Latest / Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast / REACTION: No Cards in ESPN's Top 100 players list + player predictions

Transcript

REACTION: No Cards in ESPN's Top 100 players list + player predictions · Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

0:07
Speaker 1: Hello everybody, and welcome to a brand new edition of
0:10
Speaker 1: Cardinal Territory Jim Hayes alongside Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson.
0:16
Speaker 1: Before we get started, I'd like to ask for your
0:19
Speaker 1: help you at home. See we're trying to get to
0:22
Speaker 1: seven thousand subscribers and we want to grow the program.
0:26
Speaker 1: So please reach out and hit that subscribe button because
0:30
Speaker 1: we want to help or we want to grow, and
0:33
Speaker 1: you guys can certainly help us do that. All right, gentlemen,
0:38
Speaker 1: the Cardinals are in a rebuild. We've talked about it,
0:41
Speaker 1: oh two three dozen times on this program, but now
0:46
Speaker 1: the experts at ESPN have weighed in on their top
0:51
Speaker 1: one hundred MLB players. The experts top one hundred MLB players,
0:58
Speaker 1: and there is not one Cardinal on the lift. The
1:01
Speaker 1: Cardinals joined the Marlins, the Rockies, and the White Sox
1:06
Speaker 1: as teams that have no one in the ESPN Top
1:10
Speaker 1: one hundred. So I will start with you, Kyle Gibson.
1:14
Speaker 1: Is that just the sign of a rebuild or are
1:18
Speaker 1: the experts at ESPN wrong, wrong, wrong?
1:25
Speaker 2: I honestly I don't know that it matters, Jim. I
1:28
Speaker 2: don't want to just completely throw you off the topic. Here,
1:31
Speaker 2: But I mean, I think it's just a ranking system. Obviously,
1:36
Speaker 2: they trade away a few pretty good players this offseason.
1:40
Speaker 2: I would say Mason Winn is a you know, he's
1:42
Speaker 2: a top tier shortstop defensively for sure. I know offensively,
1:46
Speaker 2: there's some guys with some thump in the league that
1:48
Speaker 2: you know, probably outdo them offensively, But I don't know.
1:52
Speaker 2: I mean, i'd have to look at the list and
1:54
Speaker 2: kind of see maybe where Alec Burlison fits in, where
1:58
Speaker 2: some of these guys might fit in. But I mean,
2:03
Speaker 2: is that wrong for me to say it doesn't matter?
2:05
Speaker 2: Is that an okay opinion? Jim?
2:07
Speaker 1: That's fine, It's perfectly fine. But I am trying to
2:11
Speaker 1: get some back and forth going. And I would say,
2:15
Speaker 1: when is a guy you would think might crack somewhere
2:18
Speaker 1: in the top one hundred, maybe Burlison, how about Horrero?
2:22
Speaker 1: Especially with his.
2:24
Speaker 2: One hundred players?
2:25
Speaker 1: Is not a lot?
2:26
Speaker 2: Jim? Like, that's not a lot? Right? We're talking thirty
2:29
Speaker 2: teams at twenty six players. You know, we're talking seven
2:32
Speaker 2: hundred and eighty players, right, Like in the entire league.
2:36
Speaker 2: That's you know, one hundred is not a lot of them.
2:39
Speaker 2: You're looking at what.
2:41
Speaker 3: Twenty six of the Dodgers are already on there. Said
2:44
Speaker 3: they're taking up twenty six of the top one hundred.
2:47
Speaker 1: You know they have a three eight for the record,
2:51
Speaker 1: the three from me to the ranking system.
2:53
Speaker 3: Screw now we know the ranking system ship.
2:56
Speaker 1: Okay, so we got our first, our first cust I
3:00
Speaker 1: like that. But let's let me let me put another
3:02
Speaker 1: way to you, because I think, Kyle, what you're saying
3:04
Speaker 1: is fair. It really doesn't matter in the big scheme
3:07
Speaker 1: of things. But as I try to tap into the
3:10
Speaker 1: frustration of Cardinal Nation, should it matter? And do you
3:15
Speaker 1: think one of those guys that I mentioned should.
3:18
Speaker 2: Be No, don't don't tap in. Do not tap into
3:22
Speaker 2: the frustration of Cardinal nation. Don't do that, Jim. We
3:24
Speaker 2: already went over this yesterday on social media. We had
3:28
Speaker 2: a little bit. I just let you know, there's no
3:29
Speaker 2: need for Cardinals fans to get upset with what Colin
3:32
Speaker 2: Cowhurt said. It's gonna be okay, all right, There's no
3:35
Speaker 2: need to tap into frustration here. These young players that
3:39
Speaker 2: they have in two years, if four of them are
3:43
Speaker 2: in the top one hundred, nobody's gonna remember that none
3:46
Speaker 2: of them were in the top one hundred two years prior.
3:49
Speaker 2: This is part of going younger, part of bringing up
3:52
Speaker 2: guys that haven't quite established themselves as a top tier
3:56
Speaker 2: player or you know, a top player at their position,
3:59
Speaker 2: as part of it. I don't think Cardinals fans should
4:02
Speaker 2: be frustrated at all because Cardinals fans in general wanted
4:06
Speaker 2: this thing to change and to look different. So with
4:10
Speaker 2: it looking different, it's going to look different, That's what
4:14
Speaker 2: That's how I would put it, So.
4:16
Speaker 1: Lance, I don't know if you're aware. Colin Cowhard, who
4:19
Speaker 1: does a sports talk show, called the Cardinals cruddy. He
4:26
Speaker 1: said they were cruddy, and I was wondering because my
4:29
Speaker 1: dog is a Cardinal fan, Stella, and she saw this
4:32
Speaker 1: and wanted to take a piece at him. She's a
4:34
Speaker 1: mini bull terrier, but is kindle onto something here though
4:39
Speaker 1: that Look, it's a rebuild. It was necessary, and if
4:44
Speaker 1: our feelings get hurt as Cardinal fans, so be it.
4:49
Speaker 3: In a sense, yes, because if you look at the
4:51
Speaker 3: way that the roster has been put together, it's, hey,
4:55
Speaker 3: let's figure out which young kid can actually be or
4:58
Speaker 3: hopefully multiple young kids can actually be a top you know,
5:01
Speaker 3: one hundred player. And if you look at the one
5:03
Speaker 3: hundred player list. There's not one All Star on the
5:07
Speaker 3: Cardinals roster, so there's not one person that probably consider
5:11
Speaker 3: and say, hey, I should be on that list. Do
5:15
Speaker 3: are there talent enough players on the list? Mason for sure,
5:18
Speaker 3: gold Glover, you know, I'm wondering if he's the only
5:21
Speaker 3: gold Glover not on the top one hundred list, then
5:23
Speaker 3: that could be a slight you know, it just kind
5:25
Speaker 3: of depends. But you're looking at young players that haven't
5:28
Speaker 3: been All Stars, haven't, you know, kind of taking over
5:33
Speaker 3: a spot in the game maybe besides Mason, So you know,
5:38
Speaker 3: and the offense comes along this year. You know, if
5:40
Speaker 3: he does the twenty home run thing, like you said,
5:42
Speaker 3: it's two eighty five to three hundred and still's thirty bags,
5:46
Speaker 3: then yeah he's there. But we all know he's capable
5:49
Speaker 3: of that. When he does it, he'll be on the list. Yeah.
5:52
Speaker 3: The feeling is around the world that I see everything.
5:55
Speaker 3: I'm looking at the win loss record, right, was it
5:57
Speaker 3: sixty something that they got the ore under at, So yeah,
6:01
Speaker 3: people are very down on them. But I think that
6:04
Speaker 3: you're looking at a group of players that have been
6:07
Speaker 3: on top prospect list and this and that. But they
6:10
Speaker 3: haven't shown it at the big league level. But when
6:13
Speaker 3: you have no payroll after this year and all that,
6:15
Speaker 3: you have to see what you have that's not or
6:18
Speaker 3: that's cost controlled, and then you've built around it with
6:21
Speaker 3: money and players in free agency and this and that.
6:23
Speaker 3: So yeah, it gets say the old you know, darkest
6:27
Speaker 3: before the dawn and all that crap that people say,
6:30
Speaker 3: But that's kind of where we're at right now. It's like, hey,
6:32
Speaker 3: let's see who's going to be who, and let's stop
6:35
Speaker 3: bandiating it, take the band aid off, let's see you
6:38
Speaker 3: see who could stop the bleeding, and then we build
6:40
Speaker 3: around them. And I think that's not a bad approach,
6:43
Speaker 3: especially with the state of baseball as it is right now,
6:46
Speaker 3: and then you can go from there. But there was
6:48
Speaker 3: some stuff that had to be cleaned up. I'm dealt
6:50
Speaker 3: with cleaning it up. Now, it's where to see, Hey,
6:53
Speaker 3: where we build from here? Because farm system's pretty deep.
6:56
Speaker 3: We've got young positioned players, young pitchers. Now which ones
6:59
Speaker 3: are going to stick? Which ones can you build around
7:01
Speaker 3: and then bring the right free agents that you can
7:04
Speaker 3: build around them. And you're gonna have a lot of
7:06
Speaker 3: money to do that with come next offseason. So it's
7:08
Speaker 3: a it's a wait and see approach, but it's where
7:12
Speaker 3: you're at right now, and you just got to kind
7:13
Speaker 3: of deal with it. And you're gonna have talent on
7:15
Speaker 3: the field. The question is is it going to be
7:17
Speaker 3: able to translate into wins? Most likely at times yes,
7:20
Speaker 3: and at times it's there's going to be some ugly
7:22
Speaker 3: stretches and you've got to deal with that as a
7:25
Speaker 3: as a learning thing. But all the is not going
7:26
Speaker 3: to let things slide. So it's not going to be
7:28
Speaker 3: ugly baseball. It might be youthful baseball with some youthful mistakes,
7:33
Speaker 3: but those will be corrected as the year goes on,
7:35
Speaker 3: and that's going to be fun to watch as a
7:37
Speaker 3: baseball fan.
7:38
Speaker 1: And the band aid is off. Okay, we stipulate that
7:41
Speaker 1: the band aid is off and sometimes it hurts. So
7:45
Speaker 1: still fans want to win as many games as the
7:49
Speaker 1: Cardinals can possibly win. So, Kyle, I'm gonna ask you
7:51
Speaker 1: this when you're looking at the team, not in terms
7:55
Speaker 1: of development, which is kind of what this year is
7:57
Speaker 1: all about. We understand that what do you think we'll
8:01
Speaker 1: be more concerning? Do you have more concerns about and
8:05
Speaker 1: I'm talking about success rate as they go through the
8:07
Speaker 1: growth process starting rotation or offense?
8:11
Speaker 2: Which one which am I more concerned about? And when
8:17
Speaker 2: you say concerned, like, do I think they're going to
8:19
Speaker 2: struggle more or do at the end of the year
8:21
Speaker 2: what I put more importance on this part getting better?
8:24
Speaker 2: Which one is that, Jim.
8:26
Speaker 1: Let's say, just for wins, losses or eras or batting
8:30
Speaker 1: average total.
8:31
Speaker 2: I'm not concerned about either of them. Honestly, not concerned
8:34
Speaker 2: about either of them. I think that if this year
8:37
Speaker 2: is the development year, both for pitching and for offense,
8:40
Speaker 2: which it is. You know, we've already heard Ali Anheim
8:43
Speaker 2: both talking about Jordan Walker and the work that he's
8:46
Speaker 2: put in this offseason. If Jordan Walker goes out there
8:48
Speaker 2: and struggles in his first hundred of bats, nobody should
8:51
Speaker 2: be calling for him to go to Triple A. Everybody
8:54
Speaker 2: should be saying, it's been one hundred of bats and
8:56
Speaker 2: it's one sixth of a season. If you have Quinn
8:59
Speaker 2: Matthew has come up and he struggles a little bit,
9:02
Speaker 2: nobody should be saying that we can't develop pictures. You've
9:05
Speaker 2: got to give him a chance to establish himself and
9:07
Speaker 2: figure out where he's at. If this is a true rebuild,
9:15
Speaker 2: whatever they want to call it, then the over under
9:18
Speaker 2: win loss doesn't matter. And you're going out there and
9:21
Speaker 2: you're just playing good baseball and you're trying to figure
9:24
Speaker 2: out the big league level what kind of player you are?
9:27
Speaker 2: How can you repeat that and how can you get
9:29
Speaker 2: the best out of yourself each and every day? And
9:32
Speaker 2: I know, figure out who you are. It's kind of cliche, right,
9:35
Speaker 2: but all of us if you think back to any
9:38
Speaker 2: point in your life when you go through adversity, no
9:41
Speaker 2: matter what job, no matter what part of life you're in,
9:43
Speaker 2: you revert back to your identity in those moments, and
9:46
Speaker 2: that's how you get through the hard times. Okay, So
9:49
Speaker 2: now translate that to a big league player. If a
9:52
Speaker 2: pitcher has no idea what his strengths are at the
9:54
Speaker 2: big league level, when he goes through a struggle, he's
9:56
Speaker 2: going to flounder and have no idea. If a hitter
9:58
Speaker 2: goes over fifteen or over twenty and doesn't understand what
10:01
Speaker 2: his strengths are, he has no way to get back.
10:03
Speaker 2: So that's what I mean by figure out who you are.
10:05
Speaker 2: That's what these young kids need to do. Figure out
10:07
Speaker 2: your strengths figure out who you are at the big leagues,
10:10
Speaker 2: work through you through your hard times with Dusty or
10:13
Speaker 2: hitting coaches, whoever might be, and figure out your identity
10:16
Speaker 2: and what it's going to be on the field.
10:18
Speaker 1: Soles, let me ask you this. If we understand all
10:23
Speaker 1: what Kyle is saying, and he brings up some valid points,
10:26
Speaker 1: but I still am hoping for some of these guys
10:29
Speaker 1: to pop. I know Kyle is too. So you're you're
10:32
Speaker 1: a former pitcher. Look at the rotation, the guys who
10:35
Speaker 1: are in the mix. I want you to give the
10:38
Speaker 1: guy you think well, and it might not matter, I
10:42
Speaker 1: understand that, but it's fun anyway. Give me the starting
10:46
Speaker 1: pitcher you think will end up the season with the
10:48
Speaker 1: most wins.
10:51
Speaker 3: The I would say are they have to start the
10:54
Speaker 3: year on the Cardinals, that end the year on the Cardinals.
10:57
Speaker 1: Whoever ends up at the end of the season in
10:59
Speaker 1: the star arting rotation with the most ws.
11:03
Speaker 3: I think that it will probably be Libby because I
11:07
Speaker 3: think he'll start the year in the rotation and in
11:10
Speaker 3: the year in the Cardinals rotation. I think Dustin May
11:12
Speaker 3: will end the year in another rotation. I think they
11:15
Speaker 3: will have a similar win lost record. So that will
11:19
Speaker 3: be my answer to that one. And then you know
11:22
Speaker 3: with that group that we're asking for them to kind
11:25
Speaker 3: of figure out who they are. I think we really
11:27
Speaker 3: got to see if McGreevy can with his stuff, make
11:31
Speaker 3: his stuff with his command make us. Can his stuff
11:35
Speaker 3: get better with this command? I think that's the main thing,
11:38
Speaker 3: especially against lefties. So it's gonna be a big gear
11:41
Speaker 3: for him because if he cannot figure out that side
11:43
Speaker 3: of the plate and how to make his stuff play
11:46
Speaker 3: better or do something to get lefties off of him,
11:49
Speaker 3: it's gonna be a really hard fit for him to
11:52
Speaker 3: stay in a rotation through a whole season. So it's
11:55
Speaker 3: a big gear for him in my opinion, with what
11:57
Speaker 3: he's done in the minor leagues and the step that
11:59
Speaker 3: he's got to to be a you know, an every
12:03
Speaker 3: day or you know, one out of every five rotation guy.
12:06
Speaker 3: So he's probably my my guy there that's got a
12:09
Speaker 3: lot of pressure on him because we know the commands there,
12:11
Speaker 3: We know he has all the pitches, but maybe this
12:14
Speaker 3: stuff doesn't jump off the table, so at times, you know,
12:17
Speaker 3: he can't out stuff anyone. So what's his step or
12:20
Speaker 3: what's his counter going to be to get left handers
12:23
Speaker 3: out at a better clip so he doesn't get stacked
12:26
Speaker 3: against and get ran out of the rotation and getting
12:28
Speaker 3: himself plugged in a you know, bullpen roll where he's
12:31
Speaker 3: got a face right he's So that's my my rotation
12:34
Speaker 3: take at the moment.
12:35
Speaker 1: I like it. Now, Kyle, let me ask you this.
12:37
Speaker 1: I'm going to give you some some wiggle room on
12:40
Speaker 1: this question because you have swatted down everything I've asked
12:43
Speaker 1: you in a friendly way.
12:48
Speaker 3: I'm not getting up against the rips in the corner.
12:50
Speaker 3: He won't allow it.
12:51
Speaker 1: Too slippery, he's too slippery. I like that. So, based
12:57
Speaker 1: on the fact that we don't even know who it's
12:59
Speaker 1: going to be in and it could be one of
13:00
Speaker 1: these young guys comes out of nowhere, it gets a
13:03
Speaker 1: lot of traction. Could be a may who ends up
13:06
Speaker 1: being dealt before the trade that who knows. But I'm
13:09
Speaker 1: asking you which guy not that it matters. Do you
13:13
Speaker 1: think we'll have in the rotation the best season out
13:17
Speaker 1: of all the starters?
13:21
Speaker 2: Man, That's a tough one. I think. I think one
13:25
Speaker 2: thing that helps a guy like Polante is that we've
13:29
Speaker 2: put together a pretty good defense. I feel like that's
13:31
Speaker 2: one thing that we should be good. That's side of
13:34
Speaker 2: the ball we should be pretty good at, especially up
13:36
Speaker 2: the middle, with some versatility around the infield. Ramon Urius
13:40
Speaker 2: is an elite defender wherever he's playing. I really like
13:45
Speaker 2: I like that ad for this group to give guys
13:47
Speaker 2: breaks and to be a really quality defender wherever he's
13:50
Speaker 2: playing outfield defense, I think we'll be fine there. So
13:54
Speaker 2: I think Polonte could have a really surprising year to
13:58
Speaker 2: some people. I think there's some people that have written
13:59
Speaker 2: him because of a struggle last year, and that'd be
14:03
Speaker 2: a guy that I would like to see take a
14:04
Speaker 2: step forward for them because I think, you know, going
14:07
Speaker 2: forward now, he could be somewhat of a veteran presence
14:11
Speaker 2: if if he has a good year this year, plug
14:14
Speaker 2: him into the rotation as a staple for next year,
14:16
Speaker 2: and then maybe he kind of helps bridge a gap
14:19
Speaker 2: here to where you don't have to add you know,
14:21
Speaker 2: two starters, you just add one.
14:24
Speaker 1: So I'm going to take your advice and when you
14:26
Speaker 1: hit some sort of turbulence, you have to adapt as
14:30
Speaker 1: a veteran. I'm a veteran broadcaster, so I'm going to
14:33
Speaker 1: switch it up. Because we kind of talked about everyone
14:37
Speaker 1: being on board with the wins and losses don't really matter.
14:41
Speaker 1: But I wonder, and I'll throw this out to Lance first,
14:46
Speaker 1: with a guy like Ali who got the extension, where
14:49
Speaker 1: managers typically are judged on wins and losses, he will
14:54
Speaker 1: be judged not on wins and losses as much as
14:57
Speaker 1: player development, because that's what this year is all about. So, Lence,
15:02
Speaker 1: what does it look like for Ali in terms of
15:05
Speaker 1: what is successful when you're judging how he did this year?
15:10
Speaker 3: I think it's the process, right, How are these guys
15:12
Speaker 3: day in and out fixing their mistakes from the game
15:16
Speaker 3: before or as the season goes on. You're seeing quality
15:20
Speaker 3: innings thrown, quality at bats taken, you know, just working counts,
15:25
Speaker 3: working pictures and stuff like that. So that's the main thing, right,
15:28
Speaker 3: is making sure these kids are staying on track pre game,
15:33
Speaker 3: getting their work in, doing the things they need to
15:35
Speaker 3: do to be prepared for the game. Because they're talented
15:37
Speaker 3: enough to surprise people. They really are. I mean, they're
15:40
Speaker 3: talented enough to be big leaguers. There's no one on
15:42
Speaker 3: the roster that's like, hey, that's not a he's not
15:46
Speaker 3: talented enough to be a major leaguer. Now is he ready,
15:49
Speaker 3: maybe not, But the process of simplifying things daily to
15:54
Speaker 3: help them grow and build one thing at a time,
15:57
Speaker 3: that's the thing that you're going to look at this year,
16:00
Speaker 3: and then seeing them kind of put those things together
16:03
Speaker 3: as the year goes on and they'll start racking up wins.
16:05
Speaker 3: I mean, there's everyone wants to talk about win loss.
16:08
Speaker 1: You don't.
16:08
Speaker 3: We're not worried about win loss. But when you're when
16:10
Speaker 3: you're winning games and learning and doing these things, it's
16:14
Speaker 3: better for everybody and it's a better vibe. So you know,
16:17
Speaker 3: I hope they're able to, you know, win games add
16:19
Speaker 3: a better clip than people think they're going to. Because
16:22
Speaker 3: that will also make sure as they go on this
16:24
Speaker 3: year that the product and the work will be they'll
16:27
Speaker 3: be seeing that in wins and that will help the
16:31
Speaker 3: process for everybody. And nobody wants to lose. This scroup
16:34
Speaker 3: doesn't want to lose. They want to show everybody that
16:36
Speaker 3: they're major lye talented players and they're ready to help
16:39
Speaker 3: teams too. So but when you have young teams and
16:42
Speaker 3: this and that, it's like, hey, every day there's a process.
16:45
Speaker 3: You're playing the game hard, you're doing the right thing,
16:47
Speaker 3: and hey, let them go and let them make mistakes,
16:50
Speaker 3: but as long as you're correcting those mistakes, and it's
16:52
Speaker 3: not like, oh, let's just make mistakes and they'll figure
16:55
Speaker 3: it out. It's no. When you make mistakes, we're correcting it,
16:57
Speaker 3: and then we're trying to figure out what makes you
16:59
Speaker 3: good and we can keep that and then make you
17:01
Speaker 3: better as year goes on. On the little things that
17:04
Speaker 3: might be quote unquote your your your stuff that's not
17:08
Speaker 3: quite up to par yet, how we make that a
17:10
Speaker 3: little better as the year goes on too.
17:12
Speaker 1: So we've talked about runway for players, but Ali has
17:15
Speaker 1: some runway now that he's got the extension. And let's
17:18
Speaker 1: face that, expectations aren't that high for this ball club.
17:22
Speaker 1: But I would think Kyle that that's also sort of
17:25
Speaker 1: a challenge for a manager where your players also understand
17:29
Speaker 1: they have to produce, but they have to get better,
17:32
Speaker 1: but it's not about wins and losses. So how do
17:34
Speaker 1: you judge what Oli's doing in your view?
17:39
Speaker 2: Well, I think I think we'll ask me a lot
17:42
Speaker 2: of good points there, and I think you know, we're
17:46
Speaker 2: everybody's looking for a prommer of success here, So I'm
17:48
Speaker 2: gonna I'm gonna answer your question, Jim, very reluctantly, because
17:51
Speaker 2: I think it's a loaded question that you've been doing
17:54
Speaker 2: this all day to me. We've been doing it all
17:57
Speaker 2: day to us, So I'm gonna keep I'll just keep
17:58
Speaker 2: going here. We don't need to ruin this. I think
18:02
Speaker 2: that the less four to five game losing streaks, I
18:08
Speaker 2: think that's a good sign. I think if your players
18:11
Speaker 2: can get over a couple of losses and move on
18:12
Speaker 2: and win the next series, I think that's a good thing.
18:15
Speaker 2: I think it's very hard to create and maintain culture
18:18
Speaker 2: if you're not consistent on the winning side. I think
18:22
Speaker 2: Ali and his staff and the players in the locker
18:24
Speaker 2: room have the ability to keep building a good culture.
18:29
Speaker 2: You know, I went through it in Texas in twenty
18:31
Speaker 2: twenty one, and very blunt with me as a veteran
18:35
Speaker 2: going into the season, we're not going to be good
18:37
Speaker 2: and we're developing guys. And I told him, I was like, listen,
18:41
Speaker 2: that's fine, but we're gonna have fun, and we're gonna
18:43
Speaker 2: go out here and we're gonna play hard and we're
18:45
Speaker 2: gonna take our licks, but we're going to have fun.
18:48
Speaker 2: And I think it's important for Ali to keep these
18:50
Speaker 2: guys having fun, assuming they get in a rough patch
18:54
Speaker 2: and they and they take some tough losses. I agree
18:57
Speaker 2: with Lance. I think this is a talented team and
18:59
Speaker 2: if they're pitching through well, then I think they'll be
19:00
Speaker 2: in just about every ballgame. So to what does success
19:05
Speaker 2: look like? Manage twenty six players and maintain your culture
19:10
Speaker 2: and grow that culture so that you get the best
19:13
Speaker 2: out of your players. And who knows what that looks like.
19:16
Speaker 2: Who knows JJ Weatherhold's ceiling. Who knows what Mason Winn
19:19
Speaker 2: can become offensively even better than he is. I think
19:22
Speaker 2: there's a high ceiling for a lot of these guys.
19:24
Speaker 2: And the goal is maybe after the All Star break,
19:27
Speaker 2: let's see if those next couple of months to end
19:28
Speaker 2: the year look like and see if these guys are
19:30
Speaker 2: getting closer to that type of seal.
19:32
Speaker 1: Fair enough, now, all of our World Baseball Classic coverage
19:36
Speaker 1: is brought to you by our friends at Fox one,
19:39
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Speaker 1: the fourteenth. Go to foxwe dot com for complete terms
20:18
Speaker 1: and conditions. Fox one streaming right now. So, boys, let's
20:24
Speaker 1: talk a little World Baseball Classic. Lance, I'll start with you.
20:27
Speaker 1: First of all, our friend Matt Holliday is the hitting
20:31
Speaker 1: coach and right now who's got a cool thing because
20:33
Speaker 1: his kid Ethan is playing played in an exhibition game
20:37
Speaker 1: and hanging out with a team USA. But Lance, you
20:40
Speaker 1: were a player for team Usay, how much one do
20:45
Speaker 1: you think Matt Holidays having not only wearing the USA
20:48
Speaker 1: on his chest, but also having his kit along for
20:50
Speaker 1: the ride. How cool is that?
20:52
Speaker 2: You know?
20:53
Speaker 3: Obviously that's one of the cooler things you can that
20:55
Speaker 3: you can happen, you know, like we've all talked about,
20:57
Speaker 3: when you get a chance to represent your country in
21:00
Speaker 3: any shape or form, it's cool. But for him to
21:03
Speaker 3: have the you know, his boy there and the dugout
21:05
Speaker 3: as a you know, helping the expedition or exhibition like
21:08
Speaker 3: that's that's huge, not only for the family but for USA,
21:12
Speaker 3: and you see all these families coming together and doing
21:15
Speaker 3: that thing, so you know, obviously they have a very
21:17
Speaker 3: talented family being able to do the things that they're
21:20
Speaker 3: able to do with the boys you know, being major
21:23
Speaker 3: one being a Major leaguer and the other one, you know,
21:25
Speaker 3: being the fourth overall pack and on his way hopefully
21:27
Speaker 3: to be a major leaguer too. So it's kind of cool,
21:31
Speaker 3: not only for them to see that, just because I've
21:33
Speaker 3: known Matt for a long time, but also, uh, they
21:36
Speaker 3: knew Ethan and Jackson when they were like five and
21:38
Speaker 3: seven years old growing up to in the Cardinals clubhouse.
21:41
Speaker 3: So seeing that all come together for the family is
21:44
Speaker 3: a you know, you couldn't ask for a you know,
21:46
Speaker 3: a better thing as a father too, So happy for him.
21:50
Speaker 1: Pretty cool. And Kyle, I know you're a baseball fan.
21:54
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people are pumped up with
21:56
Speaker 1: the World Baseball Classic which has gotten underway. What do
21:59
Speaker 1: you like about it? When as a fan watching the games?
22:02
Speaker 1: What do you like about the World Baseball Classic?
22:06
Speaker 2: I think the main thing to me that changes is
22:09
Speaker 2: I think a little bit more not more more passion
22:15
Speaker 2: is the wrong way to put it. I just think
22:16
Speaker 2: it's a different kind of energy. You know, you're playing
22:19
Speaker 2: a lower number of games. You know, each game probably
22:21
Speaker 2: has a little bit more meaning, you know, a little
22:25
Speaker 2: bit more hangs on each win, each loss. So I
22:28
Speaker 2: think it's more of a playoff atmosphere and playoff baseball
22:31
Speaker 2: to me, instead of the one sixty two grind. You know,
22:34
Speaker 2: I don't think anybody's gonna say, oh, well, team you know,
22:37
Speaker 2: say loses.
22:38
Speaker 1: One game to Britain, It'll be fine.
22:40
Speaker 2: You know, I don't think that's how they're looking at it,
22:42
Speaker 2: because of the expectations for the team and how this
22:46
Speaker 2: is all set up. So you know, each game is
22:49
Speaker 2: basically like a swim game, a swing game in a
22:52
Speaker 2: five game series. You know, you're trying to win Game
22:54
Speaker 2: three and take the two to one advantage. And I
22:56
Speaker 2: think that's why you see so much passion and so
22:58
Speaker 2: much excitement at each moment in the game. And you know, well,
23:02
Speaker 2: I think anybody who's seen highlights in the Dominican Republican
23:05
Speaker 2: seeing how different countries celebrate baseball, yeah, I think you
23:10
Speaker 2: can get excited about that.
23:12
Speaker 1: It's really cool. Lace. I have a question, though you've
23:15
Speaker 1: been through it, like when practice starts for Team USA,
23:20
Speaker 1: or one of the other countries. Like you have players
23:23
Speaker 1: from all over suddenly showing up and it's okay, now
23:26
Speaker 1: you're a team. What's that process Like.
23:31
Speaker 3: It's a little you feel yourself, You kind of feel
23:33
Speaker 3: everybody out a real quick. So it's kind of it's
23:36
Speaker 3: a fun process too, because you're so used to competing
23:39
Speaker 3: against those guys and then you're gonna you know, if
23:41
Speaker 3: you don't know them personally, which you know some of them,
23:44
Speaker 3: you will, you'll have you know, past experiences, maybe you've
23:48
Speaker 3: been teammates with them. But it's fun to get to know.
23:50
Speaker 3: Like I got to know Kyle Schwarber in a way
23:53
Speaker 3: that I've never really got a chance to talk to
23:56
Speaker 3: him and all that before. And him and I have
23:58
Speaker 3: a lot of similarities in the way we way we
24:00
Speaker 3: go about our business and the way we uh you know,
24:03
Speaker 3: keep clubhouses light and uh, you know, enjoy the game
24:07
Speaker 3: in certain different ways. So that's the that's the fun.
24:09
Speaker 3: You kind of see who it's like the Mighty Ducks,
24:13
Speaker 3: right when everybody comes together, it's like, who's gonna be
24:15
Speaker 3: the Bash Brothers, Who's going to be like your your
24:18
Speaker 3: quiet group and stuff like that. So I liken it
24:21
Speaker 3: to that movie. It's like, hey, we brought all these
24:22
Speaker 3: guys together, we got new and it's like, let's see
24:25
Speaker 3: see the bullies are gonna be, Let's see the funny
24:27
Speaker 3: guys are gonna be. And that's always a fun time
24:30
Speaker 3: to see that dynamic come together. And it's got to
24:32
Speaker 3: come together quick and the good the best part about
24:35
Speaker 3: UH coming together is you get sitting a dugout and
24:37
Speaker 3: you get you get to compete right away, so it
24:39
Speaker 3: just naturally comes out too. And that's it's not hard
24:42
Speaker 3: to bring it out of us. When we start competing,
24:44
Speaker 3: our natural instincts takeover and then everyone just kind of
24:47
Speaker 3: falls in line, and it's it's usually pretty fun and
24:49
Speaker 3: it happens quick.
24:51
Speaker 1: And kind of I know you're a big proponent of
24:54
Speaker 1: UH of baseball in general, but isn't isn't the World
24:58
Speaker 1: Baseball Classic a great advertisement for MLB? Isn't that? Like?
25:04
Speaker 1: I mean, it gets fans excited because there's you know,
25:08
Speaker 1: you're rooting for your team and your team has done
25:10
Speaker 1: with spring training. Now it's time for the season.
25:13
Speaker 2: Well, Jim, I think we can take from mister Colin Cowherd.
25:17
Speaker 2: I know Stella was upset, but you know, sixty seven
25:20
Speaker 2: and fourteen thousand baseball fans feel pretty encouraged about where
25:23
Speaker 2: the state of the game is. So I think that's
25:25
Speaker 2: a good thing we can hang around on. And I
25:28
Speaker 2: think the World Baseball Classic highlights that. I think you
25:30
Speaker 2: have all star teams from each country coming together playing
25:34
Speaker 2: the game. This is an international game in my mind,
25:37
Speaker 2: unlike any other major sport. You know, just about every continent,
25:42
Speaker 2: if not every continent is represented. I mean, it's just
25:45
Speaker 2: it's an international, world, global game, and I think it's
25:49
Speaker 2: pretty cool to see all star teams from from each
25:52
Speaker 2: country come together and show their best. And yeah, I
25:56
Speaker 2: think I think you see the best of baseball in
25:59
Speaker 2: the moments, and hopefully, you know it can carry some
26:01
Speaker 2: momentum into Opening Day like I did a few years ago.
26:05
Speaker 1: Well, I got to say that in spite of the
26:07
Speaker 1: fact that Kyle was a little gruff and he was
26:10
Speaker 1: okay with Colin Cowhart calling the Cardinals cruddy.
26:15
Speaker 2: I just I don't understand why you why you're doing
26:18
Speaker 2: this to me, you know, like you're holding this against me, when,
26:20
Speaker 2: like I said, we agreed with Colin on ninety nine
26:23
Speaker 2: percent of what he said. Lance, he totally agreed with
26:26
Speaker 2: us on how it's not the Dodgers running baseball, it's
26:29
Speaker 2: the kruddy Cardinals, which I don't even think the cruddy
26:32
Speaker 2: Cardinals are running baseball, but it's he just lumped them
26:34
Speaker 2: in because they're a team and a rebuild. Other than that,
26:38
Speaker 2: we agreed with everything that he said, and I think
26:40
Speaker 2: Lance would say the same thing. So Stella must have
26:42
Speaker 2: got caught up in this social media.
26:45
Speaker 1: Right, No, No, that's it. He through the adjective on
26:51
Speaker 1: just the Cardinals.
26:52
Speaker 2: Well it's no, it's it's not an adjective. Listen, I'm
26:55
Speaker 2: not an English major, but it has something. It's a
26:58
Speaker 2: you know, Cardinals c karate see you know, it just
27:01
Speaker 2: it happened to work out that way. He's immedia personality,
27:04
Speaker 2: you know. I just think Stella probably got caught up
27:06
Speaker 2: in social media where she saw a six second clip
27:09
Speaker 2: and didn't get any context and saw Colin Cowherd also
27:13
Speaker 2: two more sees say kreddie Cardinals, and now she got mad.
27:16
Speaker 2: You know, come on, come on, Stelly.
27:18
Speaker 1: Gotta be better.
27:19
Speaker 3: His only defense is in probably in its lifetime, the
27:23
Speaker 3: Cardinals have never done this. So he's just he's just
27:26
Speaker 3: that's where he's at on this and he sees that
27:28
Speaker 3: them as an organization that's probably on the Mount Rushmore's
27:31
Speaker 3: of organizations, and he was not expecting to see this,
27:35
Speaker 3: So that's his that's his call. Was it the right word?
27:39
Speaker 2: I don't know, jam You also had a lot of assumptions.
27:43
Speaker 1: It's not we'll have to roll back.
27:45
Speaker 2: What the rollback to take to that, Jim, you made
27:47
Speaker 2: a lot of assumptions about me. I'm a big proponent
27:49
Speaker 2: of baseball, whether it's sure or not. You just you
27:51
Speaker 2: assumed a lot of things as you led me into
27:52
Speaker 2: questions today, and it kind of kind of made me
27:55
Speaker 2: push back across my arms a little bit. But we'll
27:56
Speaker 2: see how next show goes.
27:58
Speaker 1: You know what happens to you pretty well? I think
28:00
Speaker 1: from spot on, that's gonna do it for this edition
28:03
Speaker 1: of Cardinal Territory. We'll see you next time for the
28:06
Speaker 1: next episode. Hopefully that one won't be crunny.
28:10
Speaker 2: H