As the minor-league season nears its end -- some Cardinals affiliates are in the postseason, others are completing their schedule -- a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball discusses the performances at every level and "leapers" who have bounded into the conversation for top-prospect rankings with their production in 2023. Daniel Guerrero, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer and beat writer for the minor-league system, details what players have made an impression on him and where...

As they meander to their first losing season since 2007, the Cardinals have identified a shopping list for the 2023-24 offseason. To quote the executive who will lead the spree: "Pitching. Pitching. Pitching." John Mozeliak said it thrice on purpose. They intend to add three pitchers from the outside. Will that be enough? Who better to ask than Gordon Wittenmyer, the longtime baseball writer and first-year Reds beat writer for the Cincinnati Enquirer. He covered the Cubs at the start of the...

So, how did the Cardinals do at the deadline with their acquisition of handfuls of minor-league pitchers? Smart, wrong, or lucky? Maybe a bit of all three. MLB Pipeline prospect guru Jonathan Mayo joins a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss the Cardinals new additions and his new book, 'Smart, Wrong, and Lucky: The Origin Stories of Baseball's Unexpected Stars.' He details which one the Cardinals were when they selected Albert Pujols in the 13th round. Mayo shares stories about...

What happens when a team that prides itself on always been a contender turns the final two months of the regular season into extended spring training? That's what the Cardinals are going to find out. After the Cardinals' latest drubbing by the New York Mets at Busch Stadium, St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson takes over a brand new BPIB and talks with host and baseball writer Derrick Goold about the trouble with trying to have it both ways -- keeping the sense of...

On the same night Matthew Liberatore makes his first start against Tampa Bay, the team that identified his talent and drafted him 16th overall in the 2018 draft, the Best Podcast in Baseball visits with Tampa Bay Times' baseball writer Marc Topkin, the longtime baseball writer who covered big-league baseball in this area before there was a big-league team. With BPIB host Derrick Goold, Topkin details how the Rays have rebuilt, replenished, and retooled a pitching staff each year to contend in...

In this bonus episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball, we bring you PlayBacks, an audio series that brings to life the archives of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In a game that started on Sept. 11, 1974, the Cardinals beat the Mets 4-3 in the longest non-tie game in Major League history. Here is our original report from that game. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Futures Game is approaching and with it the 2023 MLB Draft -- which gives BPIB an excuse to discuss if any talent is racing the Cardinals way and whether it's possible they run the table on their 2020 draft picks. (They won't.) It also is a chance for the Best Podcast in Baseball to introduce a new, regular feature for the podcast: Expanded coverage of the Cardinals minor-league system with St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Daniel Guerrero, co-host of the former BPIB spin-off shot,...

From Mondo Beer + Pizza on the southbank of the Thames, a 5-minute walk from Shakespeare's Globe Theater on one side and London Bridge on the other, the Best Podcast in Baseball visits with Cardinals and baseball fans in London to discuss how they became Cardinals fans and how they chase the game with the time zones against them. You'll hear from, in order, Scott Seamons, Matt Benson, and Russell Eassom, one of the hosts of the podcast Bat Flips & Nerds, a UK-based baseball podcast. It's...

What begins with KMOX/1120AM broadcaster Kevin Wheeler's disclosure that he's fascinated by aliens and perhaps Bigfoot turns into a discussion about something that is just as elusive to see at this point: The Cardinals' chances of contending in 2023. Wheeler joins Best Podcast in Baseball host and baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss areas where the Cardinals have seen erosion, from defense to development, and whether there is enough time left on the schedule, talent in the system, and...

Cincinnati Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz, less than a week into his big-league career and already a certified sensation, makes his first visit to St. Louis for his first series against an NL Central rival. And he just might tilt the race in a division where no team has stood out, and the favorite to win, the Cardinals, has been down at the bottom. The Athletic baseball writer C. Trent Rosecrans rejoins BPIB to discuss the Cruz Factor, the awe other big-leaguers have in the 6-foot-5 shortstop...

Note: The planned Best Podcast in Baseball episode with author Will Leitch, of New York Magazine and MLB.com, begins at 18:20. While recording a conversation with Leitch about his new novel, the cameo in it by the Cardinals, and his beginnings as a sportswriter, Best Podcast in Baseball host Derrick Goold had to step aside to write a tribute and obituary for Hall of Fame journalist and longtime St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Rick Hummel. This episode begins with a memorial of Hummel...

Sit back and let Rick Hummel spin a yarn. In 2021, as Rick Hummel celebrated his 50th year at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and neared what would be the 41st of 42 consecutive Major League Baseball All-Star Games, the giant of baseball journalism was a guest on the Best Podcast in Baseball. Few writers appeared as often or were quoted as much on the podcast through its first decade, and it is an honor to represent this episode. From earlier: What started at a bicycle race and put him on the...

In a first for the Best Podcast in Baseball, digital baseball producer Carter Chapley joins the show to introduce a new format. Chapley takes reader questions from the STLToday.com Monday live chats and asks lead baseball writer Derrick Goold. This week, the questions highlight the Cardinals' need to sign a pitcher, the Cardinals way and the future of business in baseball. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of StlToday.com, the St. Louis...

Where better to go for background and informed viewpoints on the Cardinals decision to reduce All-Star catcher Willson Contreras' time behind the plate than to two of the people who covered him the longest as the man behind the mask for the World Series champion Cubs? Patrick Mooney, baseball writer at The Athletic, and Gordon Wittenmyer, longtime Cubs beat writer for the Chicago Sun-Times and elsewhere, join the Best Podcast in Baseball, hosted by St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer...

About to start a long road trip out west, the Cardinals have already encountered some jarring potholes at the beginning of their season, from a split series vs. Pittsburgh to a botched series opener vs. Arizona. Pitching is the leading culprit. The rotation's contribution of two quality starts in the first 17 games has compromised a bullpen. The recent handling of Jordan Hicks spotlights another question: How and why have the Cardinals struggled recently to develop pitching, particularly...

The season-opening home stand ended with sweep by Atlanta and the first true stress tests of the Cardinals -- one long predicted and the other completely unexpected. Once the cars had been returned to their sales lots and the Clydesdales to their stable, the Cardinals flashed a deep, persistent offense, as advertised. Jordan Walker, the 20-year-old rookie, punctuated his strong debut with his first career MLB homer. The Cardinals also had abbreviated, choppy, and messy starts from the...

The pitch clock introduced this year by Major League Baseball has the potential to radically change the pace of games, the pulse of pitchers, and even how games are covered by broadcasters. Who better to talk about it than a former pitcher who is now a broadcaster -- and never had an issue working fast? Brad Thompson, Bally Sports Midwest color commentator and a regularly contributor to 101.1 FM/WXOS in St. Louis, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to talk about the rule changes from a...

Jordan Walker and Masyn Winn have been standouts of the Cardinals' spring training, and there have been other young players who have impressed. But if spring training has been a showcase for the future of the Cardinals, what about the present and the pressure to compete for a World Series championship now? Tom Ackerman, sports director at KMOX/1120 AM, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss what he's seen so far in spring training from the young players and what that means for the...

Entering spring training, the Cardinals promised competition. No really this time. Seriously. And maybe top prospect Jordan Walker is an example why. Manager Oliver Marmol and John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations, acknowledged that in past springs they've said there is competition but they start February with an idea of the roster. Actions are going to have to say otherwise this spring. St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports Ben Frederickson makes the case that there is competition this...

In his new book 'Winning Fixes Everything,' author Evan Drellich details the corporate culture that led to the Houston Astros sign-stealing quagmire and probes how many of the leading executives got their start in baseball with the Cardinals. Drellich joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss new insight into the hacking scandal that will forever bind the Astros and Cardinals, the baseball operations approach that former Cardinals exec Jeff Luhnow created in...

One of the game's greatest bards and gentleman, Tim McCarver made his big-league debut at 17, played for the Cardinals, won with the Cardinals, and in his final tour as a Hall of Fame broadcaster returned to the Cardinals to call games. McCarver died Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. He was 81. Back in May 2016, while on a road trip to Washington, McCarver sat in the stands with St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to talk about his return, the role John Mozeliak played in it, and why...

Recorded in Jupiter, Fla., on the eve of the Cardinals' opening their 2023 spring training with the first official workouts, the 11th season of the Best Podcast in Baseball begins as it traditionally does: with 10 (or so) questions facing the Cardinals as spring blooms. St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold and sports columnist Benjamin Hochman go question by question in a preview of the decisions and dilemmas welcoming the Cardinals to Florida, from who plays center field to...

In this bonus episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball, we bring you PlayBacks, an audio series that brings to life the archives of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. When Lou Brock first came to the Cardinals in 1964, a lot of St. Louis fans were unsure about the trade. But he made a splash in his first game with the Cardinals. Today we go to June 16, 1964, when Brock made a great first impression, and Ken Boyer hit for the cycle. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After a discussion of Scott Rolen's election to the Hall of Fame and the coming parade of third basemen to Cooperstown, the Best Podcast in Baseball dives into a topic looming (huge) on the horizon. As spring training nears, one of the biggest storylines in Major League Baseball is how the game will be played. The bigger story may be how the game is watched. There are rising issues with the current broadcast model. Streaming has to modernize. And the gambling industry is becoming a major...