Happy Wednesday,
Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson here. This week's questions will be answered below. Thanks, and please don't be shy about sending in any questions or comments you want to see tackled. Have a great rest of your week!Â
Got a question? Email me here (bfrederickson@post-dispatch.com) or find me on X (formerly known as Twitter) at and hashtag your question with #BF5.
Happy Wednesday, folks. Before diving into your questions, here are my latest columns, in case you missed them . . .Â
People are also reading…
Got a question or comment for me? Let me know and I'll answer it here.
This week's spotlight goes to . . . Mark, via email.Â
Q: Any predictions for the first ever 12-team CFP?
BenFred: I just locked them in this week, so be sure to place bets on the exact opposite. I do have Mizzou in, but it's going to be very important for the Tigers to not leave themselves on the bubble, because their strength of schedule is soft, and that will hurt them in bubble talk. Style points, like against Murray State, could help diminish some of that downside. Here's my 12, in no specific order.
Georgia, Alabama, Mizzou, Ole Miss, Tennessee (SEC)
Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Iowa (Big Ten)
Miami (ACC)
Utah (Big 12)
UNLV (Group of 5)
Next question is from Jeremy, via email . . .Â
Q: What do you think ownership would have to do to get back to the 3 million fans that they built their payroll and profits on? More importantly, do you think it's even possible? With attendance like this, DeWitt's spending can only go down, at which point tank and rebuild would be their only option to get good again.
µþ¹ó:ÌýGood, fair questions but I think you sped by one that needs to be answered first. Who should be trusted to lead this baseball operations department moving forward? I don't see how it can be John Mozeliak any longer, and if it is, I don't see fans trusting any direction he charts at this point until results prove otherwise. Under Mozeliak's watch, the organization has lost its ability to draft and develop internal answers at an impressive rate compared to MLB peers, and it has missed on way too many free-agent moves. Whether Cardinals ownership decides to embrace a rebuild or believes it can get back on track in one offseason, the first question that has to be answered is who charts the course. I know Mozeliak has a contract that runs through the 2025 season but he's talked so much about his ending being near it seems time to expedite his transition to a different role and find the new baseball ops leader. I don't want to just assume it's Chaim Bloom, either. He should be a candidate, sure. But this is a huge job. It's still a desirable job. The Cardinals really need to resist their inward-looking nature and actually throw the search wide open to see who is interested and impressive. Hopefully the Cardinals have learned their lesson about intentionally limiting their searches to candidates they already know.