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Series preview: Dodgers at Cardinals · Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

0:04
Speaker 1: Happy Friday, indeed, and welcome back to Cardinal territory. I'm Katie,
0:09
Speaker 1: who our guest host today needs no introduction, but I'm
0:12
Speaker 1: going to give him one anyway. Faby and Ardaya covers
0:14
Speaker 1: the Dodgers for the Athletic and he's also one of
0:17
Speaker 1: my very very good friends. Can I get to go
0:19
Speaker 1: Sun Devils? In the chat? Bobby and is here to
0:23
Speaker 1: preview the upcoming Cardinals and Dodgers series at the Stadium.
0:25
Speaker 1: And now full disclosure, as we record this, the Dodgers
0:28
Speaker 1: and Mets have not yet finished their series, and the
0:30
Speaker 1: Cardinals and Royals have not yet finished their series, so
0:33
Speaker 1: we're a little unclear on those results, but the overall
0:35
Speaker 1: arcing themes of the season for the Cardinals and Dodgers remain. Fabbian,
0:39
Speaker 1: let's break it down. Yep, what do you got four?
0:42
Speaker 1: Let's see coming in. I think the Dodgers are going
0:45
Speaker 1: to do a bullpen game on Friday. Saturday we'll see Yamamoto,
0:49
Speaker 1: so personally very excited about it. And Sunday Dustin May
0:52
Speaker 1: I think I've seen Yamamoto pitch once, but anytime you
0:55
Speaker 1: see his name like that on the on the probable sheet,
0:58
Speaker 1: you get excited. What's an yamamotives deal this year.
1:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's actually coming off probably his worst start of
1:03
Speaker 2: the season, but like that kind of goes to show
1:05
Speaker 2: like how good of a season he's having. I mean,
1:07
Speaker 2: he has been dialed in with the command the fastball,
1:10
Speaker 2: has been more aggressive in the strike zone with it,
1:12
Speaker 2: and I think just looks a lot more comfortable than
1:15
Speaker 2: at this time last year, which is remarkable because last
1:17
Speaker 2: year he still had a three Yarra had a really
1:19
Speaker 2: solid season when he was healthy, was obviously excellent in October.
1:23
Speaker 2: But yeah, this year, he just seems like he's fully
1:26
Speaker 2: in command. He's coming off of that one rough start
1:29
Speaker 2: against the Yankees, and a couple of starts back had
1:32
Speaker 2: looked a little bit of a hip issue that he
1:34
Speaker 2: was dealing with. But overall, like this has been the
1:37
Speaker 2: guy who has been the savior for the Dodgers' rotation.
1:40
Speaker 2: Considering how many guys have been in and out, up
1:43
Speaker 2: and down, inconsistent. He has been kind of the stabilizing
1:46
Speaker 2: force and has kind of cemented himself as a sight
1:49
Speaker 2: young candidate, and I think he's sort of continued to
1:51
Speaker 2: kind of push his way forward there.
1:54
Speaker 1: Let's look at the big picture perspective for the Dodgers
1:57
Speaker 1: starting rotation. So a tale of two stories here. The
2:00
Speaker 1: Cardinals entered the season with six starters really one in
2:04
Speaker 1: triple A and Michael mcgreeby and Steven Matt's being like
2:06
Speaker 1: the half in, half out option in the hybrid role.
2:10
Speaker 1: And they did that knowing that they had virtually zero
2:12
Speaker 1: depth in their major league rotation and if an injury happened,
2:16
Speaker 1: they would be pretty screwed. The Dodgers came into the
2:19
Speaker 1: season with like fifty pictures. Basically they had a stacked
2:23
Speaker 1: rotation and there was a kind of a discourse on
2:26
Speaker 1: how are they going to have so many pictures get
2:29
Speaker 1: the amount of innings that they need? And knock on wood,
2:32
Speaker 1: the Cardinals have not had an injury to their starting rotation,
2:35
Speaker 1: while the Dodgers have had what I think at one
2:37
Speaker 1: point eleven pictures on the injured list currently fifteen. Nice
2:41
Speaker 1: keeping it coming, all right? So what are the big
2:44
Speaker 1: hits for the Dodgers right now? And some updates on
2:47
Speaker 1: the health I know they haven't really had Blake Snell.
2:49
Speaker 1: I mean, you go down the list, it seems like
2:51
Speaker 1: it's different injury every day.
2:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think the Dodgers kind of baked
2:55
Speaker 2: in that they would have to deal with a lot
2:56
Speaker 2: of injuries, just knowing who they went after, who they targeted,
3:00
Speaker 2: who they have, and they kind of figured that they'd
3:02
Speaker 2: be able to fold things in. Turns out they had
3:04
Speaker 2: more injuries than they've been able to fold things in.
3:06
Speaker 2: For Blake Snell went on the IL after just two starts.
3:09
Speaker 2: Tyler Glasnaw is on the IL with shoulder trouble. Rookie
3:13
Speaker 2: Sasaki's on the IL with shoulder trouble. The only two
3:15
Speaker 2: guys to make every single turn through the rotation of
3:17
Speaker 2: bed them Moto and Dustin May, who's already set a
3:19
Speaker 2: career high in innings pitched, which goes to show Yeah,
3:23
Speaker 2: which goes to show his sort of track record there
3:26
Speaker 2: and kind of what they were expecting. So yeah, I mean,
3:28
Speaker 2: this is obviously tough sledding for where Dodgers kind of
3:31
Speaker 2: wanted to be.
3:32
Speaker 3: Uh, I don't think.
3:34
Speaker 2: I think Snell and glass now are probably on a
3:36
Speaker 2: similar track here. Glass House set to throw his second
3:39
Speaker 2: bullpen at some point this weekend. Uh, And then Snell's
3:43
Speaker 2: probably gonna throw a bullpen at some point in the
3:45
Speaker 2: following series against San Diego. So those are two guys
3:48
Speaker 2: that you still have to ramp those guys up and
3:51
Speaker 2: basically have close probably a full sprint training with those guys.
3:54
Speaker 2: And then Rookie Saki is probably somewhere behind them, and
3:57
Speaker 2: that's still a guy who, even when you get him healthy,
4:00
Speaker 2: there's clearly a lot of mechanical stuff that they have
4:02
Speaker 2: to get right with him. So they're kind of making
4:04
Speaker 2: do with what they have right now. Clinton Kershaw is
4:08
Speaker 2: kind of coming back and still clearly trying to find
4:10
Speaker 2: his form. You have other depth pieces that simply just
4:14
Speaker 2: haven't performed. When it comes to the guys like Bobby Miller,
4:16
Speaker 2: Justin mcbleski, guys that you thought would be coming in
4:19
Speaker 2: as spot starters and performing admirably, probably as they did
4:23
Speaker 2: last year, they they quite simply haven't done that. And
4:26
Speaker 2: then Landonak has been asked to do quite a bit,
4:29
Speaker 2: quite a bit more than I think anyone could have
4:31
Speaker 2: anticipated at this point, so they've had to already go
4:33
Speaker 2: pretty thin when it comes to the pitching depth. You
4:36
Speaker 2: sort of see that with the last week or so
4:38
Speaker 2: some of the guys they've acquired on the bullpen side
4:40
Speaker 2: of things, well, sort of signing guys like Jose Odenia
4:43
Speaker 2: off the street after already signing NDFA Chris Stratton off
4:47
Speaker 2: the street. So like these are guys like these are
4:50
Speaker 2: going way further than I think the Dodgers originally anticipated
4:53
Speaker 2: when it came to the pitching depth.
4:55
Speaker 1: I think that just goes to show from a Cardinals perspective,
4:58
Speaker 1: why Ollie Marvel and pitching coach Dusty Blake we're so
5:01
Speaker 1: intentional with their usage of their starters. We talked about
5:04
Speaker 1: this pretty much the first two months of the season
5:05
Speaker 1: here on Cardinal Territory on why Saint Louis was adamant
5:10
Speaker 1: that Michael mcgreee needed to stay in Triple A despite
5:12
Speaker 1: his performances, dictating probably a major league start. Now as
5:16
Speaker 1: you record this, the Cardinals have not yet announced it,
5:18
Speaker 1: but we are assuming Michael McGreevey will take a spot start,
5:21
Speaker 1: maybe against the Dodgers, could be Sunday, or it could
5:23
Speaker 1: be in the next three days against Toronto. By your
5:26
Speaker 1: watching this, they will have announced. By the time you're
5:27
Speaker 1: watching this, they will have announced it. But for the
5:30
Speaker 1: first two months of the season, the Cardinals didn't have
5:33
Speaker 1: any depth, and if an injury popped up, they didn't
5:35
Speaker 1: have the depths like the Dodgers did to go out
5:38
Speaker 1: and pull from their minor leagues or pull from their
5:40
Speaker 1: depth pieces. And now you're seeing with La it doesn't
5:43
Speaker 1: really matter how many depth pieces there are. Pitching injuries
5:46
Speaker 1: can absolutely derail a season for a team like the
5:48
Speaker 1: Dodgers that are, you know, one of the best in baseball.
5:52
Speaker 1: It has been a big problem for them. It's luckily
5:54
Speaker 1: they've been able to stay on track. But on the
5:56
Speaker 1: flip side, if this happened in Saint Louis, I think
5:58
Speaker 1: the Cardinals would have spiraled completely out of it by now.
6:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's one of the benefits of having probably the
6:03
Speaker 2: best lineup in baseball like the Dodgers have. And obviously
6:06
Speaker 2: the bullpen's starting. You're starting to see the cracks there.
6:08
Speaker 2: As a result, they've thrown the most innings in baseball.
6:10
Speaker 2: You've seen something. The injuries kind of pile up. Uh,
6:12
Speaker 2: They're gonna get a little bit healthier here soon. It
6:15
Speaker 2: seems like Michael Kopak will be activated either by the
6:18
Speaker 2: end of this met Series or at some point in
6:19
Speaker 2: Saint Louis.
6:20
Speaker 4: Uh.
6:21
Speaker 2: Kirby Yates is probably gonna be pretty close behind him.
6:23
Speaker 2: Those are two of your most valuable right handed relievers
6:26
Speaker 2: right now, Like they're down their five most valuable right
6:28
Speaker 2: handed relievers due to injury, and that's put a lot
6:31
Speaker 2: of oners on guys like Tanner Scott who have been
6:33
Speaker 2: off to the four starts of the season. Like the
6:34
Speaker 2: bullpen has already kind of taken on the tear by
6:37
Speaker 2: taking on the wear a little bit for the Dodgers
6:39
Speaker 2: because of how much their pitching depth has been worn down,
6:42
Speaker 2: But I think the only reason why they're staying float
6:44
Speaker 2: is because their lineup has been so productive.
6:47
Speaker 1: Well, Cardinals have done a nice job of staying afloat.
6:50
Speaker 1: In May, they had the best record in baseball then.
6:54
Speaker 1: I know, coming into the year, I felt like the
6:56
Speaker 1: Dodgers and Cardinals were on completely different paths. But this
6:58
Speaker 1: should be a pretty compelling season for them, or a series,
7:01
Speaker 1: I should say either way, because I feel like June
7:03
Speaker 1: is going to be a turning point for this Cardinals club.
7:06
Speaker 1: I'm sure there's a lot of skepticism outside of Saint
7:09
Speaker 1: Louis on if this Cardinals team is legit, if they
7:11
Speaker 1: can keep it up, But the Dodgers, there's not really
7:14
Speaker 1: a lot of questioning that I know they play in
7:15
Speaker 1: the nl WES, but you pretty much are a lock
7:17
Speaker 1: to be working in October five and lucky you have
7:21
Speaker 1: fun with that. What is if there's anything, what's the
7:23
Speaker 1: concern and outside of the pitching injuries for the Dodgers right.
7:26
Speaker 2: Now, I think it's haply weather this current stretch, honestly,
7:29
Speaker 2: because that will determine how difficult that second half of
7:31
Speaker 2: the season is going to be, how much of a
7:33
Speaker 2: race it's really going to be in the division, and
7:34
Speaker 2: how much they're really you have to push to make
7:36
Speaker 2: the postseason, just because they're in a stretch right now
7:38
Speaker 2: of twenty nine straight games against teams that really have
7:41
Speaker 2: a shot in the postseason, the Cardinals now being one
7:43
Speaker 2: of them, which I think sort of looked at the
7:45
Speaker 2: beginning of the season that's probably the one breather you
7:47
Speaker 2: would have anticipated in the stretch. It turns out there
7:50
Speaker 2: are no real breathers in this stretch, and the Dodgers
7:53
Speaker 2: kind of have to really tread water here. Honestly.
7:55
Speaker 3: They have a lot.
7:56
Speaker 2: Of pitching injuries, they're playing tough teams, their margin for
7:59
Speaker 2: air is very small, and they have to win as
8:01
Speaker 2: many of these close games as possible, which made kind
8:03
Speaker 2: of this Mets series, at least the start of it,
8:05
Speaker 2: kind of one of those things where it's a lot
8:07
Speaker 2: of big swings when it came to each individual game.
8:11
Speaker 2: Losing a game in the tenth inning and then winning
8:12
Speaker 2: another game the next night in the tenth inning, that
8:15
Speaker 2: matters a lot for the Dodgers in the stretch, especially
8:17
Speaker 2: with Potterys playing the way they have, especially with the
8:19
Speaker 2: start that the Giants got off to, and obviously Dymatics
8:22
Speaker 2: have been dealing with some injuries, but they are still
8:24
Speaker 2: a really talented team and we'll see how they hang around.
8:27
Speaker 2: But obviously, if you're the Dodgers, you kind of learned
8:30
Speaker 2: last year, you kind of always have known this, but
8:32
Speaker 2: obviously appreciated last year what it meant having that first
8:35
Speaker 2: round by being able to win the division, having the
8:38
Speaker 2: extra rest, especially considering how warmed thin their pitching was.
8:42
Speaker 2: They kind of have to be in this position again
8:44
Speaker 2: where they want to really make sure then the second
8:46
Speaker 2: half they can sort of focus on getting healthy and
8:49
Speaker 2: also trying to keep that edge as opposed to sort
8:52
Speaker 2: of running out of gas as they did in twenty
8:55
Speaker 2: twenty one when they were in a similar position, trying
8:57
Speaker 2: to repeat and the Giants really pushed them all till
9:00
Speaker 2: the end, and all that extra effort they had to
9:02
Speaker 2: expend really cost them by the end that season.
9:05
Speaker 1: I do recall one particular playoff game in twenty twenty
9:08
Speaker 1: one which ended in a Chris Taylor walk off. I'm
9:10
Speaker 1: not quite sure which team that was against, but I
9:12
Speaker 1: do know that was a bonding experience for you and
9:15
Speaker 1: I my first playoff game and it was really, I
9:18
Speaker 1: think one of the first games we ever worked together.
9:19
Speaker 1: So that's pretty fun. But much more to break down
9:22
Speaker 1: from the Cardinals and the Dodgers coming up this weekend,
9:24
Speaker 1: and we'll check in on a beloved former Cardinal and
9:27
Speaker 1: fan favorite. First though, a message from Arena.
9:30
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9:35
Speaker 5: trading collecting cards, Arena Club is the spot. We've been
9:38
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9:40
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9:48
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9:50
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9:59
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10:03
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10:06
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10:08
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10:10
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10:12
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10:12
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10:13
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10:33
Speaker 1: All right. Well, with Los Angeles in town, that means
10:36
Speaker 1: a mister Tommy Edmund is as well. Tommy Evan was
10:39
Speaker 1: a homegrown Cardinal fan favorite. Did everything you could ask.
10:42
Speaker 1: They called them Steady Eddie out here, and I think
10:45
Speaker 1: his Cardinal's tenure came quickly the end of it. At least,
10:49
Speaker 1: he spent most of twenty twenty four on the injured list.
10:51
Speaker 1: That entire time he was on the ail with Saint
10:53
Speaker 1: Louis and the Cardinals traded him at the deadline to
10:57
Speaker 1: la as part of that three team trade with the
10:59
Speaker 1: White Sox. They got Eric Petty in return, and then
11:02
Speaker 1: life quickly escalated for Tommy Edmund, who went from il
11:05
Speaker 1: to key piece in the Dodgers postseason run, to World
11:09
Speaker 1: Series winner, to five year extension for seventy four million
11:12
Speaker 1: dollars and now looks to be a Dodger, a key
11:15
Speaker 1: part of the Dodgers for the long term future. Bobby,
11:18
Speaker 1: and how is Tommy Edmund's season going.
11:21
Speaker 2: It got off to a really hot start. I think
11:22
Speaker 2: he sort of surprised everyone by I think it was
11:25
Speaker 2: six or seven home runs in his first twenty or
11:27
Speaker 2: so games, really showed a revamped approaches plus station less
11:31
Speaker 2: I had played that swing really kind of locked into
11:33
Speaker 2: a lot of the things a lot of the sort
11:35
Speaker 2: of low hanging fruit that Dodgers heading coaches saw that
11:39
Speaker 2: he had there from his time in Saint Louis, and
11:41
Speaker 2: he really kind of corrected.
11:42
Speaker 3: I think.
11:43
Speaker 2: Obviously he went into a little bit of a slump
11:45
Speaker 2: right before landing on the injury list. He sprained his ankle.
11:48
Speaker 2: He's back now and kind of getting his feedback under him.
11:51
Speaker 2: But obviously he is still the very same Tommy Edmund
11:54
Speaker 2: who's been kind of very integral to what everything the
11:56
Speaker 2: Dodgers do. From a roster construction standpoint, He's probably played
11:59
Speaker 2: a lot more outfield than anyone kind of originally anticipated,
12:03
Speaker 2: but this is sort of the best alignment is him
12:05
Speaker 2: in center field or him and second base, depending on
12:07
Speaker 2: the matchups. And he's been continued to be very good
12:11
Speaker 2: against left hand pitching, hitting from the right side of
12:13
Speaker 2: the plate. Also, that left hand swing overall, like has
12:16
Speaker 2: still been very much an improvement over where it has
12:19
Speaker 2: been in years past, and he's been, you said, incredibly valuable.
12:23
Speaker 2: I know the Dodgers kind of wanted him for years,
12:25
Speaker 2: and as soon as they kind of heard rumors that
12:28
Speaker 2: Edmon was probably headed to Chicago in that deal, they
12:31
Speaker 2: kind of inserted themselves into the conversation wanting to sort
12:34
Speaker 2: of part ways with some pieces to try to see
12:37
Speaker 2: if they can have Tommy Evans has solved a lot
12:39
Speaker 2: of issues for them on the roster standpoint, and now
12:41
Speaker 2: he's kind of doing that this year, kind of feeling
12:43
Speaker 2: what Chris Taylor kind of was at his best with
12:46
Speaker 2: the Dodgers, which is giving you at least league average
12:49
Speaker 2: offensive production at multiple different positions, especially up the middle,
12:52
Speaker 2: and he has been incredibly valuable and lengthening this lineup.
12:56
Speaker 1: Can you imagine being Tommy Edmund and your path is
12:58
Speaker 1: taken near the White Sox and all of a sudden
13:01
Speaker 1: you're in LA.
13:01
Speaker 2: Could you imagine from almost being a white SoC to
13:05
Speaker 2: CSMVP in a few months.
13:07
Speaker 1: This is a pro Tommy Edmund podcast. I would hate
13:10
Speaker 1: that for our guy, but yeah, he seems to be
13:12
Speaker 1: doing great out there. I briefly spoke to him earlier
13:14
Speaker 1: in the week. He is super excited to be back
13:16
Speaker 1: in Saint Louis. I remember when he got traded. He
13:18
Speaker 1: actually came up to me in the clubhouse and said,
13:21
Speaker 1: I had no idea this was going on until I
13:23
Speaker 1: read it on the Athletics so hey, shout out us,
13:25
Speaker 1: Fabby and we were on it, and I remember he
13:28
Speaker 1: was kind of taken aback. It was really emotional for
13:30
Speaker 1: him not to say that he wasn't excited about being
13:32
Speaker 1: a Dodger. I think once he got there and was
13:34
Speaker 1: able to play because he was traded while injured, obviously,
13:37
Speaker 1: he took off and now loves his time in LA.
13:39
Speaker 1: But Saint Louis was the organization he'd only know or
13:42
Speaker 1: he'd never known. I don't think he really anticipated leaving.
13:44
Speaker 1: Prior to the twenty twenty four season. They signed him
13:47
Speaker 1: to a two year extension through his remaining arbitration years.
13:50
Speaker 1: And part of the reason the Cardinals were comfortable trading
13:52
Speaker 1: Tommy Edmond is because they have such a big They
13:55
Speaker 1: have such depth in middle endfield. You see what Brendan
13:57
Speaker 1: Donovan's been able to do. In my opinion, he's an
13:59
Speaker 1: All Star this year. You have Mason Winnett shortstop, you
14:02
Speaker 1: have Victor Scott in center field. So Tommy Edmund by
14:05
Speaker 1: nature kind of became expendable. And any time that a
14:09
Speaker 1: fan favorite gets traded, you hope for the best there.
14:11
Speaker 1: And it certainly cannot be going any better for Tommy
14:14
Speaker 1: in LA And I also kind of think it's like
14:16
Speaker 1: a rite of passage for every season for Tommy Edmund
14:19
Speaker 1: to play more on the outfield than he envisioned. I mean,
14:21
Speaker 1: there was a time in twenty three where he was
14:24
Speaker 1: by far their best center fielder despite not being a
14:27
Speaker 1: natural center fielder. So it is no surprise to me
14:30
Speaker 1: that that same issue or the same thing is going
14:32
Speaker 1: down I'm sure there will be many standing ovations for
14:35
Speaker 1: Tommy Edmon has a return on Friday.
14:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's just such a winning player.
14:40
Speaker 2: I think you kind of saw it over the years
14:41
Speaker 2: in Saint Louis, like he does so many different things. Well,
14:44
Speaker 2: I think the Dodgers kind of appreciate that. I don't
14:46
Speaker 2: think I think they kind of knew that watching him
14:48
Speaker 2: from Afar, but I don't think they realized either how
14:51
Speaker 2: much was sort of left untapped when it came to
14:53
Speaker 2: the power and some of the stuff the swing, or
14:55
Speaker 2: like just how valuable he'd wind up being for them.
14:58
Speaker 2: I think that kind of showed with how quick both
15:01
Speaker 2: sides kind of came together on a contract pretension this winter.
15:04
Speaker 2: I think Tommy said they've sort of reached out to
15:07
Speaker 2: him right after the season around the parade, and the
15:09
Speaker 2: deal was done by Thanksgiving, So that's how quickly it
15:11
Speaker 2: all came together.
15:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, couldn't be happier for Tommy. Again. He was a
15:15
Speaker 1: total cro in the four years that I had with
15:17
Speaker 1: him in Saint Louis, and I know he's very good
15:20
Speaker 1: to you as well, Fabbi, and so it will be
15:22
Speaker 1: very good to see him back up the stadium. Albeit
15:24
Speaker 1: in a different uniform. So actually a good segue a
15:29
Speaker 1: player that is in the same uniform that may many
15:33
Speaker 1: most of us thought that he probably wouldn't be is
15:35
Speaker 1: Nolan Arnado. And I need you to say it because
15:38
Speaker 1: no one believes me. The reason the Dodgers did not
15:41
Speaker 1: trade for Nolan Arnado is because there wasn't a lot
15:44
Speaker 1: of interest from the Dodgers side. Yes or no.
15:48
Speaker 2: Correct, they never seriously pursued it this winter, like they
15:51
Speaker 2: they never obvious like whatever entry level conversations they've had,
15:55
Speaker 2: They've had conversations in the past. Obviously a couple of
15:57
Speaker 2: years ago at the deadline was one that actually did
15:59
Speaker 2: he up. Like they were seriously considering it. They were
16:02
Speaker 2: sort of in a position where they kind of felt
16:04
Speaker 2: it or not help push them over the top. But
16:06
Speaker 2: going into this winner like, no, they were adamant from
16:08
Speaker 2: this jump from winter meetings on they were saying Max
16:11
Speaker 2: Munsey is their third basement and there are a lot
16:13
Speaker 2: of reasons why, like obviously the contracting one of them.
16:16
Speaker 2: Max Monty's frankly been a more productive player the last
16:19
Speaker 2: couple of years, and that goes into this year. Obviously,
16:22
Speaker 2: Eronado had the hot start monthly had the slow start,
16:25
Speaker 2: but he's sort of seen that's kind of corrected, and
16:27
Speaker 2: both are kind of closer to it being in line
16:29
Speaker 2: with where they've been in the last couple of years,
16:30
Speaker 2: which is Monsy has obviously struggled defensively, but he is
16:34
Speaker 2: still a capable middle of the order bat and he's
16:37
Speaker 2: kind of looked a lot like himself, and at that price,
16:40
Speaker 2: it makes a lot more sense to have him be
16:42
Speaker 2: their third baseman as opposed to maybe adding on more
16:45
Speaker 2: salary for similar, if not a little bit worse production
16:49
Speaker 2: are not.
16:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, two opposite sides of the spectrum for these third
16:52
Speaker 1: basement I think, you know, Nola not as defense is
16:54
Speaker 1: back to being gold glove not platinum glove level. He
16:58
Speaker 1: looks like a vintage I don't like calling him vintage
17:00
Speaker 1: because I feel like that makes him sound super old,
17:03
Speaker 1: but he looks like, you know, the third baseman that
17:05
Speaker 1: we grew up watching and fans saw win ten straight
17:08
Speaker 1: cold gloves. The offense, though that's been an issue. The
17:10
Speaker 1: ops is under seven hundred, he's hit under one fifty
17:13
Speaker 1: in his last eighteen games, and he's dropped from queen
17:17
Speaker 1: up the spot that he's been in pretty much his
17:19
Speaker 1: entire time in Saint Louis to number six in the order.
17:22
Speaker 1: He's working on revamping his swing, experimenting new things. He
17:25
Speaker 1: knows it's going to be a lengthy process and not
17:27
Speaker 1: something that he can fix overnight. That doesn't make it
17:29
Speaker 1: any easier for him, you can tell. And part of
17:32
Speaker 1: the reason I think he's having such a strong defensive
17:35
Speaker 1: year is because he knows while he's searching for the bat,
17:38
Speaker 1: he needs to put one hundred and ten percent into
17:40
Speaker 1: his defense. So he feels like he's not totally, you know,
17:43
Speaker 1: tanking the team, and I don't think the team thinks
17:45
Speaker 1: that at all when you have someone like Nolan Arnatto there.
17:48
Speaker 1: But he really takes his offensive struggles to heart. So
17:51
Speaker 1: it's been interesting for me to see the kind of
17:53
Speaker 1: two different ways Max Munsey and Nolan or Nolan Arnotto
17:57
Speaker 1: season has gone. You can read more about Max Munsey
17:59
Speaker 1: and a Dodgers things at the Athletic but yeah, we
18:04
Speaker 1: you know, all off season. It just seemed like, because
18:06
Speaker 1: there was that interest at the twenty twenty three trade
18:09
Speaker 1: deadline from the Dodgers, that Arnauto would go there. But
18:13
Speaker 1: as we learned in the Arnatto saga, cardinal territory trades
18:17
Speaker 1: are a two way street and they are certainly not
18:19
Speaker 1: easy to get done. So for now, it certainly looks
18:22
Speaker 1: like Arnauta will be in Saint Louis. Maybe we'll revisit
18:24
Speaker 1: this in seven eight weeks or so, but right now,
18:28
Speaker 1: still their third basement.
18:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, and Aaron o islwas big guy, Like, it's obviously
18:33
Speaker 2: he would love to play in LA. Like he's obviously
18:35
Speaker 2: from Sullar, California. Like the interest on his part has
18:38
Speaker 2: clearly been there. I think I just think the Dodgers
18:40
Speaker 2: kind of view Munsie is more cost effective option at
18:43
Speaker 2: this point. Baul Soo like a guy who's been incredibly
18:46
Speaker 2: productive for them for a long time, and he continues to,
18:49
Speaker 2: at least with the bat, be productive. So I don't
18:51
Speaker 2: think they have really much of a motivation at this point.
18:54
Speaker 3: But we'll see.
18:55
Speaker 1: Oh my god, don't move to the mood. Don't do
18:58
Speaker 1: not move to the Midwest. That's a warning.
19:00
Speaker 3: That's not the Ernado trade alert.
19:02
Speaker 1: That would be so funny. Hold put us to stop. Anyway.
19:10
Speaker 1: I wonder if I'm gonna get the game in today,
19:11
Speaker 1: should I leave the window? Anyway, we'll reset. We'll hear
19:16
Speaker 1: from my friends at Chat BBC and we'll get back
19:18
Speaker 1: to it for our final segment of the show.
19:20
Speaker 5: Hey, if you want to keep the conversation going after
19:23
Speaker 5: a show that you're listening to on the FT network,
19:25
Speaker 5: then head to Chat BCC. AJ's on there.
19:29
Speaker 4: I'm on there right now, typing away. I'll be there.
19:31
Speaker 4: We'll be there all the time, talking about what topics
19:33
Speaker 4: people want to discuss, what we want, what everyone wants
19:36
Speaker 4: to hear us talk about on foul Territory.
19:38
Speaker 5: Yeah, if you have a question, we can answer it
19:40
Speaker 5: on FT or on an FT team show on the network.
19:44
Speaker 5: So if you want to come crash our group chat,
19:45
Speaker 5: it's as easy as sending a text. Head to foul
19:48
Speaker 5: Territory dot chat to start chatting with FT hosts and
19:51
Speaker 5: the FT fam.
19:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, you don't have to deal with any of that.
19:55
Speaker 1: And beautiful Southern California. I will never get over this weather.
20:00
Speaker 2: It's sort of raining randomly during VP yesterday, which is
20:03
Speaker 2: like they actually had to fish out the tarp, which
20:05
Speaker 2: turns out was not actually in the ballpark. It's in
20:07
Speaker 2: the parking lot out beyond center fields. So they go
20:10
Speaker 2: find that and put it on into the field before
20:12
Speaker 2: first pitch.
20:13
Speaker 1: Yesterday, but they got the game in, so that's that's
20:15
Speaker 1: the most la thing ever. We've played four doubleheaders so
20:17
Speaker 1: far this year, the Cardinals have. We'll probably play a
20:20
Speaker 1: fifth one in the next couple of weeks. This has
20:22
Speaker 1: been like the worst home weather ever, so as evidenced
20:27
Speaker 1: by whatever the heck that was sobbing. As we look ahead,
20:31
Speaker 1: June is kind of the last time that you can
20:34
Speaker 1: really say it's early, even though it's not because the
20:36
Speaker 1: third of the season has already been played. But for me,
20:38
Speaker 1: the month of June dictates where most of these middle
20:41
Speaker 1: of the area teams due in July. Obviously, we're talking
20:44
Speaker 1: about the trade deadline here. Pretty safe to say the
20:46
Speaker 1: Dodgers are going to be just fine. They're going to
20:48
Speaker 1: be in contention in the second half. We'll see. They
20:50
Speaker 1: always seem to be those sneaky teams where you're just like,
20:52
Speaker 1: how do they keep getting away with this? How do
20:54
Speaker 1: they keep adding? I fully anticipate that to be the
20:57
Speaker 1: case for them again, but I'm wondering, as you look
20:59
Speaker 1: at the National League overall, are there teams that you
21:03
Speaker 1: feel like are maybe not getting as much recognition or
21:05
Speaker 1: teams that you think are actually true threats that could
21:08
Speaker 1: be solidified going into July.
21:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think the National League is clear
21:12
Speaker 2: and far away like the more superiorlye at this point.
21:15
Speaker 2: And you kind of see that with how many teams
21:17
Speaker 2: are kind of not only in contention, but you can
21:19
Speaker 2: actually make authorityative cases that they are possibly the best
21:22
Speaker 2: team in baseball. Teams like the Mets, the Phillies, the Padres,
21:27
Speaker 2: even the Cubs are off to a red hot start.
21:29
Speaker 2: The Cardinals are surprising. So yeah, I think it's a
21:32
Speaker 2: matter of like some of these teams, like there are
21:34
Speaker 2: very clear holes or areas to address, with the Cubs
21:38
Speaker 2: maybe in the rotation or at their base, the Phillies
21:41
Speaker 2: with their bullpen, the Mets, you sort of see how
21:45
Speaker 2: well rounded they are. The Dodgers are always gonna be
21:48
Speaker 2: in the market for pitching. I think they'll still despite
21:50
Speaker 2: their claims this winner maybe wanting to be selling pitching
21:54
Speaker 2: at the deadline, They're probably gonna be buying pitching up
21:56
Speaker 2: the deadline again. And obviously the Padres, like I mentioned before,
21:59
Speaker 2: and we'll see what the Giants kind of look like
22:01
Speaker 2: in a month. But yeah, I would say the depth
22:04
Speaker 2: of this of the National League is kind of showing.
22:07
Speaker 2: I think you'll see that over the course of this market,
22:09
Speaker 2: it should be a lot of buyers. I would think
22:11
Speaker 2: a lot more buyers. I think you'd anticipate. And I
22:13
Speaker 2: don't know if that's going to clog up the market
22:15
Speaker 2: because prices are gonna be way up, but it just
22:18
Speaker 2: seems like how competitive the National League is, it's probably
22:21
Speaker 2: gonna inspire a lot of these teams, especially teams like
22:24
Speaker 2: the Cubs that are looking to break through after a
22:27
Speaker 2: couple of years, are maybe more motivated to spend than
22:30
Speaker 2: a year's past. And then we'll see. Obviously, you know,
22:33
Speaker 2: we both know that a J. Preller's that was gonna
22:35
Speaker 2: be really aggressive at the deadline. We've already seen and
22:38
Speaker 2: report in the Athletic that they're sniffing around Aaron Durant.
22:41
Speaker 2: So we'll see if they get things started even before
22:43
Speaker 2: the deadline even starts.
22:44
Speaker 1: I saw that alert and I was like, I wasn't
22:47
Speaker 1: totally reading it. I just saw the name, and before
22:49
Speaker 1: I even got to the team that was interested, I
22:51
Speaker 1: just knew. I was like, this is Aja Powler's work,
22:53
Speaker 1: because he's the only executive that be openly discussing something
22:55
Speaker 1: like this on the first week of June. So yeah,
22:59
Speaker 1: we'll see. I'm excited to see the trade deadline goes.
23:01
Speaker 1: It's always a busy time, but I like your point
23:02
Speaker 1: about I think there'd being an influx of buyers this
23:04
Speaker 1: year and how that could impact the seller's market. It's
23:07
Speaker 1: always a seller's market at the trade deadline, but this
23:09
Speaker 1: year even more so. And I wonder what that means
23:11
Speaker 1: for the middle teams like the Cardinals, who haven't really
23:15
Speaker 1: committed to a direction yet. You know, they are semi
23:18
Speaker 1: rebuilding but still in contention. And to their credit, even
23:21
Speaker 1: though I think all of us, including myself, did not
23:24
Speaker 1: really understand that sentiment, they've done a really nice job
23:26
Speaker 1: of doing both. What does it mean for teams like
23:29
Speaker 1: the Brewers, like the Cardinals, like the Giants, the Dbacks
23:32
Speaker 1: who are just kind of good but not necessarily division leaders.
23:36
Speaker 1: You can throw the Cubs in there, even though they've
23:37
Speaker 1: had a great season so far. How will this trade
23:39
Speaker 1: deadline and the resources available impact the amount of which
23:43
Speaker 1: teams are able to upgrade? That's what I think is
23:45
Speaker 1: going to be really fascinating. And I'm not quite sure
23:47
Speaker 1: what the Cardinals are going to do. I mean, it's
23:49
Speaker 1: not even definitive that they'll buy It really depends on
23:51
Speaker 1: the next four to five weeks, so we'll see. But
23:55
Speaker 1: I do know that it's made for a much more
23:56
Speaker 1: competitive year, at least in my from my standpoint, and
24:00
Speaker 1: I talked about it a lot, I didn't really have
24:01
Speaker 1: a lot of high expectations coming into the year. Are
24:04
Speaker 1: you surprised at what the Cardinals have done?
24:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm still not really sure how they're doing it,
24:08
Speaker 2: to be honest with you. Obviously, they're playing good baseball,
24:11
Speaker 2: like they're doing all the components you'd think, but you
24:13
Speaker 2: just like the roster itself did not seem like it
24:17
Speaker 2: would kind of compute to this.
24:18
Speaker 3: At least the beginning of the season.
24:19
Speaker 2: It looked like they just sort of maybe had a
24:22
Speaker 2: lot of quality players, but no one really pushed them
24:25
Speaker 2: over the top. It didn't seem like they had enough pitching. Obviously,
24:28
Speaker 2: we saw how good Hellesley could be at the back
24:31
Speaker 2: end of the bullpen last year. But like the fact
24:32
Speaker 2: that having the lights out closer in the back end
24:34
Speaker 2: of games is going to help win you a lot
24:36
Speaker 2: of close games, and that's gonna just matter to help
24:39
Speaker 2: bank wins earlier in the season. But yeah, I've been
24:41
Speaker 2: very surprised about how they do how they've done things.
24:44
Speaker 2: I know you've talked about how good the defense has been,
24:46
Speaker 2: maybe back to where it had been when they were
24:49
Speaker 2: really rolling there. So yeah, it seems like they're playing
24:53
Speaker 2: closer to the Cardinals baseball that I think people are used to.
24:56
Speaker 2: And I think we'll see you how this roster kind
24:58
Speaker 2: of comes together going forward, if there's any changes that
25:01
Speaker 2: they make in terms of adding a middle of the
25:03
Speaker 2: order bat or seeing where what goes out, or like
25:07
Speaker 2: what if an Aeronata trade does come to fruition at
25:10
Speaker 2: some point, what that does to open up the rest
25:12
Speaker 2: of the roster, open up the rest of the lineup.
25:15
Speaker 2: So yeah, it'll be interesting to see what things kind
25:17
Speaker 2: of look like in Saint Louis. I think they are
25:19
Speaker 2: a team that could look very different after July thirty first,
25:24
Speaker 2: whether it be subtracting from the roster or adding to it.
25:26
Speaker 3: But I do think that I think that last.
25:28
Speaker 2: Week before the deadline is going to kind of dictate
25:31
Speaker 2: what things kind of look like in Saint Louis going
25:33
Speaker 2: forward after this year, because I know that I'm sure
25:36
Speaker 2: that they sort of view this as kind of a
25:38
Speaker 2: swing point kind of like not to go back to
25:41
Speaker 2: a different example, but like maybe par anxieties first year
25:44
Speaker 2: in San Francisco, where it was a similar kind of situation.
25:48
Speaker 2: You know, there's a transition coming as Bruce Bochi's last year,
25:51
Speaker 2: you probably are more competitive than you anticipated. There's some
25:54
Speaker 2: veteran pieces that you can hold on to or that
25:56
Speaker 2: you can flip. There are some young pieces you're not
25:59
Speaker 2: really sure you have in them yet. There's a huge
26:02
Speaker 2: swing that can sort of happen over the next few weeks.
26:05
Speaker 1: That's a great comp and one that I think maybe
26:07
Speaker 1: could be, you know, pretty telling depending on where the
26:11
Speaker 1: Cardinals are at the end of the month. One thing's
26:13
Speaker 1: for certain though, after spending an entire off season doing
26:16
Speaker 1: Nolan Arnatto trade speculation, I can't wait to start doing
26:20
Speaker 1: that in the next couple of weeks again. And to
26:21
Speaker 1: be clear Cardinals fans, there is no indication they would
26:25
Speaker 1: trade him. It's just going to pop up based on
26:27
Speaker 1: how the off season went. So so excited for that, Fabby,
26:30
Speaker 1: and thank you so much for coming on the show.
26:32
Speaker 1: You guys can follow him at the Athletic on Twitter.
26:34
Speaker 1: F aban Ardaya does great work, except he will not
26:37
Speaker 1: be coming to Saint Louis this weekend because everybody hates me,
26:41
Speaker 1: so that's really great. But yeah, if you can't see
26:44
Speaker 1: fobbing but you can't see show, hey o Tani and
26:45
Speaker 1: Tommy Edmunds. So we'll take two out of three. Bernie
26:49
Speaker 1: Michlas and I are back to break down whatever happens
26:52
Speaker 1: over the weekend, and we'll have some really fun guests
26:54
Speaker 1: lined up next week as well. Fobby, thanks again so
26:57
Speaker 1: much for coming on, thanks for watching Colonel Territory. We'll
27:02
Speaker 1: be back soon. H