As the 50th anniversary passed this week of the horrific killings in LA led by Charles Manson and his groupies, we’re not referring to that tragic, brutal slaughter which, according to some of the culprits, titled it “helter skelter”. The massacres on 2 consecutive nights absolutely stunned America. For those of you too young to know the gory story, a book is out by the same title and on this “anniversary” of sorts, many of those unbelievable appalling actions, are STILL hard to believe…even after 50 years. There are many accounts of it—all of which paint a truly horrible picture. However, the helter skelter expression, that I’m referring to, was an expression that my Mom used when I was young. It was her description of us kids running around in a flurry …usually after she had given us something to do to help her around the house or the yard. On occasion, we were helter-skelter….we were rushing all around trying to complete the tasks. We would duplicate efforts, miss others, forget some part due to our frenzy, scramble from one part to another…I guess rather typical approaches by kids . This is the type of helter skelter that I believe the Cards are experiencing.
The Cards management seems to be “helter skelter” with the plethora of transactions…many which don’t seem to have any long term impact, some are repeated, some are reversed within a very short span of time. Here are some….I’ve left out the entire list because I hope that you’ll make it to the bottom of my blog  and the complete list would put you to sleep. These transactions are taken from the MLB transactions…in chronological order
Jul 4, 2019 Lane Thomas CF Sent to Minors
July 5 2019 Rangel Ravelo 1B Called Up from Minors
Jul 11, 2019 Rangel Ravelo 1B Sent to Minors (up for 6 days)
Chasen Shreve RP Purchased From Minors
Jul 16, 2019 Edmundo Sosa SS Called Up from Minors
Jul 19, 2019 Edmundo Sosa SS Sent to Minors (up for 3 days)
Jul 21, 2019 Rangel Ravelo 1B Called Up from Minors (in minors 10 days)
Jul 23, 2019 Chasen Shreve RP Designated for Assignment (on team 12 days)
Designated for Assignment is the MLB verbiage for “cutting” you entirely from system
Jul 23, 2019 Mike Mayers RP Removed From 60-Day IL (Right shoulder lat strain)
Jul 23, 2019 Mike Mayers RP Recalled From Minors Rehab Assignment
Jul 27, 2019 Chasen Shreve RP Outrighted to Minors (16 days in MLB)
Jul 30, 2019 Adalberto Mejia RP Acquired Off Waivers From Los Angeles
Jul 30, 2019 Lane Thomas CF Called Up from Minors (down minors- 10 days)
Aug 3, 2019 Rangel Ravelo 1B Sent to Minors (in MLB 13 days)
Aug 4, 2019 Mike Mayers RP Designated for Assignment (on team 11 days)
Aug 6, 2019 Mike Mayers RP Outrighted to Minors (4 transactions for him since 7/23)
Aug 6, 2019 Adalberto Mejia RP Designated for Assignment(with team 7 days)
With these many, transactions many of which are reversed in less than 2 weeks ….it seems clear to me that the Cards are reacting in a helter-skelter manner. The current policy of players are brought up…if they don’t produce immediately…sent back down…or released… then resigned. It doesn’t seem like that there is an overall plan for short and long term improvement. Most of the transactions being executed are aimed at the 24 or 25th spot on the roster. Those level of players may provide a short term boost but let’s face it…if you want a dramatic change, a team must revise the players closer to the highest level on the team . In the long run….does it really, really matter who our 24th or 25th guys are? Don’t’ the top 20 players on the team comprise the real nucleus of the team? The bottom 5 players on the roster seldom really WIN games for you. The manager may be hoping for lightning in a bottle with some of these unseen minor leaguers as they enter the MLB for the first time…but…. those are generally–mild, temporary boosts…at best.
Meanwhile, there is 1 name…amazingly….left out of this up/down policy. Randy Arozarena! In an article find on Viva ElBirdos in Feb 2018, A.E.Schaefer (writer) listed him as the #5 prospect in the system. According to Schaefer, “Randy Arozarena defected from Cuba at the end of 2014. Due to difficulties establishing residency and going through all the other steps required of Cuban defectors at the time in order to be able to sign with an MLB club, Arozarena sat out all of 2015. He played a short stint in the Mexican League in 2016, signed with the Cardinals late in the year, and was then pushed straight to Palm Beach to begin 2017, his first season playing in the United States. Oh, and also his first full season since 2014.” This 24 year old is batting .370 right now in Memphis. I know…I’m a bit skeptical of the competition level in AAA baseball…but it IS .370. Only 6 HR, but his OPS is 1.007 as I write this. Why hasn’t he been brought up to the Lou? Because…..He isn’t on the 40 man roster. In order to be promoted to the MLB, a player MUST be on the 40 man roster. Defined in Major League Rule 2, the 40-man roster is also known as the Major League Reserve List. Sooo. If he goes on the 40 man list…. someone else is removed. Let me make it easy for MO…..remove Drew Robinson (obtained in a trade, 27 years old, running on a treadmill @ Memphis). In his 100 games in the MLB, his combined average is .202….I rest my case for that part of the issue. Then, the Cardinals have responded that they”don’t know if they can get him enough AB”…. are you kidding me? Ozuna will always be out there…as he should be. But… Fowler, Martinez, Edman or whoever else roams the StL…. To me…none of these players should be depriving a .370 hitter from getting his chance..
…in the Helter-skelter world of the NFL, the team that appears to have experienced the best off season is the Cleveland Browns. The Browns, who went 7-8-1 last year with 3 OT non-wins and won 3 of their last 4 games. A huge jump from the 0-16 record of 2017. Cleveland was void of a top receiver. The Browns went out and signed Odell Beckham, Jr. While at times troublesome to handle, Beckham clearly is a #1 receiver. Oliver Vernon was added to be the rusher while Sheldon Richardson (from the Lou) is assigned the run-stopper role. In the draft, Cleveland looked to improve their defense with the picks of CB Greedy Williams and LB Sione Takitaki and Mack Wilson.
…NO helter-skelter on determing the Ace…Jack Flaherty has been really outstanding and looked like the ace that the Cards envisioned in his last 2 starts. He’ll be the building block of the staff for the next few years not Carlos or Mikolaus. Btw…where should Carlos be? Starter? Bullpen? He has good days and bad days on both spots.
Helter-skelter isn’t just a Cardinal thing….its all over sports…quick changing plans…sometimes anticipated….sometimes not so much…
In NCAA football……
….@ Kelly Bryant (Mizzou’s QB) had a helter-skelter year @ Clemson last year. He lost the starting QB job to Trevor Lawrence after 4 games. Bryant had spent the start of his Clemson years behind QB DeShaun Watson and fully expected to assume the starting role last year. Lawrence won the job after 4 games, Bryant quit the team. When Lawrence got injured, Coach Swinney indicated that he’d welcome Bryant back to the team. Bryant refused the offer and remained off the team. Sooo…..when Championship rings were distributed after beating Alabama, Bryant did not receive one. Swinney indicated that a person HAD to be on the team to receive a ring…Bryant was not.
….I think that NCAA-F teams should be ranked strictly on the basis of the level of their wins. Thus, a team beating a very good team(expected to be a Top 10 team)…or a good team (expected top 25) or even a team from the Power 5 conferences should be rated higher than teams that play D-II schools or schools from smaller D-1 conferences. The system now is that the writers vote in the pre-season. If a team is ranked #1 in the pre-season, that indicates to me that the writers think that this team will be #1 at the END of the season….not automatically #1 in week 1…and every week thereafter until they lose. Judge the rankings by the level of wins . Are the wins over weak, soft, good or very good teams….not just the pre-season expectations. Look @ our annual choice, Alabama. The Tide opens with Duke (power 5 conference team that went to a bowl..which means that they were a solid, good team, a win there would be a good one. However week 2 Bama has facing N.Mexico State who went 3-9 last year to beat up on.., than a 6-5 team from conf USA–S. Mississippi and the 4th non-league game is against a D-II team—W.Carolina. Alabama’s non-conference schedule is weak. Even if they go 4-0, and were rated #1 in the pre-season, they should not be voted as the #1 team at that point. At least 1 school..but probably many others have played better non-conference teams and were unbeaten, they should be ranked above Alabama at that juncture of the season. If…and when…. Alabama would continue to win….beating other quality opponents along the way….they’ll move up the rankings. Presumably, if they continue to win them all, they’ll beat some very high quality opponents. Reward them THEN… after they’ve done it….don’t rank them #1 all year just because we EXPECT them to be there at the end of the season. Rankings should be based on which teams have beaten good opponents. For example, In week 1, Auburn plays Oregon (great matchup), Florida v Miami is another good game; Houston v Oklahoma (what’s the over/under on this game? 120 points).If any of these teams–Auburn, Oregon, Flor, Miami, Houston, Oklahoma should play very well in week 1 …THEY should be #1. Bama v Duke IS one of the top 10 games of this week but not close to the best. The voters should vote on which team plays the best. Beats the best and make them #1 in week 1. A close win over a very good opponent is more valuable than a 40 point win over a cup-cake team in my opinion. Btw…Nick Saban generally schedules at least 2 soft non-league games…in 2020 Bama has scheduled USC (very good opponent), but the threesome of Georgia St, Kent State and UT-Martin is embarrassing to have on Bama’s schedule.
…helter-skelter fate takes place also in other MLB front offices….2 years ago, the Tigers treasured starting pitcher, Michael Fullmer (Rookie of the Year in 2016 & All-Star in 2017). So much so…they actually turned down offers for Javier Baez and Alex Bregman for him. Since that time, Fullmer has fallen off the radar due to injuries. He currently is recovering from Tommy John surgery. Meanwhile, Baez and Bergman are EACH considered to be in the elite circle of players of the National League
…in the helter-skelter world of rotating NLF coaches….Steve Spagnuolo is being brought in to be the D-Coordinator @ KC. He’s expected to elevate the play of the Chiefs defense. KC had a terrific offense in 2018 but couldn’t stop anyone. They permitted 405.5 yds/game—2nd worst in the entire league. It made for great TV in 2018 as the Chiefs raced up & down the field only to see their opponents doing the same . Hope Spags isn’t still relying on his 4 pillars….like he did in St Louis.
….The Cards..and the other NL Central teams….benefit from a helter-skelter schedule. In the MLB, each division team plays 72 of their 162 games against their own division. Soo….44% of their entire schedule is against those 4 teams. Right now, the Cards are 28-20 against the Central competition…their best record against ANY other division. STL is 16-14 vs the NL East, 9-10 vs the NL West and 7-11 vs AL teams. As I said last week, they should be grateful to be in the NL Central division.
…An article due to stir up helter-skelter with baseball fans.. …it listed the top 10 starting pitchers of this decade, 2010-2019…they were 1 Clayton Kershaw, 2 Max Scherzer, 3 Justin Verlander, 4 Chris Sale, 5 Madison Bumgarner. They seem right on. The next 5 may raise some eyebrows….6 Cole Hamels, 7 Zach Greinke, 8 David Price, 9 Jon Lester, 10 Felix Hernandez. Your thoughts? It appears that being a starter for most or all of the 10 years was important in the choices. I hear you now…where’s Wainwright? He was very good in the first part of this decade. He won 73 games in 4 years (missed one entire year-2011). Between 2015-19, Wainwright has won just 36 games with an ERA over 4.40 in 4 of the years. Sooo….he won 109 games during this 10 year stretch.
Enough Helter-Skelter for me….I’ve been rushing around trying to get to the bottom 