Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - St. Louis Cardinals | Profile & Projection | 631

Episode Date: March 17, 2023

The Cardinals are one of MLB's premier franchises. How will Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt follow up their MVP-level seasons after being ranked No. 9 by our audience?Use code JOMBOYPRESEASON for 15% off your next purchase at SeatGeek* https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/JOMBOYPRESEASON*max discount $50, expires 3/31/2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Oh my God. Hello and welcome back to team profile and projections. Your number 19, voted by you. Heading into the season are the St. Louis Cardinals. After going 93 and 69 last year, first in the Central. They lost it to the Phillies in the wild card. We just relived that, that game one ninth inning from hell. my goodness, man, I'm actually going to start with who they lost a little bit

because they lost a couple legends. Albert Pujols who put up an amazing season for them last year. And Yadier Malina, they're out of the building. Two Hall of Fame type guys. We'll see with Yadi. They also lost Jose Quintana, who is a huge deadline accusation for them. Corey Dickerson, Alex Reyes,

and some other bullpen-type arms. Who they added. How about Wilson Contreras? From the Cubbies already sucking up to the fans a little bit, saying it's the favorite, his favorite place he's ever played. I haven't played a game there yet, but you got to love that.

That was their big. big move. And I think you're going to find out why in a minute, Trev, because this lineup is, there's going to be guys not even mentioned in the lineup that probably deserve mentioning. They have a ton of talent, man. We're talking lineup. We could be talking defense for this team. It is, it's stacked.

I didn't think I was going to like this roster as much. And then you get into it, into the nitty gritty as we. like to say on these TPPs. And Jake, you know what I love to say. I'm a looking and I'm a liking. Tommy Edmund, one of the more underrated players than all the baseball. He'll be there. You mentioned Wilson Contreras.

How about Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Aeronado back to back? They just went back to back in spring training. That was nice to see. Brendan Donovan, another little unsung hero from last year. We all know Tyler O'Neill and his beautiful style. Lars Neupar, Juan Yepp is Dylan Carlson. all will be in the mix. And then you're right on that bench.

We got Alec Burleson got a little run last year. Nolan Gorman got a lot of his baseball cards. Paul DeYoung, Andrew Kisner. This team, I mean, considering what they have. Because I'm not looking at this as just an offensive lineup. I'm thinking defense as well. We put these guys together. It's a banger of a unit right there.

To go along with that, Beaver's talk about the starting pitching in the bullpen, please. And they're starting pitching. It begins with a lot of. our guy, Wayno, still turning in good year after good year. Miles Michael is good last year. Jordan Montgomery comes over midseason last year and he was electric. Jack Flaherty, our guy guy, he's, he is there. Stephen Matts, lefty, and he's the fifth starter right now. Dakota Hudson, he could do some swing man stuff. He is a lot of good seasons in the big leagues. Matthew Liberator, Zach Thompson, they're fully bonus pieces. Their bullpen, they've got some

filth back there. Ryan Helsley E headlines there as the closer. Giovanni Gallegos has been doing it there for a while now. Andre Palante, Dakota Hudson, already told you he might be back there as a long guy. Jordan Hicks. Jake and I this morning as we record this, we had

remember Jordan Hicks conversation? Electric. Hennisus Cabrera and they got other guys. Chris Straten, Drew Verhagen. They got arms. Verhagen. The St. Louis Cardinals. Trev. Another organization that they almost have their own air about them, being a St. Louis

Cardinal, firm handshakes. I know you're going to talk about that in a little bit. We did a little pregame powwow of, you know, what's going on with the Cardinals. They were rumored in trades this offseason because they have outfield depth. Their lineup kind of has everything depth, man. I'm looking at Nolan Gorman, a former top prospect, fighting for at bats this year. Brendan Donovan snuck out a gold glove last year. Four war. Util played six positions,

and by the way, he hit a ton too. Yepes, Newtbar, Carlson, Tyler O'Neill, our fire hydrant Canadian king. That's without mentioning MVP, Paul Goldschmidt. That's without mentioning Hall of Famer, undefeated gold glove winner Nolan Aronado. They signed Wilson Contreras to

replace Yadir Malina which catcher was actually a little bit of a weakness for them last year. I know that feels rude to say. They have a very good lineup. They play incredible defense. They have depth there. I love their bullpen. Their starting

pitching is going to have success. I'm just not sure who. and how much. And we saw them go out last trade deadline and get Kintana in Montgomery. Kintana's out of town. I hope Jack Flaherty is a bounce-back guy, Sy Young-vote guy, and he can be.

We know he has the talent for that. I guess, I don't know if we want to start out with the negative. I guess we've already hyped him up a little bit. The starting rotation gives me some question marks, but also they went out last deadline and addressed it, and they have more than, than enough pieces if they want to get a rental or if they want to bring in like a guy they have the pieces to go get that are all of these guys free agents after the year we're all in walk

years except for stephen matt so i think that's what i'm reading here i'm kind of in on that to be honest with you there's a lot of added incentive to all of these guys to go out there and stay in and eat better and get their sleep and do all the things the right way because this is a walk year. It's a platform year they have to go do the job and then you get the reward. I already talked about Jack Flaherty, what he's been talking to me about, how confident he is. I know it's spring training people, but this guy doesn't just say shit like that. So he's locked in. I like the rotation. I like the lineup. I love the bullpen. Again, this is a team with not many holes. I think that I think you're right that we did have to tear into something a little bit.

we might say rotational depth, but I don't even know if that's right. I don't know. I think they have enough there to get the job done. You have guys that will eat

some innings. You have a solid crew. I'll give it a solid rating. And what you mentioned, I think is the best thing for it is this defense. I mean, there is gold glove shit everywhere you look.

And think about this. If you're a pitcher on the mound and you got guys, back there that you know can go get it what does that do for your confidence what does that do for your conviction it's everything so this is a team i think we're going to get to the over under here later in the show i think they're underrated man yeah i'm i'm already prefacing myself to almost hype them down but i don't think i could do if i wanted to um because i believe in this organization um and i I almost skipped over it because it's so good.

Paul Goldschmidt won the MVP, right? Like, I'm not dreaming that. Nolan Aronado was like right behind him. There were days when we thought he was going to catch him on war. Adding Wilson Contreras. Okay, I guess what it turns into, I mean, Tommy Edmund's kind of bona fide at this point of who he is as a baseball player. You know what you're going to get there.

I guess it's who's coming for the next five years of Cardinals baseball. And I think that's one of their, probably the fans' questions in spring training. Because with these young outfielers, they don't even know where they're going to play. Tyler O'Neill wants that center field job. Dylan Carlson had that center field jars. Newt Barr is playing center field for Team Japan. And if your problem is you have three center fielers, guess what? That turns into a good outfield.

Brendan Donovan, like, I don't know. I'm wondering who else joins the party this year and is going to be, you know, a next five-year Cardinal, who is maybe a trade bait? Because this team's going to be in it, and it's what kind of upgrades do they need and where. But this is a good team. And the starting pitching, I want to come back to it

because it's not bad by any means. It's Will Wayno ever. a regress. And early return looks like no. So I guess you're fine there. Michael has had a massive year last year. Yes. A 329 ERA and a bunch of innings.

Jordan Montgomery, like you said, him and Jack Flaherty, contract years. If either of those guys goes out and does 100, 170 innings to a 3-2, they're about to get paid paid. And they both can do that. Matt's looks like he's kind of been every other year. And if you believe in that kind of stuff, he's lined up for a good one this year. So I just come the trade deadline, you know, I don't know if it's Wayno Flaherty or Waino Michaelis Flair or whatever that looks like.

They're going to need a little bit of help, but I think their front office has already proved they'll go get that and they have enough talent to do that, that they're sitting pretty. The Cubs got better to what level we don't know. After looking at the teams on paper, I still feel like we're talking about teams in kind of different. area codes when you're looking at overall roster talent. And then the Brewers are always a little bit of a wild card. Because remember, they retooled a little bit. They've got a contraris behind the plate.

And it feels like they've got a little bit of Brewers Devil Magic, but it's kind of, it's no match for Cardinals' Devil Magic right now. You talked about who's going to be the next guy to break through and be a Cardinal for, you know, six, seven years. it's Jordan Walker. Yeah, I haven't even mentioned him. You haven't even mentioned this guy who people are comparing to Fernando Tate's Jr. He's a big boy.

He's 6'5, 220, so he's big, but not too, like, hefty. You know, he still looks very athletic in his body. Third Basin by Trey, but guess what? We have one of the best all time there right now on both sides of the corner. So you're going to be moving to right field. That's where he's been kind of practicing in the offseason and then into spring training. So that adds another log jam to this outfield. He's not going to get traded.

He's going to be one of the guys that's there. And then possibly one of the other guys that you mentioned, if they need to go get some help during the middle of the season, I think they would probably be the ones to get out of there. Jordan Walker seems like a cornerstone type guy for me. If he comes up and makes a splash and has, you know, Adley Rushman effect, a Tatis effect, a Julio Riga's effect on this roster,

then we're talking about a team going from, hey, they're good, man. There's no holes there. They have the veterans. They have everyone looking good. If he comes up and is a banger, it enters them into a next tier. It really does.

So he's the guy you're looking for. They have others, but I think he's kind of like the can't miss guy in this organization. Yeah, and I know Mason Wynn, you also, if you're familiar with him, he's the shortstop that throws 100. miles per hour. He's probably a few years off, but if you're starting to think of Cardinals

teams of the future, or I don't know, could he be a trade guy this year if they need to make a big move? I don't know. I just know this team has a lot of options, and I kind of believe in that in baseball. You know, I think some sports basketball, if you have too many guys, sometimes that can get in each other's way. Baseball, the opportunities are going to provide themselves at a certain point. And if you play well, it's your job. It's the whole Wally Pipp thing. So I love that for them, offense, defense, and I do like their pitching. I don't know how the starting pitching fully sorts out. And I know saying that again, Cardinal fans won't be happy. But at the same time, I'm almost not concerned about it. I guess we did a winning the division percentage with Seattle.

that was pretty low because they play in a division with the Houston Astros, the Big Bad Wolf. The Cardinals, like I said, Cubs got better, Brewers retooled. I mean, are we talking 50-50

to win the division? Are we talking higher, lower? 80%. I mean, that's a big boy number. Yeah. That's how much... I mean, shoot, hold on one. Yeah, I was going to say,

because that... I'm trying to think, because I gave the Astros... 70. A 70% shot. Because I gave the Mariners 30%. Unless you had any percentage points saved for Texas or L.A. No, I don't have them saved.

I don't. Oh, shoot. So I can't go that high. The problem is as we go through these rosters, especially as we get up towards these numbers, they're just good rosters, man. Yeah. You get me all excited.

So, okay, I won't go 80%. But it's high. I'll give it 65%. Okay. 69% just under the Astros. And St. Louis fans hate that. That's so not Cardinals. But then also I think about the Brewers and like they got some pitching and like things

could really turn around there quickly. Tell you what, a little contraris contraris behind the dish rivalry. That's pretty awesome. All right. 6040. Give me 60%. I like that. I think that's where you want to be.

No. And I think it's it's a credit to who the Cardinals are as an organization. It's a credit to their talent. And again, maybe I sound like I'm broken or on repeat, but go look at Brendan Donovan's baseball reference. We have to mention these guys as well as Cardinals fans are going to be pissed. So you guys keep talking about the starting rotation, but you haven't mentioned the prospects we have coming up.

Jake Walsh, Freddie Pacheco. They're prospects. They're ranked in the top 100, I believe. Okay. Well, love to see it. Come up and set the world on fire. Libertour had a really tough year last year. They have guys that can do it, but you got to do it.

I need a third D word. Dudes, depth, and... Defense. Defense. There's your Cardinals. Dudes depth. Triple D? Are we going Guy Fieri on us right here?

Flavor Town, St. Louis. I had one of the best breakfast I've ever had in my life in St. Louis. At some rooster restaurant, I don't fucking know. Okay. Comment below if you know the rooster restaurant. Where Trev had his... Is that one of my birthdays there? Oddly enough.

Olivia surprised me, flew in with a cake. Wow. Had a great night. I had a couple jokes to make about Olivia flying in with that cake, but I will pass for now. Hmm. As we head to the Seat Geek over under for these cards. Is there anything else, Treve?

I mean, no, man. He crushed this. Broken record, dude. A ton of talent, good organization. They're going to win a bunch of games. And maybe go watch them. Go get yourself a good breakfast in St. Louis. Get your tickets at Seek-Geek code Johnboy preseason, 15% off your order,

whether you're first-time buyer or not. You can buy multiple tickets and just punch in that Johnboy pre-season code 15% off your next order. Go check it out. Click the link in the description. Download the app. Green, good, red, bad. Now you know how to use the app.

Seek-Geek, Code Johnboy, pre-season 15%. What's the over under? the over under I think the place that you had breakfast is just called rooster the over under is 88 and a half consulted my St. Louis expert I don't know man

why does it start with an eight there are times Jake when you're placing a bet things seem a little too easy and usually you want to be on the other side of that when things look easy they ain't 88 and a half to me to this for this team.

You won't. You're too close to Jack. No way. You go first. Trev, I genuinely hoped during this episode I would find a reason to take the under and be like, gotcha.

Gotcha, Cardinals. 80... If I was setting an over-under for this team, it's probably like 92 and a half. Or 91-5. This team has the best chance to win the Central. This team, even if they don't win the Central, is for sure in wildcard contention.

And, like, their worst case scenario isn't, even if they were middling into the trade deadline, I think they would make moves. And it's not like you're getting rid of Aeronado or Goldie. So it's the over for me. I was here and I was going to take the under. And then I had a vision, if you will. Nolan Aeronado just had to answer questions about if he was dumb for opting in to his contract and earning $150 million. He had to sit in front of reporters. He who is MVP 5, MVP 4, MVP 3, MVP 6, MVP 3, he had to sit in front of his locker and say, yeah, I

made a bad mistake. Shut up everybody. This guy is one of the gold standard players in all of the game. And yes, he was MVP 3 last year. I think this guy fucking has a chip on his shoulder now. Like, he didn't need one. Like, he already kind of has that. But, like, you just gave him one?

Whether you meant to or not, this guy's going to win the MVP this year. It's an over. I like the Cardinals a lot. I think Aeronado, I know he had a monster year last year, 7-9 baseball reference war 7-9 891 OPS I think this guy wins the MVP

I think he goes higher I think he has a career year this year I think he's fucking pissed and he wants to lead the Cardinals deep into the playoffs to show that he made the right decision over I think they run away with this thing

I do what Jim have, babes I got to know darn yeah I mean my my Jakey worst case scenarios is Goldie can't repeat last year because it's a really hard season to repeat. It's, you know, 180 OPS plus your MVP.

Albert Pujoos was insanely good for them. Like, let's not forget that. Like, he went nuts. And then maybe some of the young guys getting each other's way, but like, if that's... They're losing catch or defense, I guess, with Yadi out. With Yadi, but he didn't, like, hit it all. And you're getting Wilson and Trit. I don't know.

I tried to put it in the blender as many ways as I could to get that under result because like you were saying we gambling when it seems too safe. Last year they were 86 and a half, I bet them live because I was like, there's no way. They were plus money to make the playoffs.

I had a nice little surprise this past October because I immediately bet with you on this episode. Maybe Vegas. Know what it is, Trev? Vegas accounts for a lot of things. They don't account for devil magic. That dog. We're all on the Cardinals.

Jack Flaherty, Sai Young, Nolan Aronado, MVP. Why not? Why not? How about big trade this year? Mark, put that in my TPP. Cardinals are going to have a big trade this year.

Show hey. Show hey. Show hey. They're mine. You get the Mariners, I get the Cardinals. Okay. Okay. Let's go.

Let's go. Let's go on the Dodgers. Thank you, everyone. Cardinals fans. Let us know what we miss, because we definitely miss. something because you know your team better than me do. They were sneaky after Soto last year, so.

Look at Showhead. Jordan Walker. Shohei's obsessed with the arch. I'll just live in there. He's going to go shake Shoemaker's hand, and he's not going to shake it well enough. And, in fact, we're out on.