St. Louis Blues Acquire Marco Scandella

The St. Louis Blues have traded a 2020 second-round pick, and a 2021 conditional fourth-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens for defenseman Marco Scandella. Scandella, 29, has been traded two times this season. The Canadiens acquired Scandella in a trade with the Buffalo Sabers on January 2, 2020 for a fourth-round pick. Scandella only played 20 games for the Canadiens. In those 20 games, Scandella had 1 goal, 2 assists, 3 points, and was a plus 1. Combined between the Sabers, and Canadiens in 2019-2020, Scandella has played 51 games with 4 goals, 8 assists, 12 points, and is a plus 10.

Overall Scandella is currently in his 10th NHL season. Scandella has played 569 games with 42 goals, 94 assists, 136 points, and a -28.

In the playoffs, Scandella has played 39 games with 6 goals, 3 assists, 9 points, and a -1.

Scandella was drafted by the Minnesota Wild in the 2nd round (55th overall) in the 2008 draft.

To make room for Scandella, the Blues have played defenseman Jay Bouwmeester on long-term injury reserve and defenseman Niko Mikkola has been sent down to the San Antonio Rampage; the Blues' (AHL) affiliate.

Scandella is in a contract year and should be able to help give the Blues a veteran defenseman. Scandella is the nephew of former Blues left wing Sergio Momesso. Momesso spent 4 seasons with the Blues during his NHL career.

St. Louis Cardinals 2020 Season Preview

Offseason additions: Gwang-hyun Kim, Brad Miller, Austin Dean, Matthew Liberatore, Ricardo Sanchez, Rob Kaminsky, Akeem Bostick, Nabil Crismatt, Oscar Hernandez, Adam Wainwright (re-signed), Matt Wieters (re-signed).

Offseason subtractions: Marcell Ozuna, Jose Martinez, Randy Arozarena, Ramon Urias, Michael Wacha, Chasen Shreve, Dominic Leone.

Point team prediction: 87-90 wins (NL Central champions). The St. Louis Cardinals will go into the season looking to stay on top of the NL Central. In 2019, the Cardinals made the playoffs for their first time since 2015. The Cardinals went 91-71 and won the NL Central for their first time since 2015. The Cardinals would beat the Atlanta Braves in 5 games in the NLDS. The Cardinals would end up getting swept in 4 games by the Washington Nationals (the World Series champions) in the NLCS. It was the Cardinals first time in the NLCS since 2014. Manager Mike Shildt won NL Manager of the Year. Shildt is only the third manager in franchise history to win the award. The two others are: Whitey Herzog in 1985, and Tony La Russa in 2002.

The Cardinals didn't really do much this offseason. The Cardinals signed Gwang-hyun Kim who was a good starting pitcher in Korea, and mostly recently signed Brad Miller. They got Austin Dean off of waivers from the Miami Marlins, and Ricardo Sanchez off of waivers from the Seattle Mariners. The Cardinals traded Jose Martinez, and Randy Arozarena to the Tampa Bay Rays for Matthew Liberatore.

The Cardinals bullpen should be fine again in 2020, it was one of the best bullpens last season. The Cardinals will need a closer though. I think that will be Giovanny Gallegos or Ryan Helsley. The Cardinals still have a great defense in place. The Cardinals will need to have the offense improve in 2020. If the offense doesn't improve, then it could be bad for the Cardinals. Only Kolten Wong hit in 2019.

Starting rotation:

Jack Flaherty
Miles Mikolas (If he can overcome his current injury)
Carlos Martinez (If he does well in camp)
Dakota Hudson
Adam Wainwight

Bullpen:

Giovanny Gallegos
Ryan Helsley
John Brebbia
John Gant
Andrew Miller
Tyler Webb
Gwang-hyun Kim (He can either start of be in the bullpen)

Starting lineup:

Dexter Fowler, RF
Kolten Wong, 2B
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
Paul DeJong, SS
Matt Carpenter, 3B
Tyler O'Neill, LF
Yadier Molina, C
Harrison Bader, CF (If Bader doesn't hit, I can see Lane Thomas taking his spot)
Pitcher

Bench:

Matt Wieters
Tommy Edman
Brad Miller
Rangel Ravelo
Lane Thomas

Prospects to watch:

Dylan Carlson (Will be on the roster at some point in 2020)
Junior Fernandez
Jesus Cruz
Kodi Whitley

Fantasy stud:

Jack Flaherty

St. Louis Cardinals Sign Brad Miller

The St. Louis Cardinals have signed infielder/OF Brad Miller to a one-year contract worth $2 million. Miller, 30, split time between the Cleveland Indians and Philadelphia Phillies in 2019. Miller hit .250 with 1 home run, 4 RBI's, and 1 stolen base in 13 games for the Indians. Miller elected free agency after being designated for assignment by the Indians on April 15, 2019. The New York Yankees signed Miller to a minor league contract on April 22, 2019. Miller hit .294 with 10 home runs, 29 RBI's, and 1 stole base in 41 games for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. The Yankees traded Miller to the Phillies for cash considerations on June 13, 2019.

After being traded to the Phillies, Miller hit .263 with 12 home runs, 21 RBI's, and 1 stolen base in 66 games. Combined for 2019, Miller hit .260 with 13 home runs, 25 RBI's, and 2 stolen bases in 79 games.

Overall, Miller has played 7 seasons in the MLB. Miller has played 759 games with 295 runs, 573 hits, 109 doubles, 26 triples, 88 home runs, 293 RBI's, 35 stolen bases, 252 walks, and a .241 batting average.

To make room for Miller on the 40-man roster, the Cardinals have placed RP Jordan Hicks on to 60-day Injured List. In Miller the Cardinals get a left-handed bat for their bench in which they've been needing this offseason. Miller makes an interesting player for the Cardinals 26-man roster. Miller is pretty similar to former Cardinals infielder and current Milwaukee Brewer, Jed Gyorko. In 2016 with the Tampa Bay Rays, Miller hit .243 with 73 runs, 133 hits, 29 doubles, 6 triples, 30 home runs, 81 RBI's, 6 stolen bases, and 47 walks. The runs, hits, doubles, home runs, and RBI's were all career highs for Miller.

St. Louis Cardinals Re-Sign Matt Wieters

The St. Louis Cardinals have re-signed catcher Matt Wieters to a one-year contract worth $2 million. Wieters can earn $1 million in incentives. Wieters, 33, spent the 2019 season as Yadier Molina's backup after signing a minor league contract with the Cardinals on February 26, 2019. Wieters refound some of his power after joining the Cardinals. Wieters hit .214 with 11 home runs, 27 RBI's, 1 stolen base, and 12 walks. The 11 home runs were the most hit by a Cardinals since Tom Pagnozzi hit 13 in 1996. That of course is any catcher not named Yadier Molina.

Wieters ended up being a good backup for Molina and the Cardinals. Pitchers also trust Wieters, he can call a good game if Molina isn't starting of if injured. Wieters is a four time All-Star: 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2016. Wieters has won the Gold Glove Award two times: 2011, and 2012.

Overall, Wieters has played 11 seasons in the MLB. Wieters have played 1,148 games with 437 runs, 989 hits, 189 doubles, 5 triples, 146 home runs, 546 RBI's, 9 stolen bases, 365 walks, and a .250 batting average.

Wieters re-signing with the Cardinals probably means that catcher Andrew Knizner starts in Tripe-A Memphis. Unless the Cardinals were to decide to carry three catchers on their team. MLB teams can now have a 26-man roster.

St. Louis Cardinals Sign Kwang-hyun Kim

The St. Louis Cardinals have signed starting pitcher Kwang-hyun Kim two a two-year contract worth $8 million. Kim, 31, comes over from Korea after spending twelve seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) for the SK Wyverns. Kim missed the 2017 season due to having Tommy John surgery. Since having Tommy John, Kim seems to have comeback stronger. In Kim's first full season back in 2018, Kim went 11-8 with a 2.98 era, 25 games, 25 starts, 136 innings, 130 strikeouts, and 30 walks. Kim hadn't had an era in 2.00's since 2010 with a 2.37 era. Last season in 2019, Kim went 17-6 with a 2.51 era, 31 games, 30 starts, 190.1 innings, 180 strikeouts, and 38 walks. The win tied a career high for Kim, he previously won 17 games in 2010. The 190.1 innings were Kim's second most innings pitched in his career. Kim's most innings were 193.2 in 2010. The strikeouts were Kim's second highest in his career, his career high in strikeouts is 183 in 2010.

Kim has been said to be one of the best pitchers in South Korea. The San Diego Padres almost signed Kim in 2014, but then couldn't agree on a contract after winning his rights in a bid. Kim will become the Cardinals second Korean pitcher to have signed with the Cardinals, the first was right handed pitcher Seaung-Hwan Oh on January 11, 2016. Kim also the second pitcher to sign with a MLB team this offseason, he follows Josh Lindblom who signed with the Milwaukee Brewers on December 16, 2019.

Overall, Kim has a record of 136-77 with a 3.27 era, 298 games, 276 starts, 8 complete games, 3 shutouts, 1,673.2 innings, 1,456 strikeouts, and 646 walks.

Kim gives the Cardinals a nice left handed starting pitcher for their rotation if he's able to win a spot in the rotation. The signing of Kim could mean that Carlos Martinez will stay in the bullpen. There's also a chance maybe Kim could become a swingman and start at times if need be.

Troy Brouwer Back With Blues

The St. Louis Blues have signed free agent right wing Troy Brouwer to a one-year, two way contract worth $750,000. Brouwer, 34, signed a professional tryout with the Blues on November 11, 2019. The Blues had until Thursday to decide on whether to keep Brouwer. It will be Brouwer's second stint with the Blues. Brouwer's first season with the Blues was in 2015-2016, after being acquired with goalie Pheonix Copley, and a 3rd round pick in the 2016 NHL draft from the Washington Capitals for right wing T.J. Oshie on July 2, 2015.

Brouwer helped the Blues reach the Western Conference Final for their first time in 15 seasons. For the 2015-2016 season, Brouwer played in 82 games with 18 goals, 21 assists, 39 points, and a plus 2. In the playoffs, Brouwer had 8 goals with 5 assists, 13 points, and a -1. The goals, assists, and points were a career high in the playoffs for Brouwer. After the season ended, Brouwer signed a four-year contract worth $18 million with the Calgary Flames. Brouwer lasted two seasons with the Flames before being bought out on August 3, 2018.

Brouwer spent last season with the Florida Panthers. Brouwer played in 75 games with 12 goals, 9 assists, 21 points, and a -6. He mostly played on the Panthers checking line.

Overall, Brouwer has played 13 seasons in the NHL. Brouwer has played 838 games with 181 goals, 181 assists, 362 points, and a -29. In the playoffs, Brouwer has played 102 games with 15 goals, 19 assists, 34 points, and a -7.

Brouwer won't need to come in and be a superstar. He knows a lot of the players on the Blues. The Blues currently have right wing Vladimir Tarasenko, center Alexander Steen, and left wing Sammy Blais injured. Brouwer should be able to help provide experience while missing those players.

St. Louis Cardinals Keep Adam Wainwright For 2020

The St. Louis Cardinals have re-signed starting pitcher Adam Wainwright to a one-year contact, worth $5 million. Wainwright can earn $5 million in incentives. Wainwright, 38, re-found some life in 2019. Last season, Wainwright went 14-10 with a 4.19 era, 31 games, 31 starts, 171.2 innings, 153 strikeouts, 53 walks, and a whip of 1.43. The wins were the most for Wainwright since he won 20 games in 2014. The era was Wainwright's best era in a while. Wainwright's era's the last couple of seasons were: 4.62, 5.11, and 4.46.

Wainwright is two wins away from moving into 3rd place by himself on the Cardinals all-time wins list for pitchers. Right now, Wainwright has 162 career wins. The pitchers in front of Wainwright are: Bob Forsch 163, Jessie Haines 210, and Bob Gibson 251. Wainwright ranks 2nd with strikeouts in franchise history with 1,776. Wainwright has started the 5th most games with 316. He could move into 4th in 2020. Wainwright ranks 6th in innings pitched with 2,103.2.

Will Wainwright be able to stay doing well? If his road era doesn't improve things could be bad. On the road in 2019, Wainwright had an era of 6.22. Wainwright's era was much better at home with an era of 2.56.

Overall, Wainwright will be entering his 15th MLB season. Wainwright has a record of 162-95 with a 3.39 era, 383 games, 316 starts, 22 complete games, 10 shutouts, 3 saves, 2,103.2 innings, 576 walks, 1,776 strikeouts, and a whip of 1.23. Wainwright is a three-time All-Star: (2010), (2013), and (2014). Wainwright led the NL in wins two times: (2009), and (2013). Wainwright has also won two Gold Gloves: (2009), and (2013). In 2017, Wainwright won Sliver Slugger Award.

As of right now it looks like the Cardinals starting rotation is set with Jack Flaherty, Carlos Martinez, Miles Mikolas, Dakota Hudson, and Wainwright. The Cardinals have told Martinez to prepare as a starting pitcher. You don't know if you will get the healthy Martinez and how long Wainwright can last. If the healthy Martinez shows up then Cardinals will be fine.

In 2020, it could be the last season for both Adam Wainwright and catcher Yadier Molina. If it ends up being Molina's last season of his career, it would be nice to send him and Wainwright out on a high note.