WEBVTT - Cards AGM Rob Cerfolio joins CT 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.200 I'm your host, Katie will Hear with a very special guest. 0:00:02.240 --> 0:00:04.800 Super excited about this episode. It's something I've been wanting 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:08.160 to do for a while. Cardinals assistant general manager Rob 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:09.720 Stortfolio joins the show. 0:00:10.240 --> 0:00:10.760 Surf. 0:00:11.160 --> 0:00:15.760 Welcome, longtime listener, hopefully first time partaker, Welcome to the show. 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:20.120 Yeah, it's like the old Francesca Collins first, first time, 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:23.239 long time. Yes, I appreciate you having me, so be 0:00:23.520 --> 0:00:26.960 It'll be fun. Glad to talk with you and then 0:00:27.040 --> 0:00:29.400 all the listeners, so beget I hope. 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:31.960 So pressures on me to deliver some good questions here. 0:00:33.000 --> 0:00:35.520 I think when we look at this twenty twenty five 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:40.320 transition season, the main focus was on player development, and 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:42.680 while you were brought in after the twenty twenty four 0:00:42.720 --> 0:00:45.320 season to kind of oversee what him and Bloom would 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:47.519 like to do with the minor league system. I mean, 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:49.560 this is something that's going to impact both the minor 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:51.440 league and major league teams. 0:00:51.200 --> 0:00:52.920 And levels for multiple seasons. 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:54.720 That's just kind of the nature of where the organization 0:00:54.840 --> 0:00:57.600 is trending. I think we'll just go right into it. 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:01.360 For Cardinals fans, who most of them, the wide majority, 0:01:01.400 --> 0:01:04.040 have not had to experience an era like this, or 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:07.880 a transition season or a revamping of a payer development system. 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:10.640 What can you tell fans about what the minor league 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:12.920 system currently looks like so that they can understand the 0:01:13.000 --> 0:01:14.560 changes that have been made over the last year. 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:18.959 Yeah, there's there's a lot of layers to that question, right, 0:01:19.480 --> 0:01:23.039 you know. I think the one of the big things 0:01:23.080 --> 0:01:28.000 is is it takes time and patience. And you know, 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:30.080 I think one of the things for me as a 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:31.920 as a new guy coming over here, going all the 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:34.760 way back to my own interview, is like, there's a 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:38.440 lot of pieces of this organization that's worked well for 0:01:38.480 --> 0:01:42.280 a long time, and all those banners that are flying 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:45.120 around Bush Stadium, like, that's not by luck. And so 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:48.440 I think as a new person and with all the 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:50.320 new people that came in here, it was like really 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:54.560 trying to understand what are those things that have worked 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:58.840 really well for a long time. And that's not just performance, right, 0:01:58.880 --> 0:02:01.880 That can be values, can be ways in which the 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:06.080 game has been taught being great at base running, defense, offense, 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:10.720 not really taking concessions in any one area, the cardinal way, 0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:13.440 which as a as a new guy, has been really 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:15.720 fun to just try and learn what that actually means 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:19.359 to every person that's here, and so it takes patience 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:23.040 because you need to uncover what those things are. You 0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:27.160 have a lot of new people bringing other ideas into 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:30.480 the organization, and now like the whole system is learning, 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:33.960 both players and staff. Okay, like, what's the new version 0:02:34.080 --> 0:02:37.840 of this of this Cardinal's way call it that we 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:41.880 want to really scale and hopefully produce a lot of 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:44.840 great outcomes over time. And and you know it kind 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:48.600 of goes to like, especially with young players, just developments 0:02:48.639 --> 0:02:52.040 not linear. You don't always see immediate results of what 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:56.160 you did yesterday. You're kind of like a farmer that's planting, 0:02:56.240 --> 0:03:00.239 watering crops and doing that well over a long period 0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:03.720 of time and always asking yourself, like in the middle 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:06.040 of that, is this process working? Are there things we 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:08.880 need to adjust? Are there holes that we're missing? Who 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:11.560 from the outside can come in and help us think 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:14.919 about this problem better. But it does take a little 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:17.880 bit of time. And that's not because things were so 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:20.280 far away from being good. Like, there's a lot of 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:24.600 players that were products of this minor league system that 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:26.880 have impacted the major leagues this year, which is awesome. 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:29.440 And now it's just trying to continue to make those 0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:32.920 guys even better that have debuted and put other great 0:03:32.960 --> 0:03:36.760 pieces around that, both with staff and player acquisition streams. 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:40.119 So that was the main focal focus point of when 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:42.120 you were first hired, and you worked with him about 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:46.600 expanding the staff first of the entire farm system as 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:49.680 a whole, added more coordinators, added more positions, and then 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:53.440 you both work to modernize technology. And both of those 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:55.880 phrases sound a little vague, especially to a fan base 0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:59.520 that hasn't really had to really see the modernization of 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:02.640 a farm system. Can you expand on why adding both 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:05.400 staff and technology was important before you've been started the 0:04:05.400 --> 0:04:06.440 twenty twenty five season. 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:09.400 Yeah, I mean we can start with the staff. I 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:13.000 mean I think, like, really, you're only as good as 0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:18.200 your team. And the analogy I like to make is 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:20.240 because you know, this resonates I think with a lot 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:24.040 of people, especially anybody that has kids, is every person 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:26.640 wants to put their kids in the best school possible. 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:29.040 So how do you know if a school's great? Well 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:31.960 you look at well, if it's a high school, what 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:35.479 college do they send people to? What average sat at 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:39.919 or act scores? The does the school produce? And so 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:43.640 there's measurables right for that with a minor league baseball 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:47.520 system of how well is this group continuously producing major 0:04:47.600 --> 0:04:50.680 league players that are winning major league players, not just 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:52.560 guys that get there, but stay there and help a 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:55.520 team actually achieve results at the big league level. And 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:59.040 so in order to have really good outputs, like the 0:04:59.080 --> 0:05:02.360 best schools on Earth hire the best teachers and they 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:07.080 have the best curriculum, and that's how they scale their 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:10.200 product to every student. And it's really no different for 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:14.120 a baseball organization. It's you have to have a math chair, 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:15.719 you have to have an English chair, you have to 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:19.560 have multiple people in all of the spaces that impact 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:22.400 players getting to the big leagues and then staying there 0:05:22.480 --> 0:05:25.680 and hopefully being winning players for a long time. You 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:28.159 need that same approach in the minor league so that 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:31.680 there's great communication between the big leagues and the minor 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:34.200 leagues and everybody's kind of reading off the same sheet 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:38.200 of music. They're solving for the same outcomes they're aligned towards. 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:41.479 When that TRIAA player walks into the major leagues for 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:45.760 the first time, that coaching staff knows that and had 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:49.000 input on the things that that player was coached towards 0:05:49.400 --> 0:05:52.120 so that it's a seamless transition, or as seamless as 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:54.920 it can be given some of the factors that these 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:57.440 guys go through, you know, emotionally and just being in 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:02.320 a new physical location. So we really tried to attack 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:04.800 that off of you know, that's a really broad analogy, 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:07.320 but I think it's maybe something that the average person 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:10.599 can can resonate with because it's the same way that 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:13.200 you would try and in place your child in the 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:18.080 best school possible, and you just want those curriculums to 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:20.640 be really good and the people that are leading them 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:25.120 to be really skilled and great leaders and influencers of 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:30.000 both players and staff that when that coordinator is not there, 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:35.160 the actual programming and the curriculum is really sound, and 0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:37.560 the players understand it, and the coaches of the affiliate 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:40.120 understand it, and they know exactly what they need to 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:41.480 do to carry that action out. 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:42.560 And if we do that. 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:46.400 Every friggin day, it's monotonous. But if we win the 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:49.440 one to five o'clock period with our process and how 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:52.120 we're working on those skills, then the game is just 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:54.880 a barometer of how well our work is translating. And so, 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:59.440 you know, that was really the whole thought, and I'd 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:02.159 spend a lot of years in Cleveland kind of helping 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:05.159 lead like the hiring process over there. So for me, 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:07.640 it was a cool opportunity to really action a lot 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:10.440 of the names that I had either hired in the 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:12.960 or interviewed in the past and not hired in Cleveland 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:16.480 and had an opportunity to bring over here to Saint Louis. 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:19.000 So I'm pretty excited about the group that we've got. 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:21.880 We've got more to come in the upcoming off season, 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:23.920 which would be really fun. Even though it's a lot 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:27.400 of laborious work, but it's it's really important to get 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:28.080 those people in. 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:28.800 Programs, right. 0:07:30.960 --> 0:07:33.520 Good Father, you and me grew up in Jersey. We 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:37.120 liked to collect cards, but the way the process got 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:42.520 was ridiculous. You open up a pack, there's a bunch 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:44.200 of cards you don't care about. Then you want to 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:46.840 get certain ones grade. It takes forever, right, then you 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:49.720 want to maybe sell one. It's such a to do. 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:51.880 Arena club has been the solution for us. 0:07:52.120 --> 0:07:55.640 Arena club has been a solution for everybody. You go online, 0:07:55.640 --> 0:07:57.840 go to arena club and you check out what they have, 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:00.440 put a little cash down, you might one of the 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:02.800 best cards that you've ever seen in your life and 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:05.720 autograph card and guess what, if you don't like the card, 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:08.760 easily you could sell it back and make a little cash. 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:10.960 You never know what to expect. It's a cool way 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:13.080 of doing it. You're going to get a surprise every time. 0:08:13.120 --> 0:08:14.800 And if you're in the cards, this is something you 0:08:14.880 --> 0:08:16.520 really need to get into right now. 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:18.880 You can get twenty percent off your first slab pack 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:22.000 or card purchase by going to arenaclub dot com, slash 0:08:22.160 --> 0:08:24.840 foul and use code foul like Todd Father is talking 0:08:24.840 --> 0:08:27.400 about with those slap packs. Every pack is a grail 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:30.440 that's at least twenty x the price of the pack. 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:31.080 Check it out. 0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:34.480 And I think something that you have talked about saying, 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:36.240 that Jim has talked about or alluded to in his 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:39.440 end of season press conference last year, is the ability 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:43.320 where you're not necessarily losing the cardinal way. There's many 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:45.600 many things that this organization has done well. I mean 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:49.160 they were pioneers in player development. When you're adding new coordinators, 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:52.000 you're adding new staff members, you're adding new technology. The 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:55.680 goal isn't to just replace the what was already here 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:59.400 in the cardinal system, it's to expand it, right, And 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:02.040 when you're telling that, how to do that with bringing 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:04.480 in a new group of people but keeping a majority 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:06.720 of the same because it really hasn't been that much 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:10.480 turnover in terms of people leading positions. Why is that 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:12.600 important to have a balance of the tradition of this 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:16.440 organization and also modernizing it so you're not completely losing 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:18.680 the identity of the franchise, You're just kind of making 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:19.160 it better. 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:23.880 That's it, And you nailed the dynamic right there. And 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:28.480 the first thing we challenged myself any new person is 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:33.640 like to really spend time on, like what are the 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:37.199 parts of this organization that people that have been here 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:39.640 for a long time would take a bullet for and 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:43.000 things that are producing results, like really have an actual 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:45.040 understanding of what those things are. 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:47.240 Those were some, honestly the most. 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:50.320 Fun conversations during the off season was really once we 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:53.560 kind of finished that first wave of hiring, was then 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:56.160 getting all those new people with the people that have 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:58.880 been here for a long time, including the major league staff, 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:01.040 into We did a lot of it virtually but in 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:04.640 the same virtual room, to like ask the hard questions 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:06.120 of who do we want to be about like what 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:09.520 are the values that have been here for forever that 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:13.280 we feel really strongly about, and then how have other 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:17.080 people from new places thought about that same challenge, whether 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:19.880 it's infield development or hitting development, Like what are some 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:23.640 other like the diversity of thought piece of that to 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:28.439 then ultimately just and we'll continue to stress test what 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:32.160 we believe in and make sure that it's producing results. 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:35.360 And we feel really good about that process. So that 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:37.600 that was the way that we started that. I'm sure 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:39.720 there's probably one hundred ways that we could do that 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:42.480 better and hopefully, you know, this time of year is 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:44.599 always a great time year where we're asking staff for 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:47.600 feedback and like what does year two's worth of growth 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:50.000 look like for all of us? And that'll be a 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:52.360 huge part of it. But you're exactly right, it's the 0:10:52.760 --> 0:10:55.320 what are the parts of this organization? I spoke to 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:58.080 the banners that are flying around Bush Stadium, like, that's 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:01.880 not by luck. That's because this word, like the word 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:03.960 you said, was a pioneer in a lot of different 0:11:03.960 --> 0:11:06.880 ways with the way they thought about the draft, player development, 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:11.959 having a minor league system of great teaching, and let's 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:14.880 never lose track of any of that and let's find 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:17.720 new ways on the margins to even make that better. 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:22.720 All right, So, player development around baseball is a vague term, 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:26.800 and most it's usually kind of relegated to the minor 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:29.960 league system or prospects because that is where you're essentially 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:33.520 developing players. But for the case of the Cardinals, at 0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:35.280 least this season and probably for the next couple of 0:11:35.320 --> 0:11:38.000 years going forward, player development is going to take place 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:41.080 across the board, at both the minor league levels and 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:43.360 the major league level. We spent an entire season this 0:11:43.440 --> 0:11:47.880 year talking about transition, runway, use your favorite buzzword, and 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:51.280 the primary emphasis of these buzzwords were to emphasize that 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:53.600 players are going to develop at the major league level 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:54.080 this year. 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:56.520 For years, that was not the case. In Saint Louis. 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:58.040 You were either a major league player and you are 0:11:58.040 --> 0:12:00.920 ready to contribute to a postseason run, or you were back. 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:01.280 To Triple A. 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:04.680 But this is not a phenom that's necessarily specific to 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:07.880 just the Cardinals. You're seeing this across major League baseball, 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:11.640 depending on team market size and payroll. Your specialty surf 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:15.640 is player development. Why is this important across the board? 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:19.120 Well, first off, specialty is probably a strong word, but 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:24.640 I'll take it. Yeah, I think the first part's mindset. 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:27.560 And I think that's one of the things that I've 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:31.160 really enjoyed working with Ali and his staff, Like goes 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:33.080 all the way back to the second I showed up 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:35.080 and had you know, he was part of my own 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:38.200 interview process and we got into the weeds, the weeds 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:40.319 on this and whether it's player combos, right, whether it's 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:43.079 like Nado or Donnie or really any of our players 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:46.880 guys that have had success at the major league level, 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:51.480 the second you stop getting better, whether it's baseball, whether 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:55.200 it's sudoku puzzles, whether it's ping pong in the basement, 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:58.199 Like it really just doesn't matter when you stop getting 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:02.640 better at a thing, like especially in our world of 0:13:02.720 --> 0:13:07.200 sports where we're we're performing at the highest level in 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:12.360 high competitive environments, Like when you stop developing, you're in trouble. 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:16.480 And I think that just mindset wise, is like we 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:18.600 have a lot of players that already think that way, 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:23.040 which is phenomenal, and now like scaling that across the 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:26.400 entire organization I think is hopefully something that can be 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:29.920 a competitive advantage for us and especially you know, if 0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:33.360 you spoke to like the market right of there are 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:35.760 teams that the bigger market teams like, they'll go out 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:39.439 and pay for players that the entire industry knows is 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:42.640 really good, and that's certainly a way of doing it. 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:45.120 And the other way for teams that maybe don't have 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:48.040 that same luxury is what are you doing with your 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:51.959 own players every year to not necessarily reinvent. 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:54.920 Who they are, but really ensure that their. 0:13:54.800 --> 0:13:58.520 Superpowers are never lost and the things on the margins 0:13:58.520 --> 0:14:01.000 that will help them take the next step forward are 0:14:01.559 --> 0:14:05.200 intentionally getting better, not just hoping by luck, but having 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:08.360 a real process. Whether it's a guy that has won 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:10.800 five MVPs in the big leagues or a guy that's 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:14.120 played five games in rookie ball. Kind of the overall 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:17.320 framework of the ideology is the same. It's just a 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:20.680 different strategy and set of tactics on how you bring 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:23.280 that to life and the types of things that you're 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:24.840 focusing on for each player. 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:26.760 But I do think this. 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:32.320 Mindset is really important for just this organization, especially the 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:34.600 types of players and kind of the we've seen this 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:37.720 with some of the younger guys this year, and making 0:14:37.720 --> 0:14:40.600 sure that we're never wasting a day for those guys 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:44.320 that continuously get better. When your best players own that mindset, 0:14:44.680 --> 0:14:47.920 it really just becomes the fabric of how your organization 0:14:48.000 --> 0:14:48.960 goes about its business. 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:51.720 And you can see that. Even I thought Nolan Arnotta 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:52.640 was a great example here. 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:54.800 He's one of the best defensive third basemen of all 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:57.080 time and he's out there every day trying to take 0:14:57.080 --> 0:14:59.720 extra reps and get better. Brendan Donovan has really emerged 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:02.240 as a winning kind of player, has that kind of 0:15:02.280 --> 0:15:05.800 grittiness that fans saw in the twenty tens when the 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:09.800 Cardinals were in their last legitimate true run. You can 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:11.920 kind of see this now with the way that players 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:15.400 have stepped forward, whether it's Mason Win solidifying himself defensively 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:17.360 as shortstop, Alec Burlison. 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:19.760 As an all around hitter, of Von Herrera as a 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:20.320 true bat. 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:22.440 These are going to take times for some of these 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:25.440 young players to really develop into their careers, but you 0:15:25.560 --> 0:15:27.720 do see this. I mean, I think Burlison is a 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:30.800 great example here in terms of someone who was challenged 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:33.480 to become better defensively because they needed him to. You 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:35.320 know what you have in Burlison as a bat, high 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:37.520 contact rate, He can put a lot of balls in play, 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:39.720 he needed to refine his approach a little bit so 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:42.000 he wasn't getting out as much, and he did. But 0:15:42.040 --> 0:15:44.200 in order for him to stick, he had to be 0:15:44.200 --> 0:15:47.440 better defensively and he did that and it took some time, 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:49.880 but he was able to develop in games and now 0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:52.480 he's an all around better player. Is that kind of 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:54.800 the example that you're looking at when you evaluate these 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:55.880 guys at the major league level? 0:15:56.160 --> 0:15:56.560 That's it? 0:15:56.640 --> 0:15:59.320 And then you ask yourself that question year over year, 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:02.400 and it's like, Okay, Burley, what a great season this 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:04.680 was for you? You talked about the approach stuff, you know, 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:07.960 digg into some of the the behind the scenes numbers 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:10.080 there and his chase rates and just the amount of 0:16:10.120 --> 0:16:14.320 times that he's getting himself in more favorable, more favorable 0:16:14.360 --> 0:16:16.360 counts to do it. He do to do what he 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:21.600 does best with hitting the ball hard frequently. That's there, 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:25.000 and that is directly tied to some of the ways 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:28.880 that he challenged himself to train. And you know, Burley 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:31.720 and Brownie and all those guys like his teammates that 0:16:31.760 --> 0:16:35.240 helped that process deserve a ton of credit for being 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:37.720 willing to get their hands dirty in season and just 0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:39.960 like you know, we talked about that mindset and mentality 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:43.880 of just the whole organization always thinking that way is 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:46.240 is really important. But he's such a great example, like 0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:48.680 the work that he's done with JJ and the outfield 0:16:48.720 --> 0:16:52.000 to really elevate his game to be like not just 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:55.000 a guy that has to play the corner outfield, but 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:58.880 somebody that you're excited about playing the corner outfield. And now, like, 0:16:58.960 --> 0:17:01.560 what's the next step for that of being you know, 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:04.800 wherever he is in terms of the excuse me, the 0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:07.640 metrics of a corner outfielder, Like what's the even better 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:08.199 version of that? 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:09.240 How can we tie. 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:12.679 That to how he prepares in the senc nutrition space, 0:17:12.720 --> 0:17:17.320 Like all those things matter, and I think his willingness 0:17:17.320 --> 0:17:20.560 to attack those things in season in like a very 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:25.000 interesting transition year speaks a lot to the type of 0:17:25.080 --> 0:17:27.760 mindset that you want your best players to have. 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:31.760 And I think when you're looking at the Cardinals fan base, 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:34.040 I mean, they're a very loyal fan base, as you know, 0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:35.840 and they really know their baseball. So when you're able 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:38.880 to see a player in real time like Burleston adjust 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:42.360 and adapt, like that's tangible evidence that they can see, 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:44.879 they may not realize it in real time. I know 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:47.280 sometimes I don't either. Where you look up and after 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:50.200 a month you say, wow, this player has really expedited 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:52.840 his growth or has really made these adjustments, because when 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:55.840 you're playing every like a game a day for almost 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:58.399 two hundred days, including spring training, it can be hard 0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:00.800 to really see that on a day to day basis. 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:04.160 But listen to your point as an example, Herrera offensively 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:04.800 as an example. 0:18:04.920 --> 0:18:07.400 We can go down the list. Kyle Lahey, Mike McGreevey. 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:08.000 Yea. 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:09.240 In terms of the minor. 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:12.280 League system though, something that isn't as a parent or 0:18:12.320 --> 0:18:15.240 easy to access as the major league team on TV 0:18:15.440 --> 0:18:18.800 every day, what changes can fans expect to see because 0:18:18.800 --> 0:18:21.840 we have made whether it's the organization or media, we 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:24.960 made such a big idea about the revamping of the 0:18:24.960 --> 0:18:27.639 Cardinals minor league system, and there hasn't really been a 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:30.119 lot of clarity as to what exactly these fans can 0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:33.760 look like other than adding staff members and adding technology. 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:35.880 What can you point to fans where they can look 0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:38.480 and identify and see, Okay, this is different and here's 0:18:38.520 --> 0:18:39.640 why it's being done. 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:45.320 Yeah, that's a great question, and it's in some ways 0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:47.919 it's a hard question. To have like a real black 0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:50.879 and white answer to because you know, I said this 0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:54.560 comment earlier of like, developments never linear, and there's no 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:58.400 better example of that than minor league baseball, where you're 0:18:58.440 --> 0:19:00.960 working with a bunch of eighteen twenty one year olds 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:04.560 and not only are they developing as human beings and adults, 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:08.600 but you're asking them to develop skills and knowing that 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:13.800 those skills take time to see real change towards. But 0:19:13.960 --> 0:19:17.080 I think there's a whole bunch of things behind the scenes, right, 0:19:17.119 --> 0:19:21.360 a process. You talked about technology, right, Like that's such 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:26.400 a broad thing, but there's real specificity to like. 0:19:26.359 --> 0:19:27.159 Examples of that. 0:19:27.400 --> 0:19:31.159 So I think everybody knows, like major league stadiums they 0:19:31.160 --> 0:19:34.639 have hawkeye technology, and that allows you to do so 0:19:34.760 --> 0:19:39.280 many things in terms of performance. Can be a lagging indicator, 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:41.960 like you talked about sometimes you have to actually wait 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:45.120 a month for to have a big enough sample size 0:19:46.119 --> 0:19:47.840 or just enough confidence that. 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:49.399 Okay, this change was real. 0:19:50.000 --> 0:19:52.800 And some of this technology allows you to really like 0:19:53.000 --> 0:19:56.280 shrink the amount of time that you need to feel 0:19:56.280 --> 0:19:59.320 confident that a change is happening. And a change is 0:19:59.359 --> 0:20:03.159 happens there's guesswork there, right, It's a hypothesis. We think 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:07.000