Latest / Foul Territory / Katie Woo’s Cardinals checkup

Transcript

Katie Woo’s Cardinals checkup · Foul Territory

0:00
Speaker 1: The Cardinals are in it. Come July. I can see
0:02
Speaker 1: John Mozaylac adding incrementally nothing crazy. Keep in mind, this
0:06
Speaker 1: is not his team after the season end. It's him
0:08
Speaker 1: Bloom's team. And there she is, Katie wu. Always happy
0:15
Speaker 1: to have her on foul Territory.
0:17
Speaker 2: Of course you can catch her doing all things Cardinals
0:20
Speaker 2: for the Athletic and she is the co host of
0:23
Speaker 2: Cardinals Territory. You can check them out on x at
0:25
Speaker 2: card Territory. Katie, Great to be with you always. I
0:29
Speaker 2: guess it's like just the question du jour Nolan Ronado.
0:33
Speaker 2: Is he getting traded by the deadline? Just based on
0:36
Speaker 2: how things are going right now?
0:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel like I've been answering this question since
0:40
Speaker 1: last October, which is possibly an indictment on the Cardinals.
0:43
Speaker 1: But we'll let that one slide for now. Great to
0:45
Speaker 1: be back with you all. Even AJ makes an appearance.
0:47
Speaker 1: How lucky am I? Let's talk a little bit about
0:49
Speaker 1: Nolan Arnatto. Big series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Save the
0:53
Speaker 1: game on Friday with a play only he can make,
0:55
Speaker 1: I mean the out at home to preserve a tie
0:57
Speaker 1: in the aid the walk off homer on Saturday, Cardinals
1:00
Speaker 1: beat the Brewers in the series. Now, the question about
1:03
Speaker 1: Nolan Arnado is going to be just how much longer
1:05
Speaker 1: is he in Saint Louis, And that is a question
1:07
Speaker 1: that seems impossible to answer, And the reason for that
1:11
Speaker 1: is because it's going to depend on what the team does.
1:13
Speaker 1: The Cardinals are twelve and sixteen, I will say, not
1:16
Speaker 1: a good record, but I think they're better than what
1:18
Speaker 1: the record shows. And the twenty eight games they've played,
1:20
Speaker 1: eighteen have been decided by three runs or fewer, so
1:23
Speaker 1: they've just been on the losing end of a lot
1:25
Speaker 1: of late inning games. Their bullpen has been a problem.
1:27
Speaker 1: Nolan Arnado's play has been much better. That's his third
1:30
Speaker 1: homer of the season. Here, defense looks good, his mindset
1:33
Speaker 1: is much better. He's playing a better quality of baseball
1:36
Speaker 1: than we've seen over the last two years. So if
1:38
Speaker 1: we're going by the way that Ronado looks at the
1:40
Speaker 1: plate and how he's been on the diamond for the
1:41
Speaker 1: first month, yes, I think you're getting a better version
1:44
Speaker 1: of him that we saw in twenty three and twenty four. However,
1:46
Speaker 1: the Cardinals play in a division where if you hover
1:48
Speaker 1: around five hundred, you're still considered in it, and I
1:51
Speaker 1: think we're going to go down to the wire for
1:53
Speaker 1: the trade deadline to see what they're going to do.
1:56
Speaker 1: My gut feeling tells me a lota that if these
1:58
Speaker 1: Saint Louis Cardinals are around five hundred and somewhat in
2:01
Speaker 1: contention for a playoff spot, I do not think John Moseylak,
2:05
Speaker 1: in his final year as President Baseball Operations, is going
2:07
Speaker 1: to just hang on the towel, right. I think he's
2:09
Speaker 1: going to look to add incrementally. Trading away a future
2:12
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame third baseman wouldn't necessarily seem to fit
2:14
Speaker 1: that plan, But I really think Arnato's future hinges on
2:17
Speaker 1: how the team looks over the next few months.
2:21
Speaker 3: Really, he would go back from all this talk and
2:24
Speaker 3: wasting all of Katie Woo's time always asking about, oh,
2:28
Speaker 3: is not going to get traded? Oh, he got traded
2:31
Speaker 3: and the team is willing to pick up the No. No,
2:33
Speaker 3: he's not going to astros. He doesn't want to. Is
2:36
Speaker 3: there a way that they can convince Nolan? Or is
2:41
Speaker 3: Nolan now just like crap I had to stay here
2:44
Speaker 3: the whole time. They kind of still like me, but
2:47
Speaker 3: I'm not really like the leader they have young guys.
2:50
Speaker 3: Do they have to convince him to take something that
2:53
Speaker 3: he wouldn't have taken this offseason?
2:56
Speaker 1: I don't think so, and I don't think you can
2:58
Speaker 1: convince him to do that. I think Nolan at third
3:00
Speaker 1: four years old and knows exactly what he wants in
3:01
Speaker 1: his career. And he's also understands where he asks where
3:04
Speaker 1: he is in his playing arc, that where he ends
3:06
Speaker 1: up next, if it's not in Saint Louis, is most
3:08
Speaker 1: likely going to be the last organization he plays for.
3:11
Speaker 1: That's why he identified those five teams as maybe I'd
3:14
Speaker 1: consider them. Remember he never said yes, but he knew
3:17
Speaker 1: exactly what he was looking for. And you have to
3:19
Speaker 1: look at where baseball is in general right now. You're
3:22
Speaker 1: seeing a lot of teams right around the five hundred mark,
3:24
Speaker 1: and I think that's just kind of unless you're the
3:26
Speaker 1: Dodgers or the Mets, you're kind of along the second
3:29
Speaker 1: tier of teams that are okay, they're good enough. You
3:31
Speaker 1: look at the NL Central, for example, you have the
3:33
Speaker 1: Cubs and the Brewers. Brewers are coming off, you know,
3:35
Speaker 1: really grueling road trip, but they're good. Are they good
3:39
Speaker 1: enough to contend? Probably? Are they good enough to compete
3:41
Speaker 1: with the Mets and the Dodgers. Probably not. I'm not
3:44
Speaker 1: sure if there are many teams outside of the Yankees,
3:46
Speaker 1: the Dodgers, and the Mets. Right now is currently constructed
3:49
Speaker 1: that can give Ronado a guaranteed place to play in
3:52
Speaker 1: the playoffs. That's what he's chasing after. He wants to
3:55
Speaker 1: play in the postseason. He said that since his career,
3:57
Speaker 1: he's played in just eight playoff games throughout his career,
4:00
Speaker 1: so I don't think he's just going to jump ship
4:02
Speaker 1: for the sake of jumping ship. I think if he was,
4:04
Speaker 1: he would have done it already. Credit to him, though,
4:06
Speaker 1: in situations like this, both the relationship can sour right
4:10
Speaker 1: between the player and the organization when you publicly say
4:13
Speaker 1: that you would like to get rid of said player.
4:15
Speaker 1: I think he and the Cardinals, both all you, Marmel
4:17
Speaker 1: and John Mozelak have done a nice job in making
4:19
Speaker 1: sure that this stay is professional. He's been a total
4:21
Speaker 1: pro since spring trading, and that's carried into what has
4:24
Speaker 1: been not exactly the best April for the Cardinals either.
4:27
Speaker 4: All Right, a couple of things, Katie. One, You're welcome
4:29
Speaker 4: for me being here, So you're welcome and two, the
4:33
Speaker 4: Brewers are about to play the White Sox, so they
4:35
Speaker 4: could get hot here. And you forgot to mention the Cubs.
4:38
Speaker 4: The Cubs are pretty good, so the Cardinals probably aren't
4:41
Speaker 4: going to catch the Cubs in that division, but that's okay.
4:44
Speaker 4: They're off to a nice start for them. We also
4:46
Speaker 4: forgot to mention Sounny Gray didn't want to be traded either,
4:48
Speaker 4: so he's kind of there.
4:49
Speaker 3: He has the no trade so.
4:51
Speaker 4: It's not just Nolan, and I know Nolan's been the
4:53
Speaker 4: big story, but Sonny Gray also has said I want
4:55
Speaker 4: to stay here, so there's more to it. My question
4:58
Speaker 4: is is Lars new Bar has been off great, So
5:00
Speaker 4: we're talking Nolan, but let's talk Lars Newpar. We're not.
5:03
Speaker 4: We have even brought him up and he's probably what
5:05
Speaker 4: their best hitter on this team.
5:07
Speaker 1: He's he's definitely, I think one of the best leadoff
5:09
Speaker 1: hitters in baseball. I mean, he's he's has almost thirty walks,
5:13
Speaker 1: he's hitting the ball well, he's playing really well at home,
5:16
Speaker 1: and he's turned into I mean, he was always a
5:17
Speaker 1: solid outfielder, but the work that he's put in with
5:20
Speaker 1: outfield coach John Jay has turned him even to a
5:22
Speaker 1: better left fielder. I like what Lars Newbar does at
5:25
Speaker 1: the top of the plate. He has what he or
5:26
Speaker 1: the top of the lineup, he says. He describes it
5:29
Speaker 1: as an old school mentality when leading off the game,
5:31
Speaker 1: where the designation is to see as many pitches as possible.
5:35
Speaker 1: What makes Lars Newfar so good at that is that
5:37
Speaker 1: he has some elite plate discipline. He has a great approach,
5:40
Speaker 1: he says. Sometimes new hitting coach Brenton Brown will get
5:42
Speaker 1: mad at him for being too selective, but it seems
5:44
Speaker 1: to work. He just opened ten street or he's now
5:46
Speaker 1: opened a game ten times with a lead off walk.
5:49
Speaker 1: That's exactly what you want from your leadoff hitters. So
5:51
Speaker 1: we knew coming into this AJ that this is going
5:53
Speaker 1: to be a big year for guys like Nolan Gorman,
5:55
Speaker 1: Jordan Walker. Lars Newfar fits that mold. Also, they need
5:58
Speaker 1: to know if they can build around him. The biggest
6:00
Speaker 1: question for him coming into the season was can he
6:02
Speaker 1: stay healthy knock on wood the first month. He's done
6:05
Speaker 1: that well. Now we're seeing him develop into I think
6:08
Speaker 1: one of the more underrated leadoff hitters in the National
6:10
Speaker 1: League because he works the count so well, sees a
6:12
Speaker 1: lot of pitches. He's not overly splitty. He can hit
6:15
Speaker 1: both lefty and righty's, and he has that power. He's
6:17
Speaker 1: just coming, I think, becoming a prominent player for the
6:21
Speaker 1: Cardinals at the top of the lineup.
6:23
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6:29
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6:36
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6:40
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6:42
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6:44
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6:45
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6:48
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6:56
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6:59
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7:01
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7:24
Speaker 3: know it's only one month and it's about one hundred
7:26
Speaker 3: at bats, hunter played appearances. Has Jordan Walker kind of
7:31
Speaker 3: taken a step back in the sense of he'd had
7:35
Speaker 3: the hit tool and now the hit tool's kind of
7:37
Speaker 3: not there this year? Has it been cold weather? Is
7:40
Speaker 3: there something different? Is it just who Jordan Walker is
7:44
Speaker 3: at this point in his career.
7:46
Speaker 1: They're fair questions, and there's going to be a lot
7:48
Speaker 1: of a lot of focus on Jordan Walker and what
7:49
Speaker 1: he can do offensively. I will say before we get
7:51
Speaker 1: to that, he's made such strides defensively in right field.
7:55
Speaker 1: It goes back to the work that John Jay is
7:56
Speaker 1: putting in. He's a completely different outfielder in right field.
8:00
Speaker 1: On the point perspective, He's still kind of the same
8:02
Speaker 1: hitter in terms of that low slider away from the
8:05
Speaker 1: zone he's chasing and his front hips flying open, and
8:08
Speaker 1: he hasn't been able to get the ball up in
8:10
Speaker 1: the air, which has been the main focus for him.
8:12
Speaker 1: He started out strong, then slumped a little bit. He's
8:14
Speaker 1: in the middle of a slump right now. But this
8:16
Speaker 1: is what the Cardinals wanted to happen. In a way,
8:19
Speaker 1: right You want to see if players can struggle in
8:21
Speaker 1: the major leagues and then overcome a just adapt and
8:24
Speaker 1: figure out a way to be productive again. So it's
8:26
Speaker 1: not necessarily the fact that he's struggling right now. He's
8:29
Speaker 1: supposed to. Him and Gorman are supposed to struggle as
8:32
Speaker 1: they work through the major leagues. It's how can he
8:34
Speaker 1: overcome it? So, yes, we're one month into the season.
8:36
Speaker 1: Certain you'd like better offensive production from Jordan Walker, but
8:39
Speaker 1: what I think is more important from an organization long
8:42
Speaker 1: term standpoint, is giving him enough runway. We've talked about
8:46
Speaker 1: this a lot, enough runway to figure out if he
8:48
Speaker 1: can adjust and succeed on top of his struggles. And
8:51
Speaker 1: that's where they are right now with him.
8:52
Speaker 2: Okay, let's talk a little bit about Phil Mayton. Obviously
8:55
Speaker 2: growing up a Cards fan, now on the team, have
8:58
Speaker 2: you had conversations with him about and just how it's
9:00
Speaker 2: been going for him.
9:02
Speaker 1: Phil's been great. He's been a great asset for this
9:04
Speaker 1: Cardinal's team. It's nice having a veteran presence and a
9:06
Speaker 1: relatively young bullpen. It brings the question why didn't the
9:10
Speaker 1: Cardinals just sign him sooner? I mean, for two million dollars.
9:12
Speaker 1: You're getting a very established setup man that Ken has
9:15
Speaker 1: a lot of experience, takes the ball every day, and
9:18
Speaker 1: by not signing him a little bit sooner. Phil Mayton's
9:20
Speaker 1: a pro, you know the Salona. He's always going to
9:22
Speaker 1: take the ball. That's why he has this characteristic as
9:25
Speaker 1: being so durable. But because he didn't start a true
9:28
Speaker 1: throwing program until the middle of spring when the Cardinals
9:30
Speaker 1: signed him in mid March, he's still technically behind a
9:33
Speaker 1: little bit, although he would never say that. So the
9:35
Speaker 1: Cardinals are monitoring his usage and there have been days
9:38
Speaker 1: where he just isn't available because they don't want to
9:40
Speaker 1: blow his arm out. But I certainly think Phil Mayton
9:43
Speaker 1: enjoys being here. He's been a nice compliment, some nice
9:45
Speaker 1: consistent scene of bullpen that hasn't really had much between him,
9:49
Speaker 1: Hellsley and Kyle Lahy. Those are pretty much the only
9:51
Speaker 1: arms the Cardinals feel comfortable using right now. But I
9:55
Speaker 1: can't imagine what this bullpen would look like without him.
9:57
Speaker 1: It would not be good.
10:00
Speaker 4: What's going on with Wilson contures first base? I know
10:03
Speaker 4: he's there, He's not swinging the bat terribly well right now.
10:07
Speaker 3: What's going on there.
10:08
Speaker 4: Herrera has been a nice fine form behind the plate.
10:12
Speaker 4: What's the story with Wilson contures Well.
10:15
Speaker 1: Talk about another guy who didn't want to be traded.
10:17
Speaker 1: He specifically said, I want to stay in Saint Louis
10:19
Speaker 1: and be a part of this movement. And Ollie Marmel
10:21
Speaker 1: over the last week praised contraras for how he handled
10:24
Speaker 1: the start of the season. He slumped heavily, was probably
10:27
Speaker 1: the Cardinals worst hitter, which I don't think any of
10:29
Speaker 1: us would have predicted for the first two or three
10:31
Speaker 1: weeks of the season, and he was consistent in his energy.
10:34
Speaker 1: He even applauded himself for not tearing out a batrack.
10:37
Speaker 1: He said, usually I probably would have cast some damage
10:39
Speaker 1: to some of the equipment in the clubhouse. But he
10:41
Speaker 1: kept a level head and he's really showed these young
10:43
Speaker 1: guys how to adjust to circumstances that aren't necessarily ideal.
10:46
Speaker 1: He looks like a pretty solid first baseman, very athletic
10:49
Speaker 1: over there. I know he's played there before, but certainly
10:51
Speaker 1: not as the everyday first baseman. Now it's about finding
10:54
Speaker 1: a way for him to be a little bit more
10:55
Speaker 1: consistent offensively. But he's turned a page there. Look, the
10:57
Speaker 1: Cardinals are all about the youth movement. They have some
11:00
Speaker 1: catching that they'd like to see Eyvon Herreraz on the
11:02
Speaker 1: injured list, but he should start a rehab assignment as
11:04
Speaker 1: early as Thursday. Pedro Pa has has done a nice
11:07
Speaker 1: job filling in. They really like how defensively sound he
11:10
Speaker 1: is and how he prepares, but they would not be
11:12
Speaker 1: able to know this if they still had contrarasts behind
11:14
Speaker 1: the plate. So they move into first base. You open
11:17
Speaker 1: up that pipeline for Herrera and Paz. Jimmy Crooks a
11:19
Speaker 1: catching prospect in the miners as well, and you keep
11:22
Speaker 1: contrasts there because you hope that his bat will play
11:25
Speaker 1: now that he's not catching. You know, one hundred and
11:26
Speaker 1: thirty five games behind the plate didn't start out that way,
11:29
Speaker 1: but it certainly looks a lot better. He's slowly heating
11:31
Speaker 1: up for them offensively.
11:33
Speaker 3: Did Mo drop the ball not trading Ryan Hellesley this
11:36
Speaker 3: offseason because his value couldn't be higher. If he has
11:39
Speaker 3: another year like he did last year, then it's just
11:42
Speaker 3: another year with less control. Was the cut? Was the
11:46
Speaker 3: value for him not out there? Was it something that
11:49
Speaker 3: they were not willing to get rid of him? Because
11:52
Speaker 3: he's in the last year of his contract. And look
11:54
Speaker 3: at some of the teams right now. Devin Williams is
11:57
Speaker 3: struggling for a team that traded a lot of pieces
12:01
Speaker 3: to get him. Teams want closers, let alone an eighth
12:04
Speaker 3: inning guy.
12:06
Speaker 1: Oh, it's not that there wasn't a demand for him.
12:08
Speaker 1: There was a very high demand for him. You think
12:09
Speaker 1: about the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen, they could certainly use someone
12:12
Speaker 1: like Ryan Helsley and they wanted him. However, the Cardinals
12:15
Speaker 1: were very clear in November most John Mozelax said, we
12:17
Speaker 1: are not trading him. It certainly have to be blown
12:19
Speaker 1: away for that to happen, and they ultimately, I guess,
12:21
Speaker 1: decided that would not be the case. It came as
12:24
Speaker 1: a surprise to most of the industry, including Helsley himself,
12:27
Speaker 1: who said he expected to be traded. He hoped that
12:29
Speaker 1: he wasn't, but he kind of saw the riding on
12:31
Speaker 1: the wall and was definitely surprised, but in a good way.
12:35
Speaker 1: To be in Saint Louis for another season. It's a
12:37
Speaker 1: great question and if they capitalized on his trade value
12:40
Speaker 1: or not, I will say he's not getting a ton
12:41
Speaker 1: of closing opportunities right now because the Cardinals haven't had
12:44
Speaker 1: a ton of safe situations. Their segue from the eighth
12:47
Speaker 1: to the ninth has not gone according to plan with
12:49
Speaker 1: their setup. Men, You're right about Helsey's value being super high. Bullpens, relievers,
12:54
Speaker 1: closers are volatile. You know, the consistency there varies from
12:57
Speaker 1: season to season. It's the nature of the job. I
13:00
Speaker 1: still think Helsy's an a lee arm. Obviously, you have
13:02
Speaker 1: triple digits and that wipeout slider like that will play.
13:05
Speaker 1: It's just a matter of if they can use him.
13:07
Speaker 1: I too was surprised he was not traded. But you
13:09
Speaker 1: think about where this Cardinals bullpen is, and you think
13:12
Speaker 1: about how they've stated how they want to compete despite
13:14
Speaker 1: the transition year. Who else is closing games for them
13:17
Speaker 1: right now? Kyle Lahey, I mean, they barely have enough
13:20
Speaker 1: bullpen bullpen arms to cover them currently. So I don't
13:24
Speaker 1: know how this club would have closed out the ninth
13:26
Speaker 1: without him, but it certainly feared a question if they
13:27
Speaker 1: should have moved Helsey sooner, Kittie.
13:30
Speaker 2: Certainly, it's going to depend on where they're sitting around
13:33
Speaker 2: the trade deadline. But they didn't do a ton of
13:35
Speaker 2: stuff this offseason coming into the twenty twenty five campaign.
13:39
Speaker 2: Would you imagine if they're in the thick of it,
13:41
Speaker 2: that they will do something and what would the target
13:44
Speaker 2: be And do you think Fetti is a trade piece?
13:48
Speaker 1: I think so. The Cardinals don't have a ton of
13:50
Speaker 1: starting pitching depth that they do have their twenty twenty
13:52
Speaker 1: one first round pick Michael McGreevey, who had a great
13:54
Speaker 1: spring training and was unfortunately the odd man out when
13:57
Speaker 1: it came to the Cardinals, who are kind of using
13:59
Speaker 1: a five and a half rotation right now anyway. But
14:02
Speaker 1: if the Cardinals get to a point at the trade
14:04
Speaker 1: deadline where they're not in contention, they have plenty of
14:06
Speaker 1: pieces that are in their final deals before free agency
14:10
Speaker 1: ready to go, including Eric Fetty, Stephen Mattz. He'll make
14:12
Speaker 1: a spot start for them on Wednesday. He's throwing the
14:15
Speaker 1: ball really well in that hybrid role between the rotation
14:17
Speaker 1: and the bullpen. Miles Michaelis has still a lot of
14:20
Speaker 1: money to move, but he kind of fits up that
14:22
Speaker 1: mole for me. If he can continue improving. They have
14:25
Speaker 1: a ton of guys that they can maybe offload. Mayton's
14:27
Speaker 1: up there, Hellesley two so we'll see at the same time,
14:30
Speaker 1: like we talked about earlier, if the Cardinals are in
14:32
Speaker 1: it come July, I can see John Mozaelac adding incrementally
14:36
Speaker 1: nothing crazy. Keep in mind, this is not his team
14:38
Speaker 1: after the season ends. It's High and Bloom's team. And
14:41
Speaker 1: the last thing the Cardinals are going to do is
14:42
Speaker 1: tack on contracts or promise money to someone where the
14:46
Speaker 1: front office is changing over right, So I think the
14:49
Speaker 1: Cardinals will be so fascinating to watch over the first
14:51
Speaker 1: half because it's really going to dictate the inflection point
14:55
Speaker 1: of their franchise. Is this going to have to be
14:57
Speaker 1: a total full rebuild like they really don't want it
14:59
Speaker 1: to be, or do they have enough parts to kind
15:01
Speaker 1: of make a run and salvage this And maybe this
15:04
Speaker 1: transition year isn't as bad as it first seemed.
15:08
Speaker 4: Katie, do you know where the Cardinals rank fourteenth in
15:11
Speaker 4: this year in Major League Baseball?
15:13
Speaker 1: Give it to me what you got.
15:15
Speaker 4: Attendance attendance for the Cardinals. That is something that is
15:20
Speaker 4: something that we never thought. They're always top five, top
15:23
Speaker 4: at least top ten. They're fourteenth and they've had the
15:25
Speaker 4: smallest crowds in the history of new Bush Stadium. Are
15:29
Speaker 4: the fans saying, we can't believe that we're having to
15:32
Speaker 4: go through a rebuild, because that's one thing the Cardinals
15:34
Speaker 4: were so good at.
15:35
Speaker 3: They always were.
15:36
Speaker 4: Now, there were some ups and downs, but they were
15:37
Speaker 4: always kind of, hey, we're going to be decent enough.
15:40
Speaker 4: And then for them to come out this year and say, basically,
15:43
Speaker 4: we're just in a reloading kind of year, the fans saying, man,
15:47
Speaker 4: we need to see the wits and the ownership spend
15:50
Speaker 4: some money because we expect you to win or at
15:52
Speaker 4: least try this.
15:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's the show me stage. Agent. You know this
15:56
Speaker 1: about Cardinals fans, They're very passionate and they have a
15:58
Speaker 1: certain standard of accell for their baseball, which is deserved.
16:02
Speaker 1: When you're the Saint Louis Cardinals, you should play to
16:03
Speaker 1: a certain standard, and clearly Cardinals fans feel like they
16:06
Speaker 1: have fallen off that mark. I will say on Friday,
16:09
Speaker 1: it was a pretty nice night around seventy five degrees,
16:11
Speaker 1: Brewers in town and that stadium was half empty, and
16:14
Speaker 1: it was jarring to see the attendance this year. I
16:16
Speaker 1: think the Cardinals have done a nice job and trying
16:18
Speaker 1: to bring fans to the Ballpark. They've implement a new
16:21
Speaker 1: concert series after games, they have happy hour deals on
16:24
Speaker 1: Friday night games. But ultimately, what's going to get stand
16:27
Speaker 1: are people back in the stands is winning ball games.
16:29
Speaker 1: And I think you're seeing Cardinals fans saying, Okay, we've
16:32
Speaker 1: had two back to back disappointing seasons. Most of our
16:35
Speaker 1: star marquee players are gone. There is no Yachtie. There
16:38
Speaker 1: is no Albert, no Wainwright, no Goldie. You keep Natto,
16:42
Speaker 1: but only because you had to. You tried to move him,
16:45
Speaker 1: and there's no direction for this club. It kind of
16:47
Speaker 1: feels like Baseball Heaven is more like Baseball purgatory at
16:50
Speaker 1: the moment from a fan perspective, because there's just no
16:53
Speaker 1: clarity on the direction they want to go. They said
16:55
Speaker 1: they want to transition season, but they still want to
16:58
Speaker 1: win games. I do think that's possible to do both,
17:00
Speaker 1: but it sends a murky message to the fan base.
17:03
Speaker 1: I will say this about Cardinals fans. Aja you know
17:05
Speaker 1: this as well. If they win, I think the city
17:08
Speaker 1: will come out and support them. But I think the
17:10
Speaker 1: Cardinals fans are sending a message to the front office
17:12
Speaker 1: and ownership like this has fallen below our standard of
17:15
Speaker 1: baseball here and it needs to get better before we
17:17
Speaker 1: consider coming back to the ballpark.
17:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Cardinal way, they're showing their true opinions on
17:23
Speaker 2: how things are going. Katie, thank you so much for
17:24
Speaker 2: being here. We appreciate it, and don't forget guys. You
17:28
Speaker 2: can keep your tabs on Ronato and the Cardinals this
17:30
Speaker 2: season by following Cardinal Territory hosted by Katie Wu and
17:34
Speaker 2: Trevor Rosenthal on YouTube and card Territory on X Katie,
17:38
Speaker 2: thanks so much, we appreciate it very much.