Meet Me At Musial: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

Episode 16: Casting a Net and Catching a Fowler

There's been plenty of activity since John and Daniel got together to talk about the Cardinals, but no move was as big as the last one, as the Cardinals signed Dexter Fowler to a five-year deal.  Was it a good move?  How surprising was the fact the Cards surrendered a draft pick?  Does this improve the team and what is the lineup going to look like?  The guys also touch on the other moves, such as Brayan Pena, Seth Maness, and the Jaime Garcia trade.
While there's a lot that's already happened, that doesn't mean John Mozeliak is done.  The guys talk about what could happen, what should happen, and what will happen before John breaks down the players received in the Garcia deal as part of The Futures Report.  The guys then tackle the Twitter questions and plan out their offseason schedule.

Episode 15: Handing Out The Hardware

The World Series has come and gone and, stunningly, we now live in a world where the Cubs are champs.  Daniel and John don't dwell much on that, however, digging into the moves the Cardinals have made since the last out of Game 7.  Was Mike Matheny's extension too long?  Was it a good move to pick up Jaime Garcia's option and let Brandon Moss walk?  How bad is it that Tyler Lyons is out for a good chunk of 2017?
After that, the guys move into the Cardinal Blogger Award ballot and give their picks on who should take home the prizes.  (If you want to vote, head over to www.unitedcardinalbloggers.com).  John then talks about some of the Arizona Fall League results, with a focus on Paul DeJong, before the guys tackle the Twitter questions from the listeners.  It's a full show, but it should tide you over until the next one early in December!

Episode 14: Something's Not Right Here

Hang on, the calendar says it's October but the Cardinals aren't playing baseball.  Are you kidding me?  There's got to be something wrong with the universe.  Who do I talk to about fixing this?
Until things get sorted out, Daniel welcomes back John and they talk about the end of the season, including the tributes to Matt Holliday and how he ended his Cardinal career (plus Daniel's slightly crazy theory about why the Cards aren't bringing him back).  The guys then talk about the first decisions that need to be made in the offseason.  Do you exercise Jaime Garcia's option?  Offer a qualifying offer to Brandon Moss?  Tender Trevor Rosenthal a contract?  Lots for Mo to do even before you get into free agency and trades.
 
After some talk about the minor leagues, the guys wrap with some Twitter questions and the general plan for the show in the offseason.  Be sure to subscribe to the show if you haven't already!

Episode 13: Living On The Edge

It's been an ugly week of Cardinal baseball, but even as Daniel and guest host Mike Metzger of West Coast Redbird and Padres Trail discuss things, it gets a nice capper.  Daniel and Mike talk about the losses to the Brewers, Cubs, and Giants before segueing into a general discussion of the Cardinal woes and what to possibly do about them.  Is Adam Wainwright still an ace?  What do you do with Matt Holliday?  Do you exercise Jaime Garcia's option?  After some talk about that, Mike sheds some light on the AJ Preller scandal out in San Diego and the guys tackle some tough Twitter questions.

Episode 12: Kicking It Old School

After a bit of a gap, some life conflicts and technology issues, Meet Me at Musial is back!  John Nagel, as they would say on the radio, is still "on assignment", so Daniel dipped into United Cardinal Bloggers history and brought up Nick Waeltz, founder of Pitchers Hit Eighth and noted Jaime Garcia honk.  Daniel and Nick go over the last few games, culminating in a late Cardinal win against the Brewers on Saturday night.  They ponder whether the lack of a difference in the rotation (save perhaps Carlos Martinez) is a positive, as it won't matter as much who they line up in a play-in game (or perhaps a play-in game to the play-in game).  The guys then discuss the wild card race, the debut of Carson Kelly, and go over a backlog of Twitter questions.  It's a special MMM episode you won't want to miss!

Epsiode 11: Will the Cardinals Soar or Crash?

It's another middling week for the Cardinals, made more frustrating by the fact that the games were against their closest wild card competition (Miami) and a team that, while warm, is still pretty bad (Cincinnati).  Players returned, players got hurt.  For pretty much the 800th time this season, the Cards just tread water.
Which begs the question, can this team put together a sustained run that gets them into the playoffs?  John and Daniel tackle that in their main segment, listing out the reasons they can and the reasons they can't.  Then they boil it down to one simple question: will the Cardinals be playing in October?
 
Looking at the minors, the guys talk about David Washington and Davis Ward.  They may share initials, but their short-term prospects at least are much different.  Could Washington get a call-up in September?  Will Ward get promoted even with a weak K/9?
 
Finally, the guys answer a number of Twitter questions, talking about roster construction, who comes up when, and whether this team has an edge or not (and whether it should).  As always, Daniel and John appreciate your patronage and hope that you'll give us some favorable ratings on iTunes or give us feedback on our Twitter accounts, @C70 and @CardinalsFarm!

Episode 10: Chock Full of Goodness

It's an extra-long version of Meet Me At Musial!  The guys first look back at the end of the Dodgers series, the beginning of the Marlins series, and the Mets series in between.  Will the rally against Famila inspire this team to get on a run?  Was it just a bad day at the office for Mike Mayers?  And what is Mike Matheny thinking by starting Jaime Garcia on short rest this coming Saturday?
Then Daniel and John go through the roster, sorting out the strengths and weaknesses.  Are there weaknesses besides the bullpen that can be addressed at the trade deadline?  Are there more strengths here than many think?
 
The Futures Report focuses mainly on the international signings by the Cardinals and why they've splashed so heavily in this pool this signing period.  Also, John talks about his Top 20 prospects, which he recently released at KangarooCourtSTL.com.
 
The show wraps with some great Twitter questions from our great listeners.  If you enjoy the show, please rate us over at iTunes and you can always tweet questions or comments to @C70 or @CardinalsFarm!

Episode 9: Back In The Saddle

After a couple of weeks, Daniel and John get right back into the business at hand, talking about the Cardinals and everything related to them.  They recap the excitement since the All-Star Break, recognize that said excitement should probably be tempered by the fact that the Padres provided a lot of it, and wonder if the division might not be still in reach after all.
In the main segment, they discuss the trading deadline, most notably the idea of going after Chris Sale.  (John's Twitter poll ran about 2/3rds against, something that didn't get updated in the show proper.)  While neither believe it is going to happen, a deal such as outlined in a CBS Sports article didn't seem completely unreasonable.  The guys talk about what's much more likely to happen and what kind of trades are in John Mozeliak's wheelhouse.
 
John talks about Edmundo Sosa and his recent promotion while some of the other prospects get checked in on as well.  They wrap it with some Twitter questions from the listeners, which leads to a discussion of ballpark food, always a good way to end a show!

Episode 8: The Same Old Same Old

While it's been a bit since John and Daniel have gotten together, the issues plaguing the Cardinals haven't changed much.  Lose a series, sweep a series, then back to the losses.  Just enough hope to not completely write off the season, just enough frustration to keep any sort of positive thoughts in mind for any length of time.
After reviewing the results of the past couple of weeks, the guys sort through the myriad of issues around this team.  The bullpen, that supposed bedrock of the squad, has shown more cracks than solvency over the past few weeks.  Should Trevor Rosenthal be working his issues out in the bigs?  What's up with Seung-hwan Oh scuffling after taking Rosie's spot?  How can John Mozeliak fix this, if he can.
And if that wasn't bad enough, the injury bug has hit.  How do you survive losing Matt Carpenter for any length of time?  What was the thinking behind the catching carousel that the club had this week?  Will Brandon Moss's injury affect the trading deadline possibilities?
Daniel also throws out the hypothetical question: What would it take for Mike Matheny to lose his job?  Is that even a realistic possibility?
John goes over some quality minor league news, including the fact that the Cards had four players in Baseball America's mid-season Top 100 Prospects.  Some folks have been moving up the ladder this week as well and the guys chat about that as well.
No show for a couple of weeks as Daniel goes on vacation.  While you are waiting for another episode, be sure to let us know how we are doing on Twitter (@C70, @CardinalsFarm, @MeetMeAtMusial) and rate and review us over at iTunes!

Episode 7: A New Broom Sweeps Clean

There's been a lot of broomwork lately with the Cardinals and Daniel and John are here to talk about it.  They first recap the last couple of weeks of games, starting with the end of a Pirates sweep, then sweeps by the Astros and Rangers, before St. Louis finally sweeps the Cubs.  The latter series gets a lot of the attention, though the guys discuss some of the issues from that disastrous homestand and the ability to now believe the Redbirds can play with the best teams in the league.
In the Up The Middle segment, the recent Memphis exchanges were discussed, most notably the return of Kolten Wong to play centerfield.  Was he rushed back?  Was there enough data to really make a decision?  What does this mean for Tommy Pham, who also got a promotion to the big leagues?
 
John goes through some of the draft signings before diving into the short-season rosters while Daniel deals with issues around the house.  There are a lot of good players to be keeping an eye on during the next couple of months and John has you a solid list.  The latest start for Alex Reyes and the season-ending injury to Nick Plummer also get some discussion.
 
In the last segment, the guys answer Twitter questions and John unveils his latest Top 5 Prospects List, so be sure to stick around until the end!
 
Rate us on iTunes, give us feedback on Twitter (@C70 for Daniel, @CardinalsFarm for John) and we appreciate you listening!