…I often hear the Cardinal announcers saying “Yadi Molina the future HOF’er coming to the plate”. Granted he’s performed very well for a long period of time. But…NOT SO FAST….compare him to some of the other catchers who haven’t yet made the HOF…..trying to use the same comparables–
Yadi Molina 16 years; 9x All-Star; lifetime .282 avg; voting in MVP race-#3 ,#4, #21, 23(2x) lifetime WAR 40.2; 9 Gold Gloves; 4 world series-won 2
Elston Howard 14 years; 9 straight All-Star; .274 avg; Won MVP-1x; voted #3,10,17 (3x); lifetime WAR 27; 9 world series’-winner in 4 of them
Thurmond Munson 11 years; 7 All Star games; .292 lifetime avg; WAR of 46; Won AL MVP once; #7 (2x), #12, 19, 21, 22; 3 Gold Gloves; Career postseason: .357 BA, 3 HR, 22 RBI
Lance Parish-19 years; 8 All-Star games; .252 avg; 345 HR; WAR 39.5;In MVP vote#9, #13, #16
Joe Maurer 15 years(10 catching; 6 All-Star games; lifetime avg-.306, WAR 55.0; He won the MVP once, with a#4 &# 36 Is Yadi such an obvious choice?
I would contend that EACH of these catchers are better than 1/3 to ½ of the current HOF catchers. Further….look @ the battle to get Ted Simmons into the HOF by the Veterans Committee. He played 21 years, .285 lifetime avg; 248 HR; when he retired held the record for most Hits (2472) & doubles (483) by a catcher and 1389 RBI’s–2nd highest total by a player who played at least 50% of his games behind the plate. Yet.. Simmons was only named on 3.7% of votes in 1994, so he fell off the ballot. He’ll be inducted in 2020 by Vets Committee.
….Often we hear that a player is born with all the skill he needs to succeed at the Professional Level. NOT SO FAST…despite being born to a MLB player (so probably inherited some..or more likely… a ton of athleticism)..Patrick Mahomes indicated recently that he didn’t know how to read defenses until 2018! The 24-year-old revealed that he only learned how to read defenses “until halfway last year”. It took more than just pure athleticism! Sooo…after acquiring those skills necessary @ the professional level….he really elevated his game. btw…. I find him to be the most entertaining QB in the NFL currently.
…often we hear….what can we do about the starting pitching in the MLB? It can’t be changed, NOT SO FAST….here’s a couple thoughts….1) go to an Ace-6 rotation…it’d look like this: A2345 A6234 A5623 A4562 A3456 repeat..your ace starts every 5th day; all the other starters on the 6/7th day. Look what it did for Waino last year. Adam Wainwright’s two “long” rests were followed by his best games in 2019! His best games of the year were on July 14, with 11 days rest– 7 IP, 0 runs vs AZ; then on Sep 2, with 7 days rest-7 IP, 0 runs vs SF. 2) Another thought is to indicate to pitchers that in the off-season, THEY are each responsible for coming to “camp” ready to throw 100 pitches @ full speed. They know their own arm…do it in whatever method they require to get ready. Same principle for the batters. Then…. shorten spring training by about 4 weeks..play 2 games each day, using all the players, so EVERY player is playing…but the current system …is far too long—it was designed for players who were working part-time winter jobs. That isn’t the case any longer. Adjust!!
….Some say that the 3-batter requirement for pitchers (or end of the inning) will change baseball….NOT SO FAST….it’s ALREADY CHANGED. It was not until 1987 that even half the teams in baseball had relievers with fewer innings than appearances. It’s a big adjustment given that most of today’s mgr came into baseball after that, but it’s been done previously.
…the acquisition of Troy Brouwer on Nov 11 was lauded as “protection” for the Blues when they acquired him. His rough & tumble style would be welcomed….NOT SO FAST…1st of all.. the Broadstreet Bullies of the NHL are gone…since Dec 19, Brouwer has played in 3 Blues games. His minutes played 5:49, 8:33, 9:19 reflect that he really didn’t “fit in”. It was a mistake… so be it….all teams… & people…make mistakes…at least this wasn’t a costly one.
…We often hear about the Cardinals farm system & drafting….and it is good…but…NOT SO FAST.. what about the Blues? They drafted all of the following- David Perron (1st #26, 2007), Alex Pietrangelo (1st rnd, 2008, #4 pick); Jake Allen (2nd rnd,2008 #34),Jaden Schwartz (1st rd, #14, 2010), Jordan Bennington (3rd, 2011), Colton Parayko (,3rd rd #86pick 2012) Mackenzie MacEachern (3rd, 2012) IvanBarbashev (2nd, #33 2014); Sammy Blais( 6th, 2014),Vince Dunn (2nd, 2015) Jordan Kyrou (2nd,#35 2016) Robert Thomas (1st#20, 2017). Many of these players aren’t STARS…but they are productive… and they are Stanley Cup winning players.
…. While the NCAA has cancelled post season tourneys..one sometimes hears, “the Bills don’t ever play post-season”….NOT SO FAST. While the longest consecutive stint of post season years for SLU is 3, maybe it’s changing. It was last done 2011-12, 12-13, 13-14. It was Ric Majerus final year & Jim Crews’ first 2 years. Prior to that, you must go back to John Benningtons’ 3 straight NIT teams—58-59, 59-60, 60-61. Eddie Hickey took his teams in 54-55, 55-56, 56-57. The Bills have only reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tourney once… it looks like Coach Ford will lead the Billikens into this “new” territory soon. With so many prominent players returning next year, don’t be surprised to see Ford dip into the JUCO world for instant improvement in 20-21.
…in the NCAA the NIL(name, image & likeness) rule will permit players to receive compensation for their NIL. That’s a huge transformation…NOT SO FAST…now the NCAA is considering allowing transfers to play immediately in their new school. Restrictions– 1) receive a release from their previous school; 2) leave their previous school academically eligible; 3) maintain their academic progress at their new school; and 4) leave under no disciplinary suspension. I would like to see schools lose a scholarship when a player doesn’t leaves without graduating. That’s the goal of the scholarship…I know…fat chance 
…the Cardinals adhere closely to the “system” with players in their first 3 years of non-arbitration. They cling to the basic minimum for all non-arbitration players. The Cards offer the minimum, if a player refuses to sign, they dock him $10,000.. I suppose to make a point. NOT SO FAST… What point are they making? We’ve got ya..so sign it or we’ll fine you after we force you to play for that minimum salary. Tommy Pham objected…C U later Tommy. Now Jack Flaherty has refused to sign it for 2 years…he’s been renewed each year. Coming off a year where he established himself as the clear ACE of the team and a top level NL pitcher, Flaherty posted 11-8 record, 2.75 ERA, 196 inn, 4th in Cy Young voting & 13th in the MVP vote. It seems to me that players that excel and meet certain levels of achievement during their non-arbitration years—stats like games played, certain batting or pitching marks…they would be rewarded automatically “x” amount of money above the minimum. Flaherty’s WAR of 5.9 last year was phenomenal. For contracts signed in the free agency in 2017 the average was a massive $10.5m per WAR, meaning if you were going to sign a player who would get 4 WAR for each of the next 4 years you should expect to pay him $168m(4war x4years x$10m per war) for that contract. Meanwhile, Flaherty gets the minimum. Would you sign it? Thanks for the read! YOUR comments are welcome…NOT SO FAST…they are encouraged 