At various points of our life, we have to TAKE THE PLUNGE….ask her to marry you, ask for a promotion, move to a new location, etc. Same is true in sports!
…The Cards have to decide if they are going TAKE THE PLUNGE to REALLY rebuild or try to nurse themselves through tough times. This team is being built around Goldschmidt & Arenado with mostly young, unproven players in the other spots. Goldy & Arenado command the biggest salaries. Arenado fell way off last year. He was 7th on the 2023 Cardinals team in OPS (on-base plus slugging %) with a .774 mark. 7th!!! He grounded into the most double-plays—21 (8 more than the next Cardinal). His .266 batting average was the 4th best on the team. He was 1st in RBI’s so let’s give him credit there. Maybe the Cards need to TAKE THE PLUNGE with Arenado and trade him while he still has some value for younger, talented players via the trade market?
….The NCAA really TOOK THE PLUNGE with the huge overhaul of conferences this off season. The SEC expands next year with Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M and forms a 16 team conference. Perfect for 2 divisions. However, I would like the divisions to be drawn from a hat every 2 or 4 years. We’d see totally different schedules…sometimes, 1 conference would be extra loaded with the powerhouses; sometimes a conference may more of its share of cupcakes; so what? With 16 teams, we won’t ever see all the teams in 1 year anyway! The Big 10 went down the same expansion route by adding USC, UCLA, Washington, and Oregon from the what used to be the Pac-12 (it’s disappeared after all these moves) The Big 12 & the ACC are the other two major football college conferences. It should be easy to design the NCAA-F football Championship brackets with 4 divisions & only a few independents (namely, Notre Dame). BTW…the SEC is much, much older than I ever expected. It was formed in 1894 when Dr Willima Dudley of Vanderbilt formed a 7 team conference of (Bama, Auburn, Georgia, Georgia Tech, N. Carolina, Sewanee & Vanderbilt.
….I’m was wondering how long it’ll take the Cardinals to TAKE THE PLUNGE @ the Managerial position. Then, out of nowhere, the Cardinals sign him to a 2 year extension, Ollie’s signing shows the Cards management’s confidence in him. Apparently to “keep the noise” down about him throughout this season. Apparently, Ollie is well liked by the players which I could care less about. He’s there to WIN games, not be a buddy. Right now Ollie uses the “analytics” as his shield from criticism. That’s his Bible throughout the game. Who can forget his egregious mistake of pulling Quintana in the post season 2 years ago? Quintana was having the game of his life. In fact, he was having the “month” of his life. His stats for September his stats were: 5 starts; record-2-1; 30 1/3 IP; 0.89 ERA, 0.758 WHIP; 8.3 K/9 ratio; .189 opposing average. He was pulled because the analytics told Ollie to do it. Tough decisions, which use analytics as part of the decision process, often lead to unhappy feelings of the player as one considers what he sees with his eyes So Be it…that’s life of a Manager. I don’t think that this extension will modify the feelings of the fans. Fans want winning teams. Yes, StL is spoiled and yes their division has made the ride to the top easier in many of the recent years. Since the Cards have now committed to Ollie when will they REALLY commit to obtaining better players? Other than the 3-aging amigos hurlers & 1 good starter, what else has been done? Experts, that leaves me out, predict an 82-80 season record and a 3rd place finish record for StL in’24. If the Cards start poorly and they could with their schedule, don’t expect the fans to keep flocking to Busch like sheep. Final thought…. the Cards management went a long time with a demanding Manager who knew how to win games, had other “rules” that players smirked at, but he DID WIN GAMES and took the Cards to 8 playoff seasons. Players respected him. Tony LaRussa probably wasn’t liked by all his players. He didn’t care. He knew what it took to win games & the World Series. BTW..in one national article LaRussa is rated as the 6th best Manager ALL-TIME in MLB history! Will Ollie ever make that list? I’m not holding my breath 😊 Btw…Quintana is the opening day pitcher for the Mets this year!!
…Without much surprise, St Louis U TOOK THE PLUNGE with the firing of Travis Ford. It seemed like a good hire when the Billikens brought in Ford. Ford had coached at the highest levels. His coaching career started with a 5 year stint@ E.Kentucky; followed by 3 years @ Massachusetts; next was Oklahoma State for 8 years and finally 8 years @SLU. It has to get tougher & tougher to chase around these HS recruits each spring as a coach ages. Further, the NIL brings in a monetary exchange that would seem to complicate matters even more for the “really good” players. He gave his best but it was time. The final straw may have been @ the SLU Senior ceremony following the last game. Ford was booed when he was announced! This may have been the final impetus to the administration to remove Ford.
….StL City TOOK THE PLUNGE into the “TIE” column by scoring a real late goal to notch a 2-2 draw with Austin SC recently. Despite outshooting Austin 17-5 and having shots on target advantage of 8-2, it took a goal by Célio Pompeu with the assist from Eduard Lowen to tie the match very, very late in the match. Those key points late in the match are really vital to key wins throughout the season.
…More surprise to me is that no MLB team has TAKEN THE PLUNGE in signing Jordan Montgomery. The biggest reason, it seems, is his agent. Agent Scott Boras’ technique is to wait and wait until the very last minutes with his clients. He hopes that the last minute urgency will drive the price up for his client (and him) as a team suddenly has a key pitcher get injured or the pitchers don’t perform as expected. It’s worked for Boras many times in the past (why do you think players keep signing him as their agent?) I wish the Cards could get him back but the Boras price tag has probably put him in a different price aisle in the Pitching Market.
…Still on the baseball diamond, the Cards should take notice of what the Chicago White Sox did as they TOOK THE PLUNGE by making a blockbuster trade. The CWS traded their left-handed ace, Dylan Cease to San Diego. He’s in the prime of his career having 5 MLB seasons under his belt with a career ERA of 3.83! He didn’t win “big” because the CWS have been up & down in their talent level. He could become a free agent after the ‘25 season. In return, San Diego sent RHP Drew Thorpe (MLB Pipeline’s No. 85 prospect-)- OF Samuel Zavala (No. 7), RHP Jairo Iriarte (Shutdown No. 8), RHP Steven Wilson. Chicago felt like they were going to see Cease “walk out” on them after his contract so they went for 4 young, talented players. How many of them will turn into MLB “regulars”…I’m guessing 1/2 of them (2). But, that’s better than seeing your ace walking out on you for nothing!
…..Apparently, the MU Boosters really TOOK THE PLUNGE for HC Dennis Gates this offseason. Headed to Columbia as new recruits next year is a class that can “turn around” Mizzou bball. It’s rated the #2 recruiting class in the country by Rival.com!!! It wasn’t a typo….#2!! Here are the names that you’ll be hearing in the future… Antonio “T.O.” Barrett—6-5 point guard; Peyton Marshall 6-10-Coach Gates says this about Marshall,” Peyton is the best passer in the 2024 class, regardless of position and school. His court vision and his ability to quarterback the team for his size is unmatched.”, Marcus Allen 6-7- most known for his defensive skills; Annor Boateng 6-5 playmaking guard; Trent Burns- 7-2 has strong defensive skills in shot-blocking while possesses outside shooting skills! Congrats to MU and Coach Gates for the recruiting “year” and to the MU boosters for providing him with the resources to sign these talented players.
…Here’s a wild idea…after watching an NHL rookie playing his 1st home game skate around the ice by himself…it’s a cool idea. Why doesn’t’ the MLB TAKE THE PLUNGE? At his 1st home game , as a pre-game program have the MLB field player run around the bases solo or a pitcher throwing 3 pitches to his catcher on the field by himself. It could really be a special moment for the player….it’s no additional cost to the team while providing a lifetime memory for the player.
….Well, it’s time for me to TAKE THE PLUNGE into the “Finished” pile of work! Thanks for your read!
It’s always a pleasure READING YOUR thoughts. TAKE THE PLUNGE and send me a note about this or that in this week’s Buzz. Bob
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