Should note that 24 of 26 teams have NOT had a case since the season started in late July, almost all cases were during the early July processing stage to start Summer campsymphonicpoet wrote: ↑Aug 10, 2020Just looked at the public numbers. It appears that there are presently twenty six teams with confirmed cases. Most teams seem to have several. (Though few have remotely as many as us, and only the Marlins appear to have more. KC has a bunch too, apparently: fully eight.) And that's just players, not staff. Yabba dabba doozie! That's a dang mess right there. And in Baseball?
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Cards going to have a brutal schedule, 11 doubleheaders and only two days off if not mistaken for the rest of season. At this point I wonder if they truly take it as a chance to rotate some promising minor leaguers to get a feel on what will work for next season.
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Continuing the season is a farce at this point. It's just going to end with a lot of injuries (possibly career-threatening, especially to pitchers). The Cardinals should really just punt and try to aim for as good a draft pick in next year's draft as possible at this point, They rarely get the opportunity to draft high in the order, so it could be a unique chance for the organization.
^ I would assume or at least hope that Cardinals protecting their players for next year would be number one priority at this point.
What I think you will see happen is some really ugly innings because how the pitch count is going to spread around the bullpen is going to be more important than performance on that particular game. So if someone is struggling on mound but pitch count low over the week their might be a good chance the pitcher stays in and Cardinals accept giving up runs, the game. Or vice versa, pull pitcher early even though he is doing good on mound at the moment because his pitch count is getting high over the week because you simply got too many games together without rest. As Troloizilla, why take on the chance of injuries for this season.
Kinda like the argument that you won't see a college Spring football season for Big Ten /Pac 12 because the risk of injury it to high if you try to play in spring only to come back and play in the fall
What I think you will see happen is some really ugly innings because how the pitch count is going to spread around the bullpen is going to be more important than performance on that particular game. So if someone is struggling on mound but pitch count low over the week their might be a good chance the pitcher stays in and Cardinals accept giving up runs, the game. Or vice versa, pull pitcher early even though he is doing good on mound at the moment because his pitch count is getting high over the week because you simply got too many games together without rest. As Troloizilla, why take on the chance of injuries for this season.
Kinda like the argument that you won't see a college Spring football season for Big Ten /Pac 12 because the risk of injury it to high if you try to play in spring only to come back and play in the fall
So apparently they rented a car for each player/coach to drive up separately to Chicago???
https://www.dailyherald.com/sports/2020 ... le-caravan
Amazing.
https://www.dailyherald.com/sports/2020 ... le-caravan
Amazing.
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^Well, sweeping a double header is a nice welcome back. Even in this odd baseball world.
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They are also the first team in history of baseball to go 17 days winless without losing
And the blues are the first team in nhl history to lose 5 straight playoff games in one playoff and still be in it
And the blues are the first team in nhl history to lose 5 straight playoff games in one playoff and still be in it
^^Totes, after yesterday I wouldn't be surprised if renting cars and driving to the away city is the their new superstition. Looking at the remaining schedule, it appears doable. They could also market it as a "Cannonball Run" type thing 
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Oddly there are still DL 757s heading in and out of Cahokia. Can't imagine why if it's not to haul baseball teams. There's one scheduled to depart Wednesday eveningl.
Cardinals fly in and out of Cahokia on Delta. So it is probably the Cardinals plane leaving after they fly them back here.symphonicpoet wrote: ↑Aug 17, 2020Oddly there are still DL 757s heading in and out of Cahokia. Can't imagine why if it's not to haul baseball teams. There's one scheduled to depart Wednesday eveningl.
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Sure, but why fly in and out of the Cards all drove to Chicago? Or was it just the staff that drove?
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The one departing Wednesday evening makes sense. Cardinals have a double header Wednesday and then return home to face the Reds Thursday. The whole team did drove up in rental cars individually, but with everyone on the active roster testing negative there's zero reason not to fly back.
This is correct. They drove up but are flying back.Laife Fulk wrote: ↑Aug 18, 2020The one departing Wednesday evening makes sense. Cardinals have a double header Wednesday and then return home to face the Reds Thursday. The whole team did drove up in rental cars individually, but with everyone on the active roster testing negative there's zero reason not to fly back.
I was saying when the Cards fly they fly in and out of Cahokia so that plane showing up is mostly likely theirs flying them home and then leaving to go to wherever it needs to be after it flies them home.
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That was my original thought. I know they've been contracting with Delta and they've been using a 757 or approximately equivalent. Just confused by the rental cars, but, yeah, the equipment would still need to make the party. Valid point. I really should have thought of that. I'm used to truck and bus tours. 
So... whether the Cards reach the playoffs or not (probably will, mainly because more than half of MLB's 30 teams will get in this year), it looks like nobody will be watching Cardinals baseball at Busch Stadium in 2020. After the initial Wild Card round, all playoff games will be played in 4 neutral site stadiums: Petco Park in San Diego, Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Minute Maid Park in Houston, and Globe Life Field in Arlington. The Division Series and League Championship Series will be played in the opposite league's ballparks (ALDS and ALCS in San Diego and Los Angeles and NLDS and NLCS in Houston and Arlington), which guarantees that no team will be playing in their own ballparks after the Wild Card round. The World Series will take place entirely in Arlington, Texas in the Rangers brand-spanking new $1 billion airport hangar/retractable roof ballpark that was built to replace the ancient Globe Life Park across the street, which opened in 1994. The Rangers, with the second worst record in baseball (19-38) have already been mathematically eliminated from the postseason, so there is no chance any team will have home field advantage in the Fall Classic.
The Wild Card round will feature eight 3 game series (four series per league), all played in the city of the higher seeded team. #1 vs #8, #2 vs #7, and so on. The teams will be seeded 1-3 for the three division winners, 4-6 for the three second place finishers, and 7-8 will go to the two best record teams in each league that didn't finish in the top two in their respective divisions. If the postseason started right now, the #5 Cardinals would face the #4 Padres in San Diego. There will be no off days during the Wild Card round, the Division Series, or the League Championship series, as all series will be played at one site. The World Series will have the traditional off days between Games 2 and 3 and between Games 5 and 6 (if necessary), even though all 7 games are taking place in Arlington.
The Wild Card round will feature eight 3 game series (four series per league), all played in the city of the higher seeded team. #1 vs #8, #2 vs #7, and so on. The teams will be seeded 1-3 for the three division winners, 4-6 for the three second place finishers, and 7-8 will go to the two best record teams in each league that didn't finish in the top two in their respective divisions. If the postseason started right now, the #5 Cardinals would face the #4 Padres in San Diego. There will be no off days during the Wild Card round, the Division Series, or the League Championship series, as all series will be played at one site. The World Series will have the traditional off days between Games 2 and 3 and between Games 5 and 6 (if necessary), even though all 7 games are taking place in Arlington.
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3 of the 4 hosting stadium's teams are still in the playoff hunt, with 2 of them having already clinched playoff spots. Houston just needs to beat the aforementioned Rangers today to clinch their spot, as well.DTGstl314 wrote: ↑Sep 25, 2020so there is no chance any team will have home field advantage in the Fall Classic.
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Those stadiums will host the other League. So LA / SD will be for the AL series with TEX / HOU the NL. And with the Rangers out, there's no worries about them having any advantage when the WS is played in Arlington.
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I misread. I didn't see the last line of the WS being held in Arlington. Apologies.Laife Fulk wrote: ↑Sep 25, 2020Those stadiums will host the other League. So LA / SD will be for the AL series with TEX / HOU the NL. And with the Rangers out, there's no worries about them having any advantage when the WS is played in Arlington.
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This team stinks and I have no idea if it has any business of being in the playoffs. The brad Miller experiment better just be a 2020 thing. Carpenter has to go, eat the money owned and get rid of him. Bader would be in AA at best and JCF earlier this week a $12,000,000 vesting option for Andrew Miller kicked in for 2021.
I believe they're 20-2 when scoring at least 4 runs, but only 28-26 overall. Really tells the story of how bad the offensive is vs. how good the pitching is...
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I mean, the team has been absolutely devastated by injuries this season, on top of being the team most ravished by Covid, and has had to play a literally unprecedented schedule to catch up with the rest of the league, yet they're still above .500 and will likely make the playoffs. If anything, it simply speaks to the outstanding depth of the Cardinals organization and is yet another reason why the way MoGirsch build a roster works. Besides, like half the teams making the playoffs this year "don't deserve to make it" - I'd wager money that a good chunk of the current playoff field wouldn't even be sniffing the playoffs with a regular postseason format after a 162 game season.dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑Sep 25, 2020This team stinks and I have no idea if it has any business of being in the playoffs. The brad Miller experiment better just be a 2020 thing. Carpenter has to go, eat the money owned and get rid of him. Bader would be in AA at best and JCF earlier this week a $12,000,000 vesting option for Andrew Miller kicked in for 2021.
Brad Miller's fine. If anything, he should probably be tendered a 2-year, ~$15-20M contract, since he's a solid utility guy and an okay option for DH (which, lets face it, isn't going away). He sucks right now because he's not getting any days off, since Shildt is running him ragged the same way Matheny treated Brandon Moss back in the second-half of 2015. Another thing to consider is that he would literally only be a part-time player in a normal season, but out of necessity has been forced to be a regular. The only way I wouldn't bring him back is if we resign Gyorko. The other Miller's been fine too this year, so I'm not worried about the vesting option.
Here's the thing with Carpenter: he's not going anywhere. Cutting bait with veterans (particularly long-tenured ones) Is not how the Cardinals operate - DeWitt seems to either not understand how the sunk-cost fallacy works or just doesn't give a sh*t, and it's been that way for years. They get rid of people like that through trades, and I'd imagine there's little opportunity to trade Carpenter. The vesting option for 2022 isn't likely to vest anyway - even with the prorated at-bats from this season, it's very unlikely that he'll get enough at-bats next season to qualify unless he's absolutely destroying the league, in which case no one will mind that it vests.
I'm also not sure why Bader, our best outfielder, should be in AA? Prorated over a full season, he's at like a 3-WAR pace, which is pretty damn good. You sacrifice a bit of hitting, but you get literally top-3 CF defense. If Bader can get his wRC+ up to even 90 while maintaining elite defense, that's an extremely good player to have on your team. Flank him with Carlson in right and TON in left and that's a pretty potent outfield combo.
I'm sure the Cardinals will try to shed some payroll for next season due to the financial uncertainty surrounding the future, but by-and-large, I expect the team to stay mostly the same. Hell, I bet Molina and Wainwright come back for one last swan song in 2021 too. The Cardinals have a lot of money coming off the books after 2021 as well (Fowler, likely Carpenter, likely Martinez, Andrew Miller, likely Waino and Molina) and 2022 is when I expect some of the prospects we have to start making their marks on the Major Leagues (ala Gorman, Herrera, and possibly Libertore), so with the Cubs, Brewers, and Pirates all trending downwards and the Reds only maybe good, the team's in good shape for the future.
I really wish that the Cardinals would get a better manager though - the more I see of Shildt, the more I realize that he's just Matheny 2: IBB Boogaloo. He does a lot of the same idiotic on-field managing that Matheny did (and still does). Is it really that hard to not walk people intentionally?
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This team needs a whole sale change in the line up. You basically have 4 hitters for next season and yadi gets to play as long as Yadi wants to play
1. Edman (3B)
2. Wong (2B)
3. Goldy (1B)
4. Carlson (OF1)
5.
6.
7. yadi (C)
8.
You got to dump Dex & Carp and DeJong you keep because he is cheap for the next 3 seasons to be a utility guy or play him at SS but hit him 8th. A guy with 318 OBP can’t hit above 8.
Ideally you get Arenado as 3B/clean up. Move Carlson to 2 spot and edman to OF
Bench
Kizner
O’Niell
Bader
IF 1
IF 2
Rotation is set
1. jack
2. Adam
3. Kim
4. Carlos
5. Mikolas
Bullpen
Gant
Miller
Hicks (closer)
Reyes (6-7th inning up and 6th starter)
Gallegos
Cabrera
Helsley
1. Edman (3B)
2. Wong (2B)
3. Goldy (1B)
4. Carlson (OF1)
5.
6.
7. yadi (C)
8.
You got to dump Dex & Carp and DeJong you keep because he is cheap for the next 3 seasons to be a utility guy or play him at SS but hit him 8th. A guy with 318 OBP can’t hit above 8.
Ideally you get Arenado as 3B/clean up. Move Carlson to 2 spot and edman to OF
Bench
Kizner
O’Niell
Bader
IF 1
IF 2
Rotation is set
1. jack
2. Adam
3. Kim
4. Carlos
5. Mikolas
Bullpen
Gant
Miller
Hicks (closer)
Reyes (6-7th inning up and 6th starter)
Gallegos
Cabrera
Helsley
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Edman really should be an infield utility guy only, but if the alternatives at 3B are Carpenter then Edman should just be plugged in there full time. Yes, he has some speed, but you have legitimate gold glove caliber defenders in Bader and O'Neil who should get OF playing time over him. DeJong is also a gold glove caliber SS with pop, so just slide him in at 6th and don't over think it. And we know they won't cut either Folwer or Carpenter, so just slide them in as the DH's to keep the best defensive team on the field instead. Knowing they won't trade for Arenado and probably are just hoping to buy time until Gorman is ready, next year I'd hope for:
Wong (2B)
Edman (3B)
Goldschmidt (1B)
Carlson (RF)
Carpenter / Fowler (DH)
DeJong (SS)
Molina (C)
O'Neil (LF)
Bader (CF)
Puts a lot of stress on Carlson, but we know they're going to basically roll out the same group without any drastic changes. If there aren't any legitimate big bats that deserve playing time, keep with the speed and defense and just keep the pressure on the other team to not make any mistakes.
Wong (2B)
Edman (3B)
Goldschmidt (1B)
Carlson (RF)
Carpenter / Fowler (DH)
DeJong (SS)
Molina (C)
O'Neil (LF)
Bader (CF)
Puts a lot of stress on Carlson, but we know they're going to basically roll out the same group without any drastic changes. If there aren't any legitimate big bats that deserve playing time, keep with the speed and defense and just keep the pressure on the other team to not make any mistakes.