First, the Cards returned Ben Jukich to the Reds.  For a Rule V guy, he didn't get a lot of looks in camp, only getting two innings in one game.  I'm slightly surprised that the Reds didn't work a trade for him, since to take him back they have to spend $25,000, and right now the Reds are pinching every penny they can.  Still, while it would have been nice to have him in Memphis as a potential backup, the Cards didn't look at him as a LOOGY type anyway, so there are probably other options.  Be interesting to see how Jukich does this year, though, especially if he makes it to Cincinnati.

Secondly and more importantly, there seemed to be an organizational shift in regards to Jaime Garcia.  Going into the spring, some of us wanted to see him as the fifth starter in St. Louis, but the injury issue seemed to be influencing those that make the decisions, inspiring the signing of Rich Hill.  Garcia was seen as an afterthought to Hill and Kyle McClellan going at it for that last slot.

As your bracket will likely attest to this morning, afterthoughts have their way of making their way to the foreground.  On Twitter yesterday, Derrick Goold reported that Tony La Russa had declared that Garcia would be a starter somewhere, or at least that the organization wasn't looking at him as a reliever.  As I said earlier this week, I expected him to take that long relief role that Adam Wainwright had a few years back.  That's not the case anymore.

Then, Rich Hill pitched yesterday and it was another ineffective outing.  Hill walked five in three innings and, for a guy that needed to work on his command to be successful, that's a step back.  So we wake up this morning to see in the paper a story that Garcia will be given a start Monday against the Astros.  As Darth Vader said, "The circle is now complete."  (Well, almost, but when you get a chance to toss Vader into a blog post, you have to take it.)

Tom from CardinalsGM mentioned on Twitter yesterday that it was the point where he started to take results seriously.  There is just over two weeks left.  A lot of the guys that never were going to make it have been weeded out and sent to minor league camp.  Starters are starting to go five, six, seven innings.  The regulars will be playing.  Things that happen from now on are going to have a huge impact on the decisions that are left to be made.

So if Garcia goes out and throws on Monday like he's been throwing the rest of the spring, that very well may put him in the lead in the fifth starter derby after being on the outside looking in for so long.  That's what spring is all about, right?  The unexpected making a run.  A young third baseman making it so that you can't leave him off the roster.  The hometown pitcher fighting his way onto the roster.  There is a reason spring training lasts this long!

Approval rating time!  Even though I didn't plan it this way, so far every day has been one new person and one person we rated last year, and today is no different.

If we'd have rated Mark McGwire last year, it would have been as the disgraced and retired icon.  You'd have to have factored in the uncertainty (well, at least proven uncertainty) of his steroid usage and how you felt about all of that.  It's a new year, however, and we aren't rating just the icon, but the hitting coach who has made his confession.  It was possibly the most interesting name on the approval ballot.

McGwire wound up higher than I thought, with 64 people giving him an average score of 73.2%.  There was an outlier of 5, but the next-lowest was 20, while his high was one 100.  A lot in the 70-80 range, it looks like.

On the other hand, we have Yadier Molina.  A lot of Molina love last year, as he piled up the second-highest rating at 93.4%.  Not a lot has changed with Yadi, and this year he drops just a bit to 92.0%.  That'll put him behind Carp this year as well (likely) behind Albert.

Cards play a split-squad schedule today.  The noon game features St. Louis playing against their complex partners, the Marlins.  Not sure who is going in that game, though it should be Chris Carpenter, I'd expect.  The game is also supposed to be on FSN, so if you are in the viewing area, you get a lunchtime treat.

Most of us would have probably rather they televised the other game, however.  This evening, 5 PM start, the Cards go over to Washington and face Stephen Strasburg again.  Not only that, but McClellan tries to hold off Garcia for that fifth slot with a strong start.  Should be a lot of interesting things out of that one!

Filed Under: Approval Ratings | Cincinnati Reds | Florida Marlins | St. Louis Cardinals | Washington Nationals   Leave a Comment

The Cards have another day off next Tuesday and have the Sunday before the season free as well.  Otherwise, it's all baseball all the time until the beginning of the season.

The day off meant things were pretty quiet in Cardinal camp.  Allen Craig has been a popular focus this off-season, with a story earlier this week by Matthew Leach and now a feature by Derrick Goold.  I don't think there's much doubt now that Craig makes this team as a backup, though I guess a slump here at the end of the spring could see him back in Memphis.  I just hope that he'll be able to keep hitting even with only semi-regular work, pinch-hitting and the like.  If he needs to be in there every day to keep his swing working, that's going to be a problem.

Not much time and not much to talk about today, so let's get to the Cardinal Approval Ratings.  Today, we look at the skipper and the number three starter.

Tony La Russa has always been a polarizing figure in St. Louis and there's no doubt people will register opinions on him.  Last year, he checked in with a 79.1% rating.  Then he led the Cardinals to another divisional title.  Would that be reflected in this year's mark?

Perhaps it was, as TLR moved up to an 80.6% level this year.  Interestingly, there were two of the 67 voters that didn't give him a rating, something that surprised me.  Two 100s and a 38 made up the range of the votes.

Kyle Lohse was just under TLR last year, with a 77.3% mark.  That was after a successful 2008, even.  So with an injury plagued and ineffective 2009 now in the books, where will Lohse stand?

Lohse tumbled almost 11 points to a 66.8% rating this year.  Three people didn't vote, his high-water mark was 85, and there was at least one zero in the mix.

Cards take on the Braves today with Rich Hill making another important start in his bid for the fifth starter slot.  Should be a fun game to listen to, if you can!

Filed Under: Approval Ratings | St. Louis Cardinals   Leave a Comment

Has it really been just two seasons since Matt Holliday sent the Padres home (maybe--still not sure he ever touched the plate) in Game 163?  The Padres have quickly fallen on hard times since that playoff game.

Are things looking up?  I talked to the Avenger-in-Chief of Avenging Jack Murphy and websoulsurfer, the eponymous founder of his blog, about the future of the team in San Diego.

Filed Under: Playing Pepper | San Diego Padres   Leave a Comment

Garcia struck out seven batters in three innings, allowing no runs and just one hit and a walk.  Of  course, you adjust that for competition, since the Nationals aren't known for a dominating offense and some of those that Garcia faced won't be in the big leagues to start the season, if ever, but seven out of nine is a pretty good ratio in any league.

On Twitter, Matthew Leach, Andrew from Pitchers Hit Eighth, and I discussed Garcia's role with the team.  Leach said that his preference was to have Garcia go down to Memphis, be the staff ace, and be ready in case anyone faltered or was injured.  Andrew was ready for him to take the fifth slot, something that I championed in the offseason.

I think I'd still like to see Garcia in the last slot in the rotation, but I can understand the concern that he won't be able to give enough innings that way.  I'm really expecting to see him go north with the team, but as the long man in the bullpen.  He won't get many innings behind Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, but the rest of the rotation could use a solid long reliever behind them, I think.  I know Tony La Russa has mentioned possibly using him as they did Wainwright, letting him be the bullpen guy before transitioning into a starter role.  And, hey, that's the way the Cardinals do it, right?  Always taking from the pen to fill the rotation?

Apparently Washington figured out something.  After 11 walks on Sunday, they didn't issue a single pass in yesterday's game.

Bill DeWitt is happy with the team and feels that it is deep enough to be successful.  He's got a point, since Memphis did win the PCL last year.  Of course, any injury to Albert Pujols would be a major blow, but there's no way to get enough depth to offset something like that.  There seems to be enough in the middle infield, especially since Brendan Ryan really does look like he'll be back for Opening Day, and the back end of the rotation and the bullpen should have some spare parts hanging around in Memphis.

What was most welcome to hear out of that article was the fact that the Cards are planning to spend quite a bit of money on the draft.  I think they've really learned their lesson from the Rick Porcello/Pete Kozma decision and they've seen what spending on a top player can get for them in Shelby Miller, whose stay in his first Cardinal camp has been much more extended than expected.  So root for some talented players to slip through on signability issues!

Let's take our next two in the Cardinal Approval Ratings, Matt Holliday and Cardinal broadcaster Al Hrbrosky.  Obviously, Holliday wasn't asked about in the prior year, as he was sitting in Oakland (even thought St. Louis had pursued him).  I was interested to see how fans would balance his production and his return against his big money contract and his holding out for the same.

The contract, etc. may have had an impact, but Holliday still comes in with an adequte 84.5%.  For a guy that has yet to establish a huge connection with the best fans in baseball, that's not too shabby and it will probably go up next year.  A couple of 100s for the guy, with a low of 50 out of the 67 voters.

Hrbrosky did get a rating last year, a low mark of 53.9%.  That was actually the worst rating anyone got back in 2009.  So, another year of Al in the booth, and how did people take to it?  Not well, it would appear.

Hrbrosky dropped to a 46.2% level this year.  It looks like there are a lot of people that mute the TV when they are watching FSN.  Out of the 64 that registered an opinion, there were at least three zeros and only one 100.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone.  I have to say, I am so glad that the Cards are off today.  I seriously hate those green jerseys and hats they break out for this day.  If you want a more reasonable way to get in the mood, check out Fungoes today!

Filed Under: Approval Ratings | St. Louis Cardinals | Washington Nationals   Comments (1)

The Mariners have been the talk of baseball this offseason.  After a strong bounce-back year in 2009, they've made some interesting and impressive moves, capped off by acquiring Cliff Lee from Philadelphia to pair with Felix Hernandez for their own pair of aces.

Griffin of SoDo Mojo took the time to look over the Playing Pepper Ten and give me his take on the upcoming Seattle season.

Filed Under: Playing Pepper | Seattle Mariners   Leave a Comment

Look, no one took that "trade rumor" involving Albert Pujols and Ryan Howard the least bit seriously.  No one thought that it might happen, that the teams really had talked about it, etc.  I think most everyone realized that, at best, it was a trial balloon floated within the Philadelphia organization.

However, everyone had to comment about it, and especially Tony La Russa seemed to be a bit worked up about it.

I half expected everyone to just laugh it off and go about their business, but TLR really was disgusted and aggravated about the whole thing.  Perhaps he's getting an inkling about how the contract situation with AP could be a distraction during the year.  I don't think it will be--Albert's said he's not talking during the season and John Mozeliak said emphatically yesterday that he wouldn't be traded--but when you go through 162 games, things get brought up, rehashed, etc.

Of course, the easiest way for this whole thing to be resolved would be to have Albert instruct his agents to get something done before spring training is over.  That's about the only way he's not going to have to at least listen to numerous contract questions throughout this year and possibly next.  He's right, though, once the process gets going, it could only take a day or so to get it lined out.  I'm not completely ruling out a new deal before the start of the season, though if the Cards haven't tendered an official proposal yet, then it's a lot less likely.

Albert's staying and there's no news on the contract.  So what else happened yesterday?

Well, Brad Penny got hit hard and that's not a figure of speech.  Besides the fact that he got plunked a couple of times--hopefully this won't affect him, like it did with Kyle Lohse last year--he didn't have his best outing.  It was tolerable, of course, and the Cardinals were in line to win the game until a blown save in the bottom of the ninth, but hopefully he can improve on that in his next outing.  He should have three more starts in the spring, so this would be the time to see him build toward the season.

A few more players were sent over to the minor league camp, but Shelby Miller has stayed with the big leaguers.  The Cards must like what they see out of him right now.  Since he pitched Sunday, he'd be roughly in line to go again Friday in relief, so we'll see if he sticks around to get another appearance in a spring training game.  Being as Friday is a split-squad day, I'm sure that he will see some time in one of them, then be sent down.  This has to be much more than he expected this spring, since he wasn't even invited to big league camp until after it opened.

It is starting to sound like Allen Craig just might shake his John Gall status and get a legitimate shot at the big league bench this year.  The fact that he continues to hit at such a high level doesn't hurt him a bit.  Could we see a bench of Jason LaRue, Julio Lugo, Allen Craig, Joe Mather and Tyler Greene?  It'd be on the young side, but it'd be pretty intriguing and give Tony a lot to work with for his lineup manipulations.

Today's two members of the Cardinal Approval Ratings are Dave Duncan and Ryan Franklin.  Last year, Duncan wound up with an 84.2% mark and then went out and had two Cy Young candidates and a pitching staff that, on the whole, was very successful.  So this year, he moves on up to 87%. Looks like about four 100s and a low of 50 out of the 67 that cast an opinion.

Franklin wasn't on the list last year.  Why should he have been?  This time last year he looked like he'd be just another middle reliever.  Instead, he stepped in and had a strong year as a closer, at least until the last month.  Still, when the 66 votes were tallied, he managed a 69.7% mark as many people still don't trust him in that role (and I include myself in that category).  No 100s for the man with the funky beard, so his ranged from a high of 90 to a low of 6.

Cardinals get Washington again today, this time without Stephen Strasburg.  Hopefully they'll be able to have the same kind of success they had Sunday.  If nothing else, they may get plenty of taking practice.

Filed Under: Approval Ratings | New York Mets | Philadelphia Phillies | St. Louis Cardinals   Leave a Comment

It's been a long time since there was much in Pittsburgh to cheer about.  Over a decade and a half of losing seasons will wear on you, I'd imagine.

Still, there are glimmers that, perhaps, Pittsburgh's day as an automatic doormat are over.  I got in touch with Pat from Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke? to give us a look at the Bucs and their 2010 season.

Filed Under: Pittsburgh Pirates | Playing Pepper   Comments (1)

First off, the Olney report is probably accurate, because when you read it, all it says was that Philadelphia might have had some sort of internal conversation about this.  I completely believe that.  I figure a lot of teams talk about what they'd give for AP, especially now that he's in the latter part of his contract.  I doubt that it ever made it to the level of formal offer, though.

If you want a great rejection of this deal (from a Phillies fan, no less), look over at Crashburn Alley.  You can also check out Mike at Stan Musial's Stance.  To go along with what they've said, let me make just a couple more points.

One, the Cardinals are willing to commit crazy amounts of money to Albert Pujols and Albert Pujols only.  If, for some reason, Pujols was to walk, I don't think they'd spend 75% of that money on another player, which is probably what they'd have to do to keep Howard.  John Mozeliak would be much more likely to go for a team-wide upgrade, if possible, than to try to sink so much into one player.

Secondly, if the Cardinals were going to trade AP (and this also ties somewhat into number one), they'd more likely try to get 2-3 young, under team control top prospects from someone than a straight-up swap of first basemen.  The team would need the youth infusion and the way to manage payroll, since attendance would noticeably drop, I believe, with a Pujols trade.

The best thing about this rumor (and it's probably just the first in a long line) is that it gives both sides more momentum to get a deal done, if only to stop these crazy things.

Now to the on-the-field stuff.  I was able to catch portions of the Cardinals' win over Houston on Saturday, thanks to it being on KSDK.  It was hard to get a real good judge on things, since I was running in and out of the room and the wind looked like it was blowing quite strongly.  However, it was good to see Pujols get a couple of hits, Rich Hill do OK (though I did find Rick Horton's comment about him not repeating his delivery interesting) and Ryan Ludwick go yard.  Looking forward to watching a bit more this weekend.

Sunday was remarkable, of course, because of who was starting against St. Louis.  Stephen Strasburg drew raves from Tony La Russa, so you have to figure he was pretty darn good.  The Cards got a couple of singles off of him, but that was it.  Thankfully, the rest of the Washington squad was, shall we say, a little more...erratic.  I don't care what the conditions, 11 walks seems a bit excessive.

Shelby Miller got into the game as well, a little less hyped than the other first-round pick.  Still, that's two scoreless innings for Miller, though he's had to work out of trouble both times.  I can't imagine him starting at AA, but I wouldn't be surprised if his positive impression this spring would help him jump there with a good start at A ball.

The Cards have put together a little run and have started to look more like a real team again.  (Of course, the record has to look better than the Nationals' 0-10.)  They take on the Mets again today, so we'll see if they can keep the wins coming.

There was a really interesting article about Colby Rasmus in the Post-Dispatch.  The physical aspects of last season were fairly well documented and his overcoming of that was one reason I expected a big season from him this year.  However, to add in the family turmoil as well as the clubhouse that, for some reason, isn't quite welcoming for the rooks, and it's surprising he did as well as he did last year.

Even with the relative youth of some of that clubhouse, you have to figure it's dominated by La Russa and Pujols.  And while I don't think they go out of their way to harass first-year players or anything of that nature, and I'm sure they are willing to help when asked, you know that kind of atmosphere has to be pretty intimidating.  The expectations are high for anyone that wears Cardinal red, and if you aren't sure you can make them, it could cause some tension.

Rasmus makes a point to say that he thinks it has made him stronger and thankfully he and his dad are reconciled.  He may not be completely comfortable in a veteran clubhouse yet, but he's getting there.  Which is why, if you still haven't drafted yet, you just might want Colby Jack for your fantasy baseball team.

I promised I'd start releasing the Cardinal Approval Ratings today, so let's get the first couple out of the way.

Chris Carpenter wasn't on last year's ballot, but it's not surprising that Cardinal Nation is right fond of the guy.  67 ballots were turned in and everyone registered an opinion on the ace of the staff.  Carp registered at 93.6%, a unsurprising but strong showing.  A quick glance shows more than ten 100s and a low score of 75.

Bill DeWitt was on last year's ballot, because you always have to get a feel for what people think of ownership.  Before the '09 season, DeWitt rated a 80.2% mark.  So, after a season where he opened up to get Matt Holliday and others plus allowed John Mozeliak to sign Shelby Miller, where does he rank with the 64 people that expressed an opinion?  83.0%.  A couple of 100s for him and a low of 60 when you toss out the strange (in my mind, at least) outlier of 25.

We'll do a couple more tomorrow, so come back for them!

Filed Under: Approval Ratings | Houston Astros | New York Mets | Philadelphia Phillies | St. Louis Cardinals | Washington Nationals   Leave a Comment

Interestingly enough, Oakland is the only team not represented in the Baseball Bloggers Alliance.  Over 140 blogs and not one of them has a focus on the green and gold.

Oakland's blogger landscape is dominated by Athletics Nation, so I sent along the Playing Pepper Ten to them, asking them to take a look.  Christy was kind enough to send back some short and sweet answers, which gives you a break from reading some of the treatises that I've been posting!

Filed Under: Oakland A's | Playing Pepper   Leave a Comment

It's a good time to be a Phillies fan.  An organization that spent so long trying to return and win a championship has now been to the Series two years in a row and, on paper, looks primed for a three-peat.

There are some quality Phillies blogs in the BBA and I was lucky enough to round up Bill from Crashburn Alley, Max from Fire Eric Bruntlett and Scott from Phils Baseball to expound upon this team and what 2010 looks like for them.

Filed Under: Philadelphia Phillies | Playing Pepper   Leave a Comment

Anyway, there came around an e-mail looking to see if someone was interested in reading a new book called Joe Cronin: A Life In Baseball, by Mark Armour.  I have read enough baseball history to know the name of Joe Cronin, but I didn't know a lot of the details about him.  A baseball book is a baseball book, however, and I quickly volunteered to take a look at it.  Let me tell you, I'm extremely glad that I did.

This book had me hooked from the prelude, which was set at the end of Cronin's life when he was being honored at Fenway Park with Ted Williams.  The description of Cronin as an affable guy that loved to talk baseball at any opportunity intrigued me and made me identify with him more than I expected too.

Name a job and a time in baseball and Joe Cronin had something to do with it.  He broke into baseball with Pittsburgh in 1925.  At least, that's where he got his first job.  He wound up spending most of his tenure in Pittsburgh in their minor league system.  When he ran out of options, he was traded over to Washington, where he actually made a name for himself.

Cronin was an All-Star shortstop, which in and of itself might have gotten him into the Hall of Fame.  However, it wasn't too many years before Cronin found himself named player-manager of the Senators, something that wasn't all that common even in those days, though was a little more prevalent at the time due to the Great Depression.  An owner could get two jobs done for the price of one, basically.

Before reading this book, I'd heard the story that Cronin had been traded by his father-in-law, which is not something that often happens.  Clark Griffin was actually Cronin's uncle by marriage, though he had basically adopted Cronin's wife and people thought of her as his daughter.  However, what's less well known is that Cronin had the final say there and was willing to go to Boston.

Boston was a great move for him.  He was player-manager for a few more years before gradually siding into more of a traditional manager role.  He then moved up the ladder to GM during a time where the Red Sox built their way out of also-ran status to at least a competitiveness with the Yankees.  Cronin was also in Boston for the infamous dash by Enos Slaughter, something Cardinal fans remember very fondly.

What else did Cronin do?  How about rewriting the rule book--literally.  He headed up the committee that formalized and codified the rules of the game.  He was the American League President (back when the two leagues had their own identity) and presided over franchise shifts and expansion teams.  He even was in the running to be commissioner for a time, though he was skipped over for an outsider in his best chance at it.

Armour weaves a fascinating tale, examining each year of Cronin's baseball life, from his time starring in the sandlots of San Francisco to his passing in 1984.  Watching how baseball changed and seeing Cronin in the middle of the changes allows for a great look at the history of the game.

Armour does come across as an apologetic for Cronin in places, but it is nothing too egregious.  Cronin dealt with charges of racism, as the Red Sox were the last team to integrate with black ballplayers.  He received criticism as league president as well, and Armour takes pains to explain Cronin's side of things even while outlining the charges against him.

If I hadn't been asked to review this book, I might not have ever picked it up.  While I enjoy reading baseball tomes, I might have passed this one by due to it being an American League book when I have a National League focus.  That said, I'd have been missing out not to have read through this one.  If you are a person with an interest in baseball history or know someone that does, this book would be a wonderful addition to their library.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a free copy of the book being reviewed by the publisher, but received no payment or other consideration for this review.

Filed Under: General Baseball   Leave a Comment