2019 Cardinals

[Orcin]

I say give Kelly a shot. I would catch him every fourth or fifth day and see how long it takes him to complain.

[pgjocki]

Rink what I did was being Kelly up as Weaver's personal catcher and also used as a defensive sub everytime the game when into extras.

This got him some regular cine and ensured Yadi never got too tired.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[rink23]

I went the Carson Kelly route. He will probably catch Milos Mikolas or Lewis Thorpe to start out.
Once Molina starts to cool down, I may give him more starts.
Instead of releasing Pena, I traded him and a Dominican Rookie League pitcher Leonardo Taveras to the Minnesota Twins for a hard-throwing 24-year-old AA reliever Gabriel Moya, who has MLB closer written all over him if he can find his control.
I also signed veteran catcher Rene Rivera off the scrap heap to handle Kelly's leadership void at Memphis.

[MizzouRah]

105 games into 2021 and we are 6 games up in the Central. Manager Joe Maddon retired after winning the 2020 World Series and the Cubs hired a rookie Manager. Doesn't look good for them in a very competitive NL this year.

We are all set for the playoff run. The Dodgers offered us CF Jeren Kendall, a very good CF prospect for team leader C Jeremy Martinez and RF prospect Carlos Soler. Since I still have a leader in Josh Donaldson, I made the trade. One area we are weak in is defense, so I hope Kendall can crack the lineup next season. We also get Dominic Leone back from Houston for Matt Bowman - he was our weakest link in what is the best bullpen in the majors. (had to make a move with Osuna out for the season)

Donaldson is having a horrible season at the plate but we still have a strong lineup. (SS Tommy Edman is our only starting position player on the DL)

Hopefully I get a contract extension at the end of the season because I have some youth coming in the next few years that I'm really excited about, plus we are in excellent shape fiscally. The owner is not happy I didn't resign Molina who signed a minor league deal with the Twins instead of retiring and our defense hasn't improved like he wanted. Winning should push most of that under a rug I hope.

[MizzouRah]

Oh.. and Toronto signed Mike Trout to a huge deal and he's done wonders for his new team as they sit atop the AL East.

I'm noticing many improvements to this years game with respect to the AI run teams as well as things like the trade block is now full of many good players who all are in their last year and won't sign extensions. It just feels more like a real life baseball world and it's a TEXT SIM.. hats off to Markus and the OOTP team!

[rink23]

Boy, did I just F--- up.
I had played my week's worth of games and was just playing around with some trade ideas.
I have had my eye on Dylan Bundy of the Orioles since I may need a No. 2 starter.
I was throwing out what else would they want if Matt Carpenter was part of the deal.

Figuring it would be kiboshed immediately or they would want Weaver or Thorpe. (I know that was a deal I would never make).

Something made me turn my head, I think my cat (who is sooooo jealous of OOTP) brushed up against me, and I accidently clicked the mouse when it must have been over the force trade button.
Because, I immediately got an email telling me my fan base was upset because I had traded Matt Carpenter.
Now my backup is only a week old, so it will only take me a day to get me back to where I was.

I just would not feel right fleecing the Orioles like I did.
What would you guys do? And do you have any similar stories?

NOTE: I went back and checked and found I would have had to replay 13 games, not seven to make the trade go away.
So I played, God/Commissioner, and voided the deal -- actually, I just force traded Bundy back to Baltimore (I don't think it was a much of a force, I am sure the Orioles were glad to take him back) -- so I could continue the season as is.
Although, actually it might have been to my benefit to replay those games as I went 4-9 in that stretch.

[Orcin]

Willie Calhoun has made a great first impression. He has played six games for us and...

[rink23]

I realize this is not OOTP related, but it is Cards related.
Took in tonight's (May 31) game between the Pirates and Redbirds at Busch.
Things started off great, 4-0 lead after an inning, but slowly unraveled until a Francisco Ceravelli three-run home run in the top of the eighth had Pittsburgh ahead 8-5.
After a scoreless bottom of the eighth, I almost walk out. (Which I never do, I am a stay to the end fan in almost all circumstances).
Sure glad I stayed. Ts the Cards scored five in the bottom of the ninth, capped by a three-run homer from rookie infielder Yario Munoz.
Ironically, I traded Munoz from the 2019 Cards OOTP team last night.
That's why it's the greatest game of all.

[Orcin]

I watched the game and almost turned it off after the eighth. Sure glad I kept watching. Great comeback! Munoz is my utility infielder atm and doing well.

And by the way... his name is really pronounced JI-RO?

[MizzouRah]

I watched it all too! That was awesome!!!

Nice seats rink when are you taking me?

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Orcin

June 12, 2018: Marcell Ozuna (.284/.343/.488, 13 HR, 46 RBI) just went on the D/L for 5 weeks with elbow inflammation. I brought up Tyler O'Neill to replace him in left field, but he is a rookie. Maybe he will tear it up for a while, like he is doing in real life, but can he keep it up for 5 weeks?

Baltimore will give me Manny Machado for Wacha, Gyorko, and Jose Martinez.

Two weeks later... O'Neill is back in the minors after hitting .180 in 14 games, but Willie Calhoun has taken up the slack. But will Calhoun be able to maintain this pace? No, he won't hit .500 over the rest of the season.

Baltimore has officially gone to rebuilding mode. Now they will give me Machado for just Wacha plus Gyorko. They will also trade Machado for Weaver straight up.

Tough decision there.

[MizzouRah]

We finished 105-57, the best record in baseball. Chicago was 26 games behind us!

Pittsburgh won the WC game and will face us in the NLDS. We have our #2 SP and starting 2B out for the series though.

NLDS against the Pirates, tied 1-1 going back to Pittsburgh.

[Orcin]

And again I have decided against acquiring Machado.

I am not convinced that Machado will be worth more wins over the second half than the combination of Wacha and Gyorko. I am especially leery of giving up Wacha, who may be a solid #2/3 starter that I can sign long-term for a bargain rate.

I still have Carpenter coming back next year and no where to play him except 3B with Hosmer at 1B and Calhoun as the DH. If I move Carpenter, I can still chase the free-agent Machado with his money and keep Gyorko as a utility player.

My gut tells me that waiting gives me more value than trading now. If I can't sign Machado, then I lose a year of control on two good players. If I can sign Machado, then I can do it in the offseason and still keep the two players. BUT if I finish just short of the playoffs and Machado has a huge second half, I will have to come back here and eat this post.

Instead of the big trade my fanbase wants, I traded a minor leaguer to the Reds for left-handed RP Wandy Peralta. Typical Cardinals move... whiff on the moto bat and bring in a reliever.

[MizzouRah]

We beat Pittsburgh in the NLDS, 3 games to 1 but it doesn't come without a cost. We lose our starting SS for the rest of the year and the injuries continue to mount for us.


Out: 2B, SS, SP, CL


We don't have many options at SS that I'm comfortable with so.... we give a 21 year old, Luis Andujar a call, a defensive SS phenom who played in AA this season. When he walks into the locker room at Busch Stadium for the first time, he will then realize what's happening, seeing his #13 St. Louis Cardinals home jersey. He will make his first start at SS in the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Will he be able to handle it?

[Orcin]

Surely Andujar will be able to field his position well. You can't really expect much beyond that, but you can hope.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Orcin

Surely Andujar will be able to field his position well. You can't really expect much beyond that, but you can hope.

Yes sir, the move is purely a defensive one. Even the best backup SS I have is only rated 5/10 at the position and neither of the guys I have can hit, so I figured this kid's defense might help us.


The Dodgers have one heck of a lineup, so this will be an interesting series.


Calhoun was the MVP of the series as he continues to tear up the baseball!!! Funny thing is.. Martinez is pitching the first game of the ALCS, so the trade worked out for both teams. Facing Texas in the WS would be a neat story line.

[MizzouRah]

Well crap.. we lost 4 games to 1 against LA but every game went into extra innings and our great bullpen was vulnerable. LA went on to win the World Series. It was a great season for us though and in 2022 it's our year!

2022 home opener and Willie Calhoun hits 2 HR to help us to a 5-4 win over Philadelphia!

[rink23]

My 2019 Cardinals have played better lately, but are still well under .500 as we approach the end of June.
Looking ahead, I have a ton of money socked away but was wondering does Coors Field factor in when signing former Rockies?
Was thinking of going after Nolan Arenado in the offseason, but was concerned of a big drop off because of where he played.
Also could make a play on Paul Goldschmidt on a shorter deal if Arenado gets too high priced or Coors is too much of a concern.

Made a bit of a run lately, hope to see if I can get back in race by end of July.
I am 12.5 games behind Cubs in division and seven out of the second wild card.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by rink23

My 2019 Cardinals have played better lately, but are still well under .500 as we approach the end of June.
Looking ahead, I have a ton of money socked away but was wondering does Coors Field factor in when signing former Rockies?
Was thinking of going after Nolan Arenado in the offseason, but was concerned of a big drop off because of where he played.
Also could make a play on Paul Goldschmidt on a shorter deal if Arenado gets too high priced or Coors is too much of a concern.

Made a bit of a run lately, hope to see if I can get back in race by end of July.
I am 12.5 games behind Cubs in division and seven out of the second wild card.

I believe the park factors are hitter friendly in Coors, so yes players who play there would tend to have a stat inflation.

[rink23]

What has been a trying campaign for my 2019 Cardinals has officially turned into a train wreck.
It started with a 10-14 April and evolved into eventually falling to 13 games under .500 at one point during late May.
Things have brightened a bit, with the best record in the NL the Cubs are dominating the division, with the second wild card still somewhat in sight.
The only real consistent player was offseason free-agent signing Bryce Harper, who was hitting .293 with 23 homers and 63 RBIs going into a July 8 game against the White Sox.
Now, he is lost for the season with a broken ankle suffered while running the bases.
A 4-2 loss in 12 innings in that game, Dominic Leone gave up back-to-back homers in that 12th to Max Stassi and Nicky Delmonico, dropped the Redbirds to 39-46, 12.5 games behind the Cubs in the division and 7 behind Cincy for wild-card No. 2.
Now how to move forward.
The logical move would be to bring Tyler O'Neill up and let him play close to full time to see what he can do. He's done very nice in an extremely small sample size with the big club in 2019 batting .368 with a homer and seven RBIs in seven games.
But the conundrum, as it has been much of the season is what to do with Matt Carpenter and Jose Martinez, who have been my two best offensive players outside of Harper.
Carpenter is batting .317 with 14 homers and 45 RBIs and Martinez, who just went on the 10 day DL, is hitting .352, with nine homers and 29 RBIs.
Once Martinez returns, they both have to play if you hope to have any chance of winning a wild card.
Carpenter could play third, but that keeps major league ready prospect Miguel Andujar out of the lineup.

A goal of mine going in the season was to make Andujar a full-time player to see what he could do after dominating in the minors. But I have not been able to do that, because Carpenter and Martinez have performed so well.
Carpenter is no longer an option at second, and the corner outfield positions were set with Harper and Marcell Ozuna.
Andujar had to be sent back to AAA, not because of performance but lack of playing time.
Martinez could play the outfield, but that keeps O'Neill on the bench.
Or do I go with the original idea, in some ways bagging a run at a playoff spot, of a left/right platoon of Carpenter/Martinez at first and let the kids play.
Also, what to do with Michael Wacha. He's going to be a free agent and is 7-6 with a 4.87 ERA after going 13-8 with a 3.89 in of 2018.
Deal him for prospects at the deadline?
So many questions in a season that seems to be over.
Here are the team stats as of July 9.