Can Cardinals find their sweet spot as a contender between KC's cycle and LA's spending?

Can Cardinals find their sweet spot as a contender between KC's cycle and LA's spending?

Author: St. Louis Post-Dispatch June 7, 2025 Duration: 1:02:29

Post-Dispatch podcasts page: https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43

Please consider subscribing: https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5

The first extended home stand of season brings two sides of the contending spectrum to Busch Stadium, with the Kansas City Royals in an upswing after some down years that have brought in high-end talent and then the Los Angeles Dodgers and how they can muscle their way into perpetual contention with financial might. Somewhere in the middle is where the Cardinals' must find their sweet spot -- not stomaching the downturn the Royals experience while unable to spend like the Dodgers do.

Post-Dispatch sports columnist Jeff Gordon joins the Best Podcast in Baseball host and baseball writer Derrick Goold do discuss and compare the building of contenders through various blueprints.

As the Cardinals rethink theirs, what can they borrow from each of the teams visiting this week, and what can they pull from their rival they're about to visit -- the Milwaukee Brewers?

Gordon presents a hypothetical about the draft and choosing between the high-ceiling high school pitcher and a surefire college starter. Goold offers a quick answer certain to disappoint but not so easily dismissed.

The podcast concludes with a discussion on whether the Chicago White Sox are about to do what no other National League Central team has been able to do: Push the Cubs to spend like their market suggests they should and now may have to in order to keep up with the South Side and the Sox new investor.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is in its 13th season as one of the first and most popular podcasts about the St. Louis Cardinals. It is a weekly production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.


For anyone who lives and breathes the rhythm of a 162-game season, Best Podcast in Baseball is your regular, unfiltered dose of diamond discourse. Hosted by Derrick Goold, the lead baseball writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, this podcast digs into the stories that define the St. Louis Cardinals franchise and the wider world of Major League Baseball. The conversation goes beyond box scores, exploring the nuances of roster construction, the evolving strategies of the game, and the unique culture surrounding the national pastime in a city renowned for its passion. With a rotating lineup of insider guests, from beat reporters and former players to front-office minds, each episode offers perspective you won't find anywhere else. It’s a direct line to the analysis, debates, and narratives shaping the Cardinals' present and future, all while celebrating the history and idiosyncrasies that make baseball so compelling. Tune in for thoughtful, authoritative talk that feels like a conversation at the ballpark, capturing both the immediate stakes of a playoff race and the timeless threads that connect generations of fans. This is the essential audio companion for those who want their baseball coverage to be as deep and considered as their fandom.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

Best Podcast in Baseball
Podcast Episodes
The big deal: What have Cardinals added with all of this subtraction? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:34
The Cardinals' winter of accumulation climaxed with the trade many months in the making: They moved All-Star utility fielder Brendan Donovan in a three-team trade to Seattle and received a windfall that included two of t…
Cardinals' forecast calls for a bustling Winter Meetings [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:13
More Post-Dispatch podcasts. Please consider subscribing. From the start of the offseason and the beginning for a new front officer leader, the Cardinals have signaled their priority this winter is to accumulate talent t…