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I'm Bernie Miklasz. I've been writing and talking about St. Louis sports since 1985. I've won multiple national awards for writing and talk-show hosting. I was the lead sports columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from 1989 through 2015. I was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. I write tons of columns for the Scoops Network, and I'm a regular contributor at the legendary St. Louis radio station, KMOX. I believe in speaking my mind without filters and supporting my vie ...
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The St. Louis Cardinals plan to play the young dudes in 2025, giving them a much fuller opportunity instead of spending and wasting money on average-level free agents that won't elevate the quality of the team. After seeing the Cardinals going in the wrong direction with an outdated and ineffective model that has produced the worst two-season winni…
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We fans and media got into a full-blown tizzy when The Athletic reported on Nolan Arenado being willing to move to first base to fill a hole for a team that could have interest in him. This set off a maniacal reaction, with folks rushing to in to concoct fantasy trades and scenarios. It's all part of the fun of baseball's offseason ... I guess. But…
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The Cardinals are testing the trade market to gauge interest in third baseman Nolan Arenado. He'll be 34 in the spring, he's stuck in a glaring two-year decline phase, and he's owed $74 million in guaranteed salary over the next three seasons. Plus, Arenado has full no-trade protection and can veto any trade proposal. Given that combination of fact…
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In this video, I follow up on the St. Louis Blues' hiring of Jim Montgomery as their new head coach following the dismissal dismissal of Drew Bannister after only 22 games. I explain why I've come to believe that this Montgomery-Blues reunion was in the works all along -- and I offer reasons why. The strong alliance between GM Doug Armstrong and Mo…
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The St. Louis Blues made a predictable and inevitable move on Sunday, firing coach Drew Bannister and hiring Jim Montgomery. In this video, I praise GM Doug Armstrong for moving fast to make a deal with Montgomery, his No. 1 coaching choice since the end of last season. But Montgomery wasn't available last offseason because the Boston Bruins decide…
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St. Louis Cardinals manager Oli Marmol will enter the 2025 season in the first year of a two-year contract extension that expires after the 2026 campaign. But that doesn't mean Oli would make it to 2026. With Chaim Bloom taking over the baseball operations department after the '25 season, he'll be making the call on Marmol's future. In this video, …
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In 2023, Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman combined for a .256 average, .335 onbase percentage and .461 slugging percentage for a .796 OPS. They walloped a combined 43 homers and drove in 127 runs. This was a very good set of numbers for two hitters that were 21 (Walker) and 23 (Gorman) years old during the 2023 season. But in 2024, Gorman and Walker …
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Your St. Louis Blues are in a swoon, having gone 1-5-1 in the last seven games and straining to score enough goals to be competitive. This is part of a 3-8-1 stretch that has made the Blues the worst team in the NHL (.292 points percentage) since Oct. 26. As the Blues were playing against Minnesota at Enterprise Center Tuesday night, the news of a …
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The St. Louis Cardinals are using 2025 as a showcase for their younger, less experienced players. The "play the kids" mantra s somewhat misleading because some of the guys that are part of a so-called youth movement have actually been in the majors for two or three seasons. Moreover, if the Cardinals aren't committed to giving abundant playing-time…
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St. Louis Cardinals rookie shortstop did not receive a single vote -- nothing -- in the annual NL Rookie of the Year voting done by the Baseball Writers Association of America. I didn't think Winn had a chance to win the award; Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes was an obvious choice, and Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill deserved to finish second. I …
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It makes a tremendous amount of sense for the St. Louis Cardinals to trade their elite closer, Ryan Helsley, this offseason. His value has never been higher than it is now. The Cardinals are highly unlikely to emerge as a legit contender for a 2025 postseason spot, and Helsley can walk as a free agent after the '25 season. This is the right time to…
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The Mizzou football coaches and players and backers expected big things from the Tigers in 2024. After last season's 11-2 emergence, Missouri entered this campaign with high hopes, enormous hype, raised expectations, higher standards and a relatively easy schedule. After losing at South Carolina 34-30, MU is 7-3 overall, 3-3 in the SEC, and 2-3 aga…
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The Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills renew their colorful and wonderfully entertaining rivalry on Sunday afternoon (3:25 pm STL time.) This is the best regular-season matchup -- so far -- on the 2024 NFL schedule. The Chiefs are only the fifth reigning Super Bowl champion to open the next season by winning the first nine games. If they can …
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The Cardinals are promoting the 2025 season as a "Let the kids play!" initiative as the baseball operation takes time to regroup, rebuild the terribly outdated player-development and minor-league infrastructure, and take a long look at the younger players/pitchers on the MLB roster who can be an important part of a changing nucleus going forward. O…
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This is a video about a horse named Noot. For the St. Louis Cardinals to improve offensively in a meaningful way in 2025, Lars Nootbaar will have to play enough to make a difference. Nootbaar draws a lot of walks, fuels the team's onbase percentage, and can hit for power. He can also play all three outfield positions. He isn't much of a base steale…
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For many years the St. Louis Cardinals would mystify front-office executives of other teams by consistently hitting the jackpot with later-round draft picks, low-key trades, and low-cost but high-value free agent signings. These successful sleight of hand moves frustrated opponents and confused media people. How do the Cardinals continue to do this…
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With Wilson Contreras staying, and with Sonny Gray highly likely to stay, the 2025 Cardinals might not be as bad as expected. I've been hearing that a lot from fans and my fellow media friends. And I think it's an interesting question that warrants a closer look. In this video I cite some of the reasons why the Cardinals could surprise us - within …
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On a wild Saturday night in CoMo, the Missouri Tigers overcame a dull start, a plodding offense and a halftime deficit during a crazy, cuckoo 2nd half to outlast visiting Oklahoma 30-23. The star of the show was Missouri backup quarterback Drew Pyne, who shook off an ineffective first half to repeatedly come through with big plays with the game on …
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It was a big week for the St. Louis Cardinals. On Tuesday, Missouri voters approved a ballot initiative that legalizes sportsbook wagering in Missouri. The Cardinals -- and their Ballpark Village -- will clearly benefit from that. On Thursday, the Cardinals announced the launching of a direct-to-consumer streaming package that will deliver the game…
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Here's an update on a recent video about Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado, taking a look at the reasons why it makes sense for St. Louis to trade him this offseason. The answer, obviously, is yes. But the reasons are even stronger now. The nove must be made, if at all possible. Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak offered t…
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Willson Contreras is on the move ... but he isn't really going anywhere. He's staying in St. Louis, staying with the Cardinals, but he'll head to first base to take over for the departing Paul Goldschmidt. So that's his move: from starting catcher, to starting first baseman. And he'll obviously log plenty of at-bats as a designated hitter ... which…
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Just 13 games into the new season, the St. Louis Blues have been walloped by adversity. There are the injuries to center Robert Thomas, their best player -- and defenseman Philip Broberg, their best newcomer. And in Tuesday's 3-2 win over visiting Tampa Bay, the Blues were shaken by an injury to young center Dylan Holloway, who had to be wheeled of…
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The St. Louis Cardinals acquired the acclaimed first baseman Paul Goldschmidt from Arizona before the 2019 season. Goldschmidt is a free agent, and he'll undoubtedly play elsewhere in 2025. The Cardinals declined to make a qualifying offer to Goldschmidt, and that closes the book on his St. Louis career. No question, Goldy had a strong overall body…
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Oscar Tavares, a heralded and highly-touted prospect, made his MLB debut for the St. Louis Cardinals on May 31, 2014 at age 22. He played his final game for the Cardinals on Oct. 16, 2014 and died 10 days later, killing himself and his girlfriend in a horrific, single vehicle drunk-driving wreck in the Dominican Republic. Including the postseason, …
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The St. Louis Cardinals have been caught in a slow but unmistakable downturn since the start of the 2016, missing the playoffs five times in the last eight full seasons. The fan base is justifiably disillusioned, and some of the more irate fans have implored Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. to sell the team. I'm not telling anybody they're wrong …
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After hitting well as a rookie in 2023, Jordan Walker had a brutal 2024 season for the St. Louis Cardinals. He collapsed offensively and relapsed defensively in right field. The numbers were brutal. But he still has the physical ability and natural talent to get his career back on track offensively, and it can happen as soon as the 2025 season. The…
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As much as I love watching baseball, there's a tedium to it. I do not live in the past; I accept the sport for what it is now. Things constantly change. But in these modern times, so many games look the same. So many teams look the same. That can never be said of Whitey Herzog's St. Louis Cardinals teams during the 1980s. Months before I started my…
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St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado will turn 34 years old in April, and he's already two seasons into an age-related decline phase -- offensively and defensively. The aging curve brings down all athletes at some point, but that's happened sooner than expected with Arenado. It makes sense for the Cardinals to move him this offseason. He…
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Oli Marmol will manage the St. Louis Cardinals in 2025 and is under contract to do the same job in 2026. We can't predict the future and set expectations for Marmol's team in 2025. There will be payroll cuts, and some could be harsh. Nucleus players/pitchers are likely to be traded; the only question is, how many? It would be a very challenging yea…
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The highly anticipated 2024 Missouri football season is going down the tubes. Forget about the Tigers finding their way into the 12-team national playoff; this team can't even find its way into the end zone. In their last two losses, at Texas A&M and Alabama, MU was outscored by a combined 75-10. And the squad really hasn't played one great game so…
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How will the St. Louis Blues compensate for the loss of the injured, do-everything center Robert Thomas? It will be a challenge, but the Blues passed the first test without Thomas by blowing out the Maple Leafs, 5--1, on Thursday in Toronto. In the victory, the Blues displayed just about everything they must do well with Thomas missing. Goaltending…
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STLtoday reports the Cardinals are just about set to offer a direct-to-consumer streaming service to the team's fan base. If this is officially green-lighted by MLB -- as expected -- the Cardinals can supplement their arrangement with traditional TV carriers. And the best part is, the historical local-TV blackout rules will go away. Fans will be ab…
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In today's video, I start off by looking at the Yankees-Dodgers World Series and the predictable narrative about how the matchup proves that only the big-money teams can thrive in major-league baseball. It's simply not true. Since the start of 2002, we've seen 14 different MLB teams win at least one World Series. And over the same time period, 21 o…
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The St. Louis Blues, off to a 4-3 start, must now deal with the extensive absence of Robert Thomas, the all-purpose source of energy and offense. He'll be out for at least six weeks with a fractured ankle, paying a severe price for blocking a shot in Tuesday's loss to Winnipeg. The Blues already were scrounging for goals with Thomas in the lineup. …
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The Cardinals hired a new hitting coach, Brant Brown, to replace Turner Ward. Can Brown improve the performance of STL's young hitters who struggle for consistency and don't know how to get out of brutal slumps? What does Brown bring to the job? 1) He's fluent in analytics and the potentially valuable information that can help hitters. 2) He has de…
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The Cardinals have hired Jon Jay to be their first base coach for 2025. Jay, a winning and highly respected Cardinal player as the starting CF from 2011-2015, coached for manager Skip Schumaker in Miami but decided to move on when Schumaker and the new Marlins' baseball head of operations decided to go their separate ways. Jay had other options, bu…
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As the leader of the project to restore the lost excellence of the St. Louis farm system and player-development expertise, Chaim Bloom has made his first hire, and it's a big one. Bloom recruited Rob Cerfolio, age 32, from the Cleveland Guardians' front office. Cerfolio, who has the "rising star" reputation within the industry, will bring his skill…
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Since leaving the St. Louis Cardinals -- via trade, free agency, designated for assignment or otherwise let go -- we've seen a long list of players move on, join other teams and compete in a bunch of postseason games. And some have turned into postseason stars including Randy Arozarena, Adolis Garcia, and the latest example, Tommy Edman. What's goi…
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Mizzou football has had some weird, highly unlikely, heart-breaking losses through the years. And anyone who knows or cares about this program knows what I'm talking about. Bad memories. Well, on Saturday afternoon at Faurot Field, senior Missouri quarterback Brady Cook made a remarkable and totally unexpected reappearance after suffering an early …
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Albert Pujols, one of the all-time greatest Cardinals, began his managing career earlier this week, becoming the skipper for Leones del Escogido in Santo Domingo. As a child growing up in the Dominican Republic, Escogido was Pujols' favorite team, and the Leones have stayed in his heart. Pujols won his first game. Congratulations! Taking this job w…
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Fans of the St. Louis Cardinals have nothing to apologize for. Despite another season of missing the playoffs, the Cards franchise continues to sell home-game tickets at a level that many MLB teams can only dream. St. Louis ranked 7th in the majors in tickets sold per home game in 2024 -- and averaged more tickets sold per home game than seven team…
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It's somewhat overlooked, but the St. Louis Cardinals went through a lull from 2007 through 2010, making the playoffs only one time in four seasons. What happened? A lot of core-nucleus talent and effective role players had inevitably moved on after the team's phenomenal stretch from 2004 through 2006. Jeff Luhnow's dramatically revamped draft, dev…
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Three Cardinals are among the National League finalists at the positions for the annual Rawlings Gold Glove award: 1) Nolan Arenado at third base 2) Brendan Donovan in the utility fielder category 3) Masyn Winn at shortstop. To me, among the three Redbirds, Winn has the best shot at striking gold. But the competition at shortstop is formidable. Som…
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This is the latest in my series that takes a look at players the St. Louis Cardinals could be willing to trade this offseason in advance of 2025. With the franchise entering a rebuilding phase, it makes sense to test the market to gauge the trade value of Cardinals such as Sonny Gray, Ryan Helsley, Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado, and Erick Fedde.…
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Former Cardinals have been all over the stage in MLB's 2024 postseason tournament. With no postseason baseball of our own in St. Louis over the last two Octobers, we've obsessed over the many Cardinals who went elsewhere -- by trade or any other means -- to help their new teams pursue a championship. In this video, I put special emphasis on these t…
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Chaim Bloom will focus heavily on the huge project of getting the Cardinals' minor league and player development system up to date and up to speed to give the franchise a better talent pipeline with more prospects who are fully prepared for the big leagues. And that hasn't been the case with St. Louis for too long. Bloom is content to take over as …
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This is my second video that examines potential trade pieces the Cardinals have to offer other teams as they enter a rebuilding phase. In my first video in this series, I discussed the possibility of trading closer Ryan Helsley -- and it makes sense to do so because of the current circumstances. Today's video: trade candidate Willson Contreras, the…
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The Cardinals had an extraordinary run of success from 2000 through 2015, competing in more postseason games (125) and winning more postseason games (65) than any team in major-league baseball. And Busch Stadium (both venues, old and new) were pulsating with tremendous October excitement. But the Cardinals are in a different time and place, and Oct…
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If the St. Louis Cardinals aren't in position to contend in 2025 -- and why would they be? -- it makes sense for the club to explore trades. What could the Cards receive by shopping several players and letting other teams know that St. Louis was willing to make a deal for the right return? Acquiring premium prospects and/or young major-league talen…
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The St. Louis Cardinals are entering a rebuilding phase, and at the moment it is difficult to predict how it will go. Major rebuild? Moderate? Minor rebuild? We'll know soon enough. But if the Cardinals want to do it right to get it right, they can learn a few things by looking across the state to the Kansas City Royals. KC lost 106 games in 2023, …
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