BERNIE BITS
I’m trying to recover and restore many of the loose-end thoughts that are floating around in my brain. So let’s see if I can reconnect the headwires …
1. Hey, what about the Dominican Winter League? Two Cardinals legends, Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina, are managing in the six-team D.R. circuit this offseason. Their teams are close in the standings. Aguilas Cibaenas is 19-18 (.514) and in third place with Molina as manager. And virtually even, and in fourth place at 21-20 (.512) are the Leones del Escogido squad managed by Pujols.
Escogido is slumping, having lost 15 of the past 21 games to drop from first place to fourth. As Fansided’s Mark Powell noted, Pujols is catching heat from the team’s unhappy fans. Reporter and broadcaster Mike Rodriguez, former analyst with the Chicago Cubs’ Spanish-broadcast crew, offered this stark assessment on his X account:
“What I feared has come to pass: the lack of respect from some fans towards our future Hall of Famer, Albert Pujols. This great human being is being severely criticized, and many are calling for the manager’s dismissal.
“The team is going through a critical moment, having lost 15 of its last 21 games. From being in first place, it now finds itself tied in third place, one step away from falling to fourth place. If it weren’t for the magnificent start to the season, they would be much further away from that position today, despite the formidable talent they have in their squad.”
Hat tip to Fansided on the latest information on Pujols. This is the first manager’s job for Pujols, who retired after the 2022 season in St. Louis. Molina has more experience, having done an impressive job managing the Puerto Rico in the last World Baseball Classic.
2. Players on Pujols’ team include Tommy Pham, Cardinals’ prospect Matt Koperniak, Gary Sanchez, Jean Segura, Ramon Laureano, Martin Maldanado and pitchers Jeurys Familia and Alex Colome.
3. Molina’s roster includes Starlin Castro, Yairo Munoz, Jonathan Villar and pitchers Johnny Cueto, Amir Garrett, Junior Fernandez, Denilson Lamet, Pedro Strop and Nick Wittgren.
4. I am confused, which isn’t the ideal way to get started on a “Bits” column. But I was reading quotes attributed to agent Joel Wolfe, who represents Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado. Wolfe has been granted permission from the Cardinals to help facilitate a trade that would transfer to a championship-contending team.
The Cardinals are not that.
“He doesn’t have the ability to ride it out and just be OK with [losing],” Wolfe said of Arenado when speaking to reporters at baseball’s winter meetings in Dallas. “It’s like his biological clock is ticking and if the team’s not winning, it’s driving him crazy — every day, every night and all through the offseason — and he takes it so personal and [acts] like it’s all on him.”
Arenado wants to win. We get it. I could be a wise guy and point out that Arenado could have helped the Cardinals win three postseason games, but he went 1 for 12 in a loss to the Dodgers and two losses to the Phillies. But I won’t point that out because doing so would qualify as a gratuitous shot. So I’ll just pass over that. I could also mention that Arenado is 5 for 33 (.125) in eight career postseason tests for Colorado and St. Louis – a factor in his teams losing seven of the eight games. But that would be mean, so I won’t do that.
Arenado has a firm no-trade clause, so he can veto any trade proposal brought forth by the Cardinals. And considering all of this stuff about how losing gives Arenado a case of the vapors – and noting that he wants to suit up for a winner – I was perplexed when MLB.com baseball writer John Denton cited a source in reporting the six teams on Arenado’s approved list.
The Arenado six: Dodgers, Padres, Angels, Phillies, Mets and Red Sox. Wait …the ANGELS?
According to Wolfe, Arenado wants to “Win now and consistently for the remainder of his career” and desires to be on a team “that has the throttle down.”
The ANGELS?
The Halos haven’t had a winning season since 2015. They’ve made the playoffs one time in the last 15 years. They haven’t won a postseason game since 2010. Over the last nine seasons, Anaheim ranks 22nd among the 30 MLB teams with their .456 winning percentage.
OK, Arenado is a SoCal native, so maybe he wants to play for a team close to home. Wolfe said geography isn’t a prime consideration. It’s all about the winning, even though the embarrassing Angels are all about the losing.
Perhaps Team Arenado has recalibrated. Bob Nighthengale (USA Today) reports that Wolfe has held discussions over Arenado’s future with Boston, Houston, Philadelphia and San Diego. Derrick Goold (STLtoday) has reported on talks between the Cardinals and Yankees.
The Yankees actually make the most sense but may not be on Arenado’s authorized list of trade landings. He might want to think about that. Since the “new” Yankee Stadium opened in 2009, right–handed hitters that play for the Yanks have slugged .442.
5. My favorite stat of the day: this season, Blues center Dylan Holloway has 11 points in seven games since Jim Montgomery took over as coach. The 11 points are two more than Holloway had in 38 games for Edmonton last season. Holloway, a 23-year-old gem, is tied for third among NHL forwards in points since the Blues brought in Montgomery. And Holloway’s six goals since the coaching change are tied for the fourth-most among league forwards since the Montgomery Era officially began Nov. 25.
6. The Blues had a fantastic trip to the western territories, winning three of four games. They’re 5-1 on the road with Montgomery as their leader and have outscored the home teams 18-9 at even strength in the six games. Through Tuesday night, the Blues were 5-1-1 with Montgomery in place for a .786 points percentage that ranks fifth in the NHL since Nov. 25. Before Montgomery replaced Drew Bannister, the Blues were No. 26 among 32 NHL teams with a points percentage of .432.
7. More on Monty: since the start of the 2022-2023 season, Montgomery’s teams (Bruins and Blues) have banked 274 out of a possible maximum of 382 points, going a fantabulous 125-42-2. That glossy record represents a .717 points percentage that’s easily the best for an NHL coach over the last two-plus seasons. He’s good.
8. The Cardinals will have the 5th overall choice in the 2025 MLB Draft. That was an upset. The draft lottery was kind to the Cards. They might want to choose a pitcher. Drafting and developing your own is a lot more economical than signing free-agent arms to fill your starting rotation. Here’s why:
9. During this free-agent frenzy, through Tuesday, 13 major–league starting pitchers signed on for 37 years of contracts for a collective total of $821.5 million. Max Fried was the latest to cash in, getting showered by the Yankees for $218 million in an eight-year agreement. It was the largest contract signed by a lefty in big-league history. That deal topped the $182 million (five years) handed to lefty Blake Snell by the Dodgers. We’ve seen MLB teams make overly aggressive overpays for the likes of Luis Severino, Yusei Kikuchi, Clay Holmes, Frankie Montas, and Nathan Eovaldi. But the cash-crazy rush for pitching isn’t close to being over. Free-agent starters still out there include Corbin Burnes, Jack Flaherty, Max Scherzer, Jose Quintana, Sean Manea, Nick Pivetta, Lance Lynn, Charlie Morton and Kyle Gibson.
10. And in another realm of pitching acquisition the Red Sox gave up four good prospects for White Sox lefty bazooka Garrett Crochet. Last season Crotchet, age 25, struck out an amazing 35 percent of hitters faced over 146 innings. The Red Sox gave the White Sox four of the top 14 prospects in the Boston system. But teams are willing to do what it takes to secure a coveted starting pitcher.
11. In that context, the Cardinals would be absolutely foolish – bordering on irresponsible – to pass on the opportunity to deal starting pitcher Erick Fedde before the start of the 2025 season when he’ll be at peak value. The Scott Boras client will walk as a free agent after the ‘25 season, and the starting-pitching market will make him a very wealthy man. If the Cardinals have no intention of extending Fedde’s contract, the only sensible thing to do is to cash him in for a package of prospects. Last season Fedde ranked No. 6 among major-league starting pitchers with 5.6 WAR – the Baseball Reference version. Based on that, Fedde had more value in 2024 than Fried, Crochet, Burnes, Flaherty, Dylan Cease, Logan Webb, Aaron Nola and Reynaldo Lopez.
12. I apologize for writing – again – about the obvious wisdom of trading Fedde. I’ve been hammering on this for weeks. I’m not ready to surrender. This definitely is a seller’s market, and there is nothing of real significance to gain by keeping Fedde. Cardinals president John Mozeliak is saying he believes the 2025 Cards will be competitive and can exceed expectations. That’s fine. But since the Cardinals are transitioning to a younger generation of hitters and pitchers, does it really matter if they win 82 games next season instead of 78? Advance ticket sales (including season tix) will be going down this winter, anyway.
13.Turning to college basketball … I loved Mizzou’s Sunday upset victory over top-ranked Kansas on the home hardwood. Hello again, Dennis Gates. A joyous win should not be wasted. The rejoicing should reverberate. The Tigers can add to it by knocking off Illinois in the annual bragging-rights showdown in St. Louis. Even though Mizzou is 8-1 and has that marquee win over Kansas, the Tigers currently are ranked No. 50 at KenPom. The SEC is packed with excellent teams. Missouri is off to a good start and all of that, but the KenPom metrics put them at No. 13 among the 16 SEC teams. As of Wednesday afternoon, the SEC had five of the top nine teams in the nation according to KenPom: Auburn (1), Tennessee (2), Alabama (7), Florida (8), and Kentucky (9). KenPom rates the SEC as the top conference in the land this season, well above the second-ranked Big 10.
14. For the Cardinals to have a solid season in 2025, they’ll certainly need more offensive production from their outfielders. That area was a weakness (offensively) in 2024. St. Louis outfielders collectively batted .238 with a .302 onbase percentage and weak .363 slugging percentage. The group finished 12 percent below league average offensively. Their outfield offense ranked 24th among the 30 teams. And the STL outfield were last in the majors with just 38 homers. Three individual outfielders topped or matched that HR total in 2024: Aaron Judge slammed 48 home runs, Juan Soto ripped 40, and Anthony Santander launched 38.
15. Before the coaching change, the Blues ranked 30th among 32 teams in goals per 60 minutes (2.34) and were 25th in goals allowed (3.33) per 60. But since Montgomery began sharpening the Blues, they rank ninth in the NHL with 3.39 goals per 60 minutes, and are fourth in fewest goals allowed (2.26) per 60.
Thanks for reading!
–Bernie
A 2023 inductee into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Bernie has provided informed opinions and perspective on St. Louis sports through his columns, radio shows and podcasts since 1985.
Please check out the new Bernie Miklasz Show channel on YouTube. And thank you for subscribing. Here’s the link: @TheBernieShow
Including the weekday “Gashouse Gang” online video show, Bernie makes nine appearances each week on legendary St. Louis radio station KMOX.
Follow Bernie on X @b_miklasz and at Bluesky @bmiklasz.bsky.social.
Stats used in this column were sourced from Baseball Reference, FanGraphs, Statcast, and Baseball Prospectus.
