Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Yadier Molina Has A New Job

Episode Date: October 29, 2024

5:08 Yadier Molina's Coaching Role 10:12 John Denton's Comments On The Team's Future 15:18 Trade Speculation Involving High Priced Veterans 20:23 Nolan Arenado's Future 30:07 World Series Overview Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms… 🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOSTLCardinals?sid=YouTube Locked On MLB League-Wide: Every Team, Prospects & More 🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnMLB Follow on Twitter/X: @JDSPORTSRADIO Follow the show on Twitter/X: @LO_Cardinals Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! PrizePicks Download the app today and use code LOCKEDONMLB to win $50 instantly when you play your first $5 lineup. PrizePicks. Run Your Game. Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONMLB Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuel You can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - if you win your first FIVE DOLLAR BET ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) #ForTheLou #stlcards #mlb #lockedoncardinals Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We've got updates on Yadier Molina, Skip Schumacher and Daniel Descals those coaching careers and how the Cardinals could tie into them on today's episode of 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 sports anchor. Born and raised in the Lou and a Lifetime Cardinals fan. And I'm your host for Locked on Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, covering your team every day. You can follow me on Twitter, X, and JD Sports Radio and the podcast at L0 underscore Cardinals. I do want to thank those of you who make Locktown Cardinals your first list in every day. We're free and available wherever you get your podcast. You can also find us on YouTube

because this is a show serving Cardinal Nation and giving the best fans in baseball, all of the info about the birds on the bat. This episode is brought to you by prize picks. Download the app today and use the code of Locked on MLB to win $50 instantly. When you play your first $5 lineup, price picks, run your game. game. So the Cardinals coaching staff has had a little bit of turnover so far this offseason, most notably the hiring of Brant Brown as the new hitting coach after being fired by the Seattle Mariners as the office of coordinator and bench coach, something we've talked about for a couple of episodes. So if you haven't seen those yet, make sure you go back, check them out for

yourself. John Jay coming on board obviously is a good thing. No ill will there. We love to have John Jay back in the fold. That's cool. And as far as other former Cardinals that, you know, fans are, we're hoping to see wear a Cardinals uniform once again and be a part of the coaching staff. A lot of fans over the last couple of years have been hoping that Yaddy or Molina would be someone that would become a coach or even the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals at some point. Now, last year, we thought Yadi had returned to the team in an interesting role. It was like an advisor role, right?

He was going to be a special advisor to president of baseball operations, John Moseilock. And, you know, we were hoping that he was going to be in the dugout some games. We had a feeling he was going to be in spring training and that, you know, he was going to help our young catchers and help this pitching staff. And, you know, he was going to do a lot of good for the Cardinals. And as time went on in the offseason after the announcement had been made that he was going to come on, we waited. Nothing. never heard from Yadi about this. Then in spring training, we were told,

oh, you know, he's going to be here, you know, probably by the time we start, you know, the exhibition games and whatnot, no Yadi ever showed up. And we just kind of waited and waited and then like nothing happened, right? Like, it just nothing happened. There just wasn't a whole lot of discussion about it.

Everybody was wondering what the hell went wrong. Well, according to Derek Gould at STL Today.com, manager Ali Marmal had originally approached Molina about joining his staff ahead of the 2024 season, but through conversations with the Cardinals, Marmal and baseball operations leader, John Loseilock, a flexible schedule and a less defined role was preferred. That role, however, did not develop as the club initially expected or advertised throughout the year the Cardinals and Molina had discussions about when and where he could help and multiple times, including spring training.

Molina had a family concern or commitment surface that kept him from joining the club. So it was never that Molina was upset, according to the reports, that Molina was upset about anything, that, you know, the extension, because that was the thought was like, oh, gosh, he was going to come on hoping that maybe he'd be the manager next year. And then they gave the extension to Ali and pissed him off. And that's why he never showed up. Apparently that wasn't the case at all. So at least we've got some clarity there. but it was very odd last year that it just was never brought up. Like there was no communication with the fan base about what happened to Yadi.

You know, you heard little bits and pieces about, hey, there's a family thing going on. We never knew what it was. We never heard so, you know, that much about it from his, from his brother, Benji. You just kind of just kind of got brushed aside, really. But if it was indeed family issues the entire time, then you kind of, you got to kind of tip your cap to Mo the Cardinals for the way that they handled it and not like, you know, talking about it a lot and blowing it out of proportion and just kind of letting Yaddy handle things the way he felt he needed to and not making it a circus surrounding it all. So if that's how it all worked out,

then then I applaud them for that. I just wish that, you know, they maybe had spoken up a little and like, hey, he's got some family things that are going on and there's probably not going to be a time that he's going to return to the team for now. You know, if something changes, we'll let you know. But as of right now, Yaddi's handling some things. And he's just not going to be able to be a part of what's going on here in St. Louis for the time being. That's all they really had to say. And we probably would have just ignored it.

Now, if I missed something where they did say something like that, I mean, like I said, you would get bits and pieces of information that it was family stuff that was going on. but we never really heard it. At least I never heard it from anybody, and maybe I missed something. But this offseason, Molina stepped down as an executive from the professional basketball team that he's owned in Puerto Rico for a while. And we thought maybe that's going to open up the door

for more of a commitment with the Cardinals here in 2025. I'm not saying that's not going to happen, but Yadi has taken a new job. it's just not with the Cardinals. He was hired as the manager for Aguilas, Sabianas. Is that how it's Sebianas in the Dominican Republic Winter League? It's the same league where Albert Pujols is managing right now.

Hopefully I didn't butcher that too much. But Molina does have some cardinal ties with him with this team, according to Derek Gould. Vulpen catcher, Klaninger, Tehran, was named Molina as their base coach and former Cardinal Shortstop, Raphael for call is also a coach on Molina's staff as well, which I think is cool. I enjoyed Raphael for call in his time in a Cardinals uniform.

Obviously, they won the World Series with him, so it was a good time to have them on board. Also, according to Gold Cardinals catcher, Yvonne Herrera is scheduled to play for a Pooholls Club at some point this winter. Jeff Jones told us that last week as well. And the Cardinals have apparently outfitted him with a plan to improve his throwing from behind the plate. something that I talked about with Jeff last week as well was, you know, moving Yvonne Herrera to first base, something we talked about yesterday's episode. And we'll see if that becomes something that happens here in the Winter League. You know, we might get some knowledge on whether or not a move to first base could be in Yvonne Herrera's future,

depending on if Pujol's uses him over at first base during Winterball. So that's something to keep an eye on. Fans will likely keep an eye on how things go for both of these cardinal legends as managers because I know many dream of one day having both Albert and Yadi back in a cardinal uniform, back in the dugout together, hopefully leading the team at some point. Current manager Ali Marmal's extension has him with the team through 2026, but it hasn't stopped people from speculating that the Cardinals could be interested in bringing one of Albert Oriotti back in to replace Ali at some point.

Obviously, there's been talk about Skip Schumacher since he's now with the Marlins. That's another name that Cardinal fans would love to see back at St. Louis. Won the NL Manager of the Year Award in 2023 with the Marlins. His contract just expired. Marlin said, we'll let you shop around and do what you want to do. You don't have to come back to us. There has been some news about because the Chicago White Sox still need a manager. They need a team too while they're at it.

Anyway, there has been an announcement that Skip Schumacher is out of the running for the White Sox job, which really doesn't leave a whole lot of options for Skip as a manager in 2025. The way things are going in the World Series, though, maybe the Yankees will end up talking to them, especially if they get swept tonight. Benge coach Daniel DeSkalso, whose name is also mentioned in possible managerial circles, is reportedly out of the running for the Chicago White Sox job as well. So just for fun, though, I'm curious which former Cardinal, if you could choose one, you can only have one, who would you rather have as your manager?

Would you rather have Yadi, Albert, Skip, or Daniel DeScalso? Who would you rather have as your manager? You can pick one. Probably going to be between Yadi, Albert, and Skip, obviously, even though Daniel DeScalso seems to be quite worthy of being a manager in the major leagues. some point, but, you know, just off sheer popularity. It's going to be Yadi, Albert, or Skip. You got Skip with this manager of the year award winner. You got Albert, obviously, who's Albert freaking pool holes, one of the greatest first baseman of all time. And then, of course, Yadi,

one of the greatest catchers of all time. So who would you prefer as your manager, if you could choose one? Leave your response to the comment section, or go ahead and hit me up on Twitter X. And, you know, we can talk about that in a new episode. Up next, I do, want to talk about John Denton, who covers the Cardinals for MLB.com, had some eye-opening comments about the future of this team at the end of last week, and I want to discuss those next on Lockdown Cardinals. Get ready to tackle the NFL action with Fandul, America's number one sports book, because right now new customers, give that $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if you win. The Fandil Sportsbook app gives you everything you need to place live vets on the NFL all in one place.

get a hunch in the middle of a game. You can check out the latest stats. You can view the live play by play and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. It's very convenient for you. Game four of the World Series is tonight in New York as the Dodgers go for the sweep. Freddie Freeman has been a man possessed at the plate. He's like on one leg because he's got this ankle issue, but hasn't altered the swing all that much. He's been really, really good.

Will he continue his home run streak here in the World Series? He's at a home run in all three games so far. Will it be another one here in game four? Does Aaron Judge finally break out of his slump? He's been very absent in this World Series thus far. What's your hunch tell you? Visit fandle.com to join today. You'll get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet.

That's fanduel.com. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with Fanduel, an official sports book partner of the NFL. Thank you for making lots on Cardinals for first. listen every day. Leave your comments down in YouTube on YouTube. I said it should not down in YouTube, but on YouTube in the comments section or you can hit me up on Twitter X anytime you want that feedback is always welcome and encouraged. We had a lot of good responses to yesterday's episode talking about how to replace Paul Goldschmidt, what the Cardinals might do, what you wish

they would do. We are going to talk about that in an upcoming episode this week. But let's talk about what John Denton just brought up at the end of last week, all right? We know the Cardinals are going to trim payroll. We know this. We got it. And the idea that they're going to try and trade away their remaining high-priced veterans like Nolan Aronado, Sonny Gray, Wilson Contreras is not out of the realm of possibilities. And John Denton from MLB.com recently joined what was the morning drive on 101 ESPN.

Sadly, after Friday's show, the team of Randy Carrier, our good friend, Brooke Brimson, and Dan McLaughlin were let go. They have switched up things and have a different morning show in there right now. Can't say I'm a big fan of the change. I enjoyed listening to all three of them on the morning drive, but they're no longer with the station, such as radio right now. But on a Friday's show, before they were let go after their show,

they had John Denton on talking about the Cardinals, and he was quite adamant about fans being prepared for a tough off season. And here's what he had to say, quote, there's a lot up of the air still with the revenue streams. And we know this is a problem, obviously. That still hasn't been answered yet. So that's going to change how things move forward for the cartels at some point. But Denton continues, we all know that there are going to be certain guys that are not going to be back here. When Ryan Helsley is not back here next season, it's going to be incredibly painful.

I don't believe Nolan Arnada wants to go through a rebuild. A lot of those guys aren't going to be back here. It wouldn't shock me if the payroll is maybe cut. by a third. They're going to get rid of these high price guys. Fans need to get ready for it now. We have discussed why trading Ryan Halsley, as painful as it may be, makes sense. Why it makes sense. Quickly, he's going to be very expensive. He's going to be in his 30s. He's had legitimately, like I guess you can give him two years of complete health and his stock is never going to be any higher than it is right now. You know, he just set that record with 49 saves.

It was very healthy throughout the year. They figured out how to manage him with just doing the one inning thing at the very end instead of bringing him sometimes. I mean, anything and stuff like that. They just quit doing that all together. And it all worked out. And the money that he's going to want. is going to be a lot for a closer. He's going to get paid like one of the top guys in the league.

So trading him at the peak of his abilities with his stock as high as it is, and getting out from under what would be an expensive contract eventually, it's what makes sense business-wise. Is it going to make you a better team on the field this year? No, no, it's not. But where the Cardinals are at this moment, it makes sense. as a business decision. Obviously, the team moving on from impending free agent,

Paul Goldschmidt is a big chunk of change. Andrew Kittridge, probably not going to be back with the team. He's going to be a free agent, not picking up the options on guys like Cal Gibson and Lance Lynn and Keenan Middleton. All of them made a substantial amount of money. And just by moving on from those guys, you've eliminated a lot of money that was on the payroll in 2024.

I speculated before the end of the season press conference where they said, all right, well, we're going in this direction now that I was hoping that they would use all this money they were going to save towards some different free agents to make this seem better in 2025, but that does not appear to be the case at all. Trading Aronado, gray or contraris is easy. It sounds like it'd be easy, right? Like, all right, you just trade them away, no big deal. It's not that easy because all three of these guys have no trade clauses.

it's essentially up to them on whether or not they want to be traded and they'll have a say on where they want to go. They could pull a similar move that John Carlos Stanton did a few years back on the Cardinals when he was with the Marlins. The Marlins and the Cardinals essentially had a trade in place. They had agreed to terms. This was the deal. And they just needed the go ahead from Stanton to make it happen. And that, like, he was 28 years old coming off the NL MVP was going to be a very exciting move for the Cardinals. You know, you're going to get this huge name and the MVP and this massive man that is Jean-Carlo's Stanton, right? And he said, nope, not doing it. Refused to waive his no trade clause to come to St. Louis, did the same thing

to the San Francisco Giants, who apparently also had a deal in place. And he said, no, that's not where I want to go. So veto. And he put the guy bosh on it. He wanted to be a Yankee. That's where he ended up. That's where he still is today. Looking back on it with the contract and stuff, it's like the Cardinals kind of dodged a bullet because Stanton hasn't quite lived up to the expectations following that NLMVP season. But Aronado, Gray, Contreras, they could do the exact same thing that Stanton did if they want to. Cardinals could have a deal in place with the team. But if those guys don't, want to go to those teams. They can just say no.

And you got to go back to the drawing board and figure something else out. I was watching a clip this morning with Randy Carriker. He was on with Channel 5's Frank Kusimano. And when Frank asked Randy about, you know, who's getting traded this office and who he felt was going to get moved, he brought up the fact that he didn't believe that Nato or Willie were tradable commodities because of the amount of money that they are still owed compared. compared to the production that they gave the Cardinals this past year. Of those two, I think Nato's name still carries some weight.

I don't think one down year offensively completely wipes out everything that he's been over his career. The glove is still gold glove caliber. Obviously, he's up for the gold glove again at their base this year. If you put Aronado in a more hitter-friendly ballpark, you know, you heard those quotes this year. He's like, well, you know, a lot of balls that you think are home runs here, Bush Stadium are not home runs. They don't get out. I mean, how many balls did we see, not just off Nato's bat, but everybody's bats this year just die at the warning track. It was a tough

year. But you put them in a more hitter-friendly ballpark. You might see those power numbers from Nato jump back up to 20 and 25 home runs a year. Maybe if he's in a lineup where he doesn't have to be one of the main guys where he's not the three or four guy as instead like a five, six or seven guy in the lineup. Maybe he thrives that way. Denton wrote an article about Motto recently saying that, you know, 33 years old now, has mentioned repeatedly that he feels like his, his clock is ticking as far as how his career is. And he wants to be on a team that can't compete for a World Series.

Denton says, could he be a cheaper option for the Astros if they lose free agent third baseman, Alex Bregman or would he consider the Dodgers, Angels, Diamondbacks, or Mariners, as much as it makes me want to barf. Aronado in Houston makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Like when you think about the Astros who are always going to be released, I shouldn't say always, but at the moment are currently one of those teams that is still competing for a world series out in the AAL West. and you put Nolan Aronado, and what is Nato?

He's a pole hitter, right? A lot of people pitched him away this year, and that's why his numbers went down, and he was taking balls to the opposite field. But how many of those fly balls to left field that were outs at Bush Stadium would have been home runs in Houston with their short porch in left field

and those Crawford boxes, which looked like they're 200 feet from home plate. Like, it just seems like a good fit. almost seems too good to be true. Obviously, the Dodgers are always there. There were a ton of rumors, not this year, but the previous year, about Nato going to L.A. since he's from the Newport Beach area, and, you know, obviously contract-wise, they can handle the size of his contract without batting an eye if they wanted to. So that makes a lot of sense. Angels are not in an area to compete for a World Series, not by a long shot. The Mariners, you know, offense was their problem last year.

I don't know if you want a guy that's on the decline offensively. Diamondbacks? I don't know. I don't know if the diamondbacks want to take on a contract like that. Plus, they need to get their own guys under Lock and Key and Christian Walker over at first base. So if they're not going to sign him, what makes you think they're going to trade and try to pay Aronado? So I don't really see that one being much of a fit either. But Contreras is a little different, though.

Contreras, because he's not a great catcher, right? He's not a great catcher, but still got a cannon for an arm. His offensive production was right there this year when he was healthy. You know, unfortunately, he had the two bad injuries this year, but 848 OPS, 15 home runs and 84 games. That 848 OPS say he would have kept that for the whole season would have been the best among catchers in all of baseball. Like Wilson Contreras was doing quite well. Just couldn't stay on the field this year.

Injuries, injuries, man, it was rough. Also, something I like about Wilson, very charismatic player. He's very easy to root for. It brings a lot of energy to the team. Denton says that Contreras, who was nearly dealt to Houston at the trade deadline in 2022, might be another option for the Astros as well. As far as Sunny Gray goes, staying close to his home in middle Tennessee is important to Gray, which is one of the reasons why he chose the car.

Cardinals in free agency, but then says he might consider deals to the Braves or the Reds. I have repeatedly said in this offseason, when he did choose the Cardinals, I was like, I'm shocked he didn't go to Atlanta. I thought Atlanta would have been a great fit for Sunny Gray. First off, they just know how to handle pitchers down there. They make pitchers better. Look what Chris Sale just did with the Atlanta Braves last year. And even though they got crushed by injuries this season, they were still right there.

That is a very good roster. If they get all those guys back and you add sunny grades of the mix, I mean, Atlanta Braves could be really, really good again next year. And I'd rather not trade within the division to any of them. I don't want to trade with the Cubs or the pirates or the brewers or the Reds, not interested in helping out one of my top competitors if I can't avoid it.

So that's not something I want to do. Now if there's like a three-team trade that is facilitated, and so be it. But I'd be shocked to see the Cardinals trade their ace to the Cincinnati. It's like that doesn't seem like it would make a lot of sense to me. But again, Gray can decide where he wants to go because I will only go to Cincinnati. So if you're going to make a trade, you got to send me there. If that's what he does, then you don't have a lot of choices there, do you?

Do I think all three of these guys are going to get moved? No, I do not. No, I do not. But one of them probably is going to go if they can all agree on a deal and a destination. And if it does happen, I just hope the return is good enough to justify the move and doesn't turn into a mooky bets to L.A. situation, which backfired tremendously on Heinbblum and the Boston Red Sox who got dittily squat in return for one of the best players in all of baseball just because they wanted to move salary. and they just kind of put themselves into a corner and it screwed themselves over big time because they were not able to get as good of packages they thought they should have gotten. And obviously none of those guys worked out. I don't even know where Jeter Downs is anymore. But it was bad. It was bad.

And it's something that hangs over the head of Heim Bloom when you talk about his tenure with the Boston Red Sox. That one move is something that every Red Sox fan still talks about. They're like, yeah, but he screwed this up. So hopefully that doesn't happen now that he's a part of the St. Louis Cardinals brass in the front office. So I would assume they would try to avoid making a rash decision like that just because of money. But we shall see. All right, we're going to wrap things up with some thoughts on the World Series. That's coming up next year on Luckton Cardinals.

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for your second listen. Find Locked on MLB with our baseball guru Sully bringing you a daily blend of humor in baseball, keeping you updated on every aspect of the World Series. Find locked on MLB on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. The World Series, hey, I don't, I don't have any saying this stuff. So it's not like I'm rooting for anyone in particular. But what a disappointment this has been so far. It's just a baseball fan. What a disappointment this has been.

I mean, you have Yankees, you have Dodgers, L.A., New York. And it's just been flat. It has been flat because the Dodgers, have, and I know the scores don't say it as much, but they kind of dominated this world series. Game four is tonight in New York, and I'm sure there are plenty of fans out there that had the Dodgers winning this thing. I thought the Yankees were a better team. I was kind of rooting for the Dodgers because I'm rooting for Tommy Edmund and Jack Flaherty. You know, the Cardinals flavor that the Dodgers possessed right now.

I was kind of pulling for them. So that makes me happy. but did anyone see this happening as quickly as it has where it might be a sweep of the Yankees? You know, the Yankees have been offensively challenged for pretty much the whole series. Game one was a pitcher's duel with Jack Flaherty and Garrett Cole. Ends up going to 10 innings. You get the dramatic walkoff grand slam from Freddie Freeman. Yankees had 10 hits in that one, but they kind of reminded me of what the Cardinals had problems with this year,

where they couldn't get anybody across the plate. They only get to get 10 hits. and they score only three runs. They definitely pull a Cardinals by going one for eight with runners in scoring position. They strand 11. Game two, home run from NLCS, MVP Tommy Edmund to take the lead in the second inning, which, you know, we're happy for Tommy. He's having a good time.

You can see it on his face. He's healthy. He's having a blast in L.A. It pains me a little bit to watch it because he's one of ours. But at the same time, you're like, dude, good for you. They scored three more in the third on home runs by Teasca Hernandez and then Freddie Freeman again. They win that one four to two. The Yankees get just four hits in that game.

They go one for six with runners in scoring position and six left on. Again, this just reminds me of what the Cardinals did this year. They would get people on. It's not like there wasn't traffic out there, but they just cannot get them in. Then in game three, Freddie Freeman does it again. Burns them with a home run, two run shot in that first inning. They go on to win that one, four to two. Yankees with two runs on five hits.

They don't score until they get two outs in the ninth inning. Alex Verdugo hits a two run, home run. And that's how they get on the board. Everything feels like it's been going around for the Dodgers outside of the injury to show Hey, Hey, Otani, which was really unfortunate. Watching that play, I'm like, I don't even see where the injury occurs, but you could tell he was dealing with it last night when he was swinging. He looked like he was in pain.

He did not look all that comfortable. But you have that injury, Freddie Freeman injury that kind of held him out of the NLCS has not been holding him back at all here in the World Series. I know we took an awkward swing on Monday night and, you know, looked like he tweaked it a little bit. But, you know, he continues with his hot bat. They're making all the plays defensively. The Yankees are kicking things around and making mistakes and wild pitches and stuff where the Dodgers are just not. doing that. They're playing clean baseball. Tommy Edmund continues to shine wherever they put him, just like he did with the Cardinals. Walker Bueller. What kind of a deal did free agent to be

Walker Bueller just get himself after his performance in game three, five innings, no runs, two hits, two walks, five punchies. It's been a real struggle for Walker Bueller coming back from those arm injuries back in 2022. The regular season numbers are gross. He was not good. one in six, 5.380RA, the ARI plus of 72. But you do it on the biggest stage and somebody's going to take notice and go, well, he's 30 years old. Used to be one of the best pitchers in the league before all these injuries. Maybe he's back.

And maybe he just secured himself a nice little back this offseason. So I just wish it had been a more competitive world series. And maybe it will be. Maybe the Yankees surprised us tonight. Dodgers are going with a bullpen game tonight. Yankees are going to have Luis Heel on the mound. He's been pretty good this year. I would hate to see it end in the sweep.

When you got L.A., New York, Yankees, Dodgers, two of the biggest franchises in the world. And if it ends in a sweep in New York, it just, that would be a bummer. That would be a bummer for the sport itself. So I'd hate to see it in that way, but Dodgers just kind of seem inevitable at this point. Kind of like Thanos in the Avengers.

It's just inevitable, man. Anyway, thanks for making Lockedown Cardinals. Your first listen every day. Leave your comments down below. What are your thoughts on the World Series? What are your thoughts on the trades and everything we've covered today? Let me know in the comments section. Hit me up on Twitter X at L0 underscore Cardinals and a JD Sports Radio.

Like, subscribe on YouTube if you haven't already. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. We will see you next time on Lockdown Cardinals.