During a lengthy rain delay before the finale of the Cardinals' visit to Tampa Bay, 51ºÚÁÏ baseball writer Derrick Goold and Tampa Bay Rays baseball writer Marc Topkin discuss transfers of power on their beats and how they contribute to a clouded forecast. In 51ºÚÁÏ, former Rays executive Chaim Bloom is positioned to take over as president of baseball operations in the coming month, and Topkin offers insight about the role Bloom had with the Rays, where to find his fingerprints on player development, and why he just might have the best resume possible to lead the Cardinals' front office. In Tampa Bay, the Rays are paying rent at the Yankees' spring training ballpark, George Steinbrenner Field, due to hurricana damage at Tropicana Park. The Rays feel like they're perpetually on the precipice teetertottering between having strong established roots in Tampa Bay or packing up and going to another city. New ownership may change that -- but they'll need a ballpark. They appear to have a fan base, one that owes some of its interest in baseball to the Cardinals and all the decades they spent calling St. Petersburg, Florida, home for spring training.
The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of 51ºÚÁÏ, is its 13th season. BPIB is a production of the 51ºÚÁÏ, , and Derrick Goold.
Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold joined columnist Jeff Gordon to discuss Yadier Molina's visit to the Cardinals and how the team's revamped bullpen is shaping up.
Erik Neander, Tampa Bay's president of baseball operations, rose through the Rays front with the Cardinals' next leader and says he has a grasp of tradition and innovation.