CCard wrote: ↑29 Jul 2026 07:38 am
Their offense, while slightly less than adequate, can't overcome the poor pitching. It's putting pressure on guys to hit 5 run homers instead of letting the game come to you. I see Walker pushing to make it happen and taking swings he didn't take earlier in the season. I see the guys with warning track power trying to hit everything out. Partly because of that they aren't scoring as much which in turn makes the pitchers feel like they have no room for error. Then they have a bad outing and it just snowballs into an ugly season. They really miss Sonny and Wilson. This is what happens when you divest yourself of your top talent. Maybe it'll all work out but right now it's pretty ugly. It appears to me like they're going backwards. They had a leg up on the last playoff spot but poor play has them headed toward last place. Will they be held accountable? The franchise has certainly had a severe downturn. With everything going up, (groceries, gas, electric, etc) why would anyone plop down their valuable cash assets to support a team that aims for last place? I like talking baseball, but I've just about quit watching the Cards. Life is hard enough every day without supporting people trying to lose.(ownership)
I see it a bit differently.
There are 780 rostered players in MLB. 780. 26 per teams 30 teams.
The competition is razor thin reference better players. Some day a stud does well, some days a dud does well.
We are a team researching for identity. We are looking at a small core. We are looking to see who performs in summer heat. We are looking at who handles losing with grace.
This is our bottom. That’s good news. And in a year or two, we may be talking thresholds.
Dog, all I see is intentionally losing by the ownership. This team was so close to a playoff spot and some excitement for the fans. Instead the team was gutted and minor league replacements and castoffs were acquired. It's a shame, this team could have been much better. Keep Sonny, keep Contreras at 1st. Dh Burleson or let him tumble around in left field. Resign Maton who did a decent job. Acquire another decent starter and put Leahy in the pen or move Libertore to the pen. There was the makings of a playoff team and it wouldn't have been that hard to make it work but alas, their goal was not to win. That the team excelled for a while is a testament to baseball and some of their players but talent prevails eventually. And you have to pay for talent.
When the decisions were made last offseason to trade Gray, Contreras, Donovan, etc. there was no evidence that this team would be anything close to a playoff team, even with those guys.
And acquiring "decent" SPs, etc. just to try to sneak into the playoffs has pretty much been the same mistake the organization had made for a decade already.
Riiight. Because losing for years will make all the difference. We've kicked this dead horse for more times than I care to recount. You believe in tanking until enough young cheap prospects will hopefully burst onto the scene and give a narrow window of opportunity for lightning to strike. I believe that a team should do everything in their power (which includes keeping payroll up or maybe even nudging it a little higher) to win every single year. At least it gives the fans a reason to show up or tune in. Who in their right mind wants to spend their hard earned dollars to go to a game or watch it on TV? Obviously you do, I don't.
I believe a team with even a payroll of $170 million, like the Cardinals have had, has no other choice if they are going to compete with the Dodgers, Braves, Phillies, Yankees, etc. than to have gone all in on developing a big core of cost controlled players, because they will only ever be able to afford a very small number of expensive veteran players.
There is no "winning every year" or even "competing every year" without a big core of cost controlled players an a Top 5 farm system producing more year after year. They don't have a sufficient core of cost controlled players yet with which to even try to compete.
There no alternative in MLB in 2026 for anyone who isn't one of the biggest payroll teams.
Well, the Cards did for nearly two decades so you're wrong. A team doesn't have to spend $350 million dollars to win but it's exponentially harder to win when you gut payroll and expect young talent and draft choices to lift you out of lethargy. You buy all the premium talent you can afford and you supplement it with the young up and comers hoping they step up to put you over the top. That's the Yankee way, the Dodger way, etc etc.
CCard wrote: ↑29 Jul 2026 07:38 am
Their offense, while slightly less than adequate, can't overcome the poor pitching. It's putting pressure on guys to hit 5 run homers instead of letting the game come to you. I see Walker pushing to make it happen and taking swings he didn't take earlier in the season. I see the guys with warning track power trying to hit everything out. Partly because of that they aren't scoring as much which in turn makes the pitchers feel like they have no room for error. Then they have a bad outing and it just snowballs into an ugly season. They really miss Sonny and Wilson. This is what happens when you divest yourself of your top talent. Maybe it'll all work out but right now it's pretty ugly. It appears to me like they're going backwards. They had a leg up on the last playoff spot but poor play has them headed toward last place. Will they be held accountable? The franchise has certainly had a severe downturn. With everything going up, (groceries, gas, electric, etc) why would anyone plop down their valuable cash assets to support a team that aims for last place? I like talking baseball, but I've just about quit watching the Cards. Life is hard enough every day without supporting people trying to lose.(ownership)
I see it a bit differently.
There are 780 rostered players in MLB. 780. 26 per teams 30 teams.
The competition is razor thin reference better players. Some day a stud does well, some days a dud does well.
We are a team researching for identity. We are looking at a small core. We are looking to see who performs in summer heat. We are looking at who handles losing with grace.
This is our bottom. That’s good news. And in a year or two, we may be talking thresholds.
Dog, all I see is intentionally losing by the ownership. This team was so close to a playoff spot and some excitement for the fans. Instead the team was gutted and minor league replacements and castoffs were acquired. It's a shame, this team could have been much better. Keep Sonny, keep Contreras at 1st. Dh Burleson or let him tumble around in left field. Resign Maton who did a decent job. Acquire another decent starter and put Leahy in the pen or move Libertore to the pen. There was the makings of a playoff team and it wouldn't have been that hard to make it work but alas, their goal was not to win. That the team excelled for a while is a testament to baseball and some of their players but talent prevails eventually. And you have to pay for talent.
When the decisions were made last offseason to trade Gray, Contreras, Donovan, etc. there was no evidence that this team would be anything close to a playoff team, even with those guys.
And acquiring "decent" SPs, etc. just to try to sneak into the playoffs has pretty much been the same mistake the organization had made for a decade already.
They are building up prospect capital. They are not close enough to anything more than a 'one and out' at this point to trade what they just built up.
1. BDW - Trusted Mozeliak too long, lost millions to bad contracts, and decided to go cheap.
2. John Mozeliak- This guy rode other's coattails to success. Once he had acquired sole power of the front office, his ineptitude began to show. He ran a perineal playoff team off a cliff through stupid decisions and allowing the development system to fall apart. A true putz.
3. Oli Marmol- No leadership capability. Wants to be the bff of his staff and players. His poor in-game strategy skills often come to light. And his teams have a pattern of July collapses.
JuanAgosto wrote: ↑29 Jul 2026 23:20 pm
The problems:
1. BDW - Trusted Mozeliak too long, lost millions to bad contracts, and decided to go cheap.
2. John Mozeliak- This guy rode other's coattails to success. Once he had acquired sole power of the front office, his ineptitude began to show. He ran a perineal playoff team off a cliff through stupid decisions and allowing the development system to fall apart. A true putz.
3. Oli Marmol- No leadership capability. Wants to be the bff of his staff and players. His poor in-game strategy skills often come to light. And his teams have a pattern of July collapses.
We might not agree although the same results are true.
These are 1 of 30 jobs.
You get fired for incompetence.
It takes a real schmuck to fire you when
you do what you are asked.
JuanAgosto wrote: ↑29 Jul 2026 23:20 pm
The problems:
1. BDW - Trusted Mozeliak too long, lost millions to bad contracts, and decided to go cheap.
2. John Mozeliak- This guy rode other's coattails to success. Once he had acquired sole power of the front office, his ineptitude began to show. He ran a perineal playoff team off a cliff through stupid decisions and allowing the development system to fall apart. A true putz.
3. Oli Marmol- No leadership capability. Wants to be the bff of his staff and players. His poor in-game strategy skills often come to light. And his teams have a pattern of July collapses.
We might not agree although the same results are true.
These are 1 of 30 jobs.
You get fired for incompetence.
It takes a real schmuck to fire you when
you do what you are asked.
What you say is interesting. Do you think Marmol is carrying out in-game decisions based on instructions from the front office?
CCard wrote: ↑29 Jul 2026 07:38 am
Their offense, while slightly less than adequate, can't overcome the poor pitching. It's putting pressure on guys to hit 5 run homers instead of letting the game come to you. I see Walker pushing to make it happen and taking swings he didn't take earlier in the season. I see the guys with warning track power trying to hit everything out. Partly because of that they aren't scoring as much which in turn makes the pitchers feel like they have no room for error. Then they have a bad outing and it just snowballs into an ugly season. They really miss Sonny and Wilson. This is what happens when you divest yourself of your top talent. Maybe it'll all work out but right now it's pretty ugly. It appears to me like they're going backwards. They had a leg up on the last playoff spot but poor play has them headed toward last place. Will they be held accountable? The franchise has certainly had a severe downturn. With everything going up, (groceries, gas, electric, etc) why would anyone plop down their valuable cash assets to support a team that aims for last place? I like talking baseball, but I've just about quit watching the Cards. Life is hard enough every day without supporting people trying to lose.(ownership)
I see it a bit differently.
There are 780 rostered players in MLB. 780. 26 per teams 30 teams.
The competition is razor thin reference better players. Some day a stud does well, some days a dud does well.
We are a team researching for identity. We are looking at a small core. We are looking to see who performs in summer heat. We are looking at who handles losing with grace.
This is our bottom. That’s good news. And in a year or two, we may be talking thresholds.
Dog, all I see is intentionally losing by the ownership. This team was so close to a playoff spot and some excitement for the fans. Instead the team was gutted and minor league replacements and castoffs were acquired. It's a shame, this team could have been much better. Keep Sonny, keep Contreras at 1st. Dh Burleson or let him tumble around in left field. Resign Maton who did a decent job. Acquire another decent starter and put Leahy in the pen or move Libertore to the pen. There was the makings of a playoff team and it wouldn't have been that hard to make it work but alas, their goal was not to win. That the team excelled for a while is a testament to baseball and some of their players but talent prevails eventually. And you have to pay for talent.
When the decisions were made last offseason to trade Gray, Contreras, Donovan, etc. there was no evidence that this team would be anything close to a playoff team, even with those guys.
And acquiring "decent" SPs, etc. just to try to sneak into the playoffs has pretty much been the same mistake the organization had made for a decade already.
Riiight. Because losing for years will make all the difference. We've kicked this dead horse for more times than I care to recount. You believe in tanking until enough young cheap prospects will hopefully burst onto the scene and give a narrow window of opportunity for lightning to strike. I believe that a team should do everything in their power (which includes keeping payroll up or maybe even nudging it a little higher) to win every single year. At least it gives the fans a reason to show up or tune in. Who in their right mind wants to spend their hard earned dollars to go to a game or watch it on TV? Obviously you do, I don't.
I believe a team with even a payroll of $170 million, like the Cardinals have had, has no other choice if they are going to compete with the Dodgers, Braves, Phillies, Yankees, etc. than to have gone all in on developing a big core of cost controlled players, because they will only ever be able to afford a very small number of expensive veteran players.
There is no "winning every year" or even "competing every year" without a big core of cost controlled players an a Top 5 farm system producing more year after year. They don't have a sufficient core of cost controlled players yet with which to even try to compete.
There no alternative in MLB in 2026 for anyone who isn't one of the biggest payroll teams.
Well, the Cards did for nearly two decades so you're wrong. A team doesn't have to spend $350 million dollars to win but it's exponentially harder to win when you gut payroll and expect young talent and draft choices to lift you out of lethargy. You buy all the premium talent you can afford and you supplement it with the young up and comers hoping they step up to put you over the top. That's the Yankee way, the Dodger way, etc etc.
It's 2026 now and the conditions for winning consistently have changed.
The Cardinals can't beat the Dodgers, Yankees, etc. by following their "way" but doing it much worse because they have only half as much payroll to spend.
They can win by doing it the Brewers, Rays, Guardians, etc. "way" but doing it much better by having more payroll to eventually spend than those teams on a very small number of expensive veterans to put them over the top in 2028, 2029, 2030, etc.
CCard wrote: ↑29 Jul 2026 07:38 am
Their offense, while slightly less than adequate, can't overcome the poor pitching. It's putting pressure on guys to hit 5 run homers instead of letting the game come to you. I see Walker pushing to make it happen and taking swings he didn't take earlier in the season. I see the guys with warning track power trying to hit everything out. Partly because of that they aren't scoring as much which in turn makes the pitchers feel like they have no room for error. Then they have a bad outing and it just snowballs into an ugly season. They really miss Sonny and Wilson. This is what happens when you divest yourself of your top talent. Maybe it'll all work out but right now it's pretty ugly. It appears to me like they're going backwards. They had a leg up on the last playoff spot but poor play has them headed toward last place. Will they be held accountable? The franchise has certainly had a severe downturn. With everything going up, (groceries, gas, electric, etc) why would anyone plop down their valuable cash assets to support a team that aims for last place? I like talking baseball, but I've just about quit watching the Cards. Life is hard enough every day without supporting people trying to lose.(ownership)
I see it a bit differently.
There are 780 rostered players in MLB. 780. 26 per teams 30 teams.
The competition is razor thin reference better players. Some day a stud does well, some days a dud does well.
We are a team researching for identity. We are looking at a small core. We are looking to see who performs in summer heat. We are looking at who handles losing with grace.
This is our bottom. That’s good news. And in a year or two, we may be talking thresholds.
Dog, all I see is intentionally losing by the ownership. This team was so close to a playoff spot and some excitement for the fans. Instead the team was gutted and minor league replacements and castoffs were acquired. It's a shame, this team could have been much better. Keep Sonny, keep Contreras at 1st. Dh Burleson or let him tumble around in left field. Resign Maton who did a decent job. Acquire another decent starter and put Leahy in the pen or move Libertore to the pen. There was the makings of a playoff team and it wouldn't have been that hard to make it work but alas, their goal was not to win. That the team excelled for a while is a testament to baseball and some of their players but talent prevails eventually. And you have to pay for talent.
CCard wrote: ↑29 Jul 2026 07:38 am
Their offense, while slightly less than adequate, can't overcome the poor pitching. It's putting pressure on guys to hit 5 run homers instead of letting the game come to you. I see Walker pushing to make it happen and taking swings he didn't take earlier in the season. I see the guys with warning track power trying to hit everything out. Partly because of that they aren't scoring as much which in turn makes the pitchers feel like they have no room for error. Then they have a bad outing and it just snowballs into an ugly season. They really miss Sonny and Wilson. This is what happens when you divest yourself of your top talent. Maybe it'll all work out but right now it's pretty ugly. It appears to me like they're going backwards. They had a leg up on the last playoff spot but poor play has them headed toward last place. Will they be held accountable? The franchise has certainly had a severe downturn. With everything going up, (groceries, gas, electric, etc) why would anyone plop down their valuable cash assets to support a team that aims for last place? I like talking baseball, but I've just about quit watching the Cards. Life is hard enough every day without supporting people trying to lose.(ownership)
Much has been written and spoken into microphones about how the Cards are rebuilding this organization from the ground up. Veterans have been traded away to restock a retooled minor league player development program with high ceiling pitching prospects. Lots of new staff and tools have been brought in to develop more home grown talent. The stated timeline for this process is to see us compete in 2028. I understand that not all fans agree with this process nor approve of it. I'm sure we all can at least understand where the Cards are today and what the plan is, if only because Bloom has told us all of this.
CCard wrote: ↑29 Jul 2026 07:38 am
Their offense, while slightly less than adequate, can't overcome the poor pitching. It's putting pressure on guys to hit 5 run homers instead of letting the game come to you. I see Walker pushing to make it happen and taking swings he didn't take earlier in the season. I see the guys with warning track power trying to hit everything out. Partly because of that they aren't scoring as much which in turn makes the pitchers feel like they have no room for error. Then they have a bad outing and it just snowballs into an ugly season. They really miss Sonny and Wilson. This is what happens when you divest yourself of your top talent. Maybe it'll all work out but right now it's pretty ugly. It appears to me like they're going backwards. They had a leg up on the last playoff spot but poor play has them headed toward last place. Will they be held accountable? The franchise has certainly had a severe downturn. With everything going up, (groceries, gas, electric, etc) why would anyone plop down their valuable cash assets to support a team that aims for last place? I like talking baseball, but I've just about quit watching the Cards. Life is hard enough every day without supporting people trying to lose.(ownership)
Much has been written and spoken into microphones about how the Cards are rebuilding this organization from the ground up. Veterans have been traded away to restock a retooled minor league player development program with high ceiling pitching prospects. Lots of new staff and tools have been brought in to develop more home grown talent. The stated timeline for this process is to see us compete in 2028. I understand that not all fans agree with this process nor approve of it. I'm sure we all can at least understand where the Cards are today and what the plan is, if only because Bloom has told us all of this.
To begin with, if it were that easy then all teams would do it. Trading for top pitching talent? When? Where? Restocking the minor leagues? Again, When? Where? They wouldn't have Wetherholt if they hadn't sucked so bad and gotten lucky. Now imagine how many times you have to suck and get lucky to get 3 or 4 Wetherholts. That's why Cincy and Pitt have sucked so hard for so long. Crying poor isn't a decent strategy to build a team. It's what losers do.
CCard wrote: ↑29 Jul 2026 07:38 am
Their offense, while slightly less than adequate, can't overcome the poor pitching. It's putting pressure on guys to hit 5 run homers instead of letting the game come to you. I see Walker pushing to make it happen and taking swings he didn't take earlier in the season. I see the guys with warning track power trying to hit everything out. Partly because of that they aren't scoring as much which in turn makes the pitchers feel like they have no room for error. Then they have a bad outing and it just snowballs into an ugly season. They really miss Sonny and Wilson. This is what happens when you divest yourself of your top talent. Maybe it'll all work out but right now it's pretty ugly. It appears to me like they're going backwards. They had a leg up on the last playoff spot but poor play has them headed toward last place. Will they be held accountable? The franchise has certainly had a severe downturn. With everything going up, (groceries, gas, electric, etc) why would anyone plop down their valuable cash assets to support a team that aims for last place? I like talking baseball, but I've just about quit watching the Cards. Life is hard enough every day without supporting people trying to lose.(ownership)
I see it a bit differently.
There are 780 rostered players in MLB. 780. 26 per teams 30 teams.
The competition is razor thin reference better players. Some day a stud does well, some days a dud does well.
We are a team researching for identity. We are looking at a small core. We are looking to see who performs in summer heat. We are looking at who handles losing with grace.
This is our bottom. That’s good news. And in a year or two, we may be talking thresholds.
Dog, all I see is intentionally losing by the ownership. This team was so close to a playoff spot and some excitement for the fans. Instead the team was gutted and minor league replacements and castoffs were acquired. It's a shame, this team could have been much better. Keep Sonny, keep Contreras at 1st. Dh Burleson or let him tumble around in left field. Resign Maton who did a decent job. Acquire another decent starter and put Leahy in the pen or move Libertore to the pen. There was the makings of a playoff team and it wouldn't have been that hard to make it work but alas, their goal was not to win. That the team excelled for a while is a testament to baseball and some of their players but talent prevails eventually. And you have to pay for talent.
So you would still trade Donovan?
If I wasn't going to sign him, yeah, I'd trade him. But they could have signed him. He could be at 2nd and JJ could be at 3rd. What's your point?
CCard wrote: ↑29 Jul 2026 07:38 am
Their offense, while slightly less than adequate, can't overcome the poor pitching. It's putting pressure on guys to hit 5 run homers instead of letting the game come to you. I see Walker pushing to make it happen and taking swings he didn't take earlier in the season. I see the guys with warning track power trying to hit everything out. Partly because of that they aren't scoring as much which in turn makes the pitchers feel like they have no room for error. Then they have a bad outing and it just snowballs into an ugly season. They really miss Sonny and Wilson. This is what happens when you divest yourself of your top talent. Maybe it'll all work out but right now it's pretty ugly. It appears to me like they're going backwards. They had a leg up on the last playoff spot but poor play has them headed toward last place. Will they be held accountable? The franchise has certainly had a severe downturn. With everything going up, (groceries, gas, electric, etc) why would anyone plop down their valuable cash assets to support a team that aims for last place? I like talking baseball, but I've just about quit watching the Cards. Life is hard enough every day without supporting people trying to lose.(ownership)
I see it a bit differently.
There are 780 rostered players in MLB. 780. 26 per teams 30 teams.
The competition is razor thin reference better players. Some day a stud does well, some days a dud does well.
We are a team researching for identity. We are looking at a small core. We are looking to see who performs in summer heat. We are looking at who handles losing with grace.
This is our bottom. That’s good news. And in a year or two, we may be talking thresholds.
Dog, all I see is intentionally losing by the ownership. This team was so close to a playoff spot and some excitement for the fans. Instead the team was gutted and minor league replacements and castoffs were acquired. It's a shame, this team could have been much better. Keep Sonny, keep Contreras at 1st. Dh Burleson or let him tumble around in left field. Resign Maton who did a decent job. Acquire another decent starter and put Leahy in the pen or move Libertore to the pen. There was the makings of a playoff team and it wouldn't have been that hard to make it work but alas, their goal was not to win. That the team excelled for a while is a testament to baseball and some of their players but talent prevails eventually. And you have to pay for talent.
When the decisions were made last offseason to trade Gray, Contreras, Donovan, etc. there was no evidence that this team would be anything close to a playoff team, even with those guys.
And acquiring "decent" SPs, etc. just to try to sneak into the playoffs has pretty much been the same mistake the organization had made for a decade already.
Riiight. Because losing for years will make all the difference. We've kicked this dead horse for more times than I care to recount. You believe in tanking until enough young cheap prospects will hopefully burst onto the scene and give a narrow window of opportunity for lightning to strike. I believe that a team should do everything in their power (which includes keeping payroll up or maybe even nudging it a little higher) to win every single year. At least it gives the fans a reason to show up or tune in. Who in their right mind wants to spend their hard earned dollars to go to a game or watch it on TV? Obviously you do, I don't.
I believe a team with even a payroll of $170 million, like the Cardinals have had, has no other choice if they are going to compete with the Dodgers, Braves, Phillies, Yankees, etc. than to have gone all in on developing a big core of cost controlled players, because they will only ever be able to afford a very small number of expensive veteran players.
There is no "winning every year" or even "competing every year" without a big core of cost controlled players an a Top 5 farm system producing more year after year. They don't have a sufficient core of cost controlled players yet with which to even try to compete.
There no alternative in MLB in 2026 for anyone who isn't one of the biggest payroll teams.
Well, the Cards did for nearly two decades so you're wrong. A team doesn't have to spend $350 million dollars to win but it's exponentially harder to win when you gut payroll and expect young talent and draft choices to lift you out of lethargy. You buy all the premium talent you can afford and you supplement it with the young up and comers hoping they step up to put you over the top. That's the Yankee way, the Dodger way, etc etc.
It's 2026 now and the conditions for winning consistently have changed.
The Cardinals can't beat the Dodgers, Yankees, etc. by following their "way" but doing it much worse because they have only half as much payroll to spend.
They can win by doing it the Brewers, Rays, Guardians, etc. "way" but doing it much better by having more payroll to eventually spend than those teams on a very small number of expensive veterans to put them over the top in 2028, 2029, 2030, etc.
Here's the problem with your logic. There are only so many teams in baseball and on those teams there are only so many openings. The Dodgers, Yankees etc are going to get most of the top tier elite talent, nothing is going to change that. At least not until something is done with the CBA to change it. But that still leaves a dearth of talented players that are looking for jobs. The Cards could easily jack their payroll up to around $200 million and sign many talented players. Then field a competitive team that might get hot and beat the big boys in a short series. Alas they've chosen the path of consistent losing and pocketing that cash. The plan is to lose and get draft picks. I know there is a lottery but record still matters. The philosophy of magically transforming draft picks to premium players over a handful of years means there has to be plenty of losing to do it. That's a sorry philosophy, especially for a once proud organization that prided itself on competing every year. Don't give me that bull about how baseball has changed, it's always been a league of haves and have nots.
CCard wrote: ↑29 Jul 2026 07:38 am
Their offense, while slightly less than adequate, can't overcome the poor pitching. It's putting pressure on guys to hit 5 run homers instead of letting the game come to you. I see Walker pushing to make it happen and taking swings he didn't take earlier in the season. I see the guys with warning track power trying to hit everything out. Partly because of that they aren't scoring as much which in turn makes the pitchers feel like they have no room for error. Then they have a bad outing and it just snowballs into an ugly season. They really miss Sonny and Wilson. This is what happens when you divest yourself of your top talent. Maybe it'll all work out but right now it's pretty ugly. It appears to me like they're going backwards. They had a leg up on the last playoff spot but poor play has them headed toward last place. Will they be held accountable? The franchise has certainly had a severe downturn. With everything going up, (groceries, gas, electric, etc) why would anyone plop down their valuable cash assets to support a team that aims for last place? I like talking baseball, but I've just about quit watching the Cards. Life is hard enough every day without supporting people trying to lose.(ownership)
I see it a bit differently.
There are 780 rostered players in MLB. 780. 26 per teams 30 teams.
The competition is razor thin reference better players. Some day a stud does well, some days a dud does well.
We are a team researching for identity. We are looking at a small core. We are looking to see who performs in summer heat. We are looking at who handles losing with grace.
This is our bottom. That’s good news. And in a year or two, we may be talking thresholds.
Dog, all I see is intentionally losing by the ownership. This team was so close to a playoff spot and some excitement for the fans. Instead the team was gutted and minor league replacements and castoffs were acquired. It's a shame, this team could have been much better. Keep Sonny, keep Contreras at 1st. Dh Burleson or let him tumble around in left field. Resign Maton who did a decent job. Acquire another decent starter and put Leahy in the pen or move Libertore to the pen. There was the makings of a playoff team and it wouldn't have been that hard to make it work but alas, their goal was not to win. That the team excelled for a while is a testament to baseball and some of their players but talent prevails eventually. And you have to pay for talent.
So you would still trade Donovan?
If I wasn't going to sign him, yeah, I'd trade him. But they could have signed him. He could be at 2nd and JJ could be at 3rd. What's your point?
So keep gray who had one more year, but trade Donovan who had two more years?
So look I may be wrong here and just grasping at conspiracy theories. However I think one has to take a step back and look at everything from the 30,000 ft level. The owners are bankers. Bankers rule the world as we know it right now. They have for the last 250 years at least. Bankers have access to knowledge on events around the world that the normal everyday guy does not. They see a world in turmoil right now. We are also faced with a 2027 possible lockout that grows greater every day. Both sides have their position and they are far apart. If in the end they institute a floor and a salary cap that is going to greatly affect every team's approach to their players and managers. What the front office is not telling everybody is that the team is determining who comes out on the backside of 2027 as a core part of this team. Right now they have committed to JJ as being one of those. Most everyone else is being looked at through a close lens. The fans need to understand that this team is not going to go out and sign any big contracts that is not going to be locked down for numerous years on a young player like JJ's contract. They are not in when now mode because this team is more than just a couple of players away from being competitive. And if you're that far away and then best way you have to restock that system is through drafts and trades then do what you can to get the best drafts and trades possible. Fans are going to look back and ask themselves why they were so over the top right now when this team has a good core in place at 2028 and beyond and our year after year competing for division and world series titles. Sometimes you just have to start over this is where we are right now try to make the best of it.
JuanAgosto wrote: ↑29 Jul 2026 23:20 pm
The problems:
1. BDW - Trusted Mozeliak too long, lost millions to bad contracts, and decided to go cheap.
2. John Mozeliak- This guy rode other's coattails to success. Once he had acquired sole power of the front office, his ineptitude began to show. He ran a perineal playoff team off a cliff through stupid decisions and allowing the development system to fall apart. A true putz.
3. Oli Marmol- No leadership capability. Wants to be the bff of his staff and players. His poor in-game strategy skills often come to light. And his teams have a pattern of July collapses.
We might not agree although the same results are true.
These are 1 of 30 jobs.
You get fired for incompetence.
It takes a real schmuck to fire you when
you do what you are asked.
What you say is interesting. Do you think Marmol is carrying out in-game decisions based on instructions from the front office?
I think that Oli is delivering the message to the team that the FO wants.
That they review decisions if there are issues with those in game decisions.
Oli makes those decisions, just as MO did, but they are not done without being
a part of an agreed plan.
Disagreements get fixed or you have to move on from an employee. Both
MO and Oli have held jobs too long for that dynamic to be there.
