LAS VEGAS • With months yet to go before spring training, Cardinals manager Mike Shildt has maintained and encouraged open lines of communication with all of his players via calls, texts, and in a few cases in-person chats.
Already this offseason, Shildt has traveled to talk with a few players privately over dinner, and there are other trips he and his staff plan to make. It is, he agreed, a chance to have a conversation and build a relationship without a desk between them.
Despite more than a decade in pro baseball, Shildt attended his first winter meetings this week and stayed ahead of the whirlwind Wednesday at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.