At times, we hear/read ideas that are baffling to us. Often, to my surprise, these ideas “work”. Take a look at some BAFFLING VIEWS!

…I’m BAFFLED by the all the excitement over the hiring of Chaim Bloom. While his reputation seems to far exceed his actual production, it’s a fresh look for the team. Apparently, he was a far better “advisor” than general manager. Bloom spent 15 years (2005-19) in the Tampa Bay Rays baseball operations department, including the final three as Senior Vice President. Then, he moved on to Boston where he had 1 good year. As General Manager of Boston Red Sox for 4 years, his team posted these records: 2020: 24-36 (last in AL East – shortened season); 2021: 92-70 (2nd in AL East, reached ALCS); 2022: 78-84 (last in AL East) 2023: 73-72 (tied for 4th in AL East at the time of his dismissal on September 14t)…

…Tampa Bay seems to be the model that the Cardinals want to emulate. That is…a very low salary base with a young roster that competes. As players & salaries increase, you “move on” from the player. (trades or free agents). Seemingly, evaluations of young developing players by Bloom was usually “on the mark”. But his evaluations of more established players lacked the same level of accuracy. I must admit, it has worked for them and if they weren’t in the same division as the Yankees, we’d see more of them in the playoffs. But, once Bloom was put into a position of being the “boss” @ Boston, his duties, evaluations, judgements & results didn’t produce a winning product.

…Attendance figures with his continual churning over of roster players, was very mediocre (by StL standards).  It’s hard to have real SUPER STARS if they are “moved on” before their ability to become free agents has passed. Fans recognize this… Tampa Bay has never seen a season with 1.9m fans. Meanwhile, the Cardinals hit the 3 million mark for fans EVERY YEAR from 1998 to 2019. Those numbers seem to BAFFLE most observers from other teams and other experts across the country. St Louis is viewed as a “moderate” size metropolitan area yet the Cardinals drew fans comparable to the mega-size metropolitan areas (LA, NY, etc.) for decades. What’s not BAFFLING is that it will be a tough road to bring back that number of fans again.  The older, reliable fans …just keep getting older. Downtown has become a worry for some fans despite NO incidents Downtown during Cardinals game time. The younger fans are quicker to jump “on board” with a winner and often equally quick to FALL AWAY from the LIVE action when things go sour. This stint will be a 3+ years in duration this year. With the stint of 4 straight playoff years (albeit, just 1 game in some cases) the 2019-22 playoff years are fading away in our memories, it’s going to be a challenge for the Cardinals to ignite that “fire” again. I hope…and want.. them to do it! I’m a Cardinal fan…watch many games, usually my 1^st read the next morning, I’ve been doing it since I was a youngster (centuries ago 😊) Maybe, that’s why it’s so hard!

… Only in the last couple years have the Cards began walking down the “reset” road. To no one’s surprise, attendance has really tumbled. THAT’S NOT BAFFLING! Will they be able to get the fans back by following Bloom’s method of keeping the salary base down?  I don’t think so. They’ll have to modify to a more traditional roster of: 2-3 stars(paid big money), several key players in the middle of their careers, a proven closer (again big $$$), with 5 or 6 solid starters with 2 or 3 of them cashing in BIG. Young players are only brought up because they can ADD to the team not just be on the team!  Personally, I doubt it. Some fans are gone…some gone forever. Rebuilding from scratch could be very tough unless big money is spent!

…btw…it’s not too BAFFLING to see that the Cards attendance has sagged.  The last time that the Cardinals won a playoff game was Sept 30, 2020, when they defeated the San Diego Padres 7-4 in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series. They went on to lose the next two games of the series, falling to the Padres 2-1 and ending their 2020 postseason run.

…Down played (practically ignored) by StL Media, was the suspension of Willson Contreras. It was a BAFFLING play by STL Cards catcher, Willson Contreras.  The chaos between Contreras and umpire Derek Thomas came in Monday’s seventh inning after the first baseman was called out on strikes. Contreras didn’t appear to disagree with the call, but he admitted to saying, “Call the pitches for both sides because you are missing for us,” as he walked back to the dugout. Another derogatory comment, caught on the Pirates television broadcast, appears to have come from the Cardinals dugout and preceded Contreras’ ejection. Contreras said the ejection and his fiery reaction were a result of something he never said. “He threw me out and he had no reason for it. Apparently, he heard something [he thought] I said, that I did not say.”  Contreras had to be restrained by Cardinals’ manager Oliver Marmol, but he still appeared to contact Thomas after walking toward him. Then, after slamming his helmet to the turf while being restrained by bench coach Daniel Descalso, Contreras flung his bat backward, and it hit Cardinals hitting coach Brant Brown on the arm. Continuing to show his displeasure with the ejection, Contreras then threw his shin guard and a bucket of gum onto the playing field. The Cardinals seem to be “downplaying” the incident. Again, a BAFFLING response. In the past, the Cardinals brass & field managers made it a point to indicate that complete intolerance by the Cardinal players was unacceptable. We’re all frustrated with the Cardinals but discipline is still required…even on struggling teams.

…Clemson’s Football Coach, Dabo Swinney, takes a BAFFLING (according to most college football observers) view to using the portal. After their Playoff run last year, the Tigers again are the clear-cut favorites to win the ACC and considered possible national championship contenders by the experts. Swinney really believes in loyalty. The players he recruits, he develops into good players. He has viewed the massive NIL turnovers of roster abhorrent. Finally, this spring, he began inching into the portal for the first time as he brought in just 3 players. Swinney stays loyal to his players & expects the same in return.  Most of his players seem to do the same for him!

…In the last 3 portal cycles, Clemson has lost only 22 transfers to Power 4 programs. The last 4 national championship programs (Ohio State, Michigan, Georgia, and Alabama) have averaged more than twice that many (47.5) transfers in the same span. His allegiance to his recruited players supersedes big jumps into the portal world. It’s worked! Clemson is riding a 14 consecutive years streak of being nationally ranked by season’s end.  Years of roster continuity for Clemson has culminated this season with 17 returning starters, the most of any Top 10 team. Returning QB Cabe Klubnik has the fewest question marks of any quarterback on a preseason championship contender. Primarily, experience with the same receivers, same system, same verbiage, same leadership.  That sounds more like college football to me!

… I’m not a fan of paying college players (often in the millions of dollars) to come into a program.  I’m still BAFFLED by the fact that if those players are getting paid to play by someone representing the school, how are they eligible as amateurs? What is an amateur now? Someone who plays on Saturday not Sunday?

…I was BAFFLED when the Cardinals moved Phil Maton. He seemed like a reliable relief pitcher for the Cards in the 1st half of 2025. Maton had been nothing short of superb for the Cardinals this year. He’s thrown 38.1 innings with 48 strike outs, 2 saves & a 2.35 ERA in 40 games. He has piled up 20 holds in 2025. So, he’s in the top 10 in the league for Holds. I didn’t remember any real “hub bub” about the Cardinals signing him. I thought he was like most new guys…rather young & unproven. But… NOT AT ALL! He has been shuffled around during this career.  He’s 32 years old, I guess because he was relatively “new” for the Cardinals, I had the impression that he was much younger.  He made his 1st appearance in the MLB in 2017 as a Padre. Sooo…I wasn’t really surprised to find some baggage during his career: 1) He’s been a member of several different teams– Padres, Indians, Astros, Rays, Mets, Cardinals & now Texas.  He appeared to be a reliable relief pitcher but…if  you are moved around that much, something is off…take a look– 2) in 2022, Punching a locker;  In 2022  with the Houston Astros, Maton broke his hand by punching a locker in frustration after giving up a hit to his younger brother, Nick, in the final game of the season. This was widely criticized as a “selfish” act because it ended his season and prevented him from participating in the team’s World Series run. 3) In 2024, while pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays, Maton hit then-Rangers third baseman Josh Jung with a pitch, fracturing Jung’s wrist. This caused some social media backlash, and Jung’s teammates remembered the incident & not in a fond way regarding Maton. I find that a bit surprising–  pitchers aren’t perfect with each pitch (or they’d never give up a hit 😊) but the players interpreted it as throwing at the batter to actually hit him with the pitch. I don’t know why the Cardinals moved him other than to save some money and remove his $2.7m contract for a minimum salary of a minor league player reaching the MLB.                                                                                                                                                                                 …I’m not too BAFFLED by the MLB standings. Generally, the team(s) that pay the most in salaries, win the most. Those teams are expected to make the playoffs.  The winner of the World Serioes, like it or not, doesn’t always reflect the very best team of the MLB. Sometimes the team that got “hot” for 2 or 3 series wins it “all”!! …Usually Money talks!  In 2025, the top 5 MLB teams in payroll are: 1) New York Mets: $323,099,999; #2 Los Angeles Dodgers: $321,287,291 #3) New York Yankees: $293,488,972 #4) Philadelphia Phillies: $284,210,820 #5) Toronto Blue Jays: $239,642,532.  Soooo…where are these high paying teams in the standings as I write this Buzz?  NY Mets #2 in NL East-playoff bound!  LA Dodgers-#1 in West Div-playoff bound; NY Yankees#3 in AL East—1/2 game behind #2 team. At worst, the Yanks should come up as wild-card in playoffs. Phillies are #1 in the NL East.   Toronto is odd-man out at this moment!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   …But, with all that being said….who has the absolute best record in the MLB? The team that is #23 of 30 MLB teams in payroll—it’s the Milwaukee Brewers! The Brewers have a salary base of $115m+.  That’s less than HALF of the top 5 payroll teams!!! I said HALF of the top 5 payroll teams in the MLB. The Brewers as I write this are 83-51 a .619 winning percentage!  It’s rather BAFFLING how Milwaukee has piled up so many wins!   That record should guarantee them 1 extra “home field” game in each post-season series that they play that goes the maximum number of games.    …Thanks for your read!  Don’t be shy about voicing your opinion on any of the topics. We’re all entitled to our own opinion. Have a good week!  Bob