Latest / Foul Territory / Katie Woo talks Cubs-Cardinals, Buy/Sell scenarios, Oli’s rise

Transcript

Katie Woo talks Cubs-Cardinals, Buy/Sell scenarios, Oli’s rise · Foul Territory

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I think when you're looking at what the Cardinals are
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: going to do going forward, how they play heading into
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: the All Star break will ultimately force Johnasy allowed to
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: make the decision.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: Here we go, Katie Wu from Cardinal territory and the
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: athletic covering the Cardinals joining us right now on FT Katie.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Great to see you, and finally we have the Cubs
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: and the Cardinals meeting up.
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: I'm like, when are they going to face off?
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: I know that people didn't expect the Cardinals to be
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: good this year, but now that they are, this is
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: a fun week for us. How is it going so
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: far with the Cardinals dominating in Game one? And is
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: this a good litmus test to see what the Cardinals
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: are going to do at the trade deadline?
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: A super fun series? Here a bus, JADM. It only
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: took eighty nine days for the Cardinals and Cubs to
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: see each other. That's about the amount of time that
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: AJ goes before texting me or needing me for something.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: So Agent, I'm glad to see you two shows in
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: a row with you. We're on a better track now.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: But let's talk a little bit about the Cardinals and
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: this upcoming or this current series with the Cubs.
• 0:58
  Speaker 4: Katie, don't get started, because I have friends in high
• 1:02
  Speaker 4: places in Saint Louis. That so just know that I
• 1:05
  Speaker 4: have friends in high places.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: So just befaure, what are you talking about, Daniel Descalzo.
• 1:11
  Speaker 4: No higher than that way. I know the cat, So
• 1:15
  Speaker 4: I had the cat on speed dial. Jim Hayes. There's
• 1:18
  Speaker 4: a guy even above him named Chip Carrey, who I
• 1:20
  Speaker 4: can call in text at any time. They can give
• 1:22
  Speaker 4: me all the scoops. So let's just say, you know,
• 1:25
  Speaker 4: we need to stay in our lane. Like Ken Ken,
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: Little Ken says, we need to stay in our lane.
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: Katie, I will.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: Do my best to stay in my lane, but as
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: we all know, I'm not super great at that. Back
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: to Cardinals and the Cubs, this is a huge series
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: and a huge test for the Saint Louis squad that
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: I think has remarkably surprised a lot of the industry, candidly,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: including myself, and how good they've been, how consistent they've been.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: The Cubs too, I mean, they've pretty much had the
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: division since the season started. And you guys know this.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: Every year we come and we talk about the five
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: hundred NL Central, it's oh who can win eighty one games,
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: they're probably going to win the division. Now we have
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: the Cardinals, Cubs, the Brewers, and to some degree the
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Reds all kind of vying for this division, and I
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: have no idea how it's going to go. I do
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: know this series. Anytime you have the Cardinals and Cubs
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: play each other, it's a big deal. But this one,
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: particularly because these teams are so close atop the division,
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: and as we head into the trade deadline just where
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: you know, with just one week away from July, it's
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: going to have a lot of ramifications on how each
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: team proceeds further. So I'm excited to see how the
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: rest of the series shakes out.
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: Does it really come down to this series? Though?
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: How the Cardinals determine what they're going to do the
• 2:35
  Speaker 4: rest of this year? Is it really on this series?
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: Because they're in a good spot. They have young guys playing,
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: they're performing, they're pitching I think has been better than
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: they expected.
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: So do you really think it comes down to this series?
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: Because if so, they're off to a great circus. They
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: whooped the Cubs last night.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: Well I would have said if they got swept in
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: four games, that would have I think been a pretty
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: solid tell, but that's not going to happen because they
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: did when on Monday. I think when you're looking at
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: what the Cardinals are going to do going forward, how
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: they play heading into the All Star Break will ultimately
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: force John Roseaeilo to make the decision. But I want
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: a caution. Just like all year long, it's not black
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: and white about the trade deadline. Just like the Cardinals overall,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: it hasn't been black and white versus player runway versus
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: team results. There is a way the Cardinals can do both.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: And when you're looking at where this team stacks up
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: heading into July, they're very much in contention for the division,
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: They're very much in contention for the wild card. Do
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: you focus on the long term goal, which was the
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: overall priority for this season, of player development and knowing
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: what you have in twenty twenty six or beyond, or
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: do you recognize that so many of these players who
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: just saw Alec Burlison him include it have taken steps
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: forward much earlier than the team maybe would have expected.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: And now you're sitting in a spot come July where
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden, you might be a contending team
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: this year even if that wasn't always the plans. So
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: it's not just this series, it's their play through the
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: rest of the All Star until the All Star Break,
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: but they do have a lot of division match it's
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: coming forward. They played Pittsburgh next week and then three
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: more games at Wrigley Field over fourth of July, so
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: we'll see how the team shapes up heading into the
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: All Star Break.
• 4:09
  Speaker 5: Kittie, I think that a lot of baseball fans out
• 4:12
  Speaker 5: there are have been surprised by the Cardinals success this
• 4:16
  Speaker 5: season because of the way that the last year year
• 4:19
  Speaker 5: and a half have gone. And you cover this team
• 4:22
  Speaker 5: very closely, So what do you think the biggest differences
• 4:26
  Speaker 5: between this year and last year? What has accounted for
• 4:29
  Speaker 5: most of the success and having them be right there
• 4:31
  Speaker 5: at this point in the season.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: Honestly, Trevor, I hope this comes across the way that
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: I mean it. I think it's the lessoned expectations and
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty four of the Cardinals are coming off their
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: worst season in almost thirty years, and the twenty twenty
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: three season was embarrassing on all records, and in twenty
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: twenty four, there was a lot of internal pressure to
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: write the ship that's why the Cardinals went out and
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: loaded their rotation with veteran guys like Sonny Gray, Kyle Gibson,
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: Lance Lynn, and the young guys that they called up upon,
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: whether that's Jordan Walker, whether that's Win Nolan Gorman. They
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: faced immense pressure to perform now because the direction of
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: the franchise rested solely on the twenty twenty four season,
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: and the Cardinals were much better in twenty twenty four
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: compared to twenty twenty three, but still missed the playoffs.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: And when the Cardinals decided to do their transition season
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: this year, the expectations overall relax. And that's not to
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: say that the organization expected them to lose and we're
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: okay with losing, suggested the opposite. Actually, it was, Hey,
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: we're going to give these young players that we believe
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: are going to be permanent fixtures in our club going
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: forward the amount of time that they need, an amount
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: of playing time to become accustomed to the major leagues
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: without having to worry about the team result. And what
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: that allowed these players to do is focus on their game,
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: focus on performing. They're not worried about if they're going
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: to get sent down to the Triple A after a
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: bad week, they allowed to grow through the game and
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: early mistakes, and that's directly led to wins. I don't
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: think it's unfair to say that the correlation between letting
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: the kids play if you will and the win column
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: directly ties into each other. Because this Cardinal's team was
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: afforded the ability to just relax and go play baseball.
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: They've done exactly that, and it turns out they have
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: a lot of good ballplayers on their roster.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: Well, if you're a normal human, you can't speak English
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: to your pup, But what you can do to understand
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: what they love, which is spotan tango on kibble, is
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: to see how they react when you put the unkibble
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: in the bowl. And my pup, pinal Lope, loves it.
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: So does Bella. Well, Bella speaks Spanish, so she says, moibeen,
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: I love this stuff.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: She says, wow, Dad, thanks for creating a custom plan
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: based on my age, weight, breed an activity level.
• 6:46
  Speaker 5: You nailed it.
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: And also it's made with one hundred percent whole fresh
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: ingredients like real USDA meats, fruits and veggies. But it's
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: forty percent less expensive than frozen food, So upgrade your
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: pet's bowl with spotan Tango unkibble and for a limited time,
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: go to spotin tango dot com slash foul and use
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: code foul for fifty percent off your first order. That's
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: spotantango dot com slash foul, code foul to get fifty
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: percent off your first order.
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: Katie Cards Fin Cards fan Caine wants to know. I
• 7:18
  Speaker 4: understand why Burlison is getting the opportunities he has, but
• 7:22
  Speaker 4: have Gorman and or Walker gotten enough opportunities to prove themselves.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: This is a super good question, and this is exactly
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: where the organization is looking right now. All year long.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: We've talked about balancing runway and results, right well, what
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: about extending runway to the players who have provided the
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: results Like Burlison. You're seeing that a little bit more
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: with Nolan Gorman, maybe not to the extent that the
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: Cardinals wanted to, but Jordan Walker's on pace for about
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: four hundred of bats this year, same with Gorman, maybe
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: a little less. Around three to fifty four hundred of
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: bats to me is a solid enough sample size to
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: decide what this player is going forward and what is
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: going to be a really different decision for Ali Marmal
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: going forward is does he continue extending runway to players
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: who don't have the same production or stat line as
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: players like von Herrero when he's healthy and Alec Gurlson,
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: And unfortunately for Jordan Walker's case, he fits into that.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: So can the Cardinals continue seeing what they have in
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: Jordan Walker and playing him those six hundred of bats?
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: They can, But if they continue to contend, there's going
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: to be a lot of pressure to play the guys
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: that are performing, and at some point the organization is
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: going to have to decide can they change the runway
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: between players. I don't think they're going to switch the direction.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: I still think the Cardinals should stick to what they
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: plan for twenty twenty five and pledge for the future,
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: which is finding out what young players can help the
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: team going forward. But maybe what changes is the players
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: they're evaluating. So I'm not quite there on Jordan Walker yet,
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: but I do think if the Cardinals keep up their
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: winning ways, we'll see a focus to the players that
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: are performing, regardless of who the organization pledged playing time for.
• 8:55
  Speaker 5: Early in the year, spoke on a couple of the
• 9:01
  Speaker 5: young guys trying to get more opportunities but there has
• 9:04
  Speaker 5: been one guy who's been absolutely rock solid for the
• 9:06
  Speaker 5: last three years and got a little bit better every year,
• 9:09
  Speaker 5: and that's Brendan Donovan. Let's talk in your words, what
• 9:13
  Speaker 5: has he meant to this team and just kind of
• 9:14
  Speaker 5: literally being the cornerstone, the consistent guy putting the bat
• 9:19
  Speaker 5: on the ball every day in the day out. What
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: does he meant for keeping kind of everyone on that
• 9:24
  Speaker 5: in that lineup kind of even keel and the production continuing.
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: I love a good Brendan Donovan segment because he deserves
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: all of the praise. When the Cardinals were at their
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: their peak, think early twenty tens, they had a bunch
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: of gritty guys who played around the infield, played the
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: game the right way, did the small things. For lack
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: of a better term, they played to the Cardinal way.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: And Brennan Donovan reminds me a lot of those guys.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: And he has been invaluable to the team a year
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: after year, but this year you can make the argument
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: that he's been their most valuable player his defense at
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: second base, though he can play around the diamond, as
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: we know, he's a utility Gold Glove winner, But what
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: he's been able to do at second base has really
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: solidified the infields. What he's been able to do with
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: the lineup, whether he's batting in the three hole or
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: batting leadoff, he gets on base, he hits the ball.
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: And there's been some tremendous growth from Donovan. From a
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: personal standpoint. Entering the year, he's twenty eight, and he
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: was kind of in the middle, not old enough to
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: be an established veteran, not young enough to be considered
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: in that runway playing time development group. So we kind
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: of came into the season without an identity and decided,
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: you know, I'm not someone's gonna talk about myself or
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: boast myself up. I'm not one of those loud leaders.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: But I'm going to find a way to be a
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: really good teammate and really take this club under my
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: wings and try to be a leader in my own way.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: And he's done exactly that. So we'll focus on the
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: stats and the production because that's what wins ballgames. But
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: Brendan Donovan as a leader, he's also grown tremendously. Has
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: the respect of the veterans across the board because he
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: goes out and plays every day, and as you're looking
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: for this Cardinals team and twenty twenty five and beyond,
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: and you look at the future of who could lead
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: this core. I think Brendan Donovan has solidified himself as
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: a key member this club going forward.
• 11:03
  Speaker 5: You need those guys in your team if you want
• 11:04
  Speaker 5: to be successful long term. Let's switch gears quickly to pitching.
• 11:09
  Speaker 5: You wrote recently wrote an article previewing the Chicago cub series,
• 11:12
  Speaker 5: and you talked about the Cardinal's rotation and being much
• 11:15
  Speaker 5: more of a strength than they were projected to be.
• 11:17
  Speaker 5: They're six in the league in innings. They have about
• 11:19
  Speaker 5: a league average right in the middle era, which you'll
• 11:22
  Speaker 5: take with everything that we were anticipating. But one thing
• 11:27
  Speaker 5: interesting you mentioned was the organization has been extremely intentional
• 11:30
  Speaker 5: about maximizing rest and keeping guys on a six day rotation. So,
• 11:35
  Speaker 5: in your opinion or maybe things that you've heard, where
• 11:38
  Speaker 5: does that six rotation thing come from? Is that like
• 11:40
  Speaker 5: a concerted effort to get guys a little bit more
• 11:42
  Speaker 5: rest so that they can you can let them go
• 11:44
  Speaker 5: deeper into games and we can have the starter's eating innings.
• 11:47
  Speaker 5: Is that because the bullpen was projected to be maybe
• 11:50
  Speaker 5: a little weaker or an experience you want more out
• 11:52
  Speaker 5: of your starters. What's the thinking behind the six day
• 11:55
  Speaker 5: rotation thing.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: It's actually it comes from a lack of depth in
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: the organization overall, outside of Michael McGreevy, who will take
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: a spot start for the Cardinals tonight. You can make
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: the argument that McGreevy should be in the rotation full time,
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: and I wouldn't push it, but this goes back to
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: our original point. The Cardinals do not have really any
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: depth in Tria outside of Michael McGreevy. Their top pitching prospects,
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: while talented and exciting, aren't yet built up to the
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: major league level, and they just have a gap in
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: terms of health. Trevor, you can speak to the importance
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: of this. Pitching health is top notch, and unfortunately we've
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: seen a rise in pitching injuries. The Cardinals are one
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: of the very few teams knock on Wood that have
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: not had a significant injury to a pitcher in the
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: rotation or in the bullpen, and that is because Ollie
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: Marmel and pitching coach Dusty Blake have been so intentional
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: about keeping guys on a six day schedule. That extra
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: day of rest, as you know, matters so much, and
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: when you have a staff that's mostly veteran Miles Michaelis,
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: Sunny Gray, Eric Fetti, those things matter. Then you have
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: your younger two guys and Andre Pilante and Matthew Livertour
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: who are becoming starters for the first time in their
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: careers on a consistent basis. You also want to manage
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: the innings a little bit, so giving these guys and
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: maximizing the off days, utilizing mc greevy when he can.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: Stephen Mattz took a couple of spot starts when needed.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: That's allowed the rotation to stay on the schedule. And
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: it's one to benefit the pitchers, but it's two to
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: cover the lack of depth in the organization. Because if
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: you are down two starters in this rotation, we are
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: no longer talking about how surprisingly good this rotation has been.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: We're facing a much bigger crisis in the overall state
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: of pitching in the organization.
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: Wow, okay, crisis crisis mode for Katie will Yeah, here's
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: the thing, Olie marmal is he the manager of the
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: year and how has he done this? Because I think
• 13:42
  Speaker 4: going into this year people were saying, man, this guy's
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: on the hot seat.
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: He's in trouble.
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: You know, heim Bloom's going to take over for mozey
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: Lock at the end of the year, he'll won his.
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: Own guy in there.
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: You can't get rid of Ali Marmal with what he's
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: done so far this year.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: Look, Aj, I know you want to hype up your
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: high school classmate. I get it, Jirst.
• 14:01
  Speaker 4: Of all, first of all, he's much older than I am.
• 14:04
  Speaker 4: Oh did you tell by the beards?
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: No?
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: Actually, I'm Whaled. That's Whaled?
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: Are you?
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: Oh?
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: Wow?
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: Are you kidding me?
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: Until Ali I said that, I didn't know?
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: Okay, continue to see the Manager of the year and
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: has he earned himself a long term extension? Possibly because
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: again people were saying heim Bloom might be thinking about
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: going a different direction, but he's done such a good
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: job you can't get rid of him.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm with you, and I think it's natural to
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: be to call in the question a new front office
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: coming in if a manager will change as well. Also,
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: when you look at the last two years for the Cardinals,
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: just did not perform well. But I think Olie Marble
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: has done an incredible job managing so many different things
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: that most managers don't have to think about because not
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: only is he managing to win as many games as possible,
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: he's also managing for the long term, long jefty of
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: the organization. And to your point, AJ, there was no
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: guarantee he'd be here after twenty twenty five. Now I
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: think that is changing, but nothing's for certain. He's done
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: an exceptional job. He has has the Cardinals seven games
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: over five hundred. They were projected to be one of
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: the worst teams in baseball. Well, I never thought they
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: were going to be as low as twenty five out
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: of thirty like I saw in many projections. I certainly
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: didn't see them as playoff contenders come the last week
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: of June. And he's been able to do that by
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: managing playing time, promising playing time to players at the
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: front office highlighted, while also keeping tempers and egos in
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: check in that clubhouse. As you all know, it can
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: be very difficult when you have players that you have
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: to sit because other players were promised playing time ahead
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: of them. He's managed all of that extremely well. He's
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: kept his pitching staff healthy, he's kept a lot of
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: these young players on track, if not ahead of schedule
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: for the future, and based on just where the club
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: was a year ago to where they are now. Everyone
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: seems to be on board this transition season that could
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: have easily gone sideways, especially in April where they really
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: just didn't have a good month. But he has just
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: done some tremendous work, and I hope we continue to
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: talk about this narrative because in my opinion, what he's
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: doing in Saint Louis is not talked about nearly enough.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: By the way, we've got a ten year differential between
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: Aj and Ali. I just looked it out, so I
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: just made no no, I mean, are you kidding me?
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: I'm not worried about Ali, Katie. I'm more concerned about Aj.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: Ali goes with the flow. Now we've got Aj on
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: vacation thinking he's ten years younger than he is.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: This is good, Aj.
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: You got next question, big boy?
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: All right?
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: Before we go, Katie, I have to ask you this
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: you mentioned we kind of mentioned in the last question
• 16:37
  Speaker 4: him in mosay Lock. This is Moe's last year before
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: he steps down and goes into a different role in
• 16:42
  Speaker 4: his life. Is he going to go for it? Is
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: he going to go for it at the trade dealing?
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: This is last This is the end of his legacy,
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: and he nobody wants to go out on a low note.
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: Do you think that.
• 16:53
  Speaker 4: Dewitz and the owners of the Cardinals will say, Mo,
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: here's some extra money at your last year, Boom, let's
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: let's throw it all in and.
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: See what we can do.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: That is such a fascinating question because I can see
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: both sides of this, and you are right that this
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: is ultimately going to be an ownership decision, and ownership
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: that has prepared for a recession in terms of both
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: gate revenue, ticket sales and then the restructured television deal.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: So the Cardinals were expecting to lose some money this
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: year based on yours prior. But when you're thinking about
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: Moe's final year, the fact that the Cardinals have already
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: laid out their transition plan heading into twenty twenty six,
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: it's a great question on what the Cardinals should do.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: I'm under the belief that they can continue doing both,
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: that they can continue building towards the future but still
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: upgrading their roster. The Cardinals are not going to go
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: up and do this full big blockbuster trade to improve
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: the roster and go all in right now. That's just
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: not something that they've done really in years where they
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: had no excuse to, and now that they do have
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: a legitimate excuse to keep the organization on track for
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: twenty six I can't see moiviating from that plan. But
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: he also has to keep in mind that whatever decisions
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: he makes in July will have you know, he has
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: nothing to say with it after October. That's when him
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: Bloom is taking over. So the whole point of creating
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: this transition plan was to implement a clean segue, a
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: clean slate for heim Bloom to take over next season.
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: That's not to suggest that the Cardinals can't be competitive
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: and can't continue pushing to be contenders, but when you're
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: looking at what they're going to do with the trade deadline,
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: while they still haven't fully decided and likely won't for
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: a couple more weeks, there is a way for them
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: to do both, and I think that's the best look
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: for the organization overall. They don't need to blow it
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: up and sell, they don't need to blow it up
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: and buy. They can incrementally improve at the deadline and
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: still keep their transition plan in place for Hime to
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: take over. To ensure that successful. I don't know passing
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: of the power.
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: You're okay with that?
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: AJ, Does that sound like a good plan?
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, listen, I'd love teams to go for it,
• 18:50
  Speaker 4: and Saint Louis fans have always seen their team go
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: for it, so I assume Mozaylak would be like, I'm
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: gonna take my boat tie and I'm gonna throw it
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: all in and we're going to go. But we'll see,
• 19:01
  Speaker 4: we'll see, we'll see what I mean. But they were
• 19:04
  Speaker 4: supposed to lose money, but they have they're doing better,
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: so Saint Louis fans will come out, so now they're
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: not going to lose money. So it's such an interesting
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: choice for what they're gonna do.
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm happy for MO two to have a season
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: like this because it could have gone really really wrong
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: for them, and it has not. It's already it's looking
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: like a win here in the first half. Katie, great
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: to have you on. Thank you always, great to see you.
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: I love listening to Cardinal Territory. There a bunch of
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: player interviews too that were recently on there, so if
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: you want to check those out, go give them a look.
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: Learn more about Andre Polante, Matthew Libertire, right was on
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: one of the great Yes, those two are great together.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: If you go further back there's more too to check out.
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: So Katie, thank you, appreciate it.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: You got a guys, talk to you later.