Despite the smallest market in Major League Baseball, the Milwaukee Brewers have become a marvel of what it means to be a modern contender.

The organization the Cardinals used to be and the Cubs wanted to be , the Brewers now are, complete with the 10-game lead in the division standings ahead of the former kings with a month of the season remaining. MLB.com's longtime Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to talk about Milwaukee's rise within the division and reign atop. McCalvy talks with Best Podcast in Baseball host and baseball writer Derrick Goold about the "culture" the Brewers have created, one that seems to benefit from the team's business model, strong development infrastructure, and something the Cardinals have not shown, and may not be able to show.

Patience.

The Brewers appear to have hit Yatzhee on almost every move. They waited out the market to land Christian Yelich from Miami via trade, ending up with the best fit of the three Marlins outfielders available at the time and an MVP-caliber player. While the Cardinals were also shopping for a catcher, they joined in a trade to help Atlanta land catcher Sean Murphy from the Oakland Athletics and may have ended up with the best catcher in the deal, William Contreras. They fended off interest in Corbin Burnes to watch him become a Cy Young Award ace, and then traded him ahead of him leaving for free agency to then nourish a roster that again is contending.

McCalvy details the Brewers' business model and also how much they've invested in development, and how it continues successful at the major-league level, even as players move out or move out.

The two baseball writers also share some thoughts on Wisconsin-accurate accents and wax nostalgic about legendary slugger Joey Meyer the 1990s Denver Zephyrs.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

Within the span of only a few hours, the Cardinals demoted two of their top prospects from the past decade, sending in separate moves their top left-handed slugging prospect and one of the top right-handed hitting prospects in all of the minors. What gives and what does it mean for the Cardinals ongoing, completely confounding "riddle" when it comes to developing young hitters? To explore this defining question for the current era of Cardinals baseball, the Best Podcast in Baseball turns to a Hall of Famer. BPIB co-founder and former Post-Dispatch sports columnist Bernie Miklasz joins podcast host Derrick Goold to discuss a week that featured Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker returning to Class AAA Memphis just a few months after they were supposed to emerge as the next core contributors in the Cardinals' lineup. Urgency rules as the Cardinals try to capture magic from a series win against Milwaukee and turn it into a last-gasp run for a playoff spot. But is that same urgency, that same pressure to produce and perform and contend every day also contributing to a cycle the Cardinals cannot escape? The opportunity gap persists and now two of the most highly prized young prospects the Cardinals have had in the past decade are caught in the conversation on whether they must go elsewhere to thrive. Young hitters arrive. Some young hitters struggle. Some young hitters are traded. Those young hitters thrive elsewhere. Miklasz describes the conversations he's had with MLB sources about where and how the Cardinals' infrastructure is lacking, and Goold details where the answers might come from the young hitters, like Masyn Winn or Alec Burleson, who have thrived after alterations to their approach or swing encouraged by the Cardinals. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

The proverbial turtle on a fencepost that clearly did not get there by itself is also an apt metaphor for the trouble a Major League Baseball club finds itself in when trying to balance between the hedge-fund tycoons and the heavy tankers. Stuck in the middle is a tough place to be as the Cardinals have shown -- and, as with the turtle, it can take looking beyond the shell for a way out of it. The Best Podcast in Baseball hosted by baseball writer Derrick Goold returns with guest Kevin Wheeler of KMOX/1120 AM to discuss the Cardinals as they emerge from a disastrous series in Cincinnati and begin the most grueling stretch of their season. They are, once again, balanced around .500 -- waiting for the wind of change to knock this turtle into one direction or the other. And that becomes the crux of the conversation. If the Cardinals are able to put together a 41-game sprint for October and a playoff berth, does such a run risk masking or misleading the direction the franchise is really headed. Look to the most recent World Series championship teams for examples. Will the 2024 Cardinals be like the surprise 83-win team of 2006 that won a World Series but prefaced a signficiant shift for the franchise when it tried to repeat that flawed roster in 2007, or are the 2024 Cardinals the Happy Flight-era 2011 Cardinals who buzzsawed to a World Series title and hinted at a successful run of pennant-contenders that even withstood the departure of a Hall of Fame manager and a three-time MVP and Hall of Fame player? One team gave off a false impression of the future. The other hinted at a future fueled by pitching development and some savvy outside additions. The '24 Cardinals have to overcome their run differential and an offensive deficit to contend, and even if they do what they had to overcome and how far they had to go should offer a lesson, even a reckoning, on where the franchise is going.

Thanks to all the listeners of BPIB for the patience as the podcast experienced one planned break as the host took some time off and another unplanned pause as the host had a few episodes experience hiccups of various types. The BPIB is back, ready to regain some of those lost episodes and sprint to the finish of the regular season.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, brought to you by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

It's Flag Day? Have you checked the standings yet? Following closely behind the Cardinals' 3-0 victory against the Cubs at Wrigley Field and each team's 49th game this season decided by three or fewer runs, a question was presented to KMOX/1120 AM's Kevin Wheeler.

What are the traits necessary for a team to do well in so many slim-margin games?

As a guest on a brand-new edition of the Best Podcast in Baseball with Derrick Goold, Wheeler outlines two necessities for every team to thrive in close games and how doing one will help the other survive. It is vital Wheeler illustrates for a team to get more innings from the rotation so that it's asking less of the bullpen in close games, and that will help keep the bullpen fresh to turn those close games into victories. This is how teams can get friendly with the confines of close games.

During a 4-3 home stand and again as they opened a Father's Day weekend series at Wrigley, the Cardinals showcased some of the developing depth in the bullpen that is helping them hold leads and secure slim victory. Ryan Fernandez has emerged with holds in consecutive games; Matthew Liberatore's return to the bullpen gives the Cardinals a third setup lefty and one with strikeout stuff at his best; and Chris Roycroft, only a few years removed from independent ball, has intrigued the Cardinals with his power stuff and movement. Or, as one teammate put it, "filth."

The Cardinals returned to .500 with the victory and should they spillover for the first time in more than a year, they'll be one of the few teams in the National League with a winning record.

Wheeler and Goold discuss if that's fallout from the consolidation of spending and power at only a few NL spots, such as Dodger Stadium and South Philadelphia. If those teams are collecting the highest-dollar stars in the NL what does that mean for the remainder of the standings and how do teams keep up as that spending gap grows into a standings gap. Wheeler suggests that a lot can be learned from NL Central-leader Milwaukee and how the Brewers have kept ahead without spending too much. It's an example of how the division, bunched-up and sometimes confusing mediocrity for parity, will be decided.

What team gets its stars to shine the brightest the soonest?

That list would include Cubs Dansby Swanson just as it could be asked of the Cardinals' cornerstones Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, and Willson Contreras, who is on the injured list with a fractured arm. That list would also include Cardinals starter Sonny Gray, whose bounce-back start helped Cardinals to a winning home stand. And all of that brings the conversation back around to one way for a team to thrive in so many close games.

Play fewer of them.

Score more runs to avoid them.

Also discussed in this episode of BPIB is the Cardinals' visit to Rickwood Field later this month for the first National League regular-season game at the nation's oldest ballpark.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and baseball writer Derrick Goold.

When it comes to evaluating a farm system, few things offer a better glimpse of the external view than the trade deadline and nothing gives greater clarity on the internal view than when there's a need at the major-league level.

Consider the Cardinals.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Daniel Guerrero recently visited Memphis, Tennessee, to scout just that -- how actions at the big-league level relate to the production and development of top prospects at the higheset affiliate. Guerrero returned with stories for StlToday.com on Jordan Walker, Thomas Saggese, Victor Scott II, and several pitchers. And he joins the Best Podcast in Baseball and baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss if there's advancement coming from Memphis or just idling talent in Memphis.

An injury to Steven Matz at the beginning of May opened a spot in the Cardinals' rotation, and as they await the lefty's return they have at least twice had a chance to promote a prospect from within to make those starts. They did not. Actions always speak louder than rankings, and for the Cardinals their actions at the big-league level have suggested they feel it's more important for some of their prospects to continue developing in Class AAA Memphis than have their routine upset with a spot start, or, in some cases, that they're not ready to contribute to the majors even in a spot start.

It's a telling decision from the team that also strikes at their situation in the outfield.

The Cardinals are going to need contributions from the the organization in both the outfield and on the mound, and how they utilize their top affiliate is a chance to scrutinize the prospect pipeline and player development.

The two baseball writers conclude the episode by making their picks to represent the Cardinals in the Futures Game.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

"That gets to the frustration of Cubs fans," says The Athletic senior writer Patrick Mooney. "Of like look at this division and why is the approach so measured and logical all the time to its extreme? ... That drives Cubs fans crazy with good reason."

"It's where Cubs and Cardinals fans agree," continues Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold.

As the Cubs and Cardinals face each other for the first time in 2024, a conversation about the direction the Cubs are going becomes a reflection of how similar the teams have become, right down to the approach when it comes to the National League Central. It was at that point in the conversation that the above comments are made in a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball, recorded outside of Busch Stadium on City Connect. Mooney, a longtime baseball writer covering the Cubs in Chicago and co-host of the new podcast Northside Territory (part of A. J. Pierzynski's growing Foul Territory universe), joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer and BPIB host Goold for a conversation about the rivalry, right down to the designs on the field, designs in the front office, and the designs of their Nike-driven City Connect uniforms.

Perhaps inspired by the Arizona Diamondbacks and their run for the National League pennant in 2023 with fewer than 86 wins, the Cubs have created that "measured, logical" model that does not go all-in at all cost because of an accommodating division, and that approach, as Mooney describes, has irritated Cubs fans.

Sure sounds familiar.

And so are the results.

Neither the Cubs or Cardinals have overtaken the Brewers this season to lead the division despite Milwaukee allowing its manager to leave for Wrigley Field, its general manager to leave for Queens, and also trading away its ace not too long after trading away one of the best late-game relievers in baseball. Oh, and going most of this season with the winner of recent best-reliever awards, closer and St. Louis native Devin Williams. All of that and a smaller spending budget than either the Cubs and Cardinals, and the Brewers remain at the head of the class. And what a bunched-up class it is. The NL Central is the only division in baseball with all of the teams still within reach of both the division title and a league wild card berth. It's so close that it might not take many wins to claim the division crown and all of the teams could be within a 10-game bandwidth.

In a division where even the slightest edge could be the separator, enter Friday night's rainout. The postponement of the series opener gave both teams a choice with their starting pitching.

The Cardinals escaped another turn of the rotation without needed to name a fifth start. The Cubs, meanwhile, opted not to shift rising ace Shoto Imanaga's start a day, and instead will get the lefty additional rest. Imanaga, at 5-0, has the lowest ERA of any pitcher in his first nine major-league starts. The Cardinals will not see what has made him so successful and brought him to St. Louis with a streak of 12 consecutive scoreless innings. The Cardinals will not get to see how the split-finger fastball plays in the regular season after bruising his ERA during an exhibition game in Mesa, Arizona, a few months ago. What else the Cardinals won't see is a question that Mooney explores while detailing the signing of Imanaga, how the Cubs built the rotation, and what the Cardinals will face from the Cubs' rotation.

Mooney also helps explore the difference between this Cubs rebuild, the Jed Hoyer Rebuild, and the Theo Epstein Rebuild that won the Cubs the 2016 World Series but did not create the perennial contender promised. It comes down to pitching. And there's a former Cardinals executive who is helping the Cubs stockpile pitchers to develop.

Which only adds to the familiarity between the region's longest-running rivals.

And that prompts the question, are the Cubs trying to be like the contemporary Dodgers or Atlanta or Philadelphia, or are they still chasing being like the Cardinals c. 2010s? And if both teams are chasing that standard, what does it mean that Milwaukee continues to finish ahead of them?

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold. This episode features a debut of a new, temporary co-host: a symphony of cicadas.

Since the Boston Red Sox last bested the Cardinals nearly 11 years ago in one of their recurring World Series appointments, the Red Sox have had three last-place finishes and the Cardinals have slowly faded and fallen, like the leaves, into a decadelong cold snap without a World Series appearance.

For these two October rivals, once legends of fall now just legends after a fall, who is closer to a return to postseason prominence?

With the Red Sox in St. Louis for the first time since 2017, the year before their most recent championship, The Boston Globe's baseball columnist Pete Abraham joins the Best Podcast in Baseball. In the stands late Friday night at Busch Stadium with the sounds of a winding-down ballpark all around them, St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold and Abraham discuss the similarities between the two teams, the impatience of their respective fanbases, their shared history, and their shared challenge of returning to meet expectations as some of their peers widen the gap on spending and what it means to go all-in for a championship. Like, say, the Red Sox once did.

Change is either the goal or the need -- for both clubs.

And depending on how 2024 turns out for them, change could be forced upon them.

But somethings that won't are the ties that bind Boston and the Cardinals.

As the Cardinals look to regain an edge and rethink how they develop players (especially pitchers), they've hired former Boston general manager Chaim Bloom, and as Boston prepares for the possibility of manager Alex Cora's departure when his contract expires at the end of this season, it's possible a former Cardinal (or few) could emerge as candidates to replace him as the Red Sox have shifted to a new direction beneath Cora's feet. Abraham details the forces in play when it comes to Boston's new front office direction, new pitching coach, and how that all fits with the pre-existing manager who led them to their most recent World Series championship. The longtime baseball writer, who opined for the Globe throughout Bloom's tenure leading the Sox, also offers a viewpoint on what role he could best serve with the Cardinals going into a new era.

The Red Sox, off to a strong and even surprising start, arrived in St. Louis with the lowest team ERA in the majors -- before, that is, the Cardinals scored 10 runs to win the first game of the series -- and behind that radical reduction in ERA is a shift in pitching approach. Abraham explains the change Boston made, the pushback it got from some pitchers, and ultimately the strong results that won games and won over pitchers even while upending convention and throwing fewer fastballs. It's an innovation and response to the talent they have on the pitching staff that the Cardinals, likewise, are looking to make. Yet another overlap for the organizations.

The biggest connection, of course, could be the fan bases, which Abraham deftly describes by borrowing from another member of Major League Baseball's royal franchises: the Yankees. He quotes New York executive Brian Cashman's description of how the Yankees play 162 one-game series with all the pressure and attention and expectation that comes with everything being on the line that day. That fits for Boston and St. Louis, too. And pressure is building in both places.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold. It is part of the constant Cardinals coverage at StlToday.com and in the pages of the morning Post-Dispatch.

With apologies to colleague and Post-Dispatch food critic Ian Froeb, we're talking about meatballs in this episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball. Meatballs and super-sizing. Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson joins the Best Podcast in Baseball, and using his column as a map he and Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold explore the truths and falsehoods about the Cardinals' offensive problems. Statement: They're striking out too much. Response: False. Statement: They're swinging a lot. False: They're not swinging enough -- and they're not doing well against meatball pitches, the most delicious pitches to do damage on. Hence, the meatball factor. Statement: They need to stop "worrying" about home runs. Response: False. They need to hit more homers. The Cardinals are last in the majors in home runs and runs off homers, and that is an issue. Plus it goes deeper than just missing meatballs and not driving baseballs through or over the wall. There is the development question. That is where the podcast turns. In a sidebar that super-sizes the episode, Frederickson and Goold discuss on how maybe the focus has been all wrong. While the lens has been trained on the players who got away, the former Cardinals who have gone on to star and slug elsewhere, perhaps it's time to ask why the Cardinals haven't seen the same amplfication of the players they kept. When Tampa Bay acquired Richie Palacios from the Cardinals, the Rays suggested they saw more power in his swing and this season will show how they amplify that. The Cardinals know there is more power in Jordan Walker's swing and more consistent power in Nolan Gorman's swing -- they've seen the latter -- and yet haven't been able to harness that. Walker is back in Class AAA Memphis. Gorman is being passed over for key at-bats. The Cardinals have not been able to scale-up the talent they keep, and that development question is not isolated on the offense. The same can be asked on the pitching side. Where is the amplification? And that leads, finally, to where are the solutions? Which brings us back to Froeb. In his St. Louis 100 rankings of the top restaurants, he has The Gramophone's meatball sub as one of the area's top sandwiches. Maybe it's time to just roll out the feast. Before the Cardinals can crush some meatballs have them crush some meatballs. They've brought an ice cream wagon to spring training. What about a food truck at BP? Gramophone subs all around. And super-size them. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a weekly production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.