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When it comes to the Cardinals it's not always easy to parse out the actual news from the stuff we hopefully won't be thinking about a week from now. This is especially true in the offseason. The latest example was Mike Matheny's reaction to Jason Heyward saying he was concerned about the Cardinals aging core. I found Heyward's comments a bit unnecessary, but on the other hand it was nice to hear the honesty. I often wonder what's important to a player during free agency (besides the millions of dollars, of course), and Heyward gave us a rare glimpse into a player's mindset. Whereas some players like Zack Greinke have been very open about wanting to sign with the team who offered the most money, which, is completely understandable, Heyward also mulled the stability and trajectory of the franchise. I think that's interesting.
As for Matheny, he sounded like he was taking an arguably innocuous comment a bit too personal. It reminded me of two seasons ago when he quickly and humorlessly rose to Yadier Molina's defense after Jonathan Lucroy and the Brewers playfully took a shot at Molina and the Cardinals. (I also remember a lot of Cardinals fans wanting the Cardinals to respond with their own hit piece even when we know in our heart of hearts it would have been horrible.) Matheny's main point was that the Cardinals' core players wouldn't take Heyward's comments all that well and you know what, he's probably right. Heyward rejected the Cardinals' offer, the team he most recently played for, and instead chose to sign with a division rival. For possibly less money. I would hope that wouldn't sit well with the team. It doesn't mean Heyward did anything wrong. And, of course, the Cardinals shouldn't be thinking about any sort of silly retaliation when the teams meet. But it's not necessarily wrong for the team to feel a bit stung. That said, to borrow from Mike Birbiglia, what Matheny probably should have said was nothing.
This is what you may have missed at VEB yesterday:
Hot Stove
- Nick Lampe discussed why this might be the best year for the Cardinals to sign a free agent outfielder. He brought up an excellent point that a lot of us might be expecting too much from Stephen Piscotty, Randal Grichuk, and Tommy Pham even though none of them have played a full season up to this point.
- I took a look at your boilerplate "hot stove" season rumor, this one involving Scott Kazmir and pretty much every team in the league that isn't openly tanking. If anything, please admire the headline. I'm quite proud of it.
Repertoires in Review
- Joe Schwarz wrote his first in a four-part series on St. Louis Cardinals pitchers and their different pitch types. This one is on the fourseam fastball. Lots of fun PitchF/x data - give it a read.
Matheny/Heyward Brouhaha
- Craig Edwards took a much more in-depth look at the Matheny/Heyward situation, and raised the possibility that this was a motivational tactic on Matheny's part. He also raised the possibility that Matheny missed the point of Heyward's comments entirely.
Happy Holidays from the Cardinals.
A Tweet I Liked
When you love the #Nets t-shirt toss, but you're also @PaulMcCartney pic.twitter.com/SthCYRyAxC
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) December 20, 2015
This has nothing to do with VEB, or the Cardinals, or even baseball, but I can relate because I have partial season tickets to the Washington Nationals and I turn into a damn animal anytime the t-shirt toss comes near my section - and I don't even like the Nats and the t-shirt never fits. I no longer feel so bad.
Enjoy the rest of your short week, everyone.