Well….spring training is right around the corner. They’ll be CLEARING THE SMOKE of last years team. The Cardinals will be a dramatically different team this year as they “RESET” their roster, our hopes, maybe even, our interest in the team. With all the changes, I don’t feel like I know much about some (probably most of these new acquisitions)—especially the pitchers. I feel like I’m “IN A CLOUD” trying to learn about our new team. Sooo..he’s some things that I’ve learned about our new “Birds”.
…Taking a closer look as the CARDS CLEARED THE SMOKE about some of their roster. The Cardinals were involved in a 3-way deal with Tampa Bay Rays/Seattle Mariners this month. To simplify the explanation, here was the final result: Basically, the Cardinals traded away a veteran Brendon Donovan to Seattle; the Rays received: 3B Ben Williamson. The Cardinals received: P Jurrangelo Cijntje, OF Tai Peete, OF Colton Ledbetter, and two Competitive Balance Round B draft picks (No. 68 from Seattle, No. 72 from Tampa Bay).
…Here’s what these newly acquired prospects look like on paper for the Cardinals.:
LHP/RHP Jurrangelo Cijntje (yes…he’s a SWITCH PITCHER!!) — Prospect Rankings –by the following:
Major League Baseball–Pre-2026–#91. He pitched college baseball for Mississippi State in 2023 & 24. Last year he pitched in A+, then AA minor league baseball levels. In 2025 his total number were: 5-7, 108 innings with a 3.99 ERA, 120 strikeouts, walked 51 batters. 15—HBP, wild pitches-12. It appears that he has “stuff” but is struggling with control issues (check WP, HBP, WALKS). Btw… I expect that shortly after a few appearances, he’ll be converted to either a RHP or a LHP…you can’t be equally good with both arms. It may have been successful against lower level batters in the Minor Leagues but.. when you face the MLB batters, you MUST throw your best pitches!!
…Tai Peete—apparently a terrific athlete; signed in 2023 as a 17 year old and still is only 19 years old. He’s played in the minors in 265 games in 2023, ’24, ’25 but has yet to reach AA baseball level. (which gives me some concern) His career numbers in the minors have some sparkling numbers as well as some pedestrian numbers. Last year, as a 19 year old in A+ level, he hit 19 HR, stole 25 bases, but struck out 162 times! 162 strikeouts would have made him the Cardinal leader in that category! His OBP (on-base %) was .288 ( to give you an idea—in 2025—Jordan Walker’s OBP was .278 (many fans were ready to dump him with those numbers), Cards catcher-Pedro Pages batted .272 for the Cards. No doubt Peete is a wonderful athlete with very good speed…but you can’t steal first base!! You’ve got to hit to move up to the MLB.
… Colton Ledbetter(25 years old—he’s a bit old to still be waiting to reach the MLB for the 1st time) ..in his minor league time, he has (like the others listed) demonstrated good, to very good athletic ability. But…like all players trying to move up, can he hit? Last year he hit .265, stole 37 bases (caught 11 times), hit 25 home runs, an OPS of .715. To me, he looks to be the most advanced…of course, he should be—he’s is 25 years old!
… Sooo…it seems that this trio is a couple, or several years, away from any of them wearing the Cards uniform. If they EVER DO actually wear a Cardinal uniform at some point of their career. …THE SMOKE HAS CLEARED ON LAST YEARS ROSTER…. It’ll be a totally “new” look in 2027! As of this moment, the starting lineup for the Cards (which will probably will be modified even more) is: Alec Burleson (1B), JJ Wetherholt (2B), Masyn Winn (SS), Nolan Gorman (3B), Ivan Herrara (C), José Fermín (LF), Nathan Church (CF), Joshua Baez (RF), and Blaze Jordan (DH). I must admit, I don’t even recognize 3 of the names!!
….BLOWING SMOKE? Either I’m “way off” (which is VERY possible) or some of these Official Sports writers/predictors are “Blowing SMOKE” as two of them have predicted Cards for 87 wins and the other 70 wins! I just don’t see it that way. I hope that they are right.
…THE SMOKE SEEMS TO HAVE CLEARED for the RED HOT Mizzou basketball team. MU just knocked off Tennessee in their last SEC game 73-69. It was a real good win for the Tigers. The Vols are 4th in the SEC(10-5), 20-8 overall. With the win, Mizzou moves up to just 1 game behind Tennessee in the SEC. But…Missouri can’t get too comofortable. MU is tied with 3 other teams in the SEC @ 9-6 in conference. So the conference race seems “wide open”!
….The SEC Mens Basketball Tournament seems unique to me… THE SMOKE IS CLEARED FOR ALL! All 16 members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) participate in the men’s basketball tournament. You just never know when a “surprise team” wins the Tournament. The lowest seed to ever win the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament was the 1985 Auburn Tigers. Auburn was a #8 seed! Auburn won 4 games in 4 days by defeating Mississippi, LSU, Florida, and Alabama to wrap up the SEC tourney title.
…The top 8 seeds earn a bye into the 2nd round of SEC Tourney. The bottom 8 teams play in the first round games. The top 4 ranked teams (via season standings) earn a double-bye into the quarterfinals! I’m not familiar with all the other conference post-season tournament, but this “bye or double bye” method really does reward teams that posted strong conference records while not a guarantee to those teams to advance automatically to the Championship game.
…Meanwhile, the SMOKE HAS COMPLETELY COVERED St Louis U. Mens Basketball. The Billikens have lost 2 of their last 3 games. The middle game win over VCU was a wonderful victory but losses to Rhode Island a mediocre 15-12 team and the blow-out loss in the rematch vs Dayton has taken away the brightness of the season (at least temporarily 😊 ). Please note, both those losses were on the road. ...Further, Coach Schertz indicated that he felt that his team wasn’t physical enough recently. Footnote here… from my observations, referees “let ‘em play” much more than they did in the past. Defensive players get their hands all over dribblers and the play under the boards is rugged. It not only calls for good positioning (boxing out) but being physical enough to not get pushed under the basket. That’s just how the game is played now. Further, Poor Team Shooting, particularly on the road, has also been a hurdle to success for the Billikens. SLU has also struggled with efficiency in possessions, which has led them to “falling behind”, as seen in the recent game of Feb. 24 game against Dayton. Boy….we were spoiled by the unbelievable play of St Louis U in the early weeks of the season….they are still the same, good team… but, they are competing against higher quality teams, on the road, right now.
…On the SMOKE LESS SIDE …the Billikens are in 1st place in the A-10 with 3 games remaining!! Go Bills!
…Staying with the Billikens but from a totally different view….how did St Louis U become the Billikens? Background—The Billiken, a mythical good-luck figure, was popular in the early 1900s, and its name was inspired by a poem by Canadian poet Bliss Carman. In 1910, football coach John Bender became known for his resemblance to the Billiken, which led to the nickname “Bender’s Billikens” being used for SLU’s football team. Just wondering…What does that mean about his “resemblance”? Big, wide smile & Big Ears? At any rate, it is very, very unique. Unlike the seemingly tons of Tigers, Lions, Bears around the sports world.
…the SMOKE IS STILL CLEARING after these major upsets this week—1) Unranked Cincinnati upset #8 Kansas on Feb. 21: The Cincinnati Bearcats dominated the Kansas Jayhawks 84-68 at Allen Fieldhouse(KU’s campus) They were led by Moustapha Thiam with a career-high 28 points. 2) UCLA upset #10 Illinois (Feb. 22): In a “Wild Saturday” result, UCLA hit a coast-to-coast buzzer-beater to stun Illinois 95-94. This was really a shocker since the Bruins had been blown out by 53 points over 2 games against Michigan previously. 3) In Women’s Basketball, Iowa sent a HUGE MESSAGE with its 62-44 win over Michigan. The Hawkeyes limited the Wolverines to just 20 first-half points and later, played a dominant 4th-quarter to wrap up the win. 44 points in 40 minutes of action is really, really low!!
…Well….the SMOKE IS CLEARING FOR ME NOW… I can see that it’s time to wrap it up! I’m hoping that you’ll respond to any part of this REWIND. Thanks for your read! Bob
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