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July 2011Crazy Day In Cardinal NationPosted on July 30, 2011 at 11:53 PM
Lots of stuff floating around today, as the Cards made some moves on the field and off of them. Let's hit the game first, followed by the cavalry.Sometimes I think Kyle Lohse just shouldn't be allowed to pitch against the Cubs. I've noted before that he seems to get beat around by them in our UCB Progressive Game Blog days. Today wasn't much different, at least to start with. The error by Daniel Descalso to start the game didn't help, of course, save that it kept Lohse from getting any earned runs. We pointed out that Alfonso Soriano had done well against him in the past and that showed again today with the big three-run bomb. Something funny happened on the way to that rout, though. Lohse settled down and kept the Cubs off the scoreboard while the Cardinal bats started to come alive. They got two quick ones back, then they blew up in the fifth. Which is why I'm giving the Hero tag to Matt Holliday for his takeout slide at second, knocking Starlin Castro not only to his knees, but also rattling him enough that an extra run scored on the play. Watching it live, I thought it was a perfectly clean slide, aggressive to be sure, but clean. He didn't go out of the baseline, going straight to second base with his hands going over it after the slide. He dropped down late, sure, and threw his legs out, but that's the way you are taught to go into second, isn't it? He didn't chase Castro down to get in his way. Everything went south from there for the Cubs and the Cards put on a trouncing. A win tomorrow and they can have that 5-2 homestand that I thought was the minimum they had to do against the Astros and Cubs. Other positives: Being that his job was in jeopardy (and more on that in a bit) it was good to see Ryan Theriot 1) start at second base (where he should have been all year) and 2) get a couple of big hits in his 4-5 day. He looked a lot better and could be on the rebound after his terrible stretch. That said, if he plans to play he better get happy at second. Also, Albert Pujols went 2-4 with a home run. I can take days like that, can't you? Lohse's line was pretty good all the way around. For the second straight start, though, he had to be pinch-hit for in the fifth with a great scoring opportunity. This time, Tony Cruz came through and kept the inning going and the runs flowing. It'd still be nice to see if Lohse could keep his good starts past the fifth, though. Not sure why Tony La Russa feels the need to throw Octavio Dotel every single day. He's gone three in a row, which should mean he's unavailable tomorrow night. As long as we get him ready for Milwaukee, though, that'll be OK. Bullpen all around was solid with Lance Lynn and Fernando Salas also throwing scoreless and efficient frames. Looking for a Goat and I guess it has to be Daniel Descalso. No hits, two strikeouts and that error in the first. Did score a run after an intentional walk, though, so it wasn't completely wasted, just not that good in comparison to pretty much everyone else. Then, late tonight, the Cards finalized a deal with the Dodgers that is sending Rafael Furcal here to lead off and play shortstop. Like I said this morning, it looks like he's got a good case for a rebound and has been hitting much better of late. He should be able to catch what comes to him and give the team a bit of a different look in the leadoff slot. Apparently the cost was pretty cheap--a minor league outfielder not on the 40-man roster (name still not identified, though it's been confirmed it's not Thomas Pham) and the Dodgers are even kicking in some cash. I like the deal. Seems like it's a low-risk way to improve a pretty glaring hole. At worst, it's a Mark DeRosa-type deal with less of a cost in players. (Much less of a cost in players!) At best, it revitalizes the top of the lineup and gives another dimension to this offense. It looks like Furcal should make it to St. Louis in time for tomorrow night's game against the Cubs, so we won't have to wait long to see what he can do in Cardinal red. According to the rumor mill, the Cards are still in the picture for Heath Bell as well. I'm not so excited about that, due to Bell's declining production and the fact that the bullpen has already been made over. Texas looked like the sure-fire winner in that derby, though, but they traded for Koji Uehara and are reportedly not close to any other deal. If that's true, San Diego might have to drop their asking price and maybe the Cards could meet it. Then again, it seems just as likely that the Padres would keep Bell and get the two picks when he walks in the offseason, but sometimes getting sure things is better than the gambles two picks could be. I don't think the Cards will do it, but you never know. All of this activity this week has reminded me of the 2000 trading deadline. I think that might have been the first time the deadline was moved to 3 PM Central rather than 11 PM. Anyway, I remember being at work monitoring the deals and it seemed like Walt Jocketty was making a ton of them. First Will Clark, then Carlos Hernandez. Seems like there was at least one other move as well. It's always fun to see the Cardinals not only tied to rumors but actively doing some work as well. Even if they are done, it's been a fun week and will give Bill and I plenty to talk about on tomorrow's Gateway to Baseball Heaven. Let's preview the Sunday night ESPN game. Jake Westbrook tries to keep his current run going. What's he done against the Cubbies in the past?
Ryan Dempster for the little bears. His numbers:
Break out the brooms and get out the welcome mat, tomorrow night should be a lot of fun!  Major MilestonesPosted on July 30, 2011 at 11:23 AM
This year, the Cubs have gotten an early jump on their acronym (Completely Useless By September) and walked into Busch to face a team that really need to take care of business. At least on Friday, that business was taken care of.You have to figure there was a ton of pressure on Edwin Jackson last night, but he held up under the strain beautifully. There had to be a segment of the fan base there ready to boo if he didn't pitch well, taking out their frustrations of a trade that they didn't approve of. Jackson, save a bit of trouble in the second, never really gave them the opportunity. How can you not like seven innings, one run, four strikeouts and two walks? It was interesting to see a flamethrower on the mound to start a game as well. We've seen 97 or so out of the pen often enough from Jason Motte in particular, but that's not exactly Jake Westbrook's game, for example. Of course, again, you don't want to read too much into one start. The Cubs aren't exactly a dominant force, as noted, and they lost one of their bigger weapons earlier in the week when they traded Kosuke Fukudome. Jackson will go again in the Milwaukee series and we'll get a better feel for what we have then. Even though the game was well in hand after a eighth inning uprising (more on that in a second), there was still a reason to hang around. After doubling in the second, Albert Pujols needed one hit to get to the nice, round number of 2000. There seemed little doubt that, when the man puts his mind to it, it's going to happen and he smoked another double off of Carlos Marmol in his last at-bat, creating prolonged cheers and a couple of tips of his batting helmet to the fans. Who knows if Cardinal fans will be able to help him mark other occasions. Reactions like that, though, can't hurt when it comes this offseason. Congrats to Pujols on such a milestone. Now, go get 1631 more in a Cardinal uni--I think Stan Musial would be OK with that. There really was only one blemish on last night's game, and that was Kyle McClellan's season debut from the bullpen. McClellan only got one out, allowed a run, and left with runners on second and third. A base hit in that situation would have made it 6-4 with the tying run at the plate, but Motte came in and snuffed out the rally. I'm sure it'll take a little bit of time for McClellan to get back into the reliever mindset. I wouldn't be surprised to see him either this afternoon or Sunday night, to get him back on the horse and get him realizing that he can come in at any time. Apparently the Cards aren't quite done dealing, though it seems that, even though they had scouts in Baltimore to watch Jeremy Guthrie last night and are still talking with the Padres about Heath Bell (who, apparently, would like to come to St. Louis, but he doesn't have the clout Ken Griffey Jr. had to get to Cincinnati and we remember what happened to Roy Oswalt, who wanted to come to St. Louis as well), the focus has shifted to the middle infield slot. Joe Strauss has Tweeted that the Cards are likely to make a "difference-maker" move before the deadline. That apparently means (assuming John Mozeliak isn't in super-secret stealth mode) Rafael Furcal, who is having an off year but some of the sabermetric types believe that the underlying numbers are solid and he should be in line for a bounce back. That's well beyond my knowledge and ability, so I'll take their word for it. I would think that Furcal would be a fairly low-cost option, plus Milwaukee has been looking in on him, so if they are able to swipe him before the Brewers do, that could be a double win. Now, apparently those talks may have lit a fire under the incumbent, because Ryan Theriot got two hits last night (though he also played some second base). Could this be a lot of talk just to see what happens? I'd be surprised. It's obvious that the Cardinals are pushing hard to win this year. I don't think they are gambling that some sort of psychological warfare will help them get the Theriot they hoped they were trading for in the offseason. I'd be a little surprised if the Cards don't wind up with Furcal, but we have about 29 hours to find out. (Interestingly, though, Theriot didn't play shortstop last night, getting in at second base after pinch hitting, his first time on that side of the bag. Daniel Descalso started there and eventually Tyler Greene, who came up when the Cards put Nick Punto on the DL yesterday, got some time there. Take that for what it's worth.) Cards and Cubs are the Fox Game of the Week, meaning a nice 3:10 start on a July afternoon in St. Louis. Glad I'll watch that one from my air-conditioned home, I've got to say. Kyle Lohse was pushed back a day and makes the start here, as we'll see whether the finger is going to be much of an issue. Lohse looked pretty good last time out, but was only out there five innings. Here's his line against the Cubbies:
Rodrigo Lopez goes for the Cubs. He's only thrown one inning against the Birds this year and they scored against him, so maybe they can pile up some more runs today. Here's his career numbers:
Cards still have the potential for a sweep and may shake the roster up today as well. Good day to stick by Twitter while you are watching the game!  Is It Too Late?Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:29 AM
The idea at the trade deadline is to give a team an added boost to push them to the finish line. While it's way too early to determine whether it worked or not here, the last couple of nights have reinforced an idea that has been floating around, that it may be not enough for this team.Let's look at last night first before examining the bigger picture. In his first outing, Marc Rzepczynksi gets the Hero tag, throwing two very impressive innings in relief. Not limited to just LOOGY status, he struck out four of the seven batters he faced, allowing just a solitary hit. On Twitter, there was some discussion about why he was allowed to throw two innings (the pitch count was a season high), but he handled it well. I'd suggest that either Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan wanted to really see what they had in Rzepczynski or the stretching him out process has already begun. Whatever the case, he looks like a good addition to the bullpen, if last night is representative of what he can do. Corey Patterson and Octavio Dotel also got into the action with positive marks on the scoreboard. Patterson drove in the first run of the game while Dotel threw a scoreless ninth. At least for one night, there wasn't much complaining about what came back in the deal. Among the regulars, it was good to see Albert Pujols have a couple of doubles, but there just wasn't much else going from the offensive side of things. If Houston trades Wandy Rodriguez, I hope it's to the American League so the Cards don't have to face him nearly as often. Flipping the focus, Jaime Garcia was off last night. I don't know if the law of averages is catching up to him, but his last two road starts--where he had been struggling--were excellent, while he comes home--a place where he'd been dominant--and allowed five runs and was generally inefficient, throwing just under 100 pitches in six innings. Really, that's the key. If it's a good night for Garcia, he throws about 8 innings in that many pitches. If he starts scuffling early, it's probably going to be a short night for him. That's the way it was last night. Granted, he had some complications and one of the charges against Garcia has been his ability to lose focus at times, but on the whole, not what we wanted to see out of him in a game that was a needed win. So the Cardinals reach the midway point in this series against one of the worst teams in the NL with two wins and their top two pitchers going next. They wind up with an unsatisfying split, which seems to be par for the course for this team. Since June 1, this team is 22-27 by my count. Granted, there were some injuries that played a part in that, but the idea coming out of the All-Star break was that this team was ready to rock and roll, ready to put up a strong second half. Instead, they are just 6-7 so far since the game out in Arizona. While the competition has been better than doormats, they still should be better than that. Right now, this team feels like mediocrity. Of course, mediocrity might be enough to win the NL Central, but I'd be a little surprised. The Cards sit tied for second, 1.5 games behind Milwaukee for the division lead. It's not like Milwaukee or Pittsburgh is tearing things up either, but right now all it'll take is one medium-sized winning streak from either team and the Cardinals might be too far out to worry about it. This team, from a fan's point of view, still just feels out of sync. Last night was an example--as soon as the team shores up its pitching staff, three position players leave because of injury. Tony Cruz and Gerald Laird sound like they should be ready tonight or tomorrow, but Nick Punto, who is working on that "oft-injured" descriptor to go in front of his name, may wind up back on the DL. While the manager continues to say that Allen Craig may not be ready yet, if Punto hits the DL (and with Craig getting two hits in Memphis last night), I'd be surprised if that's not the move that's made. We know if the offense gets clicking and starting working with a pitching staff on a roll, very good things can happen in St. Louis. All the parts are here (though one right now, Lance Berkman, apparently is still not likely to play tonight either) to make a run. Whether they'll all get on the same page is a question that is likely to linger for some time, and the longer it lingers, the less likely it is to happen or, at least, happen in time. Just as a passing note, a Chicago columnist has suggested that the White Sox didn't take Colby Rasmus because they wanted Tony La Russa to manage for them next year. I'm thinking that if Cardinal management didn't have a strong feeling TLR was coming back next year, they'd have been more likely to tell them to deal with each other for a couple of months. It was the fact that La Russa was going to be around for longer than this season that gave the club the impetus to trade him. Edwin Jackson makes his Cardinal debut tonight and gets to jump straight into the Cards/Cubs rivalry. He's had some experience against the North Siders, but has it been good?
For the Cubbies, Matt Garza takes the hill. He's a pretty new face to most of the Cardinals.
I said at the outset of this homestand than anything less than 5-2 would be a disappointment. The Cards now have to sweep the Cubs to get to that level. First step to a sweep tonight!  Cardinals Move OnPosted on July 28, 2011 at 9:15 AM
After all the news of the day, it was almost anti-climactic when the Cards had to go out and actually play a game. Unfortunately, the ending was of the same mold.There weren't a lot of positive performances to go on, as Bud Norris was at it again. I'll give the Hero tag to Matt Holliday for his two-for-three performance last night. You could have also gone with Chris Carpenter, who pitched well again, with eight strikeouts and two runs in seven innings. Carpenter is showing no signs of turning back into a pumpkin, as it were, so he should give the Cards a significant weapon down the stretch of what is turning into a three-way race. The Goat would be Mitchell Boggs. Not only did he give up the deciding two runs in the game, but he was very shaky in his first inning of work as well, being a bit lucky not to have allowed any runs there as he loaded the bases with one out. Boggs seems to have these kind of games, going from very effective at times to very iffy. With the new arms coming for the pen and with Boggs having options, it'll be interesting to see if he goes down to make room. I don't know that he will or that he should, but that doesn't mean much. Really thought the Cards were going to be able to at least force extras with Albert Pujols up, runners on second and third, and two outs. A base hit would have been enough, but instead he struck out to end the game and cap his 0-5 night. It seems to me that Pujols, save for his 4-5 game in Pittsburgh, has been fine with the long ball but isn't hitting for much average. His season number now is .274, at least seven points off of his season high. As much as I like the homers, a 3-4 night with a double on a semi-regular basis would not go amiss either. Last night the top three hitters in the lineup combined for 0-13. It's a good thing Carpenter was on his game, because it's not easy to score many runs when that happens. Of course, today is still a reaction day as the trade continues to be analyzed and discussed. It was interesting to see some of the comments from the people involved. For example, the main piece in the deal, Colby Rasmus. I think the takeaway from everything that he said yesterday, besides the boilerplate "It happens, enjoyed my time here, etc." was "I hope he's happy" in reference to Tony La Russa. If nothing else, the Rasmus family seems to think that it was La Russa that got Colby out of town. Cole over at Redbird Report picked up some comments from Tony Rasmus in a Toronto paper that paint a different picture than the official line. While I think you take some of Papa Rasmus's comments with a grain of salt--he's been known to admit that he likes to stir the pot on line, and I expect an interview would be no different--that combined with Colby's brother (not the one recently drafted by the Cards) Tweeting about "unfair treatment" makes you wonder exactly how things were playing out over there. One of the other pieces that left was Trever Miller. Miller made some comments on his way out, and took most of the blame, with the caveat that he though if he'd pitched regularly he'd have been better. There's only one problem with that. When he was pitching regularly, he wasn't getting people out, which is why TLR lost confidence in him and stopped using him. For example, let's look back at that five-appearance, no-out streak he ran in April. He threw on 4/17, then 4/23, then three straight days 4/26-4/28. You can't get much more regular than that for a LOOGY. It wasn't until July until he really didn't get regular work, but by then the damage was done. Kyle McClellan was affected by the deal and he says he's fine with going to the bullpen. Fine might be an overstatement, really. Watching him on FSMW yesterday it seemed like he was going to take one for the team and he couldn't really complain about it, but he wasn't thrilled. You can't blame him--he's wanted to be a starter for a long time now and got a chance to do it this year. He didn't completely pitch himself out of the job (though if he was still going like he was going in April, the Cards either don't make this move or don't get him out of the rotation) and has to be pleased that he at least showed the team (and other teams) that he could do it. He strengthens the bullpen now, though, and that's a positive from this situation. Most likely, with a rotation of Adam Wainwright, Jaime Garcia, Kyle Lohse and Jake Westbrook next year already set with Chris Carpenter looking like he might return and the Cards talking about making new guy Marc Rzepczynski a starter, McClellan could become a trade chip in the offseason and he's done nothing to damage his value. Tony La Russa continues to insist that the team shouldn't choose a manager over a player and that he had nothing to do with the deal. Perhaps that's true, but there have been a number of players (J.D. Drew, Adam Kennedy, Scott Rolen, Brendan Ryan) that got into that doghouse and none of them are still here while the manager is. With the comments from Tony Rasmus and the fact that the Cards were working on an extension with Rasmus before TLR ruined it with his public comments, there's no doubt that he's been significantly involved in this decision. For some, that's a failure of being a manager and I'm not going to say I disagree. I do want to take issue with one point, though, that was brought up in the UCB Radio Hour last night and probably will be mentioned by a number of people aggravated with La Russa's actions. Tony La Russa is a very good manager. Doesn't mean he's always right, doesn't mean that he was right in this case. However, a person doesn't stay in the game managing 30+ years with no gaps without knowing what he is doing. You look at the two teams that were affected by the death of a teammate, in '02 and '07. Both of those teams were able to overcome that, though the '07 team fell short of the playoffs. Look at this year. With all the injuries, most Cardinal fans would have been ecstatic with second place if you'd told them all of these players would go down before the season. No matter the personnel, the TLR era in St. Louis has been a rousing success and we should remember that. Does that mean that it's not time for TLR to go, that he should continue to be manager in perpetuity? I don't know about that. I think there should be some sort of accountability when comments are made that change the whole course of an organization. What that should be is up to the powers that be. Finally, this from John Mozeliak: "Was there a chance he [Colby] was going in the wrong direction? I'll let you answer that." It seems that the club realized there was a chance that he wasn't going to get any better. If he doesn't, if he doesn't come out of his shell being outside of St. Louis, perhaps we'll look back on this trade much differently in 4-5 years. I remember the outcry when the Mark Mulder deal was made. People were so worked up about it because they couldn't believe the Cards would trade such a prospect. Of course, that was Daric Barton, who has done little to warrant that gnashing of teeth in his career. If it wasn't for the fact Dan Haren blossomed, that trade would just be a footnote. One last point I want to make about the deal. While there seems to be little thought that these players to be named later will be much of anything (they've been described as low-level prospects), either they or the "significant" cash that are coming back must be key. I feel like there's a player in Toronto's system that Mozeliak really wants, and he did pretty well picking out David Freese from San Diego for Jim Edmonds and Makiel Cleto from Seattle for Brendan Ryan. To me, that's the only reason you turn down the Tampa Bay offer of Jeff Niemann and JP Howell and a prospect. The story is that Mo was holding out for James Shields or Jeremy Hellickson, which I understand, but that's not the quality he got from Toronto. I don't think anyone puts Edwin Jackson in the same class as those two, and the differences in contracts is significant as well. Niemann would be under team control for five more years at a fairly minimum salary, something that'd be good when you are budgeting for Albert Pujols. It's true Howell would have a free agent at the end of the year, but easier to resign him than Jackson. Tampa Bay's package, on the face of it, was a much better blend of the now and the not yet. I have to believe that the PTBNL will give us some of that "not yet" out of this deal as well. Lance Berkman got an injection in his shoulder yesterday and should be back in the lineup today. The outfield depth has taken a hit, so we really need Berkman to be healthy down the stretch. Hopefully that will be the case. Couple of lefties go today. Jaime Garcia at home is a good thing, as we all know. Here's him against the Houston club:
Wandy Rodriguez vs. Cardinals has always been a tough matchup.
 Filed Under: Heroes and Goats
| Houston Astros
| St. Louis Cardinals
| Toronto Blue Jays
Comments (2)
Keeping You Informed: Rasmus To JaysPosted on July 27, 2011 at 3:32 PM
Here's the official release:CARDINALS
& BLUE JAYS ANNOUNCE MULTI-PLAYER DEAL; The
Cardinals have acquired right handed pitcher Edwin Jackson, right
handed reliever Octavio Dotel, left handed reliever Marc Rzepczynski
(pronounced Zep-CHIN-ski), outfielder Corey Patterson and three players to
be named later or cash considerations. "We
feel that this deal strengthens us in a number of key areas," said Cardinals'
Senior Vice President/ General Manager John Mozeliak. "Trades of this nature are never easy to make,
but we felt that it was important to solidify a number of areas on our ball club
to better position ourselves for what looks to be a highly competitive
divisional race." Rzepczynski,
25, was 2-3 with a 2.97 ERA and 10 Holds for Dotel,
37, had a 2-1 mark, one save, four Holds and a 3.68 ERA in 36 games for the
Jays this season and he has 106 career saves, combining for a career-high 36 in
2004 with Patterson,
31, was batting .252 this year with 6 homers, 33 RBI and 13 steals. His career marks include a .253 BA with 118
HR's, 428 RBI and 218 steals. Patterson
hit a career-high 24 homers for the Cubs in 2004 and he swiped a career-best 45
steals for  Worldview ShakingPosted on July 27, 2011 at 3:23 PM
I'm a positive guy. I give people the benefit of the doubt, figure there are things that aren't in evidence that I don't know, and generally expect that people running a business or a baseball team or anything of that nature know what they are doing.Which is why the earth has apparently tilted on its axis today. I was waiting to write anything until it was official. Lots of rumors and talk out there, especially as the deadline gets closer. You never want to come out and talk about something that doesn't actually happen. However, with PJ Walters tweeting about Toronto and Colby Rasmus's brother doing the same, it's a pretty safe bet that the trade, as we know it, will be happening. So it's Colby Rasmus, Trever Miller (who is expected to be flipped to the White Sox), Brian Tallet, and PJ Walters for Edwin Jackson (whom the Jays received earlier today from the White Sox), Marc Rzepczynski (whose name I will never spell right without looking it up), Octavio Dotel and Corey Patterson. There is apparently money changing hands as the commish has to approve it (as he does with any trade involving more than $1 million), but so far, nothing has changed to indicate that isn't the case. (Late note: Apparently the Cards could get another reliever from the White Sox if Miller is dealt.) That's the deal. That's what John Mozeliak has apparently signed off on. Then it was like a million voices cried out at once on Twitter and nothing is going to silence them. The blog posts are already being written and keep trickling in. Colby Rasmus is a trending topic. And I have to agree with the prevailing sentiment, which is, "That's it? That's the deal?" The Cardinals have traded a young, cost-controlled (to a degree--Rasmus will be arbitration eligible after this year, I believe), quality player at a premium position for a rental pitcher and some relievers? You trade a guy that could have been part of the core of the team for three more years for, at best, a LOOGY and a draft pick past this season? There is just not that much to like about this deal. Yes, the Cardinals needed left-handed relief help. We get that and I agree wholeheartedly. Rzepcynski has been very effective against lefties this year and he's not been that bad against righties, either. However, if you go into this year's splits (and it's small sample size, true), he's been worse away from Rogers Center and been worse on grass by significant margins. For his career it's the same way, though it isn't as pronounced. I'll give you that he fits a need, but he's not worth giving up Rasmus for. Apparently, the club thinks he can be a starter (he's been one in the minors) because they've determined that no matter what your position in the majors, it's the wrong one. Pip did a great breakdown of why you don't trade Rasmus for Jackson yesterday, showing that yet again the man is on the bleeding edge of things and that apparently the front office isn't reading the blogs as much as we thought they might. To get someone that projects, as Pip says, "between Lohse and Westbrook" for the rest of the year isn't exactly the impact player that we thought the team was looking for before it moved the centerfielder. With Scott Boras as his agent and the state of the pitching staff in the next couple of years, I can't imagine any way Jackson is back with this team next year unless someone gets traded. As for Octavio Dotel and Corey Patterson.....nobody told me we'd gotten into a time machine and shown up in 2004. Dotel's been passable this year, I guess, but he's 37 years old and has been up and down. Not sure who he'd be an upgrade on. He's not going to take Lance Lynn's place in the 8th, I don't think. He's not better than Jason Motte or Mitchell Boggs. Where does he fit? Corey Patterson, well, ugh. Besides the whole "former Cub" thing, he's one of those guys that's hung around long enough to get the "veteran" tag that apparently is so appealing to some parts of the Cardinal decision making tree. He's been better the last couple of years, but the last time he was in the NL Central, with both the Reds and the Brewers, he was a disaster. He's filler, a guy that plays once a week or so on a lot of teams (which means he'll likely start tonight, but that's another story.) (Now, since things move fast and I don't write that way, a couple of things have happened since I started this. The first is that it has been officially announced. I'll post the press release when I get it--actually, just got it so it'll go up after this post. The second is that the Cards get either three players to be named later or cash. If they are able to get some quality from the PTBNL list, perhaps this deal doesn't look as bad. Flip side of that is if there were top prospects on that list, chances are the Cards get them now rather than later.) As Bernie Miklasz Tweeted, there's little upside to this deal. Does it help the Cards this season? There's an argument there, I would guess. It depends on what Jackson does in the starting rotation, because I don't think the bullpen was as bad as it was earlier in the year and so the moves probably not do much for it. It's a gamble, though. Can Jon Jay hit like he's been hitting on a regular basis? Remember his tail spin last year after Ryan Ludwick was moved. Can Allen Craig step in and be a dependable fourth outfielder? There's a chance the offense is a bit weaker, especially if Rasmus still had a positive streak in him. This was not an overwhelming trade, which is what Mozeliak said would need to happen to move Rasmus. This, for all intents and purposes, was Scott Rolen all over again. (We could hope that it's JD Drew and that one of the PTBNL is an Adam Wainwright, but I think that's pushing it.) Rolen had to leave because he and TLR couldn't get along anymore. It happened with Brendan Ryan this last season. Which means that it begs the question: who actually is running this team? I've been a La Russa fan for a long while, but I said back with Rolen that you can't let the manager get a situation to the point where you have to give up on a player that can help you. Especially in this situation, when TLR might not be back next year and Rasmus could be a future contributor, you don't give him away for spare parts. Yet that seems, right now, exactly what they've done. There's a dynamic in play in St. Louis decision making that doesn't seem to be anywhere else and I don't think it's a positive one for the club. We knew Rasmus was going to leave sometime, though. If nothing else, he'd have walked as a free agent in a few years and he probably did need to go somewhere else to have his potential realized. It's just....this way? When the reports are you could have gotten a starter, a lefty reliever, and a prospect from Tampa Bay? Are the draft picks that apparently were such a focus better than current young talent? However, what's done is done. Harping on it won't help anything, won't get it undone. Years later there are still people talking about the Mark Mulder deal and, while this one has the potential of that one, there's nothing the fan base can do about it. Although Joe Strauss now suggests the Cardinals could move Motte and Boggs for Heath Bell. We might be doing this same up-in-arms reaction again before it's all said and done. It's not over until the buzzer sounds on Sunday. Remember, though, you can talk about it tonight during the UCB Radio Hour!  Continuing The RollPosted on July 27, 2011 at 10:42 AM
The Cardinals have a home stand against the two worst teams in the division and they've been taking advantage of it. They didn't really capitalize on their offensive showing last night, getting only three runs out of 11 hits (no walks, not sure if that meant Houston pitching was around the plate or patience wasn't in force last night) but they didn't have to since the hot-weather Jake Westbrook showed up. Again, you have to take some excitement with a grain of salt, since Houston is struggling, but being that these batters had a good career history against Westbrook, I think it's a good sign. I remember that Westbrook was very solid down the stretch last year (including the mid-September game that was the first Social Media Night) and if he can do that again this year, it increases the odds of the Cards making the playoffs significantly. All the scoring came via the long ball, as Albert Pujols hit a disputed home run in the first inning, giving the Cards a 2-0 lead, then David Freese added insurance with home run number 5, a career-high for him in the big. We've all expected more pop out of Freese and hopefully we are getting it. Last year all of his home runs were centered in a two-week span before his injury. If he can start hitting for a little more regular power, that'd be a good thing. The bullpen was also stellar last night. Fernando Salas was fairly dominating, striking out the side in the ninth (though he did walk a batter) and Lance Lynn showed that he can be an eighth inning guy now that it appears Eduardo Sanchez isn't going to make it back this season. All in all, it seemed to alleviate some worries about the pen, even as John Mozeliak said there were more opportunities to bring in a reliever. Of course, there is still a pen issue, and that's the left-handed "relief". Trever Miller again allowed the only runner he faced to get on last night. It was pointed out that he's not been used much, throwing only 1 1/3 innings in July. However, in three different appearances in July, he did not get a batter out. In fact, nine of his 39 appearances this year have a 0.0 in the innings column. More to the point, he's faced 77 batters and allowed 29 of them to reach via hit or walk. When 38% of the time you can't get the couple of guys out that you are supposed to, it becomes a major issue. I still expect Mozeliak to bring in a lefty if he can find one, but we'll have to wait and see what's going to be available. Lance Berkman gets the Goat as the only hitter with no hits. He also had to leave early due to the shoulder strain that initially looked like it would keep him out of the starting lineup last night as well. Reports are he's going to get an MRI on it today, which may be a wrench in any trade discussions. Matt Holliday was also out of the lineup battling illness, but should be back in a day or so. Also, it didn't escape anyone's notice that Daniel Descalso started at short and got two hits. However, there's nothing like a platoon with him and Ryan Theriot because that would be "oversimplifying" and we all know there is nothing, NOTHING simple about the way TLR manages. I'm sure Theriot will still see a lion's share of the playing time, but he's really going to have to get right before he plays every day. Nice of TLR to at least acknowledge that. The biggest point of discussion, of course, is the trade talk surrounding the centerfielder. Take it for what it's worth (and that's going to be at various levels for different members of the UCB) but Joe Strauss indicates the Colby Rasmus situation might be untenable. Tony La Russa indicates that Rasmus isn't listening to the coaches, even though he was pretty supportive and happy with Rasmus overall in the interview. That, to me, was more of a shot at Papa Rasmus than an indication he wanted Colby out of the organization. Lots of teams are sniffing around on Rasmus, of course, because they smell a deal. It seems obvious that, unless the Cards can get a lot for him, they should keep him around. I don't figure that Seattle would give up Michael Pineda for him or anything of that nature. If all you are going to do is collect some spare part, some players that might or might not help this year and be gone later, then that's doing a disservice to both Rasmus and the fan base. However, if Berkman's going to be out of any length of time, the talks have to come to a halt. Do we really want to see an outfield of Holliday, Jay and Schumaker on a regular basis? Perhaps Holliday, Jay and Allen Craig when he returns, but that's assuming he can get right back into the swing of things after the layoff. Hopefully it's a moot point and Berkman will be fine, but it's something to keep in mind. Still four days plus until the trading deadline. The first dominoes haven't fallen yet, but once they do (if they do), things could get busy in a hurry. According to Twitter, the White Sox and Jays are close to a deal that would put Edwin Jackson in Canada and some Cardinal minds at ease. We'll see if it pans out and if that starts the wildfire. Cards look to take the series tonight and it may be another low-scoring affair. For the Birds, Chris Carpenter is on the mound. Surprisingly enough, he's not faced the Astros yet this year. Here's what he's done in his career:
On the other side, it's Cardinal killer Bud Norris. He's faced the Cards three times this year, and he's 1-1 with a 2.84 ERA against them. Sadly, that's progress from his earlier stints against the club. Here are the numbers:
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