good things they did. And I can also flip it and tell you certain things that they did and make them sound bad. So I like getting this outside perspective on it. So Jim Bowden, who works for the athletic. He's been a major league GM in Cincinnati and in Washington. He writes some entertaining stuff for the athletic. And that's how I look at these things. It's entertainment value. It's for us to have a little fun with to chat about instead of, you know, rehashing, depressing injury stories,

Starting point is 00:03:11 which we didn't hear about anything major today. So we're going to go with this instead. I'll start with how he felt about the Cardinals editions, and then I'll tell you how it compared to the rest of the division in his eyes. And then we'll give the overall grades and we'll have what he predicts the NL Central will look like at the end of this season. And as much as we whine about what the Cardinals did this year. You do have to admit that there was a lot of roster turnover. There was a lot of changes. So a quick reminder of what they did and the contracts that were involved. Sunny Gray, three years, $75 million. It could go to a fourth year. We know that. Obviously, the pitching was a big thing for John Moselock this offseason. Kyle Gibson,

Starting point is 00:03:56 one year, $12 million. Lance Lynn, one year, $10 million. Keenan Middleton, one year, $6 million. Matt Carpenter one year, 740K, Brandon Crawford, one year, $2 million. Also made some trades. He acquired Nick Robertson and Victor Santos from the Red Sox for Tyler O'Neill, acquired Andrew Kittridge from the raise for Richie Palacios, also gave an extension to Tommy Edmund, two years 16 and a half million, although he hasn't been able to play yet. So Bowdoin's key takeaways from the Cardinals off season,

Starting point is 00:04:28 he says they were committed to improving their pitching staff, spend $103 million in free agency to do it. Signing Sunday Gray was by far their best move, and he came at a reasonable three-year, $75 million price tag to anchor their rotation. However, the Cardinals also added a lot of age with Lance Lynn, Kyle Gibson, Matt Carpenter, and Brandon Crawford, who are all 36 years old or older.

Starting point is 00:04:52 In fact, half the projected Cardinals opening day roster will be over 30, and seven players will be 35 or older. The Cardinals should get better production from their superstars, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Aronado, and have to hope that their young court led by Jordan Walker, Norman, and Mason Wynn will have breakout years if they're going to contend this season. Now, Jim isn't breaking any ground here with these comments. These are things that we've said over and over and over.

Starting point is 00:05:17 We all know the Cardinals went with a lot of veteran guys on short deals and are hoping that all of this works out. And if it doesn't, they're not stuck under some really bad contracts for a long time. they can get out of it and try again next year and see what else is out there. But if it works, cool, right? Awesome. So what was Bowden's grade for the birds? Gave them a B. Gave them a B for their move.

Starting point is 00:05:40 So not too shabby, considering when you look around other offseason grades, and a lot of people are giving the cardals a C or lower due to not being aggressive enough and going after bigger name pitchers. Everybody likes the Sunny Gray signing. But after that, they're like, why not Blake's now? Why not? Jordan Montgomery. And you can't really blame people for feeling that way because I feel that way too.

Starting point is 00:06:08 I mean, especially in a division, which is just there for the taking, you know? I mean, there's not like one team that's way better than the other one in this division. It's not like that at all. And if one pitcher could put you over the top and make you that team that's so much better, why don't you do it? So none of the teams of the Nail Central appear to be in the running for Snell or Montgomery, not when we're trying to do it. So it's very, very odd because that could be the one piece that put you over. Anyway, the biggest question for Jim Bowden for them,

Starting point is 00:06:42 will the starters behind Sunny Gray in the rotation perform well enough for the Cardinals to win more games than they lose? So that's what he has to say about the Cardinals. Now up next, I'm going to give you what Bowden felt about the rest of the division, okay, because he breaks them all down. He did the whole league, but we're going to focus on the NL Central today. And I'll let you know how we think everyone will finish. Plus, we'll talk about Victor Scott the second's big day today against the Red Sox.

Starting point is 00:07:06 Man, it's he a lot of fun to watch. So, well, we'll talk about all of this coming up on Lockdown Cardinals. Say goodbye to busted brackets because Fandul lets you bet on every game of the tournament, whether you're betting on a big upset or number one seed, time to go dancing on America's number one sports book. Right now, new customers get $200 in bonus bets. if your first $5 bet wins. That's $200 to use on point spreads or money lines.

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Starting point is 00:08:51 You can find Locked on Sports Today available on the Free Fire TV channels app. And again, thank you for making Lockdown Cardinals your first listen every day. I know this one's coming out a little bit later. I told you it's going to be crazy for a couple of weeks here with my other schedule for work and for, you know, I'm moving. And I've got things that are going on and the wife is on vacation in Arizona. So I'm getting them out as quick and as best as I can. We'll have one out a little bit earlier tomorrow, early afternoon tomorrow on Wednesday. So that hopefully will make some people happy.

Starting point is 00:09:22 But you can leave your comments on YouTube as well as on Twitter. X anytime you want feedback, always welcome and encouraged. So back to the Jim Bowden and L. Central office. season rankings. Here's how we rated the rest of the division's moves. We'll go with the Cincinnati Reds on this one. The Reds did a couple of moves. Frankie Montas being the big one, one year 16 million, Jamir Candelario, Nick Martinez, Emilio Pagan, Brent Suter, Buck Farmer, Austin wins. They also acquired cash from the Rangers in exchange for Danielle Duarte. Bowding gave him a beat, says the best part of this team is that seven of the nine players

Starting point is 00:09:58 and the projected starting lineup are 22 to 27 years old, and three-fifths of the expected rotation is 24 to 26 years old. Several of these young Reds players are primed for breakout performances all at the same time. However, the Reds got extremely disappointing news last week when third baseman Noelve Marte, who was an early rookie of the year candidate, was suspended 80 games for violating the league's policy on performance enhancing drugs, and he will not be eligible to participate in the postseason if the Reds make it, which is a real blow. to Cincinnati. That's what you get for cheating. Cheaters never win. Biggest question for the

Starting point is 00:10:36 Reds, according to Bowden, can Montas stay healthy and pitch like he did in 2021 with the A's or was signing him a bad gamble in a waste of $16 million that could have gone to a healthier pitcher? My take on this, I think Frankie Montas, I don't think he's that good. I don't think he's had a couple of okay seasons. There's just nothing that has really stood out about Frankie Montas to me. And I sure as hell I'm glad the Cardinals weren't the ones who ended up paying him $16 million or making a trade for him a couple years ago like the Yankees did. He gave up a bunch of stuff and got pretty much nothing in return. Chicago Cubs grade from Jim Bowden on their offseason moves gives them a B.

Starting point is 00:11:22 Free agent wise, they signed Cody Bellinger to that three-year $80 million contract. Shota Imanaga, four years 53 and Hector Narris in the bullpen in one year nine million. They also acquired Michael Bush, which I think is an underrated move by the way. Bush was a big time prospect with the Dodgers. Never really made it click at the major league level, but he's somebody to keep an eye on this year. So they made a trade for him. And they also acquired cash from the Phillies for Michael Rucker. The big move other than Cody Bellinger, Craig Comsel is their new manager,

Starting point is 00:11:55 stole him from the Brewers. So here's the takeaway from Jim Bowden. The Cubs hired one of the game's best managers and great counsel, made him the highest paid skipper in the sport. It took a while, but they finally resigned the NL comeback player of the year winner and Cody Bellinger do a three-year deal that has opt-outs after each season, which means they won't get stuck with a bad contract, and Bellinger will have to keep performing at a high level to land a longer-term deal.

Starting point is 00:12:21 He says their biggest question is, who will play on the infield corners, and will the Cubs get enough production from those particular positions? I know for a while I thought it was going to be Reese Hoskins, was going to play first for them, but that ended up happening. And he ended up going to this next team we're going to talk about. And that is the Milwaukee Brewers. There's a little picture of Reese Hoskins in a Brewers uniform. Bowden gave them a C-plus for their off-season moves.

Starting point is 00:12:46 Brandon Woodruff, who we all thought it was going to, you know, go to free agency and sign with somebody. and he just ended up coming back to Milwaukee. Two years 17 and a half. Reese Hoskins got two years and 34 million coming over from the Phillies. They brought back Wade Miley, Jacob Junis, Gary Sanchez, and Joe Ross. They made a number of trades. The big one, Corbyn Burns, going to the Orioles for a bunch of dudes,

Starting point is 00:13:10 including D.L. Hall and Joey Ortiz. Acquired Blake Hollab. I don't know who that is for Mark Kanna. Acquired Jake Bowers from the Yankees. that Taylor Clark from the Royals, Coleman Crow from the Met. So they were wheeling a deal in this offseason. Brighton Hudson got him from the Dodgers as well. Signed their star prospect, Jackson, Truro,

Starting point is 00:13:36 eight years, $82 million and Colin Ray one year, 4.5. Pat Murphy is now their manager. Bowdoin says the biggest question for the Brewers. Can they win the division and or make the playoffs without Burns and possibly Woodruff, who may not return this season? That's his big question. Next on the list, the Pittsburgh Pirates gave them a C plus free agent acquisitions. They went old too.

Starting point is 00:14:02 They went old too, just kind of like the Cardinals, but they got a roll to Chapman, Martine Perez, Andrew McCutcheon's back, Roddy Tellez, he has Monty Grandal, Josh Fleming. They also acquired Marco Gonzalez from the Braves, Billy McKinney from the Yankees, Edward Oliveris from the Royals. So, and then they say the big deal was the extension for Mitch Keller, their, their ace, five years, $77 million. Biggest question he says about the pirates can the starting pitching behind Keller keep them competitive and within striking distance in the NL Central? So that's what he's got to say. So C pluses for the pirates, for the brewers, and then Bs for the Cubs, for the Reds, and for the Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:14:47 So here's how he's got things shaking out. This is his prediction for the division. First place, Cincinnati Rets. Second place, the Chicago Cubs, who he also says we'll grab that third in a wild card spot. Third place, the Milwaukee Brewers. Fourth, your St. Louis Cardinals. And in fifth place, Pittsburgh Pirates. Not exactly what Cardinals fans want to hear, but a lot of fans.

Starting point is 00:15:22 will say, I agree with them because they were not impressed with some of the moves that the Cardinals made. They thought they could do more, which I think they could have too. But it's kind of funny that he gives them a B grade for their offseason for all of these acquisitions and moves that they made, yet still has them finishing in fourth place. Interesting. Interesting. I would have thought if they were a B that they would have been at least third. And I think it's going to be a tight division. I think a lot of these guys, you know, we were talking with some of the lockdown people today about, you know,

Starting point is 00:16:02 how many wins do you think it'll take to win this division? And a lot of us are like sitting at 85 going, 85 might get it done. It really could happen. But we all think that it's going to be a tight division. We're going to have an NL Central roundtable discussion. We're going to put out on the lockdown network coming up here real, real soon. But hopefully the team will use stuff like this, like Jim Bowden, predicting them to be in

Starting point is 00:16:27 fourth place as fuel to prove people wrong in 2024. Today on the field, in spring training, they did get the win against, once again, Tyler O'Neill and the Boston Red Sox. Weird to say, right? Victor Scott the second, very impressive again. Plus, Matthew Libertore got the start. We're going to get into all of it next on Locked on Cardinals. Fire TV is your destination for sports from live games who highlights to in-depth analysis. Fire TV offers amazing viewing experiences with smart TVs as well as the Fire TV stick that you can plug into your existing TV that provides access to millions of movies and TV episodes as well as free and live TV.

Starting point is 00:17:11 Now, whether it's opening weekend for baseball, which is coming up, not specifically for the Cardinals, but you know the Dodgers of Padres are going to be playing over in, what is it, Korea, and that where they're going? So that's coming up here real, real soon. You've got college basketball tournaments going. You're going to want to have a fire TV because Fire TV recently created the Fire TV channels to deliver a constant supply of the latest videos from your favorite sports brands, and they do it all for free.

Starting point is 00:17:39 Free is good. That includes all of us are locked on in most of the big pro leagues and college conferences as well. Fire TV channels let you dive into all of the game analysis, the highlights, and more to keep you up to date on all the latest in the world of the world. of sports, whether it's March Madness, whether it's the NBA Major League Baseball, NFL news. Obviously had a lot of that going around with free agency opening up and a whole lot more. Not to mention great news, entertainment, gaming, travel, cooking videos as well.

Starting point is 00:18:04 So check out Fire TV channels on Fire TV and Alexa devices. If you haven't checked out Fire TV channels, you should do it. Learn more by visiting www.com.com slash locked on Fire TV. That's www. www. amazon.com slash locked on Fire TV. Locked on has launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube. And it's now available on Amazon Fire TV and the free Fire TV channels app.

Starting point is 00:18:37 Locked on sports today is here for you 24-7. If you're one of those guys or girls who has like the third shift or your first or second shift, wherever you are, whenever you're awake, we're available for you. 24-7 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local experts of locked on, plus our national shows covering every league. You can find Locked on Sports Today, now available on the Free Fire TV channels app. So let's talk about some stuff that's going on on the field today. The Cardinal sent, and I don't want to call them the B squad,

Starting point is 00:19:06 because that makes it sound like they're just, you know, they're like the guys that aren't going to get any playtime because that's not true. They're not really the B squad. They're not the veterans, though. Let's put it that way. They're the youthful side of this Cardinals organization. They went to Fort Myers to play Boston today. You had Victor Scott the second leading off and in center field.

Starting point is 00:19:28 Mason win batting second at shortstop. Alec Berluson was in the three hole in left field. Jordan Walker batting cleanup in right. Yvonne Herrera was deaching. Thomas Adjacy was second. Alfonso Revis at first, Jose Fermin was over at third, and Pedro Paul has catching. And Matthew Liberator on the mountain.

Starting point is 00:19:47 Like you had, you know, Victor Scott could be in the show this year. Wynn's going to be there. Burleson, Walker, Herrera, Cajee could be in there the way he's hitting. Libertor, probably going to be there for sure. These guys are all going to be a part of the roster at some point or another. I mean, due to injuries or whatever it may be, you're going to see a lot of these guys in the major leagues. So some big pieces of not only the present youth of the team,

Starting point is 00:20:16 but also the future of this organization playing against Boston. And offensively, your standout was once again, no surprise here. Having an out of the spring, Victor Scott the second. Batting leadoff, as I mentioned, went three for three with a hit by pitch. So he's on base four times, four bats, four times he's on base. Still his fourth base of the year. Two runs scored. In yesterday's episode, I gave you all the reasons why Michael Ciani makes sense

Starting point is 00:20:47 as the guy that the Cardinals are going to bring to opening day as their fourth outfielder. If Newton Edmund are both starting the season on the injured list, I explained all of that to you in yesterday's episode. If you want to go back and you missed it, it tells you exactly why Michael Ciani is the guy that's going to be there on opening day and not Victor Scott. But Victor Scott is certainly making this a battle. This is a competition.

Starting point is 00:21:16 And he's not going down without a fight. He's now batting 370 this spring with an OBP of 469, his OPS at 913, and those four stolen bases I mentioned are now second in the league of spring training. It's Cactus League and Grapefruit, four of them. The league leader's got five. There's two guys. I think Lane Thomas is one of them with the nationals, former Cardinal. But Victor Scott, he's doing everything he can to prove to the Cardinals that

Starting point is 00:21:47 He doesn't need AAA and he should be up in the big leagues. But it's going to be tough for him. Alec Berlinson also stayed hot today. Going two for three with two RBIs hit his first dinger of the spring. He's now hitting 407, 407 this spring, which would be the fourth highest average in the league, but it says he's not qualified yet for some reason. I don't know why, but that's what it says. Not sure what the qualifications are, but hitting 407, the OPS now at 1.040.

Starting point is 00:22:17 It's getting it done, dude. He's showing everybody why he won a batting title at AAA over a year ago and why everybody should just calm down a little bit with Newt out that he can handle things with the bat. We're worried a little bit about his defense, but he can handle things with the bat. Yvonne Herrera hit his first home run of the spring. He drove into Jordan Walker, although he had a mix up with Victor Scott out in the outfield. Trevor Story hit one to the warning track. and it looked like Walker was under it, and then there was some communication with Victor,

Starting point is 00:22:51 and then the ball fell. And it was a double, and it was not good. It was an ugly play. The defense still needs a lot of work, obviously, but had a couple more hits today, drove in two, stole a base. He's got that average up to 267 after a very slow start and has now driven in six this spring. Mason Wynn walks twice, scores twice. On the mound, it was Matthew Libertor. and Matthew Libertor, obviously, in the competition with Zach Thompson for that number five spot in the rotation with Sunny Gray out. Like one, it's probably either one of them's going to be in the rotation or one of them's going to be a long reliever to start the season. That's probably what's going to happen. And Libertur on the mound today, kind of a tough outing when you look at the numbers, okay?

Starting point is 00:23:44 So we gave them five runs on seven hits, including two home runs. and struck out five in four innings of work. He didn't walk anybody, which is great. The ERA is now up to six, but afterwards, he didn't seem all that upset about how things went. Said, I'm really happy with how everything came out today. I threw everything for strikes, through everything in the dirt. I felt like I competed my butt off today.

Starting point is 00:24:05 Just two pitches, really, that didn't go my way. He was touching 97 on the radar, mid-90s with the fastball throughout the day, through 71 pitches. I just, you know, Zach Thompson's just having a better spring. Connor Thomas, the bullpen looked good again today. Connor Thomas, there's another shutout inning. Still hasn't allowed a run yet in spring training. Michael McGreevy, remember Michael McGreevy got lit up in his,

Starting point is 00:24:33 his first time out on the mound for that and are all like, ooh, McGreevy, what's going on? Since then, he's been pretty good. He looked good again today. Three shutout innings. He struck out three, and the birds picked up the eight to six. six victory. So the youngsters getting it done on the road to Fort Myers today over the Boston Red Sox. Cardinals are back on the field tomorrow. They face the Minnesota twins.

Starting point is 00:24:56 Zach Thompson. I told you that competition between him and Matthew Libertory, it's going to continue and continue. Will both of them make the team or will one of them get sent down? Right now I got Zach Thompson in the lead. I just think he's pitched better. But I know they like Libertor as a piece of that bullpen. So it wouldn't shock me if they both make it. And it would be telling of what they think of what Matthew Levertor, at least what his role will be here in 2024 if they keep them and keep them in the bullpen as one of those long relievers, but, you know, one of the lefties out there.

Starting point is 00:25:39 You know, John King has not had a great spring. Jojo Romero has not had a great spring. So lefties have been coming up a little bit short for them. So maybe he does make it as the lefty in the bullpen. We'll find out. We'll find out. But Zach Thompson gets to start tomorrow. I do believe this game is supposed to be televised tomorrow.

Starting point is 00:25:58 I know I keep getting a lot of questions about that each and every day on Twitter X. So I think tomorrow's is televised today. It was just audio from the Boston side too, which was listening to that. I had to hear about corn beef commercial, like, over and over. just not great. I wish MLB would figure this out so that we could have just let our dudes do it. Let both sides do it. These games should be televised. Let us watch this stuff. Anyway, all right, let's wrap it up. Thank you for making a lockdown Cardinals your first list. And every day. If you haven't already, please give us a follow on Twitter at L.O underscore Cardinals and at JD Sports Radio.

Starting point is 00:26:32 Like and subscribe on YouTube and help our channel and love for the Cardinals grow. We are now at 9,900 subscribers trying to get the final 800 to get the final 800 to get to 10,000 before opening day. Can we do it? We'll see. I can't do it without you, though. So if you haven't like and subscribe yet to our channel, please do so because you're the best fans of baseball for a reason.

Starting point is 00:26:57 And I will see you next time on Locked on Cardinals.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - What Jim Bowden Grades The Cardinals Offseason And Where He Thinks They'll Finish In The Division!

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