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I'm Bernie Miklasz. I've been writing and talking about St. Louis sports since 1985. I've won multiple national awards for writing and talk-show hosting. I was the lead sports columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from 1989 through 2015. I was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. I write tons of columns for the Scoops Network, and I'm a regular contributor at the legendary St. Louis radio station, KMOX. I believe in speaking my mind without filters and supporting my vie ...
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As much as I love watching baseball, there's a tedium to it. I do not live in the past; I accept the sport for what it is now. Things constantly change. But in these modern times, so many games look the same. So many teams look the same. That can never be said of Whitey Herzog's St. Louis Cardinals teams during the 1980s. Months before I started my…
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St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado will turn 34 years old in April, and he's already two seasons into an age-related decline phase -- offensively and defensively. The aging curve brings down all athletes at some point, but that's happened sooner than expected with Arenado. It makes sense for the Cardinals to move him this offseason. He…
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Oli Marmol will manage the St. Louis Cardinals in 2025 and is under contract to do the same job in 2026. We can't predict the future and set expectations for Marmol's team in 2025. There will be payroll cuts, and some could be harsh. Nucleus players/pitchers are likely to be traded; the only question is, how many? It would be a very challenging yea…
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The highly anticipated 2024 Missouri football season is going down the tubes. Forget about the Tigers finding their way into the 12-team national playoff; this team can't even find its way into the end zone. In their last two losses, at Texas A&M and Alabama, MU was outscored by a combined 75-10. And the squad really hasn't played one great game so…
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How will the St. Louis Blues compensate for the loss of the injured, do-everything center Robert Thomas? It will be a challenge, but the Blues passed the first test without Thomas by blowing out the Maple Leafs, 5--1, on Thursday in Toronto. In the victory, the Blues displayed just about everything they must do well with Thomas missing. Goaltending…
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STLtoday reports the Cardinals are just about set to offer a direct-to-consumer streaming service to the team's fan base. If this is officially green-lighted by MLB -- as expected -- the Cardinals can supplement their arrangement with traditional TV carriers. And the best part is, the historical local-TV blackout rules will go away. Fans will be ab…
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In today's video, I start off by looking at the Yankees-Dodgers World Series and the predictable narrative about how the matchup proves that only the big-money teams can thrive in major-league baseball. It's simply not true. Since the start of 2002, we've seen 14 different MLB teams win at least one World Series. And over the same time period, 21 o…
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The St. Louis Blues, off to a 4-3 start, must now deal with the extensive absence of Robert Thomas, the all-purpose source of energy and offense. He'll be out for at least six weeks with a fractured ankle, paying a severe price for blocking a shot in Tuesday's loss to Winnipeg. The Blues already were scrounging for goals with Thomas in the lineup. …
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The Cardinals hired a new hitting coach, Brant Brown, to replace Turner Ward. Can Brown improve the performance of STL's young hitters who struggle for consistency and don't know how to get out of brutal slumps? What does Brown bring to the job? 1) He's fluent in analytics and the potentially valuable information that can help hitters. 2) He has de…
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The Cardinals have hired Jon Jay to be their first base coach for 2025. Jay, a winning and highly respected Cardinal player as the starting CF from 2011-2015, coached for manager Skip Schumaker in Miami but decided to move on when Schumaker and the new Marlins' baseball head of operations decided to go their separate ways. Jay had other options, bu…
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As the leader of the project to restore the lost excellence of the St. Louis farm system and player-development expertise, Chaim Bloom has made his first hire, and it's a big one. Bloom recruited Rob Cerfolio, age 32, from the Cleveland Guardians' front office. Cerfolio, who has the "rising star" reputation within the industry, will bring his skill…
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Since leaving the St. Louis Cardinals -- via trade, free agency, designated for assignment or otherwise let go -- we've seen a long list of players move on, join other teams and compete in a bunch of postseason games. And some have turned into postseason stars including Randy Arozarena, Adolis Garcia, and the latest example, Tommy Edman. What's goi…
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Mizzou football has had some weird, highly unlikely, heart-breaking losses through the years. And anyone who knows or cares about this program knows what I'm talking about. Bad memories. Well, on Saturday afternoon at Faurot Field, senior Missouri quarterback Brady Cook made a remarkable and totally unexpected reappearance after suffering an early …
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Albert Pujols, one of the all-time greatest Cardinals, began his managing career earlier this week, becoming the skipper for Leones del Escogido in Santo Domingo. As a child growing up in the Dominican Republic, Escogido was Pujols' favorite team, and the Leones have stayed in his heart. Pujols won his first game. Congratulations! Taking this job w…
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Fans of the St. Louis Cardinals have nothing to apologize for. Despite another season of missing the playoffs, the Cards franchise continues to sell home-game tickets at a level that many MLB teams can only dream. St. Louis ranked 7th in the majors in tickets sold per home game in 2024 -- and averaged more tickets sold per home game than seven team…
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It's somewhat overlooked, but the St. Louis Cardinals went through a lull from 2007 through 2010, making the playoffs only one time in four seasons. What happened? A lot of core-nucleus talent and effective role players had inevitably moved on after the team's phenomenal stretch from 2004 through 2006. Jeff Luhnow's dramatically revamped draft, dev…
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Three Cardinals are among the National League finalists at the positions for the annual Rawlings Gold Glove award: 1) Nolan Arenado at third base 2) Brendan Donovan in the utility fielder category 3) Masyn Winn at shortstop. To me, among the three Redbirds, Winn has the best shot at striking gold. But the competition at shortstop is formidable. Som…
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This is the latest in my series that takes a look at players the St. Louis Cardinals could be willing to trade this offseason in advance of 2025. With the franchise entering a rebuilding phase, it makes sense to test the market to gauge the trade value of Cardinals such as Sonny Gray, Ryan Helsley, Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado, and Erick Fedde.…
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Former Cardinals have been all over the stage in MLB's 2024 postseason tournament. With no postseason baseball of our own in St. Louis over the last two Octobers, we've obsessed over the many Cardinals who went elsewhere -- by trade or any other means -- to help their new teams pursue a championship. In this video, I put special emphasis on these t…
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Chaim Bloom will focus heavily on the huge project of getting the Cardinals' minor league and player development system up to date and up to speed to give the franchise a better talent pipeline with more prospects who are fully prepared for the big leagues. And that hasn't been the case with St. Louis for too long. Bloom is content to take over as …
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This is my second video that examines potential trade pieces the Cardinals have to offer other teams as they enter a rebuilding phase. In my first video in this series, I discussed the possibility of trading closer Ryan Helsley -- and it makes sense to do so because of the current circumstances. Today's video: trade candidate Willson Contreras, the…
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The Cardinals had an extraordinary run of success from 2000 through 2015, competing in more postseason games (125) and winning more postseason games (65) than any team in major-league baseball. And Busch Stadium (both venues, old and new) were pulsating with tremendous October excitement. But the Cardinals are in a different time and place, and Oct…
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If the St. Louis Cardinals aren't in position to contend in 2025 -- and why would they be? -- it makes sense for the club to explore trades. What could the Cards receive by shopping several players and letting other teams know that St. Louis was willing to make a deal for the right return? Acquiring premium prospects and/or young major-league talen…
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The St. Louis Cardinals are entering a rebuilding phase, and at the moment it is difficult to predict how it will go. Major rebuild? Moderate? Minor rebuild? We'll know soon enough. But if the Cardinals want to do it right to get it right, they can learn a few things by looking across the state to the Kansas City Royals. KC lost 106 games in 2023, …
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The Blues open their 2024-2025 season on Tuesday afternoon at Seattle. Good luck to The Note. It's good to have the hockey season to look forward to and enjoy. The Blues are a compelling team. GM Doug Armstrong had a positive summer, making moves to that upgraded the roster. The Blues enter the season as a younger, faster, fresher group that is lay…
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Mostly because his close association with John Mozeliak and the stigma that it carries among "Mo's" aggressive critics, Oli Marmol is an unpopular manager among Cardinals fans. Not all of them feel this way, but the negativity is obvious. And that's OK. Fans can like who they want to like. They can dislike who they want to dislike. But here's my op…
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The Cardinals are firing batting coach Turner Ward, who oversaw an offense that ranked 22nd overall and 12th in the National League in runs per game this season. The Cards were dreadful offensively in too many areas -- and especially futile when batting with runners in scoring position. And in this video, I detail the specific failures of the team'…
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I keep chuckling at the people who feel so compelled to tell us that Chaim Bloom wasn't all that great as a front-office baseball executive at Tampa Bay because the Rays never won a World Series .... Oh ... in this video, I try to explain why the Rays did such a sensational job of winning with an average annual budget that ranked 27th among 30 team…
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Chaim Bloom is an ideal hire by Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. Why? A simple reason: they both share a love of drafting, player development and building a thriving minor-league system. DeWitt's baseball DNA goes way back to accompanying his father -- who ran and owned the Cincinnati Reds -- on scouting trips. The young DeWitt Jr. also installed…
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The Cardinals are in denial. They insist they're not rebuilding. Except that they are rebuilding, and still can't play it straight with the fans. It's strange. And that's not all. Not only is John Mozeliak staying in the role of president for baseball operations in 2025, he's also taking over the GM position after the Cardinals moved GM Michael Gir…
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The Cardinals acquired first baseman Paul Goldschmidt before the 2019 season. According to reporting from Katie Woo of The Athletic, the Cardinals are moving on from Goldschmidt. His contract is up, and he can become a free agent, signing with a new team that could give him a chance to win a pennant and World Series. And with the Cardinals entering…
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According to reliable media reports, St. Louis Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. is staying with John Mozeliak as the team's president of baseball operations. DeWitt could have gone another way by installing newcomer Chaim Bloom as the head of baseball ops. It will be extremely difficult for DeWitt to convince skeptical fans that the franchise is …
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The Cardinals' farm system and player-development structure is an embarrassing mess. I knew it was bad, but the deterioration is much worse than I imagined. Thanks to the excellent reporting by Katie Woo, who covers the Cardinals for The Athletic, we received valuable information of how bad things are, and what must be done to fix a long-term found…
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As I continue with my series of looks at the best and worst of the St. Louis Cardinals' season, I turn my attention to the two best stars on 2024. Two shining stars, sparkling above the mediocrity: Masyn Winn and Ryan Helsley. I think we all agree on both of these obvious choices. But I'll give you some extra details that you should find interestin…
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There's obviously a chance that Oli Marmol will return as the St. Louis Cardinals' manager in 2025. He is under contract through the end of the 2026 season, and the Cardinals' ownership-management could give him another chance in '25. It depends on who will be running the baseball department in 2025? John Mozeliak? Chaim Bloom? What if the hand-off…
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If the Cardinals see Miami manager Skip Schumaker as an ideal candidate to take over as manager for the St. Louis franchise that he played and coached for, they can't afford to wait. I'm not saying that he's the only candidate the Cardinals should pursue. It's just a matter of timing. If Schumaker checks all of the boxes for the Cardinals -- and I …
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Fired by Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak in a stunning and controversial move at the end of the 2021 season, Mike Shildt has rebounded in a big way by leading the San Diego Padres to the playoffs in his first season as their manager. And as we write this, the Padres are only two games behind the first-place Dodgers in the N…
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The 2024 Cardinals will conclude a disappointing season at the end of the week. I'll be handing out some awards -- and some penalties -- in the coming days and weeks. Best player, MVP, most disappointing player, top pitcher, most overrated, most underrated, high point, low point, the firing line ... things like that. Today, I discuss the most Disap…
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We respect Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras for speaking up and speaking about the team's front office needing to "be hungry" about improving the team, especially the lineup, to reclaim the NL Central division from Milwaukee. The truth is always preferred to head fakes and cliches and excuses. That said, we're not sure what Cardinals management …
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The Missouri Tigers are 4-0. That's great. But the first two games were glorified scrimmages, and over the past two weeks Mizzou has defeated Boston College and Vanderbilt by an average of 4.5 points. Coach Eli Drinkwitz and his team were very fortunate to escape with a harrowing 30-27 victory over visiting Vanderbilt in two overtimes. But the Tige…
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Despite having substantially lower payrolls than the Cardinals and Cubs, the small-market, limited-spending Milwaukee Brewers clinched their second NL Central division title this week. That makes three division championships in the last four seasons, and four first-place finishes in the last six years. The Cubs and Cardinals have a huge financial a…
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Other than Bill DeWitt Jr., Bill DeWitt III, John Mozeliak -- and perhaps others in the Cardinals' leadership circle -- know one knows if the Cardinals are planning to offer, or have offered, their top baseball job to Chaim Bloom. And hypothetically speaking, what happens if Bloom politely declines the offer? What if he joined the Cardinals as a sp…
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Assuming that Chaim Bloom will take over the baseball department after this season to get started on a crucial overhaul of every competitive aspect of the St. Louis Cardinals, the project will require time and patience. (And if the Cardinals don't make Bloom the head of baseball operations when this season is completed, they will have wasted his ti…
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Andre Pallante has done a very good job as a starting pitcher since the Cardinals put him in their rotation on May 29. Pallante has the team's best starting-pitching ERA this season, and since May 29 he's the only St. Louis starting pitcher with an earned-run average less than 4.31. But here's what amazes me: It was Pallante, and not the Cardinals,…
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The Cardinals went a ghastly 2 for 27 with runners in scoring over the weekend in Toronto, scoring only seven runs in three games while getting swept by the Blue Jays. This team's failure with runners in scoring position has been a chronic problem all season, and no one seems to know how to make it better. And now, of course, it's too late to matte…
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I firmly believed Missouri would be in for a tough battle when Boston College came into Faurot Field. The final betting line in the game had Mizzou favored by 14 and 1/2 points, which was too much. As I said in my Friday "Bernie Bits" video here, Missouri would win the game, but Boston College would cover the point spread. And that's exactly what h…
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In today's video, I offer my opinion on the "Sell the team DeWitt!" cries that have gotten louder and more intensified. I understand why St. Louis Cardinals fans are disappointed, disgusted, disillusioned. I understand why the great baseball fans have lost faith in DeWitt and are clamoring leadership. But Bill DeWitt Jr. doesn't have to SELL the fr…
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Missouri football will get its first test of the season on Saturday in CoMo against a surprising Boston College team that's No. 24 in this week's Top 25 AP ranking. BC stunned college football fans and investors by winning big on the road at Florida State. At the time I write this, Missouri is a 16.5-point favorite over the Eagles. That's a big spr…
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Oli Marmol is the manager of the Cardinals and is under contract through the end of the 2026 season. As I mention near the start of today's video, it may be considered unfair or inappropriate to discuss potential replacements for a manager who hasn't been fired ... and may not be fired. But this subject has been on my mind, and I think about it a l…
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2024 marks the 25th anniversary of the 1999 St. Louis Rams and their shocking runaway sprint to a Super Bowl championship. They went 4-12 the season before and had an offense that was as dull as any we've seen. No stars, limited talent, an embattled coach in Dick Vermeil ... and then, one year later, there's a Super Bowl parade down Market Street i…
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