Published by St. Louis Post-Dispatch
<p>St. Louis Post-Dispatch lead baseball writer Derrick Goold and guests discuss the Cardinals, MLB and anything related to the national pastime and the city that adores it.</p>
Listen on Apple Podcasts<p>KANSAS CITY -- When it comes to the fragile, fleeting nature of contention, is a bird in hand worth two birds on a bat?</p> <p>That's the question that baseball writer Derrick Goold asks in a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball.</p> <p>St. Louis Post-Dispatch editor and frequent podcast contributor Nathan Mills joins the podcast to discuss which direction the Cardinals are going with their pitching, their offense, and their plans for the upcoming trade deadline. Goold has traveled west to Kansas City, where the World Cup has come for some of its games and the Cardinals have arrived for the conclusion of the I-70 Series. </p> <p>The Cardinals revitalized their lineup with recent moves. The bullpen is undergoing renovation. And all of that happens with the August trade deadline as a backdrop. The Cardinals have close to 40 games remaining before having to make a call on whether they'll be buyers, sellers, or neither at the deadline. A lot as it stake with their decision. A seller keeps them true their plan to accumulate young talent to contend at a later date. Neither chooses not commit. And both directions could lead to fan frustration as the club is trying to lure them back to the ballpark and get them to buy into a refreshed franchise.</p> <p>The podcast closes with a cautionary tale about contention, the potential of which played out for the Royals in the first game of this series and is another in a series of reminders for the Cardinals from their recent opponents -- all of whom have talked about identifying a window to contend, a window to spend to contend, a window when the talent would all come together for an extended run of success. And all of whom have had those plans derailed, unable to take a spark of contention and turn it into a campfire all because they were so convinced the could become a blowtorch able to light at will.</p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More Post-Dispatch podcasts</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please consider subscribing</a>.</p> <p><em>In its 14th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.</em> </p>
<p>One of the first true baseball dynasties in St. Louis history was the St. Louis Stars, who had the talent to back up the name.</p> <p>And, at their centrally located ballpark, the Stars and greats like Cool Papa Bell played such an entertaining, exciting brand of baseball that it not only enriched the game's popularity in St. Louis but also informed the style of play fans have expected and celebrated for generations since.</p> <p>Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball for a wide-ranging conversation with baseball writer and host Derrick Goold.</p> <p>They start with the Stars and the discussion grows from there to detail the NLBM's "Pitch for the Future" iniative to raise $50 million an expand the current footprint of the museum to a campus that will include more items to display, a hotel, and a larger research and academic space. The goal comes back to telling the story of the Negro Leagues and bringing those players and those games to the modern fan with such a strong connection that information becomes inspiration.</p> <p>And that's where this new episode ultimately leads -- to a spot where legends of the past influence the present and bring the game of baseball to the next generation of players and fans.</p> <p><a href="https://www.nlbm.com/donations/legacy-plays-on/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More about the NLBM's "Pitch for the Future" can be found here</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More Post-Dispatch podcasts</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please consider subscribing</a>.</p> <p><em>In its 14th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.</em> </p>
<p>It's become book week at the Best Podcast in Baseball.</p> <p>Long time baseball writer and columnist and former president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America Ken Davidoff joins the podcast to discuss with host Derrick Goold his new book, "101 Lessons from the Dugout." The book, written for young adults, is a merger of baseball, parenting, and life lessons that use the dugout, batter's box, basepaths, and mound to map how baseball is a window into larger affirmations and experiences.</p> <p>One chapter discusses baserunning on a sacrfice fly and amplifies tagging up to a larger idea of pausing, gathering one self, survey the situation, and then charge headlong toward your goal with knowledge and without hesitation.</p> <p>"Your mound (is your) high ground," the book describes as an image for standing tall with an opinion at the center of everything.</p> <p>Davidoff spent decades covering baseball for the New York Post and Newsday, and on his final day on the beat a small group of writers, including Goold, stayed late into the night to cover CBA negotiations between the players' union and owners at the Cardinals' complex in Jupiter, Florida. The negotiations blew right past one of the deadlines, leading to Davidoff staying on the beat a few hours longer.</p> <p>There are lessons from those events too, and the two baseball writers dive into what could be lost with a missing season, what the owners aim to gain with the salary cap, and if any of the 101 lessons from the dugout apply to the situation.</p> <p>The book, <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/101-lessons-from-the-dugout-9798765163016/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"101 Lessons from the Dugout," is available wherever you prefer to shop for books, including here</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More Post-Dispatch podcasts</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please consider subscribing</a>.</p> <p><em>In its 14th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.</em> </p>
<p>What is it with St. Louis and fielding, what are the seams to tie the city, its fondness for baseball, and defense together?</p> <p>That's the question that comes at the conclusion of a brand new episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball. Author and historian Ed Wheatley joins baseball writer and host Derrick Goold to discuss his new book, "<a href="https://www.rawlings.com/product/R00722321.html?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22127010929&gbraid=0AAAAAD-L0M3QPAmaCKEZO7X9jCT0zXtxi&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_vnQBhCxARIsADcZyxKg0Cw4xDPG3kIUcDTqnwHSJe2_16KnGmwCq8ZQCaPcDYl9eATP3NoaAuOFEALw_wcB" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Finest in the Field: A History of Baseball Through 50 Iconic Gloves.</a>" The book uses art-worthy photos of famous gloves, from Bill Doak's that launched the modern glove to Bob Gibson's beloved glove without a logo, to tell the story about individual players, their gloves, and ultimately baseball history.</p> <p>The game itself has changed because of the advances in gloves, from tossing pitches like horseshoes to firing 104-mph fastballs because the catcher's mitt can now handle that.</p> <p>Well, mostly.</p> <p>Most everyone remembers their first glove and their favorite glove, and some big leaguers go whole careers with only one glove, while others get a new glove every season.</p> <p>When Masyn Winn finally got a grip on his first career Rawlings Gold Glove Award, he won the 100th in Cardinals history. The Cardinals are the first big-league club to reach 100 Gold Gloves, and the team just behind them is the Baltimore Orioles, who of course used to be the St. Louis Browns. Four of the finest fielding third baseman in baseball history have called St. Louis' hot corner home -- most recently Nolan Arenado and Scott Rolen -- but the all-time leader in Gold Glove Awards at the position played in Baltimore. The all-time leader at shorstop is a Cardinal, Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, and Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina won three Platinum Glove Awards before anyone else won a second one. Stan Musial was the first to use a style of glove that he popularized and then, decades later, became even more popular for outfielders. Oh, and Rawlings is based in St. Louis.</p> <p>And, heck, the play that launched the Cardinals' World Series history was a tag at second, not a hit.</p> <p>And it was applied with a Bill Doak model glove made by Rawlings.</p> <p>Wheatley, one of the biggest champions of Browns history and a keeper of the St. Louis Browns' flame, considers that question about St. Louis and the deep roots of defense and comes to a compelling conclusion why. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More Post-Dispatch podcasts</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please consider subscribing</a>.</p> <p><em>In its 14th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.</em> </p>
<p>As the longtime archrivals clash for the first time in 2026 with a weekend series at Busch Stadium, here is what the scuffling Cardinals and struggling Cubs share in common.</p> <p>They both got to this point thanks to the Brewers.</p> <p>The Cubs arrive in St. Louis fresh off ending a 10-game losing streak that yanked them from first place in the National League Central to last place, and the Cardinals slide home after being swept in Milwaukee. They've lost six of their past eight games against division foes. With both teams separated percentage points going into their first series of the season, this is a pivotal weekend for at least one of them.</p> <p>Patrick Mooney, longtime Cubs beat writer and senior writer at The Athletic, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss how the Cubs could go from the high highs of two 10-game winning streaks this season to the current questions at the end of a 10-game plummet. Along with BPIB host Derrick Goold, Monney discusses the Cubs' pitching injuries and limited depth, their center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, and the manager Craig Counsell and his sense of humor behind some stoic answers.</p> <p>For the Cardinals, this series is their first time back since "tarps off" and a chance to play in front of huge, lively crowds -- and sell them on returning.</p> <p>The writers also discuss what these longtime rivals, the Cubs and Cardinals, share in common.</p> <p>They're both chasing Milwaukee.</p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More Post-Dispatch podcasts</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please consider subscribing</a>.</p> <p><em>In its 14th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.</em> </p>
<p>CINCINNATI -- The Cardinals continue a stretch of 12 consecutive games against National League Central rivals, and all five division teams will reach their 50th game of the season with a record at .500 or better.</p> <p>At least four will have winning records as the first third of the season comes to an end.</p> <p>But is there a real NL Central race?</p> <p>Post-Dispatch editor Nathan Mills joins baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss the division and what each team needs to do to win the title. The Cubs and Brewers stand out. The Reds have intriguing talent. The Pirates have a wicked pitching staff. The Cardinals ... must continue to win at the margins, and there's a word that Goold gives to that: "Zero Defect." </p> <p>Besides, the real race in the division may not be on the field at all.</p> <p>It could be in the dugout.</p> <p>If the Cardinals continue to play beyond expectations, manager Oli Marmol may present the best challenger in the division to Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy's three-peat as National League Manager of the Year.</p> <p>Also discussed on this episode:</p> <ul> <li>The method behind the six-inning starts from the Cardinals rotation.</li> <li>How to update classic pitching metrics for a modern starter.</li> <li>The invention, in real-time of Skyline Chili poutine. You're welcome.</li> </ul> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More Post-Dispatch podcasts</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please consider subscribing</a>.</p> <p><em>In its 14th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.</em> </p>
<p>Keep your shirts on, the Best Podcast in Baseball is back.</p> <p>And just in time, too.</p> <p>Good vibes have engulfed the Cardinals after returing from a successful swing through California to an eletrcic weekend at Busch Stadium, thanks to the fortuitous pairing of the Stephen F. Austin club baseball team, a walk-off win Friday night, and a mid-game revival Saturday against Kansas City. For several years, the host of the Best Podcast in Baseball has stumped and advocated for a change in the atmosphere at Busch -- from the need for a victory anthem to the idea of transplanting the supporter section from City SC to Busch, even for a weekend.</p> <p>Well, it's all happening.</p> <p>The students from SFA created that section organically, the Cardinals have adopted a victory anthem, and they're playing a style of baseball that is producing wins. Heck, they even have a home run prop.</p> <p>BPIB asks, have they found their voice as a contender?</p> <p>Host Derrick Goold, who misplaced his voice for several weeks, welcomes KMOX/104.1 FM star and BPIB fixture Kevin Wheeler discuss what elements of the Cardinals' success and the atmosphere at the ballpark has staying power.</p> <p>Also discussed:</p> <ul> <li>Wheeler suggests that the Cardinals have received produuction from Jordan Walker equivalent to a $40-milliion free-agent addition.</li> <li>Goold details his breakdown on the three types of statistics: narrative, qualitative, and predictive. And how each applies to discussing analytics for players, fans, and writers, and of course team executives, who camp out in the predictive category.</li> <li>The challenge of development when it comes to a character like Grogu as his big-screen debut approaches.</li> </ul> <p>This is the way BPIB returns</p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More Post-Dispatch podcasts</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please consider subscribing</a>.</p> <p><em>In its 14th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.</em> </p>
<p>MIAMI -- Fresh off a sweep of the Astros in Houston, the Cardinals visit the Marlins with a tailwind of five consecutive wins and a fast start to their rebuild season. Does their early success suggest they'll outperform expectations in 2026, and if so should they accelerate their rebuild plans?</p> <p>That's the question that begins a conversation between 101 ESPN/WXOS host Brandon Kiley, of BK and Ferrario and the Redbird Report, and Best Podcast in Baseball host and baseball writer Derrick Goold.</p> <p>The Cardinals' rush to five games better than .500 this season is buoyed by defying some trends, such as their negative run differential and their undefeated record (5-0) in extra innings. Both indicate that the Cardinals will experience a correction. Still, they've played a crisp, opportunistic brand of baseball that can claim wins in April, and if they continue to outplay their projections how will that challenge the team's stated plan to focus on the longterm. Will the Cardinals keep their eye on the ball and make future-focused trades even if the club orbits .500?</p> <p>What message will they send fans if this team draws support for how it's playing, for how well it's playing?</p> <p>There are messages and actions that the Cardinals could in the months ahead that would find the balance between responding to the way the team has played now while not straying from their longer-range goals. Kiley and Goold discuss what that looks if the Cardinals just move their timeline up and what those moves look like. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More Post-Dispatch podcasts</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please consider subscribing</a>.</p> <p><em>In its 14th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.</em> </p>
<p>WASHINGTON -- In a recent social media post, baseball broadcaster and reporter Dani Wexelman shared a photo of her interviewing Matthew Liberatore when he was a high schooler and juxtaposed it with a photo of her interviewing him this year as the Cardinals' opening day starter.</p> <p>That is a great illustration of the arc of Wexelman's career telling baseball stories, from the backfields of Jupiter, Florida, covering amateur baseball and rising talents to front and center now with Cardinals.TV to capture what the club hopes is a rising team.</p> <p>Wexelman joins Best Podcast in Baseball host Derrick Goold while both of them are in Washington, D.C., covering the Cardinals to discuss the start to the 2026 season as well as the path that brought Wexelman to Mizzou and the back this year as a prominent part of the Cardinals' broadcasts. They also discuss how Wexelman's experience covering amateur baseball for many years and being a national pundit looking at Major League Baseball through a broader lens informs what she plans to bring to telling stories during these Cardinals' "new era." </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More Post-Dispatch podcasts</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please consider subscribing</a>.</p> <p><em>In its 14th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.</em> </p>
<p>What do the roster decisions made by the Cardinals ahead of opening day tell fans about their timetable to contend?</p> <p>Probably more than their letting on.</p> <p>The Best Podcast in Baseball returns from spring training and to its weekly format with a preview of the 2026 Cardinals season told through one position and how so many revealing aspects of the team radiate from it. Editor Nathan Mills joins baseball writer and BPIB host Derrick Goold on the even of opening day to discuss the many tendrils that extend from left field -- from the Cardinals' roster choices to the Cadinals' style of offense, from the Cardinals' need for power and plans for Lars Nootbaar to their debut of JJ Wetherholt and what that says about their next window to contend. It all extends from left field.</p> <p>Just in time for the civic holiday known as opening day it's a brand new BPIB.</p> <p>Happy New Year, as we say in the press box.</p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More Post-Dispatch podcasts</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please consider subscribing</a>.</p> <p><em>In its 14th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.</em> </p>
<p>JUPITER, Fla. -- Thomas Saggese has questions for the host of the Best Podcast in Baseball.</p> <p>Moments after finishing his first ever start in center field for the Cardinals, Saggese joins baseball writer Derrick Goold to talk about the transition to a new position and how much work he wants there before playing it in the regular season. But that's not all.</p> <p>Through the years, Saggese has often shifted interviews to ask great questions he has about history, statistics, and specifically voting for the MVP, other awards, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He was invited on the podcast so he could flip the script and ask those questions as part of a conversation. What follows is a deep dive into the decisions that go with a ballot, whether it's the MVP ballot or the Hall of Fame.</p> <p>The conversation explores how measuring a player with statistics contrasts with how a player measures themselves.</p> <p>Saggese talks about how he values batting average but avoids looking at it, and how when he's thinking about hitting he's seeking feel. Goold wonders what the reaction would be if he explained his votes for MVP and Hall of Fame by saying it just "felt right." And yet there's more common ground between statistics measuring a players production, especially as they evolve, and how a player works for that production.</p> <p>The podcast was recorded outside the Cardinals' new spring training facility, where construction continues.</p> <p>You'll hear it.</p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More Post-Dispatch podcasts</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please consider subscribing</a>.</p> <p><em>In its 14th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.</em></p>
<p>JUPITER, Fla. -- On the even of the Cardinals opening their full-squad workouts for spring training, four reporters covering the camp gather at a table nearby the brand new complex to discuss the bran new questions facing a club in a rebuild.</p> <p>Best Podcast in Baseball begins its 14th season as the leading podcast about the Cardinals and baseball in St. Louis with host Derrick Goold joined by KMOV/Channel 4 sports anchor Tamar Sher and two St. Louis Post-Dispatch colleagues, baseball writer Daniel Guerrero and columnist Benjamin Hochman for a roundtable discussion about what spring means and what spring must prove for the Cardinals.</p> <p>The group discusses the players with the most opportunity this spring, the people facing the most pressure this spring, the player most likely to make the most of this spring, and also just how to judge a team that is departing from the franchise's historical pursuit of the next pennant to something more nebulous -- the next core.</p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More Post-Dispatch podcasts</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please consider subscribing</a>.</p> <p><em>In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.</em></p>
<p>The Cardinals' winter of accumulation climaxed with the trade many months in the making: They moved All-Star utility fielder Brendan Donovan in a three-team trade to Seattle and received a windfall that included two of the Mariners' top-10 prospects and two draft picks, one each from the Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays.</p> <p>So, it's time to take stock.</p> <p>What did all of this subtraction actually add to the Cardinals?</p> <p>Back from a brief winter vacation, the Best Podcast in Baseball returns to discuss exactly that. Post-Dispatch editor Nathan Mills joins BPIB host and baseball writer Derrick Goold to explore the ramifications of the Donovan deal and much more on the eve of spring training. The podcast also explores whether the Cardinals should prioritize a contract extension for manager Oli Marmol, what the bigger benefit is for the two draft picks acquired, and what to take from the Cardinals' rise to No. 2 in Baseball America's farm rankings.</p> <p>It wasn't just prospects the Cardinals added this winter. They've got a bigger scouting apparatus -- they call it an acquisitions department -- and they're going to see how big and how soon that pays off. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More Post-Dispatch podcasts</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please consider subscribing</a>.</p> <p><em>In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.</em></p>
<p>If you sensed some melancholy from both the Cardinals as they announced trading a Hall of Fame-caliber player to Arizona and also from that player, Nolan Arenado, as he described feeling "in the way" where once he expected to retire, that's fair. There was that disappointment on both sides as what could have been came to an end.</p> <p>In a brand new episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball, St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold and editor Nathan Mills discuss the conclusion of a trade more than a year in the making and potentially a streak that stretches back more than a century. For more than 100 consecutive years, without pause, the Cardinals have had a Hall of Fame player or manager in uniform with the team, and that streak could end with 2025.</p> <p>Or, it will be a young player who has yet to emerge as an All-Star who we'll discover in hindsight continued it.</p> <p>The Cardinals reach their annual Winter Warm-up after trading their third namebrand All-Star of the offseason and facing a difficult task of selling a team to a fan base that already had a record-low appetite for purchasing tickets. The pulse of the fans will be on display during the weekend Warm-up, but less clear is how the Cardinals will promote their future and what jerseys will fans be able to purchase. Mills and Goold discuss that and more, like who takes over at third base for the Cardinals and who should take over at third to excite the fans.</p> <p>The podcast concludes with one things fans can look forward to doing in 2026 and how that one thing, voting Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina into the team's Hall of Fame, can be used to create an event that will thrill Cardinals Nation as well give the current Cardinals a feel of what the ballpark is like at its best.</p> <p>Halls of various fames become a recurring theme of the podcast, allowing Goold to note there may not be a Hall of Fame at his high school but he can totally brag about being in class with a future astronaut, Jack Fischer.</p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More Post-Dispatch podcasts</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please consider subscribing</a>.</p> <p><em>In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.</em></p>
<p>A discussion the Cardinals and a chilly Hot Stove eventually ignites with this completely unrelated question: How far into your list of the best players in the history of Major League Baseball do you get before mentioning Rickey Henderson?</p> <p>He's the all-time leader in runs, he's the greatest leadoff hitter in the game's history, and he almost lapped everyone but Lou Brock when it comes to career stolen bases. </p> <p>The name of the game is scoring runs, and few (if any) did it better than Henderson.</p> <p>That's part of the discussion with Matt Snyder, CBS sports writer and author of the new book, "The Leadoff Man: The history of, the evolution of, and fun with the greatest catalyst in sports." (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Leadoff-Man-evolution-greatest-catalyst/dp/B0G5JY3NVG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=26ZR0C8Q6KQ8Z&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2hG9a0IZfH2-RSgN_nINFQ.lmrwlJ4Z-VDYTFlgko8C0OJzVTTfqudTGqAN9xsmaKU&dib_tag=se&keywords=leadoff+man+matt+snyder&qid=1767834041&sprefix=leadoff+man%2Caps%2C386&sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The book is available here</a>.) In his book, Snyder chronicles the changing nature of the leadoff spot, from the speedy contact hitters of yore to the bashers and mashers of the modern game, from the tradition of putting infielder there regardless of their ability to get on base to the analytics of prioritizing the most at-bats for the player who makes the fewest outs. Henderson leads the way with a style of play that was both ahead of his peers and ahead of its time.</p> <p>At about the 23-minute mark, the conversation speeds from leading men to discussing the current offseason and the Cardinals' willingness to trade their leadoff man, Brendan Donovan. The Hot Stove has been sluggish, even stagnant. And that prompts an impromptu suggestion for how to spur deals during the winter meetings with tools already present in the current Collective Bargaining Agreement. No cap needed.</p> <p>Although talk about a cap is going to dominate the next 11 months, and that is where the podcast hurries toward its conclusion by describing how it's not the tycoon-like Dodgers that signal the lack of competitive balance and economic concerns about the game. The Cardinals could be the canary.</p> <p>To which, Snyder flips the question: How deep into a list of the most recognizable baseball teams does one get before naming the Cardinals?</p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More Post-Dispatch podcasts</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please consider subscribing</a>.</p> <p><em>In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.</em></p>
<p>There should be ballads written about Willson Contreras' brief time with the Cardinals.</p> <p>From his arrival as the All-Star eager for the challenge of following Yadier Molina, to that weird week when he took fly balls in left field and stopped catching, to the injuries and fractures and ultimately his move to first base, out from behind home plate without skipping a beat at the plate. Contreras brought both joy and fury to the Cardinals' lineup and clubhouse, and at some point his absence will be felt by the teammates who remain.</p> <p>But he won't be a alone.</p> <p>In a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball, recorded on Christmas Eve, Post-Dispatch editor Nathan Mills and baseball writer Derrick Goold discuss the Cardinals' counterintuitive shopping list for the holidays and what is missing from it and possibly from the clubhouse during his reboot of an organization. The Cardinals traded a starter (Sonny Gray) only to sign a starter (Dustin May) a few weeks later; they traded a right-handed bat from the middle of the order (Contreras) only to suggest a few hours later that they would now look for a right-handed bat to add to the roster. The Cardinals are swapping All-Stars for pitching depth and then looking to replace those veterans with players on shorter-term deals or with more control and less cost.</p> <p>What's missing from those moves is the leadership and experience that the Cardinals have long championed as part of their continuity, as part of their identity as a club. And more trades ahead could mean the departure of Brendan Donovan, who personifies the way the Cardinals like to play and be in the clubhouse; JoJo Romreo, the seasoned reliever in the bullpen; and Nolan Arenado, the future Hall of Famer and Gold Glove-cornerstone at third. </p> <p>Mills and Goold discuss what happens when a young group of players isn't inheriting expectations but tasked with trying to grow them.</p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More Post-Dispatch podcasts</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please consider subscribing</a>.</p> <p><em>In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.</em></p>
<p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More Post-Dispatch podcasts</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please consider subscribing</a>.</p> <p>As the Cardinals have retreated from annual October appearances they have also faded from the national spotlight. They haven't been historically bad. They haven't been as good as their recent history. Jordan Shusterman, senior writer at Yahoo! Sports and host of Baseball Bar-B-Cast, begins a converation on a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball there: Their absence from the national conversation and what will get them back.</p> <p>The answer, of course, is identifying what current players must be a part of the next contending core.</p> <p>That drives this new episode of the long-running Cardinals podcast.</p> <p>When Shusterman joined BPIB and host Derrick Goold for this recording, he entered his name as "#1 Jimmy Crooks Fan," and that fondness for the Cardinals' left-handed hitting catching prospect came up as the two baseball writers tracked the list of teams that have missed the postseason in the same years as the Cardinals. One of those teams -- the San Francisco Giants -- is not only the subject of a forthcoming article by Shusterman but also one of the teams interested in the Cardinals' Brendan Donovan and also a team that shares a standout trait with the Cardinals.</p> <p>Both clubs featured Hall of Fame caliber catchers as their cornerstones and have faded in the years since Buster Posey and Yadier Molina retired.</p> <p>The podcast also includes a discussion on sleeper picks for the future core and how lefty Liam Doyle, the Cardinals' first-round pick in the recent draft, could wake up the ballpark with his debut and personality, if the performance is there to match. He's compared to a closer, just at the start of the game. Plus, did Cardinals' fatigue contribute to the Cardinals' drift out of the national headlines?</p> <p><em>In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.</em></p>
<p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More Post-Dispatch podcasts</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please consider subscribing</a>.</p> <p>Back from Orlando, Florida, and the annual Winter Meetings and into the chill of St. Louis, Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold shares with editor Nathan Mills what he learned about the Cardinals stoking the hot stove for a busy few weeks heading toward the holidays. The Cardinals gave a glimpse into their enhanced scouting staff and expanded view of the marketplace as well as revealed how they may look to add the same roles they've been looking to trade and what traits they're seeking in the pitchers they continue to collect. The Brendan Donovan market is so strong that other teams are wondering what they can get for their infielders. The Willson Contreras market is starting to take shape, but will it matter if he won't accept a trade? And the Nolan Arenado market is going to be slower to develop.</p> <p>All of that, plus Mills sternly rebukes Goold's suggestion that the Dodgers go ahead and get it over and just trade for Mr. and Mrs. Met already and complete the Edwin Diaz trumpet-blaring entry into the ninth inning.</p> <p>There is also an unexpected power ranking of mascots.</p> <p><em>In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.</em></p>
<p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More Post-Dispatch podcasts</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please consider subscribing</a>.</p> <p>There is no bumper sticker, no buzzy campaign slogan that captures the challenge facing Major League Baseball and its 30 clubs as economic disparity grows and the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement arrives.</p> <p>A complex issue requires a complex solution.</p> <p>Or does it?</p> <p>A brief conversation about the Cardinals' spending strategy and past history with free agency, <a href="https://www.stltoday.com/sports/article_864dc20a-1734-415d-8a36-d8ccc65c246b.html?utm_source=stltoday.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletter-templates%2Flocal%2Fderrick-goold&utm_medium=cio&lctg=fef30716ad6dce9129&tn_email_eh1=300065048950cd1e22d9981e795fb808a6379617f9f08f2ac110f1ed3f0e44ad">based on research done for The Write Fielder newsletter</a>, spirals into a much larger debate between Best Podcast in Baseball host Derrick Goold and guest Kevin Wheeler, of KMOX/104.1 FM. After detailing how the Cardinals got into their current predicament, the questions that follow are two-fold: Do the Cardinals need to change their approach to free agency to return to contention, and does MLB need to change its economic structure for the Cardinals to have a new approach to free agency.</p> <p>The debate ignites from there.</p> <p>Wheeler makes a compelling case for how the Cardinals needed to "swim in deeper waters" for free agency and a more conservative approach caught up with them. He adds that a team now focused on development needs to produce its own stars. Goold counters by wondering what World Series contenders have developed their star and not had to outfit the roster with free-agent moves to complete the championship-caliber roster. The Yankees may have Aaron Judge, and they used prospects to trade for Juan Soto once, but they also signed Gerrit Cole. The Kansas City Royals have a homegrown, bona fide star in Bobby Witt Jr. But what's next?</p> <p>That's where the economics of the game enter the conversation and Wheeler's stance that the "big boys" need to play ball for the betterment of the game, and if that means taking less or receiving a smaller cut to spur and require the spending of the smaller markets so be it. Goold makes a suggestion for pulling that off that Wheeler contends would be difficult to sell to fans who what the tangible bumper sticker, not the boring details of how it gets done.</p> <p>Eventually they agree on one.</p> <p>It's the TV deal.</p> <p>Wheeler's arguments that hinge on a comparison to the NBA and its salary cap format require there to be a much larger national TV deal, one closer to what the NBA has. And that is the crux of this. Once that's in place then negotiations about a salarly floor, shared revenue, and an international draft to better balance talent coming from abroad are all more tangible because the largest issue -- the growing gulch between teams -- has been bridged.</p> <p><em>In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.</em></p>
<p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More Post-Dispatch podcasts</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please consider subscribing</a>.</p> <p>From the start of the offseason and the beginning for a new front officer leader, the Cardinals have signaled their priority this winter is to accumulate talent that will help them contend in the future.</p> <p>They began that process by trading Sonny Gray and $20 million to the Boston Red Sox for a pair of pitching prospects, Richard Fitts and Brandon Clarke, and now the Cardinals' pursuit continues with the arrival of MLB's biggest gathering of the Hot Stove season. The Winter Meetings are coming.</p> <p>To discuss the Cardinals' to-do list for the Winter Meetings, KMOX/104.1 FM's Kevin Wheeler rejoins the Best Podcast in Baseball. He and BPIB host Derrick Goold discuss the Cardinals' search to trade Nolan Arenado and what happens if another winter passes without a deal; which of the players nearing free agency, such as Brendan Donovan and JoJo Romero, will help the Cardinals achieve their goal of accumulating young talent; and what does a contract extension look like for manager Oli Marmol.</p> <p>The significant National Baseball Hall of Fame vote set for Dec. 7 is also discussed.</p> <p>This is the first of two episodes because what started as a short conversation spilled into a heated debate about, oh, just the future economic structure of baseball. Look for that bonus BPIB shortly.</p> <p><em>In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.</em></p>