Happy New Year! BPIB's preview of 2026 Cardinals comes out of left field
Best Podcast in Baseball
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
4.6 • 690 Ratings
🗓️ 26 March 2026
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What do the roster decisions made by the Cardinals ahead of opening day tell fans about their timetable to contend?
Probably more than their letting on.
The Best Podcast in Baseball returns from spring training and to its weekly format with a preview of the 2026 Cardinals season told through one position and how so many revealing aspects of the team radiate from it. Editor Nathan Mills joins baseball writer and BPIB host Derrick Goold on the even of opening day to discuss the many tendrils that extend from left field -- from the Cardinals' roster choices to the Cadinals' style of offense, from the Cardinals' need for power and plans for Lars Nootbaar to their debut of JJ Wetherholt and what that says about their next window to contend. It all extends from left field.
Just in time for the civic holiday known as opening day it's a brand new BPIB.
Happy New Year, as we say in the press box.
In its 14th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Baseball is back. It's opening day in St. Louis, a civic holiday, unofficial. |
| 0:04.8 | And that means that the best podcast in baseball is back. Sorry for the spring hibernation. |
| 0:09.5 | It's been a doozy. But let's jump right in. I'm joined this week by Nathan Mills. |
| 0:14.2 | And we're going to offer you a look at the 2026 Cardinals through one position. |
| 0:20.9 | What position is that? |
| 0:22.3 | Stay tuned. |
| 0:23.3 | Kill the music. |
| 0:30.3 | I got to remember how to do this, Nathan. |
| 0:33.0 | Hold on a second. |
| 0:36.0 | Hello, everybody, and welcome to the best podcast in baseball, brought you by Closit |
| 0:39.1 | by Design of St. Louis. |
| 0:40.1 | I'm St. Louis Post Dispatch Baseball writer Derek Gould, joined this week by editor Nathan |
| 0:44.2 | Mills. |
| 0:45.3 | Nathan, it is a tradition as old as time and just as silly. |
| 0:51.2 | Happy New Year. |
| 0:52.2 | That is what we say in the press box on opening day. |
| 0:55.1 | It's a ball scribe habit that probably seems a little odd. |
| 1:00.2 | But hey, happy New Year. |
| 1:02.3 | I heard during the Yankees Giants game just a few minutes ago, |
| 1:06.5 | happy hitting season, boys. |
| 1:07.8 | I like that. |
| 1:09.0 | Happy hit and season. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of St. Louis Post-Dispatch and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.