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.