The Cardinals' bungling of Willson doesn't absolve the Cubs of theirs
And, the case for keeping Tucker Barnhart



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When Willson Contreras signed his 5-year, $87.5 million deal with the Cardinals, there was a swirl of mixed reactions.
- First was, good for Willson who deserved to get paid, especially after the Cubs kept fucking with him by going years without offering him a multi-year deal and then failing to trade him even when they had long ago made up their minds to let him walk in free agency, thereby leaving onerous draft pick compensation attached to him.
- St. Louis was the worst possible situation for him. The fans were awful to Dexter Fowler when he signed there after the 2016 World Series and Dexter wasn’t replacing anyone of note in the Cardinals’ outfield. Willson is replacing the overwrought legend of Yadi Molina, and we knew that any issue with Cardinals pitching would be inevitably blamed on Willson.
- There was/is no way Willson would spend all five years in St. Louis. Which will end up being good for Willson in the long run.
- Willson would be hurt by being so unceremoniously dumped by the only organization he’d ever played for and say some stupid things when he signed with a new team. And he did, going on about how wonderful the “Cardinal Way” is. I wonder how he feels about this now?
- Some fans, really dumb ones, would be mad at Willson for signing with the Cardinals.
He returns tonight with the foundering, last place Cardinals and his short time with them has gone even worse than expected. Just 32 games into the season the Cardinals announced Willson would no longer be primarily a catcher and they blamed him for the awful performances of the very mediocre pitching staff that they have.
His manager, Oliver Marmol, has been on the hot seat since the day Yadi announced he was going to retire, because it’s a foregone conclusion that Yadi will manage them some day. Marmol tried to act like he wasn’t throwing Willson under the bus while totally throwing him under the bus.
Just look at this lunacy: