St. Louis Cardinals: Early recommended changes to continue winning

MILWAUKEE, WI - APRIL 03: Dexter Fowler
MILWAUKEE, WI - APRIL 03: Dexter Fowler /
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St. Louis Cardinals
PHOENIX, AZ – JUNE 29: Manager Mike Matheny /

The St. Louis Cardinals would do well to have a stronger manager. There, I said it.

The St. Louis Cardinals’ manager, Mike Matheny, is not my favorite guy. I am not apologizing for that (so don’t @ me). That said, I do not want my displeasure to be thought of as a desire for him to fail. Quite the opposite actually.

Those disclosures aside, the 2018 St. Louis Cardinals would benefit greatly from better management. Since the start of the season the press has already released the Jose Oquendo article that gently disparages Matheny and the Tommy Pham Sports Illustrated article that seems to attack the entire organization.

Both of these articles fail to lay praise on the decision-making skills of the St. Louis Cardinals’ manager. To me, Matheny plans well on paper before the contest begins (although it would seem that he doesn’t when you consider the second slide of this show) but is inept at making changes on the fly.

Take this tweet for example:


Notice that it indicates that the Cardinals’ front office had to go grab a legitimate closer- and a good one at that- to force Matheny to make a decision. This is not okay in the form of a manager and is illustrated in the fluid roles of the lineup and the bullpen.

Bottom line is that the St. Louis Cardinals have better options than Matheny at making decisions. We know that Mike Maddux is already been given greater freedom than former assistant coaches and from the Oquendo article it seems that he too has been unleashed. How much longer will the Cardinals’ front office hold onto the perennial paint-drying Mike Matheny?

If the St. Louis Cardinals are truly invested in winning, I am urging them to take note of the elements above and to put changes into play ASAP. This team and its fans cannot take another frustrating up-and-down season like we endured in 2017.

Next: The week that was

What do you think? Did I miss something that would behoove the 2018 St. Louis Cardinals? Let me know on Twitter and thanks for reading!