At this wonderful holiday time, large Thanksgiving Meals with Family & Friends are common. There seems to be food & drink galore. So some of the younger males, whose plate is overloaded with goodies, ask to other “so what’s on your plate” as they try to see over the piled up food on their plate.
…. The 1st platter for the Cards carries some juggling balls. The Cards have some juggling to do. They have a threesome for 2 middle-infield spots and a catcher that they’ve been “grooming” for years to replace Yadi. Now he’s ready to caddie for Yadi in 2022. In the middle infield– Nolan Gorman will be brought up sometime in June (so as to not burn a year of “service”). He’s worked hard @ 2B, hit well for the last year & he’s a LH batter, he’s “ready”. He must be played….my first thought is to platoon him with the shortstop RH Edmundo Sosa & the LH 2b Gorman. I’d suggest that Tommy Edman rotate from 2b-ss depending if Gorman or Sosa is playing. Edman has already performed @ 2B & SS last year. This directly assumes that Paul DeJong will be moved to make room for Gorman. DeJong’s salary is modest–$6+m for ’22, 9+m for ’23 then he could be bought out in ’24 for $2m. He has shown power, has major league caliber defense and is 28 years old so he should be in his “prime”. Couple that with the emergence of catcher 21 year old, Ivan Herrera. Herrera was signed in 2016 for $200,00 (so he was 16 then). He was dubbed years ago as Yadi’s heir apparent. His defense wasn’t the issue-it’s always been strong. It was adjusting to higher level of pitching. He started slowly in Double-A last year at the plate but he kept improving at the plate in the 2nd half of his AA year. It sounds very similarly to Yadi’s early years. According to the Cards plans (it seems), he’ll be “up” this year to caddie Yadi while adjusting to the MLB. Anyway..that sounds a lot like the Carson Kelly situation. He was buried behind Yadi for years, then traded. Now, the 26 year old caddie for Yadi has been Andrew Knizner. Knizner becomes expendable upon Herrera’s arrival. He could be packaged along with DeJong for a solid, if not a star, starting pitcher who has proven their worth. Consider Marco Gonzalez (Seattle) or Steven Brault (Pitt). Both are lefties with good control and keep the ball down—just like the mid-season acquisitions did the for the Cards last year. Further, they both fit comfortably into the Cards pay scale requirements-Gonzalez-$5.75m in ’22 and Brault is a 2nd year arbitration eligible, Free agent in ’24.
….then a platter arrives with a Significant size BOWL on it….yes, it’s for Mizzou. The 24-23 OT win over Florida is their signature win of the year. The Florida folks are taking it so well…one writer said, ”A terrible collapse by the Gators on offense, and the program as a whole in a must-win game.” For Mizzou, the offense sputtered in parts of the game albeit for the final game-winning drive. The courage of Coach Drink to go for 2 points & the win was “right on”. His club had momentum, Florida was reeling defensively (which I think has been the case for most of this year for the Gators), it was a HOME game—DO IT….and he did. Florida did not stop the Tigers running game as running back Tyler Badie rushed for 146 yds giving him 1,385 for the season. That puts him 3rd all-time in single season rushing totals. He’ll definitely pass #2 Brad Smith’s total of 1,406 and has a chance break the single season record of Devin West (1,578 yards) in 1998. Further, it was Badie’s suggestion to Coach Drinkwitz to use the “special” 2 pt play practiced during the week. Coach Drink’s 1st reaction was no but quickly changed and used the play with 3 options practiced all week to win the game. On other side, Coach Mullen doesn’t have much longer in Gainesville. His very conservative play calling at the end of the game(3 plunges into the line) didn’t give his team a chance to win. The fans were very upset…even to the point that he was even criticized for smiling after the game. From my view, even with a trip to lesser Bowl, he’s unlikely to return to Florida next year. Addendum—Mullen got fired yesterday!
….next a platter arrived with a Billiken on it…. for the SLU mens soccer team. With an impressive 5-1 win over Long Island, the Bills reached the Final 8 in the D-1 NCAA Soccer tourney. If Kentucky or Duke rule in NCAA-M Basketball, SLU rules in NCAA-M soccer. The Bills were the winners or co-winners of 10 of the first 15 NCAA Titles using only local players. The Bills had a huge crowd of over 6800 urge them on & help push them to a quick lead and then sustain it for the match in the win over Long Island. Next game will be against the Duke Blue Devils on Saturday.
…Then a smaller platter, not much larger than a dish, brings along new concerns that doesn’t involve the fans…it’s the minor leagues. Since COVID many MiB owners went belly-up. So the MLB teams have a) cut back on # of teams b) assumed ownership of some Mi Teams. Why don’t the Cards put at least 1 minor league..maybe 2 … in St Louis metropolitan area. There are already 2 stadiums built for lower level baseball in Sauget & O’Fallen….put the teams there. Maybe, interest in youngsters paying almost nothing to watch the game would increase interest. Further, it’d be easier for the Cards to see their OWN prospects, develop interest in them with the fans, yada-yada-yada. Improved housing could be found since these players move in & out frequently. Further, you could use these stadiums to promote baseball in general…Mizzou v Illinois; SLU vs Illinois State, MSHSAA baseball important playoff games.
…the next platter arrives with a burned steak. It’s the same as Aaron Rodgers—burned out. I watched him yesterday. The 3x NFL League MVP was emotionless on good plays, bad plays, TD’s, Int’s, Time outs. I’ve seen poker players with more emotion 😊 It seems like it’s time for him to move on to the next part of his life.
.…on the way out, the Playoff Platter for Oregon was dropped. It was all ruined. Well…that’s what happened yesterday when #3 Oregon was trounced by the continual pounding of the Utah run game. The #23 Utes won 38-7 with complete domination at the LOS. Oregon will now settle for a lesser bowl.
…Finally, the platter brings out our Turkey, dressings and all the other goodies. Enjoy Thanksgiving! Thanks for the read! Please squeeze in YOUR thoughts on any part of this blog. Put directly on FB or send to me & I’ll post with your initials. Want to read older blogs? Go to http://www.bobryansportsblog.com Thanks Bob