Happy Wednesday,
Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson here.
Each week, after hosting my sports chat at STLToday.com, we send a newsletter with a quick-hit analysis of the local sports landscape. I also highlight questions from the chat itself. Join the chat at 11 a.m. STL time Tuesdays.
I'll have (a lot) more thoughts on this in an upcoming column, but I wanted to share with you my immediate reactions to the Blues' sudden and surprising firing of coach Craig Berube.
First thought: Dang.
Second and third thoughts: Do the Blues realize how turned off many fans are going to be my this move, and do they realize just how unlikable the team that just got Chief fired has instantly become?
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Maybe there's a new-coach bounce coming for this group. Clearly, it's the only thing Blues general manager Doug Armstrong felt he could try in time to save the season. If the season isn't saved, and it probably won't be, then what are the chances the Blues fired a solid and beloved coach — remember when he led the Blues to their only Stanley Cup championship? Me too! — for, what, exactly?
To try to light a spark in a room full of duds Armstrong (not Berube) gave contracts to, many of which included no-trade clauses.
Complain about Armstrong if you like. He wears the same armor as Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak. One (Armstrong) talks seriously about how he could be fired. The other (Mozeliak) acts like it could never happen to him. Both are incredibly protected and trusted by their respective teams owners.
A general manager on the hot seat doesn't get the clearance to fire a Cup-winning coach. This is Armstrong's team. This is his reclamation job. Prepare for more shakeups now that the coach of the old Cup core has been embarrassingly dismissed in mid-December.
Armstrong looked nearly ill on Wednesday describing the ejection of Berube. In the NHL, it's what you do when you can't figure out what else to do. And it's worked for the Blues before. Heck, it was Berube who was promoted internally and turned around fired coach Mike Yeo's team. So, I won't dismiss interim coach Drew Bannister as a prospect for the full-time gig . It's his job to prove he should keep moving forward. But he shouldn't get too comfortable. A team that got a coach like Berube fired should not be expected to play hard enough consistently enough for anyone.
The Blues are not tough or talented enough. And today, they are less likable, too.
Here are the highlights of this week's chat . . .Â
Q: There seems to be a gap in perception between how the industry views the Cardinals moves (aggressive) and how fans do (not enough). Are fans wrong for expecting bigger upgrades to the rotation?
BenFred: I thought MLB super agent Scott Boras, though biased, had a decent take. He said the Cardinals were trying to get better, but he questioned if the rotation additions were No. 1 caliber. Now, Scott doesn't represent Sonny Gray, so keep that in mind. If he did, he would have made Gray sound like Gibson, as in Bob, not Kyle. I think the industry sees the Cardinals were not going to sit around and waste time when there were guys they felt could help them, that they were aggressive in adding innings, and they are betting on the innings being more valuable than some realize, and that they are not worrying about the age as much as some teams would, perhaps in part because the Cardinals have had a good amount of success with veteran pitchers over the year. I disagree with the suggestion the Cardinals used more resources than they should have. They got pretty low-risk, short-term contracts with proven pitchers and left open room to do more. What they do with that flexibility they left over is going to shape a lot of the opinions. It should.
Q: Would the Cardinals consider adding a veteran presence for designated hitter help?
BF: A veteran bat for the DH equation has some potential upside, but with how the Cardinals view their rotational DH role working — and how it has worked to their benefit in the past — I don't see a DH-specific add coming. I think Nolan Gorman takes a lot of those at-bats. ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ want Paul Goldschmidt, Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado to get some as well to rest their legs and get playing time for catcher-in-training Ivan Herrera.
Q: What’s the right way to view Shohei Ohtani’s monster contract after all the deferred money?
BF: On paper it’s a staggering 10-year, $700 million contract. In reality, it’s a still-staggering equivalent of a 10-year deal worth $460-ish million in terms of today’s value of money. The deferral was not a surprise to him. He was OK with the $460ish million, trust me. Doing it this way helps him have better players around him -- and helps him avoid paying hefty California taxes if he leaves the state when the biggest deferred checks come due. And it allows him (and his representation) to say they secured a legendary $700 million deal.
Q: Got a Braggin' Right's basketball prediction?
µþ¹ó:ÌýFor whatever reason, it seems like Mizzou gets up for the game more than Illinois in recent seasons. It's not unusual for Brad Underwood's team to be the better team on paper, and have the better season once all the dust settles, but to come to STL and lose this game to the Tigers. With that in mind, I'll pick the Tigers. Gates had them ready to run through a wall entering this game last season. They should be encouraged after a tough performance in a loss at hostile Kansas. For what it's worth, I picked Illinois last year and had to buy a friend lunch because of it. So, don't trust me on this stuff.
Q: Thoughts on the City SC trade?
BF: Defensive midfield was an area of need, and Chris Durkin should be a veteran and tough-minded help there. He will be one o the higher-paid domestic guys on the team and hopefully his production can live up to that. Four MLS seasons under his belt. Valuable experience.