The VEB writing team recaps the news (and lack thereof) from the Winter Meetings.
The Winter Meetings have come and gone and left us with a few tidbits of news to talk about. The writing team here at Viva El Birdos — Heather, Adam, Blake, and I — gathered on Wednesday evening to talk about that action (or inaction).
We break down the newest Cardinal, Rule 5 draft pick and former reliever in the Red Sox’s system, Ryan Fernandez. He has an interesting variety of pitches, with surprisingly good command, excellent whiff and K numbers, but a consistent problem with the homerun. He also has an impressive ‘stash. We break that down too. Because that’s the kind of podcast we are.
We spent a little time talking about the Cardinals’ bad luck draft lottery and whether or not that officially ends any “curse of 2023”. Heather determines that it does. So, that’s good news, folks!
Speaking of good news, Yadier Molina is joining the front office staff and will be in the dugout occasionally as a coach and advisor. We discussed the ramifications of that, plus the re-assignment of Joe McEwing and the addition of Daniel Descalso. The Cardinals are finally following through on their plan to expand the coaching team and we think that’s a good thing.
With no significant trades or player movement at the Winter Meetings, we’re left discussing what to make of the Tyler O’Neill situation. John Mozeliak openly admitted that the club is looking to trade him. We discussed his value and whether they should keep him or not. That leads us to a discussion of whether or not the Cardinals will make any more moves of significance. We all agree it’s possible, but not likely.
We end on a bit of a down note. John Mozeliak was asked whether he believes this club can contend for a World Series. His answer was yes. We are not so optimistic. We all agree this team can compete for back-end Wild Card slots. They could maybe win the NL Central if the rest of the division stays quiet. Once the club is in the playoffs, they’re technically a World Series contender, but none of us believe this roster has what it takes to challenge the best teams in the NL. It would take one or more of their young, talented hitters truly going off to change that. That’s the one optimistic plus we have you in the end. The Cardinals have young talent and who knows what they could do!
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