:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/50259147/usa-today-9261946.0.jpg)
Welcome to the trade deadline.
Today is like Christmas morning for many St. Louis Cardinals fans, as they will learn of new and potentially exciting additions to the team. But for fans who are immersed in following Minor League Baseball, it is a far more bittersweet day.
Yesterday, for casual fans who wouldn’t know Magneuris Sierra from Ruben Sierra, the headline of the day was that the Cardinals acquired Zach Duke, a potentially useful bullpen piece. Even if they had heard the name Charlie Tilson in passing, he existed as an abstraction and not as a baseball player that they had come to enjoy watching.
But Charlie Tilson played 471 games in the minor leagues for the Cardinals organization. He had 2,016 plate appearances and had a triple-slash line of .293/.346/.392, while stealing 89 bases. And everything he did in the minors still mattered; it may not have mattered to you, but it certainly mattered to the fans who care about the minors on their own terms.
Every base he stole wasn’t merely a vessel for improving his trade stock, though it did that too: it was entertainment for those in attendance. He entertained the fine people of Johnson City, Peoria, Palm Beach, Springfield, and Memphis. And baseball is all about entertainment, when it comes down to it.
Speaking of entertainment, how about that Viva El Birdos content? That’s pretty entertaining, right? This is a good transition, right? Yes? Oh well, here’s what happened here over the weekend.
Kolten Wong’s batted ball tendencies
Ben Markham wrote about Kolten Wong’s quality of contact this season. Wong has been somewhat disappointing this season, and he explored the underlying reasons of why his production has been down.
Zach Duke
On Sunday morning, as I previously noted, the Cardinals acquired White Sox reliever Zach Duke in exchange for minor league outfielder Charlie Tilson. Not longer after, the red baron analyzed the move in comparison to the much larger bullpen trade made earlier in the morning, in which the New York Yankees traded Andrew Miller to the Cleveland Indians.
The Marlins
Unfortunately, I am contractually obligated to reminder everybody reading this that the Cardinals played the Miami Marlins on Saturday and Sunday. You’ve been warned. Anyway, it’s not IHeartBoog’s fault that the Cardinals had a miserable 11-0 loss on Saturday, so go ahead and read the game recap anyway. The next morning, the red baron discussed the game as well and also touched on several other topics, several of which were not rendered out of date twenty minutes later when the Zach Duke trade happened.
On Sunday, the Cardinals were at least competitive but still were unable to secure a victory, as the Marlins won 5-4. WyoCardsFan handled the recap.
Despite the lack of baseball game today, it should certainly still be a big day for baseball news. Check back to read the latest about any moves or non-moves the Cardinals make.