Well the last week of the 2025 season has crept upon us, bringing autumn’s beginning and the start of changing colors and falling leaves, and the cycling out of warmer weather. It is definitely not cold out yet or anything, but summer is vacating this half of the world and the world series but a month away. How about that? Where did the time go? With only a few games left I have become more introspective, retrospective, and inquisitive.

Somehow the Cardinals almost swept the Brewers, the best team in baseball, over the weekend. Then they won the first game vs their west coast counterpart, the Giants. San Fran are also extreme fringe candidates for the postseason but they came into the series with a better chance than us, so it is a pseudo spoiler type of situation. You can’t really play spoiler too much when the other team has about the same chance as you do.

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I have plenty of things to write about, but this doesn’t seem the best week to do that. I just got back from an end of summer excursion to Wisconsin and Chicago where I secured a new Fender Telecaster in exchange for mastering an album which seems like a really good deal to me, especially since I don’t really charge my friends for projects, and I in general don’t get paid to do my creative work. It’s very freeing not being tied to money, albeit it does make things a bit nervewracking. I almost ran out of gas on the way back from the trip. The good news is people loved my band and my guitar playing on my new guitar. And I made it home somehow without running out of gas even though the gas warning light was on for a terrifying amount of time. Sometimes hope does drive things.

I played record store in Green Bay that had a UFO theme and tons of vintage action figures and that type of thing. And of course the requisite vinyl and VHS tapes. Unfortunately not many CDs were to be found, since my new used car has a 6 disc CD changer, but alas, I did get a cooler of free beer from it. Anyway the point is, I slept very little Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights and barely made it home on Monday so I’m just kind of mentally blank. And baseball isn’t really doing much for me at the moment, other than I want to beat the Giants because their historical record is > than the Cardinals in head to head matchups, and I want to beat the Cubs, because, well, I think we all want to beat the Cubs no matter what. That and I don’t like their owners and their team and their fans are mostly kind of annoying.

So with that all out of the way, let’s contemplate the past, present, and future, and well, I need to figure out how to insert a poll in WordPress so I guess I might as well do that right now.

Well then! There are no poll widgets in WordPress! At least in this built in SBNation version, that I can tell. I will have to figure that out but for now, how’s about some completely insane molten hot takes for end of summer beginning of fall celebrations! Yes every day is a celebration, if you’re still on Earth.

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put Jordan Walker into the starting rotation as a reverse Rick Ankiel. He has been a deer in the headlights to begin his career. Maybe a big change will save his Major League baseball stint. Hyperbole but, there is not much time left for him to figure it out.

just keep Arenado at third next year. If we are going to have a shitty rotation and mediocre hitting with good defense, he needs to be around. No third base option is going to be better unless there is some piece to the Gorman puzzle that remains unlocked. Or you can put JJ Wetherholt there, but I think his athleticism is better played at second base. Supplanting Winn after his historic defensive season seems like folly to me. So either 2nd or 3rd would make sense, if he is to make it after spring training 2026.

Replace Brad Thompson with Andre Pallante. I don’t care if this sounds weird just do it. Encourage him to get into random arguments on air with Chip Carey. Or just get new announcers …c’mon now.

Trade Nootbaar and Donovan in the offseason.

Experiment. Herrera in LF and at 3B. And at C and DH.

try Matt Svanson in the rotation.

get another new hitting coach. new pitching coach too, why not.

One more late night west coast game then an off day and three afternoon Cubs games to end the season. The Cardinals won 9-8 last night with a four double game for Brendan Donovan! Herrera and Arenado both hit home runs. Romero and O’Brien closed it out. The Cardinals find themselves at 78-80 with three games to go. They will end up 1 game under .500, at .500, or 1 game over .500.