The St. Louis Cardinals aren’t accustomed to stretches of mediocrity
Packers Cheap Jerseys , and certainly not to reports of clubhouse unrest.The prospect of a third straight year without a postseason berth has spelled the end for manager Mike Matheny.
Matheny was stunningly fired Saturday night following an 8-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, a defeat that dropped St. Louis to 47-46 and 7 1/2 games back
of the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs.
Bench coach Mike Shildt was named the team’s interim manager. Hitting coach John Mabry and assistant hitting coach Bill Mueller were also fired.
The Cardinals haven’t missed three straight postseasons since 1997-99.
”These decisions are never easy, but we felt that a change in leadership was necessary as the team prepares to enter into the second half of the season,”
Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said. ”I would like to
thank Mike for his exceptional commitment and devotion to the Cardinals
organization, including many fond memories of our years working together.”
This will be the club’s first midseason managerial change since Joe Torre was replaced by Mike Jorgensen in 1995.
Matheny went 591-473 as manager, and his tenure included a loss to the Boston Red Sox in the 2013 World Series. Matheny was a Gold Glove Award-winning catcher
with St. Louis from 2000-04 before getting his first managerial job with the
club prior to the 2012 season.
The Cardinals made the playoffs in Matheny’s first four years before missing the past two postseasons.
Near the end of last season, St. Louis chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. defended and praised Matheny, telling the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the manager was ”the right
guy to lead us into the future.”
That future ended 93 games into this season. The Cardinals have underperformed on offense and struggled in recent weeks amid reports of locker
room discontent – primarily between struggling outfielder Dexter Fowler and
Matheny.
This season started with promise. The Cardinals acquired cleanup hitter Marcell Ozuna from the Miami Marlins during the offseason, and they had high
hopes for right-hander Alex Reyes in his return to the rotation after missing
all of last season following Tommy John surgery.
Ozuna has failed to live up to lofty expectations, entering Saturday night’s game hitting .270 and with 10 home runs. Reyes missed the first two months of
the season while rehabbing, then was lost again for the year after injuring his
shoulder in his first start back with St. Louis.
Fowler
Kyle Turris Jersey , in his second season since leaving the Chicago Cubs to join St. Louis, has been at the center of the Cardinals’ offensive woes –
hitting just .169 entering Saturday’s game and the focal point of reported
clubhouse tension.
Matheny has limited the outfielder’s playing time of late, and Mozeliak recently said he couldn’t defend Fowler’s ”effort and his energy level.” The
Athletic cited multiple sources in reporting that Matheny and Fowler have barely
spoken in months. The Athletic also reported this week about a rocky
relationship between veteran closer Bud Norris and rookie setup man Jordan
Hicks.
It was the rise of the 2016 World Series champion Cubs, who have won the Central in each of the last two years, that put Matheny’s future in doubt with
many St. Louis fans. The Cardinals finished 17 games back of Chicago in 2016 and
nine games back of Chicago in third place a year ago – due in large part of St.
Louis’ 4-15 record against its rival to the north. Matheny’s in-game moves were
also routinely criticized by advocates of advanced analytics.
Matheny agreed to a three-year contract extension after the 2016 season to keep him with St. Louis through the 2020 season.
Since DeWitt Jr. bought the team in 2005, Matheny was one of only two managers for the Cardinals – along with Tony La Russa.
The 47-year-old Matheny won three of his four Gold Gloves with St. Louis and was part of three postseason efforts, including a World Series. He became a team
leader playing for La Russa, who retired just days after leading the team to his
second World Series title in 2011. Matheny was announced as La Russa’s
replacement later that month.
—
Ken Holland once transitioned the Detroit Red Wings from Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov and that generation of greats to the one that followed with Pavel
Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. Now he’s trying to do it again.
The veteran general manager knows it won’t be as easy this time, so he’s adding and keeping some older players to bridge the gap. On Sunday , the Red
Wings signed 34-year-old winger Thomas Vanek and 29-year-old goaltender Jonathan
Bernier and re-signed 32-year-old defenseman Mike Green.
Vanek signed a $3 million Cam Talbot Jersey , one-year deal, Bernier got $3 million per season on a three-year deal and Green will make $5.375 million annually over the next two
years as part of a series of transitional deals for the rebuilding Red
Wings.
”It’s going to take a little bit of time, we have to have some patience,” Holland said. ”I believe we’re headed in the right direction. In the short term,
trying to bring in some veteran players obviously to mentor, to role-model the
young kids. We need to be competitive. It’s important to develop players if
they’re in an environment that’s positive and we go into every game we have a
chance to win and we’re trying to obviously juggle having veterans on the roster
and moving young players into the roster.”
Vanek enjoyed his 48 games with the Red Wings in 2016-17 so much he wanted to return last summer, but they didn’t have the salary-cap space. He’s not the
prolific scorer he was a decade ago, but Vanek was in demand after putting up 15
points in 19 regular-season games with the Blue Jackets as a trade-deadline
pickup.
”We had a few options, but Detroit, ever since I’ve been there, I loved it Graham Gano Jersey ,” Vanek said. ”I really liked the whole culture of the organization and the guys were great.”
As a right-shot defender who can run a power play, Green would’ve drawn serious interest if he became an unrestricted free agent. He never seriously
considered leaving.
With the neck injury that cut his season short has healed, he wanted to remain with the Red Wings and help bring along the next generation.
”There’s a lot that weighed on my decision to stay,” Green said. ”I think it’s easy sometimes just to go somewhere else, especially with the transition
that’s going on there in Detroit, but I feel like I can be useful in the next
couple years kind of helping the younger guys develop quicker and speed up that
process.”
Having better goaltending might not speed up the process, but it’ll make the Red Wings more competitive. They think they’ll get that from Bernier, who was
the odd man out in Colorado and will split duties in net with Jimmy Howard.
”We’re going to push each other to bring this team back to the playoffs,” Bernier said. ”I didn’t want to be in a position where I played 15, 20 games. I
want to come in and have a chance to play as much as possible obviously
depending on play. I just thought it was a great opportunity that me and Jimmy
can battle for our games.”
Holland isn’t worried about clogging the roster up for young players. Sixth overall pick Filip Zadina should be able to play right away up front, and the
Red Wings have begun to rebuild their prospect pipeline.
One immediate problem could be the health of captain Henrik Zetterberg Authentic Customized Steelers Jerseys , who has been hampered by back problems and is no sure bet to be able to play next season. Zetterberg, who
turns 38 in October, cast doubts on his future after the season, and Holland
can’t say with any certainty what will happen with the Swedish center.
”Last I talked to him, I think he’s planning on playing,” Holland said. ”Obviously his back is going to determine whether he can or he can’t. … When
you’re dealing with the back and you’re dealing with the health of a person,
it’s hard to read the future when it comes to health. Obviously that’s a key
piece for us. I’ll stay in touch with Henrik as we get into July to see how his
health is.”
—
AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow contributed.
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