SocraticGadfly: Best Fans in Baseball again not, on Reddit

December 04, 2023

Best Fans in Baseball again not, on Reddit

A day or two ago, I posted about the possibility of the Cardinals trading Nolan Arenado. And most commenters went batshit crazy.

First, as to "he'll never be traded except for another future Hall of Famer"? 

Ted Simmons was traded for non-Hall of Famers, and given he only had 5 WAR after leaving the Cardinals, although I didn't like it at the time, it WAS a good trade in hindsight. In fact, that was AFTER Whitey had acquired Rollie Fingers, so he shipped TWO HOFers at the same time. The trade looked great in 1981, iffy in 1982, but better after.

In real hindsight, the trade was MUCH better a year later, and after hindsight on this second trade, when, after then 1981 season, Sixto Lezcano, also acquired from the Brew Crew, was sent to the Padres with Garry Templeton for ..

A guy ...

Named ....

Osborne Earl Smith.

As I said at r/Cardinals, if Mo thinks that Arenado's 2023 defensive dropoff is more than a one-time deal, now is the time to strike while others are enamored.

Beyond that, no, I wasn't suggesting that Arenado be traded for a box of rocks or sack of hammers.

As for people claiming this is a non-story? Well, yes, I started the header with the word "could"? That should imply an invitation for discussion, not for doubling down on closed-mindedness.

I did, in fact, halfway through, say this:

Anyway, I have no idea if Mo is shopping him under the radar. He does have a full no-trade, but as I've noted here and r/mlb before, such things can always be waived for the right considerations. And, he WAS rumored to possibly be headed to the Dodgers last year midseason.

Seems pretty obvious that I'm not saying they will, or that I support (or disagree with) the idea. And yes, that may have been just rumor. BUT? That fielding decline was already well manifest, but, he might have been a hotter commodity in midseason with the Cards already out of the hunt and the Dodgers looking for another World Series.

Back to the situation at hand.

Arenado, or someone else, could be used to acquire a real closer, along with position players for depth. Bernie Miklasz notes last year's bullpen was a dumpster fire and it hasn't been fixed.

Meanwhile, back at r/Cardinals, you have this chud, who committed either ChatGPT or plagiarism, getting laughed at on the AI sound but still getting nearly 100 upvotes.

And THEN, a day later, when I posted about a Bernie Miklasz piece about the Cards needing more bullpen help, the moderator chuds pulled it down a couple of hours later.

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