In sports, as in life, we are faced with TOUGH DECISIONS. Sometimes, athletes (college & pro) “move on” from their sport at their retirement. Generally, the retired superstars find other interests since the constant “spot light” was on them during their career.  But.. not always! The Cardinals have two of their two brightest stars in the last 20 years (Albert Pujols & Yadier Molina) looking to remain in baseball. With players like that, you would expect that they’d want to remain at the MLB level. IT’S A TOUGH DECISION!!

…Soooo…..The Cardinals (yes…I’m starting with the Cardinals this week!) will be facing a dilemma this season or next.  I’m not talking about the “starting” pitching staff, the starting 8 or bullpen. I’m talking about the Managerial Position. The two most famous Cardinals in the last 20 years—Albert Pujols & Yady Molina have both expressed interest in managing a MLB team. What other team could it be? Currently, each is acquiring managerial experience.

…Yadi expressed the feeling that his family “deserves for me to be at home”. He realizes that for 20 years he was on the MLB routine. Feb/March starts spring training and it goes to the end of September…or hopefully, October. The Cardinals have an open invitation to Molina to “stop by” at any time. The front office is on good terms with him. Yadi is hopeful about making a trip to Busch Stadium in the 2025 season.

…Meanwhile, Albert Pujols, who some call the Greatest Hitter in our generation, recently announced that he’ll be managing the Dominican Republic in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. This comes on the heels of him leading the Leones del Escogido to a Championship in the Dominican Winter League in January.   Pujols currently holds a 10-year personal services contract with the Los Angeles Angels, but the contract does possess an addendum allowing him to terminate the deal. The tentative obstacles between Pujols and a job with the Cardinals in 2026 seem easy to move past, assuming no other squad snaps him up first.

…I don’t think that the dugout is big enough to handle both personalities at one time. It’s one or the other from my view.  Ollie Marmol would quickly be dispatched to make room for either of these Cardinals HOF’ers. That part of the change would NOT be a TOUGH DECISION!!

…The Cardinals, who have received criticism for relying on the past years for using former Cardinal players in leadership positions in recent seasons. But this move would be monumental (no matter which of this pair is chosen). The hiring of either one could have long term effects beyond anything the team has done before to try and get fans to show up. But….if the team & manager falters …could the Cardinals actually “fire” either one of these players? THAT’S A TOUGH DECISION.

….A St. Louis resident received high recognition last week. IT’S ALWAYS A TOUGH DECISION in sports to choose the Defensive Stars over a season. However, for the 4^th straight season, StL native, Ryan Kalkbrenner who played @Creighton was selected Big East Defensive Player of the Year. He joins Georgetown great Patrick Ewing as the only other player to win the Def Player of the Year for 4 straight years!! Kalkbrenner lands up in this lofty spot tied to Ewing. Kalkbrenner graduated from Trinity Catholic HS in North County. Trinity Catholic had formerly been known as Rosary HS until 3 schools were merged together into Trinity HS in 2003. For 11 years I taught, coached, & was AD @ Rosary HS. Small world.

…It’s still March…spring training games are in full swing.  Which Cardinal “youngsters” are catching interest? IT’S  TOUGH DECISION!…to keep them and play less @ MLB level than they would at the minor league level.   The Cardinals “youngsters are JJ Wetherholt. He was the Cardinals #1 pick in 2024 (7^th overall pick in the draft). He’s already had a couple strong games @ the plate. He’s an infielder (2b, SS) so that provides the Cards with several options. Although, I hope that they decide on just 1 position for him.  From my view, changing positions around for a young player often can sometimes deter his progress at the plate. Just this weekend, Wetherholt was “sent out” to the Minors. It’s my guess that the Cardinals will  maximize his playing time w/o reaching the 6 year free agent status.

…Other Cards prospects to watch are:  Quinn Mathews (#45 overall draft pick). Other exciting prospects include Jimmy Crooks (#4 organizational prospect), Thomas Saggese (#5 organizational prospect), and Chase Davis (#10 organizational prospect).

….ANOTHER TOUGH DECISION is completing that NCAA Bracket in your office, with family, friends, Whoever. You can’t ignore some interesting data form NCAA-Mens Basketball 24-25 season… None of the 6 programs responsible for the past eight national championships — Connecticut, Kansas, Baylor, Virginia, Villanova and North Carolina — are in the Associated Press Top 25 for the final week of the regular season. Meanwhile, five of the top seven ranked teams — Auburn, Houston, Tennessee, Alabama and St. John’s — have never won a single NCAA title. Building a NCAA Mens Basketball team for more than 2 years is very, very difficult.

Another TOUGH DECISION (brackets) is that teams don’t (with few exceptions) keep their Star players through 4 seasons. NIL money is lucrative but if you’re really good, NBA money is exceptional.  Hence, really good teams see a heavy turnover in players. Can you name the NCAA winners for the last 5 years? I couldn’t!!   2024 & 2023-Connecticut;  2022-Kansas; 2021-Baylor & 2020 the winner was Covid!

…speaking of never winning a title—on the local level, SIU-Edwardsville qualified for its 1^st NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in school history.  Seeded #1 in the OVC (Ohio Valley Conference Tourney), the Cougars coached by 6^th year Coach Brian Barone defeated Tennessee State & SE Missouri State to win the tourney title and lock up a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Congrats to them!!! What a thrill for the players & Coaching staff. They’ll be talking about this achievement for the rest of their lives.

….Another TOUGH DECISION pops up as you look closer to home turf. The Mizzou Tigers have never had that big March “break through” in Mens basketball—reaching the Final 4. MU has played in 4 Elite Eight games and lost all of them. They & Tennessee are probably the best 2 programs to never reach the Final Four.  Despite the Tigers big wins over three top-five teams in the AP poll (Alabama, Florida, Kansas) in 24-25 season, Mizzou doesn’t seem to have impressed the NCAA voters. Mizzou wins by defense and few turnovers.  Missouri had 3 games with only 3 turnovers. They were the 1st SEC team to do that in at least 20 years. Auburn is the only other SEC team that can make that statement. Streaky perimeter shooting made MU a tough choice for some voters.

…Enjoy the busy sports week! Thanks for your read! Hopefully, its NOT A TOUGH DECISION to Spread the word to friends, family, colleagues @ work, etc. If you prefer, You can find it each week on my Facebook page-Bob Ryan. Thanks for your time/read/ response!  Bob